PORT ADELAIDE football boss Chris Davies has praised his players and staff for their attitude towards the hasty relocation out of South Australia on Tuesday.
In a day where the state went into lockdown, a decision was made to ultimately shift the playing group, coaches and staff to Melbourne with a late-night departure.
It followed a day of discussion between the club, the AFL, SA Health and the South Australian Government where a flight was booked, then cancelled and players arrived at Alberton to take a bus to the airport, only to be sent home before resuming their travel plans once again.
Port and the Crows had been told they would not be given permission to train in Adelaide and AFL games would not go ahead at Adelaide Oval as planned.
With state borders closing and Port Adelaide prohibited from travelling to Queensland because it had been in Victoria last weekend, Davies told Adelaide radio heading to Melbourne was a last resort to keep the season going.
“There was a fair bit going on,” he admitted. “Changes of direction all through the day and obviously (we are) in Melbourne now.
“The situation evolved throughout the day and talking to various people at the AFL, we got to a point just after lunch where we thought we were on a plane around 4 o’clock going to Queensland.
“Then there was a realisation we couldn’t get up to Queensland because we were in Victoria last week so once we got to that point, I think the AFL took stock of where they’d got to and then we reverted back to the plan of getting out of Adelaide and into Melbourne.
“It’s good we’re out (of SA) now. It means we can continue our season and obviously onwards and upwards from there.”
The group landed in Melbourne late on Tuesday night and arrived at the team hotel around midnight before an early wake-up call for a COVID-19 test – the group’s second since Monday.
Davies said the attitude of the group had been outstanding, and he praised those who had carried out the massive logistical task of organising the move.
“We’ve got to isolate in the hotel and can’t leave the hotel until we get the results,” he said explaining that put the team’s training schedule up in the air for Wednesday.
“We’re waiting for those results to come in to enable us to train. We haven’t been able to do anything so far this week since coming home (from Melbourne on Saturday night).
“I’ve been really pleased with the way the people we’ve got here have been able to embrace going away. It’s not ideal for them but they’ve been fantastic so far at being able to move pretty quickly.
“I’m sure we’ll attack it with the right positive mindset because I know if you don’t, you run the risk of letting your performance down and we certainly don’t want that.”
40 of the club’s 44 players have made the trip to Melbourne but Davies said those who remained in Adelaide were injured and not available for selection.
He explained the club would look to bring those players over in the coming days, but consideration also needed to be given to enabling players who weren’t featuring at AFL level to keep match fit.
“There’s a bit to work through to make sure the guys who aren’t playing remain match fit. That may involve sending some guys back for the SANFL, not this week but the following week,” Davies said.
“As much as anything, we’re still monitoring everything going on in Adelaide with the number of cases there as well as monitoring what’s happening here in Victoria because I’m sure what happens here will impact on our ability to get back as well.
“We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the lockdowns in South Australia and Victoria do what they’re designed to do and the cases return to not that many and we can get back home at some point soon. But if not, we’ll make the most of our time over here.”
Port Adelaide is now considering where it will be able to train, having utilised Essendon’s Tullamarine and Richmond’s Punt Road facilities during its short Melbourne stay three weeks ago.
