Sydney Swans coach John Longmire addressed the media through a video webinar on Monday, covering the coronavirus situation, the club's season-opening clash with Adelaide and injuries.
Here are some key quotes from the press conference.
How the club is dealing with COVID-19
“We've implemented some strategies around smaller groups as much as we can. We're trying to make sure that the practices we put in place at the footy club are as good as they can be. Any meetings we have are in very small numbers in large meeting rooms. We understand the players have to train – and they will be training – but we're trying to minimise the chances our players have of contact with each other as much as they can, but also in the greater community. We’re putting in measures as much as we can to look after our players and staff. That includes small groups, reducing the amount of face-to-face contact we all have with each other, making sure our hygiene practices are absolutely perfect and looking at things like social distancing. All of those things that have been talked about publicly are what we’re absolutely about at the football club. We’re making sure we have the health and safety of our players, staff and anyone else we have contact with at the forefront of our minds.”
The need to follow expert COVID-19 advice
“This is such a complex issue. We have to rely on the advice that we get because in the end, as a football coach, what we rely upon is the professionals to be able to guide us and give us advice in that space. We need to put measures in place to be able to protect people."
Lance Franklin to miss first two games
“It was always a long shot that he was going to be right for this week. He won’t be playing this week and he won’t be playing next week. He needs a couple of more weeks of training, we need to get some more training under his belt.”
Sam Reid in doubt
“Sam is unlikely to play in Round 1 at this stage. We’d like to get some more training into him. We’ll see how next week goes. He’s been training and training well, but we need to get some more training into him."
Isaac Heeney set to go
“Isaac Heeney should be right to go. He got through last week’s game against the Roos and is ready to go.”
How the Swans are tracking in the lead-up to Round 1
“We’re going quite well. We had quite a few injuries in January but through February and March we’ve been able to put together some consistent training. We feel like we’ll be as prepared as possible and we’re looking forward to the clash with Adelaide.”