Brisbane Lions in the dark over potential Fremantle Dockers venue swap

Brisbane’s Harris Andrews isn’t sure where Sunday’s clash with Fremantle will be played but says speculation only “does your head in” as the AFL deals with the latest COVID-19 setback.

The Lions are scheduled to face the Dockers at Optus Stadium but both clubs are expecting to hear on Tuesday if the latest string of positive cases in Western Australia will prompt the game’s shift to the Gabba.

If that occurs, then the round 21 clash between Brisbane and Fremantle - scheduled for the Gabba - will be played in Perth.

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The last-minute shift would mean one less flight now for Brisbane but disrupt a four-game sequence of home games to finish the regular season that the premiership contenders are currently scheduled to enjoy.

“It’d be a bonus now to not do it, but we have that corresponding fixture later I the year so we need to do the trip at some point,” Andrews said on Tuesday.

“It’s not worth speculating, it does your head in ... we’re just preparing to be playing in Perth until we hear otherwise.”

Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir on Monday said he expected Sunday’s clash with the Lions to be moved to the Gabba, while Perth Glory’s A-League contest with Melbourne City at HBF Park on Wednesday night will be played behind closed doors due to the restrictions currently in place.

Perth was plunged into a three-day lockdown late last month after a traveller contracted COVID-19 near the end of his hotel quarantine and then infected a friend once he was released.

That forced Fremantle’s round-six clash with North Melbourne to be played behind closed doors.

A crowd of 45,000 was initially approved to attend Sunday’s clash with West Coast but the game was instead a lockout after a quarantine hotel security guard and two of his close contacts tested positive to coronavirus days earlier.

Fremantle said the lockout against the Kangaroos cost them about $1 million in lost revenue while the Eagles lost out as the home team for the western derby.

A late shift to the Gabba would give Brisbane four days to promote the contest, while a twilight Sunday slot on Mother’s Day could also prove a hard sell.