The GWS Giants round five AFLW fixture against the Saints at Henson Park will not proceed as planned under the AFL’s Health and Safety Protocols.

After five GWS players were unavailable for Friday night’s win against the Dogs, additional players and staff have now been ruled out of the upcoming round five match and will be unavailable for a minimum of seven days.

The AFL’s Covid Match Rescheduling guidelines state that the game will be rescheduled should a club be unable to meet the minimum requirements of 16 primary listed players and five top-up players.

The health and wellbeing of the players and staff is the club’s main priority at this time and the medical staff will work closely with them to ensure a seamless transition back to the club, training and match readiness. 

The Giants will continue to work closely with the AFL to reschedule their round five fixture with the next game currently scheduled to be in round six against the Melbourne Demons at Casey Fields.

GWS sit in eighth spot on the ladder with two wins and two losses from their four matches.

It’s the second week in a row St Kilda has lost a match due to an opposition hit by COVID-19, but the Saints will play a make-up game against West Coast on Tuesday 8 February.

“While the ongoing pandemic continues to impact and challenge our competition and our wider community, we want to thank every AFLW Club, players and the AFLPA, umpires, venues, governments, ticketing agents and all supporters for their understanding and commitment to the 2022 NAB AFL Women’s Competition,” AFL general manager competition management Laura Kane said. 

“The fixture remains a week-to-week proposition and the AFL will continue to work closely with respective state governments and health authorities on arrangements that both protects the health and safety of the community and allows us to progress the NAB AFLW season.”

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