WITHIN two and a half hours of the final siren sounding at the MCG, the Demons were in the air, beginning their next chapter in the 2020 season.
Forced to leave the state in a hurry due to a spike in COVID-19, Melbourne’s flight was changed from Monday morning to Sunday night, with players wheeling their luggage into the ground prior to the clash with Richmond.
The late-night flight, shared with Geelong, saw the Dees arrive in Sydney at 11:30pm, checking into their Manly hotel before heading to bed.
Melbourne will be sharing the venue with Brisbane in the short-term, although with social distancing measures in place, the club has exclusivity to its floors.
The sacrifice for those on the move for the next five weeks can’t be underestimated, and with many players recently having children, six young families have also made the journey north.
As mentioned by Simon Goodwin on Sunday, 33 players have been included in the hub, leaving 12 boys at home with five staff members to continue a second program.
More details around the Demons’ living situation will emerge in the coming days, but for now, the boys are settling into Sydney and trying to prepare for a battle with the Suns this weekend.
