At least a quarter of Geelong’s lineup that took to Optus Stadium on Friday night were battling symptoms from a virus that swept through the club, according to Fox Footy’s Tom Morris.
The report states that up to six players - including Cam Guthrie, Tom Hawkins, Jeremy Cameron, Brad Close, and Lachie Henderson- were unwell in the lead-up to their preliminary final.
The Cats went on to lose the game by 83 points, the club’s biggest finals loss in 52 years.
Geelong doctors were reportedly so concerned about the health of some players they felt compelled to inform the AFL in preparation for the possibility of several late changes.
The club refused to confirm the report.
However, Chris Scott did allude to confounding factors in his post-game press conference.
“There’s a few things that I won’t speak about tonight that will become clearer over the next few weeks, but suffice to say, I’m proud of the way our guys endured and we just completely ran out of steam by tonight,” he told reporters after the match.
Geelong now facse a difficult off-season of list choices, with decisions to be made on ageing stars and retaining youth.