On Tuesday she coached her team via zoom stranded some 2500kms away and as finals approach there’s no clear picture of when Briony Akle can re-join her team.
The Super Netball season of torment continues for NSW Swifts coach Briony Akle, who remains stranded in Adelaide apart from her team in the Brisbane hub as the competition reaches its climax.
Akle had been forced to isolate in Adelaide with two of her children after being deemed a close contact of someone who visited a tier 1 exposure site in Melbourne when the Swifts were hubbed there a fortnight ago before Victoria was plunged into its latest Covid lockdown.
While her quarantine period ended on Tuesday, Queensland has restricted entry to those from South Australia due to that state‘s recent Covid outbreak and Akle is waiting on an exemption to head north to join the Swifts in Brisbane.
Akle’s sons Xavier, 5, and Charlie, 12, remain in Adelaide with her, while the Swifts physio also remains in isolation with her children having been denied entry to Queensland.
Sitting second on the ladder, the Swifts have two more games before finals begin and are desperate for Akle to rejoin them.
Swifts executive general manager Nikki Horton confirmed that Akle’s isolation period in Adelaide had ended but said the coach was continuing to self-isolate to aid the exemption process.
“I think no one has done more for the 2021 season than Briony and we hope to have this resolved in the next 24 hours,” Horton said.
“She is a vital part of our team and the centre of everything we do, and it’s very unfortunate that she’s been caught up in this situation.“
Akle connected with her team via Zoom ahead of the match and at halftime of their clash with the Collingwood Magpies on Tuesday, which the Swifts lost.
They don’t play again until next Wednesday but want the coach on board as soon as possible as they attempt to cement their spot in the top four.
“Despite (the situation) she has taken everything on the chin and kept the team on track for a finals berth, which is a brilliant effort when you think of all the upheaval she, and the wider travelling group, have endured,“ Horton said.
“We recognise that the health of the Queensland community is central to this process and are working to achieve the best outcome for both parties as soon as possible.”
The Magpies take on the Queensland Firebirds in the opening game of Round 13 at Brisbane‘s Nissan Arena on Thursday night, with the Swifts having a bye due to a fixturing quirk.
They play their final two games of the regular season in Round 14, taking on the Adelaide Thunderbirds next Wednesday before a match against the Sunshine Coast Lightning on August 7 that could determine their place in the top four.
Xavier and Charlie, two of Akle’s four sons, joined her in Queensland last month during the school holidays after Sydney first went into lockdown, with the intention of returning to NSW when school returned.
They have now moved across the country with their mother, going into lockdown in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide and while Akle will return to the Swifts fold in Brisbane when granted an exemption, her sons will return to Sydney to reunite with father Sarkis and brothers Sam, 12, and Sebastian, 15, heading into lockdown in a fourth state.