Premiership Tigers Dion Prestia and Noah Balta are currently in mandatory isolation it was revealed that the pair had contracted Covid-19.
The Richmond Football Club confirmed the pair's status via Twitter on Saturday night, with close contacts to both the 29-year-old and the 22-year-old said to be awaiting results of their respective tests.
Dion Prestia and Noah Balta have tested positive to COVID and are in isolation.
Close contacts have been tested as appropriate.
It will not interrupt the commencement of pre-season training for 1-4 year players next Monday.
— Richmond FC 🐯 (@Richmond_FC) November 20, 2021
While it has not been reported whether any further Tigers have been in the vicinity of the midfielder or defender, Channel Seven's Mitch Cleary claimed that Prestia had been in or around their Punt Road training base within the past fortnight.
Dion Prestia has tested positive to COVID-19.
Not due back at training until December 6 but has been at club in recent weeks @7NewsMelbourne @7AFL— Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) November 20, 2021
The 2020 premiership winners are the latest male footballers to have been struck down by the virus, following Hawthorn's Finn Maginness and an unnamed North Melbourne player having returned positive tests across the past month.
Richmond's AFLW arm had also been halted by Covid last month when an anonymous member of the club's playing group was unable to enter training after testing positive via a rapid antigen test.
Despite their current ailing status, Fox Sports have reported that both Prestia and Balta have obtained at least one dose of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine in line with the AFL's 'no jab, no play' mandate.
As the pair were not expected to formally commence their pre-season training program until December 6, Richmond remains confident that the unwelcome diagnoses won't delay the 1st to 4th-year players hitting the track from Monday.
