Canberra Capitals pull out of WNBL finals due to COVID-19 outbreak

The Capitals have withdrawn from the WNBL finals after a COVID-19 outbreak in the squad saw eight players contract the virus and send the entire squad into isolation.

To make matters worse, the club is left with a gaping hole in its finances after club general manager Lucille Bailie revealed the Capitals "dropped $30,000" to upgrade Tuggeranong Basketball Stadium for the finals, only to be denied the chance to play a match on their adopted home court.

WNBL officials ruled game two of Canberra's semi-final series against the Perth Lynx would be rescheduled for Wednesday April 6 in Perth. Most Capitals players - but not all - were due to come out of isolation on April 4.

Capitals officials were against the game being moved away from Canberra, citing player welfare concerns as their reason for making an excruciating call to pull out of the title race.

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Club staff and players feared they may still be suffering symptoms or may not have received medical clearance to play before the second semi-final.

"On Monday we secured, and we all know how bloody hard it has been to secure venues in Canberra, but we were able to say 'we can play a game in Canberra on Wednesday April 6'," Bailie said.

"We put that to the league and we subsequently received advice from the league late [Monday] night, the league determined the semi-final would not be played in Canberra.

"This was not a proposal or a question asked of the Caps, the league had determined the game would be played in Perth on the same date, for a range of reasons, predominantly that their view was the semi-final we were meant to play [in Canberra] was effectively cancelled.

"We dropped $30,000 to get Tuggers up to speed and that adds to the sadness. I can tell you, lunchtime Sunday, that place was ready to go.

"We could not put our hand on our hearts and send our team across to Perth to compete in another semi-final. We didn't have health and medical certainty."

The Lynx have advanced to the three-game grand final series against the Melbourne Boomers, having beaten Canberra 91-77 in game one of their semi-final series last week.

It marks a gut-wrenching end to Goriss' time at the helm of the club as he prepares to join a WNBA franchise as an assistant coach.

The Capitals hoped they would be able to keep their semi-final campaign alive, but the writing was on the wall the moment the league postponed game two hours before Sunday's scheduled tip-off.

"To have game two in Canberra, and then be given the opportunity to host game two on Wednesday [April 6], and then to be told at 9pm [on Monday night] 'no, you're not having game two, it's being moved to Perth and you'll have to go to Perth', I feel like we were backed into a corner to make a decision that appeased the league," Capitals coach Paul Goriss said.

"We wanted to play, to win or lose on our own merits, but medically we wouldn't have had people leaving isolation to be fit to play the game. They wouldn't have even practiced, they wouldn't have had one shooting session or one conditioning session.

"They couldn't have got on a flight because they were just getting out of isolation. Our team doctor would have had to approve them to return to play. I feel like we were backed into a corner."

The Capitals are unsure of how many players would have even been able to make the flight to Perth, with Goriss conceding "that's a question you pull out your crystal ball for".

"Even after the seven days people could still be testing positive," Goriss said.

"Depending on symptoms, we don't know if they were to be physically fit enough to play, which comes down to our doctor. There's danger of heart conditions, data shows people coming back and getting injured because of the fatigue from COVID. The players wanted to play, but medically, could we clear them in time with our hand on our heart, with welfare and wellbeing our priority?

"It's tough on a number of terms. Some of them are really sick. They're dealing with COVID and being in isolation, and being hit with a decision which was kind of ours as a club, but being backed into a corner, we couldn't commit to [playing].

"There's very mixed emotions. As competitors and athletes, they want to play, and that was taken away from us."

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