The entire Brisbane Lions team has been plunged into a “complete lockdown” as the club looks to fight against a COVID-19 outbreak. 

The Lions were forced to sideline five players on the weekend due to COVID-19 protocols while a total 22 athletes and staff have been affected by the virus.

The club has ruled testing will be carried out twice a week and once on game day as a third wave of COVID-19 sweeps Queensland.

Training sessions and meetings will be split into smaller groups and a short-term freeze will be placed on external player appearances.

“It’s not ideal and we’ve gone into complete lockdown at the club, trying to protect it as much as we can,” Lions football boss Danny Daly said on Monday.

It comes as the league rules out delaying finals games, even if an extensive amount of infections is recorded across teams.

Players were also withdrawn from the Essendon, Gold Coast, Adelaide and West Coast sides in Round 17.

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