The pandemic continues to cause havoc with this year's AFL season, with one Adelaide coach ruled out and a Port Adelaide player revealing they have been targeted by people opposed to vaccines.
Adelaide Crows coach Matthew Nicks will miss Sunday's AFL game against Carlton because he has COVID-19.
Senior assistant Scott Burns will take the coaching role in Nicks's absence. No other players or coaches have been affected so far.
Meanwhile, Port Adelaide midfielder Ollie Wines has detailed his experience with being attacked online by people claiming COVID-19 vaccines caused a recent health scare.
Wines was subbed out of the round four game against Melbourne after feeling unwell and later spent a night in hospital with a "spontaneous heart irregularity" that has since resolved.
He was cleared to return for round six.
Panellists on Nine's AFL Sunday Footy Show on April 10 discussed Wines's health and the conversation quickly turned to potential COVID-19 vaccine side-effects.
At the time, Wines ruled out any link with COVID-19 vaccines.
"It's nothing to do with that. It's completely unrelated," he said.
RMIT ABC Fact Check also stated there was no evidence to suggest an increase in heart problems related to COVID-19 vaccination.
Wines told 3AW on Wednesday he had been targeted on social media by people who claimed the COVID-19 vaccine was the cause of his heart issue, saying had "a thousand anti-vaxxers coming at me".
Comments on his Instagram page urged him to "tell the truth" about his health condition, not to "let the AFL silence you", and "to stand up and use your platform to save the people".
"I'll say it on radio: I wasn't being paid off like everyone was saying I was by big pharmaceuticals," Wines said.
"It was nothing to do with the vaccine.
"It was far out of my system and everything like that. It was something to do with the heart rhythm that can happen.
"It is rare but can happen in an elite athlete."
