"Whilst the club and the AFL are in the process of establishing the facts,Harley will remain in an off-site isolation location,to remove any possibility of contaminating the Twin Waters high performance hub,''Melbourne said earlier on Sunday.

Bennell's former coach at Fremantle,Ross Lyon,said he had recently been in touch with the 27-year-old.

“It's very concerning. I spoke to Harley on Friday,we had a conversation about not being picked and what the future looks like,” Lyon told Triple M.

“He was really committed to Melbourne,it seemed like they’d committed to him. I think if he’s been out ... the concern for him is the exit interviews ... that’s disappointing,he’s up there with[partner] Amy and[child] Carter.

“I hope he’s OK because a lot of pressure is going to come but he’d been perfect.

“Yeah,concerning. On the surface he seems to have maybe made an error.”

The breach comes at a time when the AFL and the Queensland government are under pressure regarding their arrangement to play out the season up north.

Many regular Queensland residents and family of Queenslanders are unable to get back into the state,while the AFL has been allowed to move virtually its entire operation to the state.