The push comes as sources said former Carlton ruck/forward Levi Casboult was expected to receive a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine ahead of next Friday’s rookie draft to pave the way for his AFL career to continue with the Gold Coast.
The31-year-old was initially hoping to wait for the Novavax vaccine to be available in Australia,but sources close to him said he was moving towards getting his first dose next week.
Blues ask AFL for discretion
Under existing rules,the Blues cannot use the pick they have in the draft because they did not have enough list places available when they had to lodge their list a week ago. Jones announced his retirement three days later.
Current rules would allow the Blues to select a replacement player only in the supplementary period in January.
Carlton have argued the retirement came about due to a change of AFL rules on vaccinations and so an exception should be permitted in the Jones case.
The AFL’s initial reaction had been that this was difficult to assess as officially Jones had offered no reason for his retirement,so all the league actually know is a player retired after the cut-off period for personal reasons.