AFL team Greater Western Sydney Giants resume contact training following COVID-19 lockdown

It's been more than two months since the last contact session but now the Greater Western Sydney Giants are now free to mark up once again. Australia's AFL (Australian Rules Football League) competition is set to resume on June 11 in what will be Round Two of their season and last year's Grand Finalists aren't totally back in the swing of things just yet.

"It was a little bit strange, it's been a while but the boys were pretty excited to get out there and play footy again. Not really holding back but it's good to be out there and we're excited to get back into it," star midfielder Josh Kelly said.

Hand sanitiser was littered around the training field and while high fives have been eliminated, full contact sessions are gradually returning.

The AFL have only released the next four rounds of fixtures in the hopes that Australian Government restrictions will ease between now and Round 5 at the start of July. The clubs themselves have tailored their own return-to-play protocols with the Greater Western Sydney Giants expecting all to return to normal by next week.

It's a period of uncertainty for the sport's off-contract players with an embargo placed on all future deals until the financial picture becomes clearer. There are more financial hits expected to come with all fans currently locked out from attending what is the world's fourth biggest attended sports competition, behind the NFL, Germany's Bundesliga and the English Premier League. The revenue loss from the fan lockout has had a bigger impact on the GWS Giants than most - with star forward Jeremy Cameron off contract and facing an unknown future.

The Giants face North Melbourne Kangaroos in Round Two in Sydney as they aim to go one better in season 2020 to claim the Premiership.