Ogilvy confident Hawks can grow from COVID drama

It was Wednesday afternoon when the symptoms started to hit.

Only a slight fever, nothing too severe.

Initially, we brushed it off. We'd be tested to rule out COVID, but positive tests were unlikely. Every player had tested negative to a rapid antigen test on Wednesday morning.

By Thursday morning, everything had changed.

The symptoms had worsened and the positive tests started rolling in.

Thursday night's clash with the Phoenix had been postponed, but initially, we had hoped it would be the only game affected by the coronavirus outbreak within the squad.

Those hopes were quickly dashed, the entire team and coaching staff were placed into isolation after either testing positive or being deemed a close contact.

The fact this all happened two days before Christmas made the news even tougher to take.

Many of us had planned on spending a couple of days off with friends and family. Some of the guys were going home to visit siblings they hadn't seen in months.

Christmas had been cancelled for the Hawks.

Coach Goorjian has been brilliant through all of this.

He left us alone for a couple of days, gave each of us a chance to process the news and focus on our individual physical and mental health.

Throughout this week his message has been clear.

The circumstances clearly aren't ideal, but this is a chance for the group to grow and to come out the other side even stronger.

For some guys that means rehabbing their injuries, for others, it's locking in on their diet or spending time in isolation studying film.

It's very easy for us to be miserable right now, but Goorj has urged us to maximise our time in isolation and better ourselves.

Even being vaccinated, catching COVID is pretty rough. The virus has knocked me about and I've spent plenty of time sleeping over the last few days.

It seems like most of us have overcome the worst of the symptoms and we're starting to feel better.

Our coaches have set up Zoom workouts to ease us back into training.

Guys have taken these at their own pace but the hope is that once we leave isolation this weekend, we'll be able to return to the court for practice.

It will be a gradual return to full training, it will take a little while to get our bodies going and ready for matches.

Our New Year's Eve clash with the Kings and Sunday's game against the Taipans have both been postponed, but we remain scheduled to play Melbourne United on January 9.

Everyone's itching to get out and start playing and hopefully we'll be healthy and ready to go in front of a big crowd at the WIN Entertainment Centre.