Up to six Bulldogs players had shown flu like symptoms in the lead-up to their two AFL South Coast women's games.

All players returned negative results after the matches would have been played.

The club's two men's teams had the bye in round one.

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Bulldogs club president Lee Murray said the decision was made to "more than just to be safe than an actual scare".

"It wasn't necessarily COVID related, it was us being over cautious I think. And all tests have been negative," he said.

"It's the policy that we've got in place for the current climate we're playing under.

"No one had been in any contact, there had been no contact tracing.

"No one was in the vicinity of Rashays or anything like that.

"Last year, we would have played.

"It's a bit of a hard one because you get questions like was it COVID and things along those lines.

"I guess it's a bit of yes and no.

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"There's no reasonable evidence to be it other than we had half a dozen people showing flu like symptoms.

"In this current climate, we didn't think it would be worth the risks.

"The policies we have in place at the club are to make sure guys feel safe and everyone around them is safe.

"It was a little knee jerky from us, but I'd rather be 100 per cent sure."