Warriors battling to beat the NRL clock

Club to make trip without families but awaiting permission to enter Australia

The Warriors have overcome a significant impediment in their quest to be part of a revised NRL competition in 2020 but it seems unlikely they will be able to meet the time frames for the suggested re-start date of May 28.

Time remains against the Auckland-based club.

Despite the optimistic outlook of Project Apollo — the taskforce put together to find a way for the competition to re-start as soon as possible — there is no sense the NRL will be able to mitigate the challenges involved quickly enough.

Head of Project Apollo Wayne Pearce reasserted his commitment to the May 28 launch in a meeting with all clubs on Wednesday night but so many hurdles remain.

However, the Warriors have made one important breakthrough.

The Herald understands the playing squad has agreed to make the trip to Australia, whenever that is given the green light, without their wives, partners and children. The players have made a commitment they will go first, with the expectation and hope that their families will be able to join them at some stage later. This was a considerable step. Previously it was a sticking point, as some players were reluctant to travel and relocate for months without concrete plans for their families.

Instead, the club is now focused on getting the players, coaches and football staff into New South Wales when possible before looking at applications for families.

So far, there has been little progress on gaining approval from the Australian border force commissioner for the Warriors to enter the country and allowing them to train during their 14-day isolation period in a selfcontained facility.

The club has been told their application, with all the necessary supporting documentation, has been lodged with the border force commission by the NRL but there is no sense of when or if it will be approved.

Australian politicians may be wary of a public backlash if special permission is granted to a sports team, when there have been other people denied access to Australia on compassionate grounds.

But the Warriors will need to know soon as they would have to depart by May 3 at the latest to meet the NRL’s suggested time frame of a return to training on May 4.

The NRL is also yet to reach agreement with the broadcasters about the shape of a possible competition this year. Until that happens, there will be no certainty about revenue streams and income for players.

The NRL is set to meet broadcasters Channel Nine and Foxtel this weekend.

So the Warriors remain in a weird state of limbo.

They still need to prepare for a departure at the beginning of May, in case everything falls into place, so they are ready to resume training in a compressed pre-season then return to action.

It’s understood they will be based at Lake Ainsworth at Lennox Head, a facility in northern New South Wales, for the isolation period.

They will have several options for a base once the season resumes, with Kingscliff, also in northern New South Wales (where they stayed earlier this year), likely to be the favoured option.