Warriors brace for 2021 in Aussie

Uncertainty clouds club’s attempts to plan but having families inside their bubble should not be the issue it was

For the Warriors, 2021 will be another year of rolling with the punches. The Covid-19 pandemic has dictated the movements of the club since it set in earlier this year, eventually seeing them relocate to Australia’s Central Coast to play out the season.

The club is preparing to face a similar scenario next year despite hopes of returning to Mt Smart Stadium before the season is up, with no indication a transtasman travel bubble will be established soon.

At the moment, the Warriors will have one pre-season trial against the Gold Coast Titans in Queensland, before staying in Australia to start the season, but have plans in place for a number of scenarios.

“We’ve got a plan, it’s just the trigger points that are before us now,” Warriors chief executive Cameron George said. “Our plans are subject to the borders being open or closed by early December.

“So with that in mind, we’ve got plan A and plan

B, and whichever one we need to undertake on the basis that the borders are shut or open, we just want to get some certainty and clarity and work towards that.”

They are yet to determine where they will be based if forced to uproot to Australia for the start of the season, though George said they were looking at a number of options, including Redcliffe in Queensland.

However, at this stage, a base in Redcliffe would subject the club to some domestic border issues, causing problems travelling between Queensland and New South Wales.

“Whatever we do and wherever we go will be in the best interests of the team and their welfare, allowing them to live as normally as possible.”

Last season, there was plenty said about the struggles of the team being away from home as long as they were. While some players and staff had their families join them inside the Warriors bubble, others went four months without seeing their loved ones.

However, George was confident it would be different in 2021 and said the playing group and staff had been tremendous around the idea of possibly spending another season in Australia.

“The difference between this year and next season is, at this point in time, families are permitted into Australia, so the stress levels of all of us are not what they were this year with the sacrifice the boys had to make away from their families. So with that being permitted at this point in time, there is a lot less pressure in the decision to go to Australia or not.”

It will be a new-look Warriors team that fronts for 2021, with new head coach Nathan Brown at the helm and a number of exciting signings including Tongan props Addin Fonua-Blake and Ben Murdoch-Masila.

Most recently, the Warriors announced the signing of 23-year-old second rower Bayley Sironen, who joins the club from the South Sydney Rabbitohs until the end of the 2023 campaign.

The difference between this year and next season is families are permitted into Australia.

Warriors CEO Cameron George