Grinch steals Warriors’ Christmas

Application to bring players back into country is declined

Warriors chief executive Cameron George has revealed the NRL club had hoped to bring their full squad together in New Zealand after Christmas, but their application to do so was declined.

The Warriors are working in split groups for the rest of the year, with some staff and 14 players based in Kiama, 120km south of Sydney.

With a new coach in Nathan Brown and seven new signings joining the team this year, they had hoped to be allowed to bring their full squad together in Auckland, but will instead go to Australia early in the new year.

“What we tried to achieve after Christmas was to bring all the Australian-based players and staff into New Zealand through a quarantine facility, similar to what the Wallabies did,” George explained.

“That was declined for whatever reasons were set out in response to our application, so we had no other alternative but to head offshore. We did want everyone to come here, be a part of our club and with our fanbase in New Zealand it was crucial, and the Australian-based players desperately wanted to come back here.

“Up until Christmas, what we tried to do was eliminate any isolation as best we could for the players, for their own wellbeing and family benefits.

It would’ve been great to have everyone here after Christmas for a few months but that’s not the case.”

The New Zealand-based group will travel to Australia on January 3, with the full squad linking up in Tamworth before ultimately moving their operation to Terrigal on the New South Wales Central Coast for the first four rounds of the NRL season.

Although they hope to play at Mt Smart Stadium again next year, with no transtasman bubble established, they made the decision to again start their campaign in Australia.

The period between their arrival in Australia and the start of the NRL season in March will be crucial, with the new members needing time to familiarise themselves with a newlook team for the 2021 campaign.

However, Brown is taking a glasshalf-full approach to his side’s unusual situation heading into the season.

“When we get to Tamworth we get a good month where there’s not many distractions for them,” he said. “It’s pretty much nearly a whole month of focusing on the team working together and getting that process right before we get to the Central Coast.

“The fact we’re all going to be living together is probably a bonus for us as opposed to living in different parts of New Zealand. Our access to the players and the players’ access to all the staff is far, far more reaching if we’re all living together.”

Brown said there would be a group of more than 40 players with the club in Australia, with players available to them through their partnership with the Redcliffe Dolphins.

However, for now, Brown is happy getting to work with the group in Auckland, most of which has included young players in the wider squad. Many of the first-team squad have been allowed time away from the club after a testing 2020 campaign.

As he has done with everything troublesome thrown at him since joining the club, Brown found a silver lining in being able to work only with small groups for now and it involves overcoming shyness.

“For those young kids training in smaller groups, the shyness goes a bit quicker because they’re not around as many of the high-profile players,” he explained.

“So, it has been a real good opportunity for them and hopefully by the time we get to Tamworth those younger guys are feeling more comfortable around the squad.”