Heartbreaking departure

Emotions run high as Warriors head to Australia

Emotional New Zealand Warriors players embraced family members prior to leaving the country for the National Rugby League’s (NRL) resumption.

After being given the green light by the Australian Border Force, Warriors players and support staff departed Auckland for the northeast New South Wales city of Tamworth yesterday.

The Warriors will be based in the north-eastern NSW city of Tamworth, known as the country music capital of Australia, where they will train as a group during their 14-day isolation period, ahead of the NRL’s much-anticipated return.

Warriors players arrived at Auckland Airport yesterday wearing facemasks and in their own vehicles as they pulled up at a private facility near the runway to board their charter flight. They cut emotional figures, farewelling family members with Adam Blair pictured hugging son Taika in one photo posted on social media.

The NRL season is set to resume on May 28 after only the two rounds of the competition were possible, before being halted.

On Saturday, the Warriors were granted approval to travel, less than 24 hours after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison denied reports they had been cleared to enter the country.

Earlier this week, there were concerns players would refuse to make the trip until a pay agreement was reached, which could have delayed the restart.

Their frustrations over that and several other issues eased after Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys spoke with members of the leadership group during a phone hookup with Rugby League Players Association delegates on Friday.

As the other 15 clubs vowed to delay full team training until the Warriors could do the same, securing approval to train as a group during quarantine was crucial for the NRL.

Following the quarantine period in Tamworth, the Warriors are likely to move to a facility on the NSW Central Coast, where they will be based for the duration of the campaign and, preferably, play their ‘home’ games.

The NRL has confirmed a shortened 20-round competition followed by a finals series, but have yet to determine match venues.

Meanwhile, NRL players will be restricted to non-contact training in groups of 10 when they return to their clubs this week, limiting the amount of full intensity training they will be able to complete before the May 28 return, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

In line with the Australian Institute of Sport’s guidelines – issued as part of the federal government’s return-to-sport national principles – players will be segregated into small groups for training when they return to the field this week. The AIS guidelines contain a three-step staged return to full-contract training and competitions.

NRL clubs will move from level A to level B this week, which includes no tackling or wrestling drills. That will leave coaches only a little over two weeks for full contact training if the level B restrictions are lifted next week- end. Stuff with SMH