Unmasked: How the NRL tricked the Warriors
The Warriors players were duped by the NRL into thinking there would be no issues in getting their families to join them in Australia.
David Fusitu’a, Ken Maumalo, Agnatius Paasi and Leivaha Pulu all want to return to New Zealand to reunite with their families, with the players agreeing to a July 19 deadline on whether there will be confirmation that their families can go to Australia.
They have been criticised by some for looking to walk away from the rest of the season, leaving the rest of the team in the lurch.
However, Stuff can reveal false promises were made to Warriors players in May when discussions took place about the team relocating to Australia. The players were told then there wouldn’t be an issue getting their families to the other side of the Tasman.
When the NRL launched its Project Apollo to restart the season, it desperately needed to keep the Warriors involved, so there remained eight games each round and broadcasting commitments to Nine Entertainment and Fox could be fulfilled.
When discussions between Warriors players and the NRL took place, the players were told there wouldn’t be any problem getting exemptions for players and their families into Australia.
However, the NRL, during the time when Todd Greenberg was CEO, told the club that players and families shouldn’t be part of the same exemption application to get into Australia, as this would make it harder to get approval.
The advice was given that players should go first and
‘‘It was always a condition for the players that their families would be able to join them.’’
families follow, but it was always a condition for the players that their families would be able to join them soon after. If there was any risk that families wouldn’t
be able to go, some players wouldn’t have left New Zealand.
So the club took the NRL’s advice and applied for exemption for the players. This was eventually granted by the Australian Border Force, and they flew out on May 3.
Soon after the players went to Tamworth, the Warriors went through the same exercise to get the families to Australia. The process involved working out which family members needed an exemption and which didn’t, through being Australian passport holders or former residents. Some families wanted to go straight away.
Others wanted to hold off for a couple of weeks, to see if a transTasman bubble would open, which would mean they wouldn’t have to spend two weeks in quarantine on arrival.
So exemption applications were put in. Then there was silence, with nothing coming back to the club about what was happening.
Then, a few weeks ago, the Warriors were told the exemptions wouldn’t be granted.
For the players and their families the news was devastating. They had gone from all but being guaranteed that they’d be able to reunite, to a situation where no one knew when they’d meet up again.
The four players who’d been cut adrift from their families, understandably, wanted to go home and felt they’d been tricked into agreeing to go to Australia by promises that couldn’t be kept.
The situation was spiralling out of control – there was nothing the club could do about it. The NRL, or in particular, Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys, needed to step in and deal directly with the Australian government.
V’landys agreed to a meeting with the affected players, the leadership group and interim coach Todd Payten on Saturday, where he asked for a few weeks’ grace to get it sorted.
By setting a date of July 19, it put a line in the sand, with V’landys knowing he had a deadline to get the exemptions through and that this saga would come to an end, one way or another.
V’landys is known to be understanding of the situation the players are in and has always expressed his gratitude for the sacrifices they’ve made.
However, the number of coronavirus cases in Victoria over the past couple of weeks has made the prospect of a transTasman bubble less likely in the near future.
V’landys pulled off great negotiations to get the NRL resuming on May 28. But it is likely to need an incredible act of diplomacy, with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison getting involved, to get the families over now.
The Warriors are already planning for how they’ll manage without these players over the rest of the season.
If more loan players are brought in from other clubs, they’re unlikely to be of the standard of those leaving, which makes it even harder for Payten to revive the club’s fortunes.