Warriors boss’ master plan for 2021
Warriors players have been informed of the club’s plans if they have to spend another year in Australia.
The Warriors’ NRL season will end on Sunday when they play the Sea Eagles. It’s been a tough four months for everyone involved.
The club’s management had to quickly adapt to the changing landscape this season, where the team had camps in Tamworth and Terrigal and had to cope with players returning to New Zealand to be with their families.
With no trans-Tasman bubble going up any time soon, Warriors chief executive Cameron George has put together a plan on how the players and staff will cope with another season in Australia.
The ideal scenario is for the border restrictions to end soon and the team base itself and play home games in New Zealand.
However, if the borders are still shut in mid-November the club will action option two.
This will see the team split in two groups for preChristmas training, one based in Australia for the Australian players and the other in New Zealand.
Coach Nathan Brown will cross the Tasman to be with the New Zealand group and it’s likely assistant coach Justin Morgan will run the Australian camp.
It will be a 50-50 split of players in New Zealand and Australia, with Kodi Nikorima and Tohu Harris expected to remain in Australia.
Those camps will run until about December 20 and the players and staff will then go on holiday.
On January 4, if the borders are still shut, the plan is for everyone in the New Zealand camp to fly to Australia.
The entire team will then go into quarantine in Tamworth again, with the Australian-based players also having to through the same restrictions.
The tricky part is next, because the club wants to provide the players with stability, while also being flexible to changes at the border.
So the Warriors will propose to the Australian Rugby League Commission a three-block time period.
The first one goes from January 4 to May 1. The second is May 2 to August 1 and the third is August 2 until the end of the season.
If the borders were to open up on March 10 for example, the Warriors would stay in Australia until the end of that first block, regardless.
If the borders don’t open up by May 1, the club stays in Australia until August 1. Again, if the borders aren’t open by August 1, the club will see out the season on the other side of the Tasman.
By doing this three-block method the players, families, fans and sponsors will have some certainty and also the club will be able to get Mt Smart Stadium set up for games in Auckland, once border restrictions are lifted.
Rather than going week to week, the club will be able to better monetise their time in Australia, offering three or four game
packages to spectators.
‘‘For me, that’s the fairest way we could apply flexibility but also give people certainty,’’ George said.
‘‘This year, we’ve all had one eye on the newspaper and TV, waiting for information on alert levels and announcements.
‘‘No-one was settled, people thought they might be coming home, then found out they weren’t.’’
It had been previously indicated that the Warriors would look to base themselves in Redcliffe, near Brisbane next season. However, George says they’re now examining the possibility of returning to the Central Coast.
‘‘We have a partnership with Redcliffe and we have an option of going there,’’ he said.
‘‘However, we need to explore more what the border situation looks like inter-state wise.
‘‘The restrictions on players in Queensland currently are significant. More so than what they are in New South Wales.
‘‘Every time a Queensland team goes to New South Wales, the players have to do 14 days in quarantine and are only allowed to go to training.
‘‘We’ve got to balance out where we’re going to be based on player welfare.
‘‘There’s a bit more flexibility in New South Wales under the current protocols. By then, it might be more relaxed, or it might be stricter, but we don’t know.
‘‘Redcliffe provides us with a one-stop shop,’’ he said. ‘‘They’ve got a fantastic boutique stadium. We’d like to look at playing at that stadium sometimes, as well as Suncorp.’’
An issue when the players went over this year was that their families couldn’t follow them, unless they had Australian connections. Because of this, five players returned to New Zealand.
George will apply to the Australian Border Force for families to join the squad across the Tasman at the same time as it’s made for players and staff.
‘‘We’ve got to work with the authorities on that for sure,’’ he said.
‘‘But all we can do, is do our best to apply for the right reasons, on compassionate grounds.
‘‘It’s not a decision the club makes, all we can do is put forward the best application we can, which we’ll do.’’