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Warriors CEO Cameron George says he hopes the players will return to New Zealand for the fifth-round game against the Sea Eagles, but admits that seems doubtful.
George, along with the New Zealand players, flew to Australia on Sunday to prepare for the upcoming NRL season.
It had already been confirmed that the team will spend a month in Tamworth for preseason training, before moving to Terrigal on the Central Coast.
Starting March 13, they will play home games against the Titans and Knights during the first two rounds of the season, before traveling to face the Raiders and Roosters.
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George, along with everyone at the club, hopes that travel restrictions between Australia and New Zealand will be lifted by then and that the Warriors can play the remainder of the season in Auckland.
However, with coronavirus cases popping up in Australia again in recent weeks, the New Zealand government’s plans to set up a travel bubble in the first quarter of 2021 now seem overly optimistic and on Sunday George said it could be a case. that the Warriors are in Australia for more than the first four rounds of the season.
“I suspect it will be, but fingers crossed, that changes and our prime minister takes care of us and takes us home,” George said.
While that may sound like, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Warriors’ plans for the season, which was the situation for most of last year. All players and staff know that they will spend at least three months in Australia.
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Warriors president Rob Croot will remain in New Zealand while most of the staff will relocate to Australia.
“We have no intention of being back in New Zealand until the fifth round, which is April 9,” George said.
“Fingers crossed, that’s still the case and we’re back to playing in front of our great fans in Auckland.”
George said they will make a call in March to find out if their stay in Australia will last until July.
“We have accommodation and all that, what we have to deal with in Australia.
“So we can’t wake up on April 1 and say we’re going or staying.
“Some families come today and others a little later,” he added.
“They are their own decisions, but it is the best that families can come to and it makes the game much easier.”
The Warriors have planned for several months to spend at least part of 2021 in Australia and the club is much better prepared than it was last year.
Players are more comfortable with the situation and none of them will have to choose between being with their families or playing for the NRL.
George has been working closely with the NRL to tie it all together since it became a possibility that 2021 could be another season where the Warriors would have to relocate.
“Since we’ve been planning this since April, nothing has come as a surprise,” George said.
“They (NRL) were very confident that things would have opened up and that we would be back to normal, but we were always pushing the boundaries that we were just dealing with what was going on today, without speculating or anything like that.
“On that basis, they were very helpful, they helped us plan it, they helped us with the logistics. We are ready to go and they are a big part of it. “
As George said in an open letter to Warriors fans on Saturday, he doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for what the club will have to go through.
The support of the entire NRL was appreciated last season, but George wants them to be considered as the other 15 clubs.
“Last year we were surprised, everyone was,” he said.
“We were in Australia with a travel bag basically, but this year we are planned, we are organized, we are ready to move on and understand what is in front of us.
“The pats on the back and the attitude of pity for us last year helped the guys through quite a difficult period, but as a club we are doing it because we want to be in the competition and we are choosing, willing and able to go there and do it. .
“We are going to try to win this competition and that starts when we get to Tamworth and start training.”
