NRL 2021: Covid Quarantine forces New Zealand Warriors back to Australia

Incoming Warriors coach Nathan Brown is facing the test of pulling together a divided squad as his players train in two different countries.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and the Warriors will return to Australia for the state of the 2021 NRL season. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Nathan Brown won’t meet half of his playing squad until January after it was confirmed the Warriors are moving back to Australia.

In his return to the NRL coaching furnace, Brown has been struck by his first hurdle, with 14 players from his squad set to train out of Kiama on the NSW South Coast before joining the rest of the Warriors team in Tamworth on January 3.

The training program of the 14 Australian-based players who are split from the rest of the Auckland-based Warriors players will be overseen by assistant coach Justin Morgan.

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Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and the Warriors will return to Australia for the state of the 2021 NRL season. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Stability and consistency in his team’s preparation is what Brown would’ve been hoping for in order to achieve his mission of turning the Warriors into a premiership force.

But unwilling to gamble on the potential closure of international borders between New Zealand and Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Warriors have confirmed they will call Tamworth home to begin the New Year before shifting to the Central Coast for the first four rounds of the season from March until late May.

“Our priority is to ensure we do all we can to enable our team to be as well prepared as it can be for 2021,” Warriors club CEO Cameron George said.

“It’s a football decision that needs to be made now. We can’t afford to speculate about what might or might not happen any longer. We need clarity for our players, staff and families.
“We tried to arrange a quarantine facility like other sporting bodies have done to bring our players from Australia to train here as a squad but our request was declined so we’ve had to adapt.
“We’ll keep abreast of the border situation and in early March will decide with the NRL what the best course of action is after the first four rounds, hopefully returning to New Zealand to play at Mount Smart for the first time since 2019 in round five.”

Warriors CEO Cameron George (L) and Head Coach Nathan Brown (R) at the announcement regarding where the Warriors would be based in 2021. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

Brown conceded the situation was far from perfect in his desire to embed his own coaching style and standards on the entire group.

“It’s not ideal having the squad split with one group in Auckland and another in Kiama but it has been the only option open to us,” Brown said.

“At the same time the focus pre-Christmas is always on physical conditioning and some skill work.

“It’s not until the New Year that we really concentrate on structure, game style and our combinations leading into the trials.
“It’s critical getting together as a group which the camp in Tamworth is all about.”

The decision means the club’s first two home games against Gold Coast and Newcastle will now be played at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford after originally being allocated to Mount Smart Stadium when the 2021 draw was released last week.

The Warriors will remain in Australia for their away games against Canberra and the Sydney Roosters in the third and fourth rounds.
“It’s not what we want to do but it’s what we have to do,‘’ George said.

Originally published as NRL 2021: Covid Quarantine forces New Zealand Warriors back to Australia