Warriors to stay in Australia after NZ announces travel restrictions

Warriors CEO Cameron George says the club will reconsider its travel arrangements with no guarantee of its players staying on in Australia beyond Saturday's clash with Canberra.

It raises the prospect of the Kiwi side effectively pulling out of the competition due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Warriors will be based at Kingscliff this week with their round two fixture against the Raiders moving from Auckland to the Gold Coast due to a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period for people arriving back into New Zealand.

The Australian government's introduction of the same measures means plans to fly family members, staff and extra players into the country have been shelved, with Warriors players understandably concerned at being isolated from family.

Players will be permitted to return home at any time while the possibility of flying the entire squad back to New Zealand will be considered this week, putting their round three away game against Manly in jeopardy.

The NRL is exploring the possibility of restructuring its schedule to allow the competition to continue should the Warriors be unable to play in coming weeks.

"We're supporting the families and looking after things here in New Zealand," George said on Sunday.

"Their job is to do their best over the next six or seven days and then we'll look at where we can go next.

“It’s a reality and it’s on the table that we get though this weekend, we’ve got to make a decision with the players.

“What do we do? Do we continue to live this week by week scenario?

“We gave the players the option. If you want to come home, you can. That could change during the course of the week, players might want to come home during the week.

“The reality is that they’ll stick it out for seven days and there’s a massive decision to make one way or another.”

On Sunday the Warriors were fearing that the new 14-day self-isolation for travellers entering Australia meant prop Josh Curran would be unable to cross the Tasman to add reinforcements to Stephen Kearney's squad.

Already outside backs Patrick Herbert and Peta Hiku have returned to New Zealand to be with their families - Herbert became a father recently and Hiku's partner is eight months pregnant.

Some players from the Warriors reserve grade side are understood to have stayed on in Sydney while the rest of their Canterbury Cup teammates fly home on Sunday.

George said the club's focus is on "getting through the next six or seven days" before reassessing the club's situation once more.

But given the two-week isolation periods in place on both sides of the ditch, George concedes the Warriors may also be confined to Australian soil while the NRL continues to be played.

"The reality is we probably won't get to play in New Zealand this year," George told NRL.com on Sunday.

"It's a very tough situation and its pretty devastating for players and their families, players had tears in their eyes as we were working through and talking about our options.

"There's so many aspects of what this all means. It's unfortunate but the message we had to the players was 'you handle things over there, we'll look after everything here'."

Warriors prop Adam Blair's wife Jess posted on Twitter on Saturday night reacting to the prospect of her husband remaining in Australia after the travel ban was announced and again on Sunday morning to say she wasn't having "a heated swipe" at anyone, that she just wanted everyone to be safe.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Saturday people arriving in the country would need to self-isolate for 14 days, with those arriving from the Pacific Islands the only exception. The restrictions are to take place from midnight Sunday (10pm Sunday AEDT).

The Raiders were set to travel to New Zealand to take on the Warriors next Saturday as part of an historic double-header at Eden Park before a Super Rugby match featuring the Auckland Blues and ACT Brumbies.

New Zealand's one-day international cricket series against Australia has been cancelled, with the New Zealand team to travel home and the final two matches of the series abandoned.

The A-League has been placed in a similar situation - its sole Kiwi team the Wellington Phoenix - is currently still in New Zealand but hopes to base itself in Australia after Sunday's home clash with Melbourne Victory.

Wellington are in contention for the title heading into the final rounds.

The Phoenix plan to fly into Sydney on Tuesday and will have to observe the two-week self-isolation period which will require games in that period being rescheduled should A-League fixtures continue.

SANZAAR has announced the Super Rugby competition has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.