The New Zealand Warriors will relocate to Australia for at least the first four rounds of the 2021 NRL season with plans to be back at Mt Smart Stadium on 9 April against Manly.
The Warriors are scheduled to return home to Mt Smart Stadium for 2021 - Covid19 permitting. Photo: Photosport
From 3 January the full squad will be based in Tamworth for a month of pre-season training before moving to the familiar surrounds of Terrigal on the Central Coast where the Warriors were based from late May until the final round of the Covid 19-affected 2020 season.
The decision means the club's first two home games against Gold Coast on 13 March and Newcastle on 19 March will now be played at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford after originally being allocated to Mount Smart Stadium when the 2021 draw was released in November.
Central Coast Stadium will be the Warriors home early in the season. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Warriors will remain in Australia for their away games against Canberra and the Sydney Roosters in the third and fourth rounds and are confident of being able to play in front of their fans in Auckland from April.
The club expects to get 10 home games at Mt Smart Stadium.
Chief executive officer Cameron George said the club was committed to the three months in Australia and would not return sooner.
He wanted to keep players focussed on footy and not constantly checking for border updates.
"The thing that is very important to understand is that if the borders to open up in that period of the time we will not be coming straight home, we will remain in Australia until after round four and it is our intention to play round five at Mt Smart Stadium," George said.
"We're putting certainty into a very uncertain time which is crucial for Browny [coach Nathan Brown] and his preparation. So as a club we are off again, it's what we have to do it's not what we want to do but we've been set a task and we're very excited about taking it on."
New Warriors coach Nathan Brown will finally link up with his full squad when he gets to Tamworth. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Currently 14 Australian-based players are training in Kiama in New South Wales under assistant coach Justin Morgan and the rest are in Auckland with new coach Nathan Brown.
Plans to unite the whole squad for a pre-season in Auckland was shutdown by the New Zealand government.
"What we tried to achieve after Christmas was to bring all the Australian-based players and staff that are over there at the moment into New Zealand through a quarantine facility very similar to what the Wallabies undertook when they came over. However, that was declined so we had no other alternative but to head off-shore," George said.
"But we did want everyone to come here, be a part of our club, our fan base in New Zealand and the Australian-based players desperately wanted to come back here. It would have been great to have everyone here after Christmas for a few months but it's not the case."
George said after an extended time away from their home ground the club wanted to capitialise on an opportunity to get fans into their allocated home games in New South Wales but were looking ahead to their first game back in Auckland.
"We're so desperate to be here and play in front of our fans, we want to come back and share that excitement with our fans at some stage," he said.
"Our eyes are set on that 9 April game here against Manly, so we're going to go to market with that and we're going to sell as if we're coming home."