The New Zealand Warriors have confirmed the club will begin the 2021 NRL season in Australia.
The team will travel from Auckland to Tamworth on January 3 for month long training camp before moving to Terrigal on the Central Coast, where the Warriors were in camp for most of the 2020 season.
This means the first two Warriors home games against the Titans and Knights, which were scheduled to be played at Mt Smart Stadium, will now take place at Central Coast Stadium.
“It’s not what we want to do but it’s what we have to do. 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,” said Warriors CEO Cameron George.
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“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.”