Warriors five-eighth Blake Green joins Courtney Tairi, Lewis Brown and Blake Ayshford to talk about his long career up north and down under. Plus who in the Warriors is the worst lockdown buddy and how will they handle the Aussie slang they’ll need to survive across the ditch. Video / Sky Sport
New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard has given a stern warning to the New Zealand Warriors ahead of their arrival in Australia tomorrow afternoon.
The NRL confirmed this morning that the Warriors received approval from the Australian Border Force to travel to Tamworth in regional New South Wales, where they will see out a mandatory 14-day quarantine period.
About 50 Warriors players and staff will get on a charter flight tomorrow to be based in Tamworth, where they have also been given clearance by the federal and NSW governments to train while in quarantine.
However, Hazzard made sure to stress that while they have been given exemptions to train, they will receive no other special treatment and must strictly adhere to their quarantine.
"Border Force I assume is going to make sure they go through all the appropriate checks and balances but NSW health is telling them very, very clearly that you will still have quarantine, you aren't ducking out and if you want to come and play footy, that's ok, but you're going to have to go through quarantine," Hazzard said in a press conference today.
"You're going to have to comply with all the other climates in terms of social distancing.
"How that's going to work? I honestly don't know at this point."
NSW Minister for Health Brad Hazzard. Photo / Getty
Warriors CEO Cameron George said his team's players would be incredibly respectful of the rules and regulations in place for their return to Australia.
"We in no shape or form will be jeopardising any protocols or requirements put upon us to be based in Tamworth, I can assure the local community that all of our players will abide by those rules and not threaten the wellbeing of the great community of Tamworth," he told the Northern Daily Leader.
"By virtue of the fact we are quarantined and can't leave, we have a very strict and measured programme in the next few weeks."
The Warriors. Photo / Photosport
Tamworth mayor Col Murray told NZME that the Warriors' set-up is ideal for their 14-day quarantine.
"The Scully Park grounds with a brand new motel attached could almost have been designed for quarantine. So I don't think you'll find a better place anywhere for management and supporters of the Warriors to know that they're going to be in really good hands.
"The Scully Park footy ground is really highly regarded and it's been arguably the best footy surface in regional New South Wales and better than most in Sydney," he said. "It's a very high quality ground. The playing surface is absolutely first class and it's about an 80 metre walk from the motel.
"The quarantine situation is as simple as just sliding the gates closed with the entry for the car park and you're isolated from everywhere. You've got the pool, commercial kitchens and everything else associated with the club and the motel."
The Warriors leave for Tamworth tomorrow, as the NRL continues to plan for their season to resume on May 28.
