Warriors coach Stephen Kearney says the NRL club is seeking exemptions for some families of players to avoid going into quarantine when they arrive in Australia from New Zealand.
The Warriors are continuing their competition preparations in Tamworth while centre David Fusitu’a, who missed last week’s team charter flight, completes a mandatory 14-day quarantine period in a Sydney hotel.
Kearney says they are hoping that players’ families can avoid such a scenario, adding that some are delaying arrival plans until that is locked in.
He said that Warriors boss Cameron George and football manager Dan Floyd have been working with the NRL and Australian government on the process.
“We’ve got a couple of families that we’ve applied for some exemptions for,” Kearney said on Wednesday.
“We believe in the next couple of weeks there could be some announcements around a trans-Tasman bubble so some families are prepared to wait on that.
“At the moment they’re required to go into 14 days isolation in a hotel room and my opinion is that it would be tough work if you had three kids in a hotel room.”
Fusitu’a, who was given personal leave to remain in Auckland, arrived in Australia early this week with training equipment delivered to his hotel room.
Kearney said he had two daily training sessions to complete but with him leaving the hotel just days before the competition restart on May 28, he would likely miss their at least first two matches.
“He will get out of isolation on the 25th or 26th so the reality is that he won’t have been able to stretch his legs out to run properly so I think it’s going to take a good couple of weeks to get him NRL ready,” he said.
Kearney said hooker Nathaniel Roache, who was also a late arrival, could be fit for their second game back.
Kearney, who donned an Akubra-style hat for the interview which he won at bingo, said morale was high in the camp.
He said they were playing cards, darts and had a basketball-shooting competition.
“But to be fair we’ve been working them pretty hard so by the time dinner comes around and we have an activity they are ready for bed.”