Addin Fonua-Blake could be forced to join Reece Walsh on the sideline for tomorrow's New Zealand Warriors' homecoming clash against the Wests Tigers.
While he will remain in the squad when interim coach Stacey Jones trims his team to 19 players at 2pm (AEST) this afternoon - 24 hours before kick-off - the forward pack leader is no guarantee to line up.
It has been revealed Fonua-Blake contracted COVID following last week's game between Tonga and New Zealand, with the forward in isolation ever since.
He is due to exit isolation on Sunday morning, just hours before kick-off, but under the NRL's Apollo protocols, he will need to pass a negative test upon exiting isolation to play tomorrow afternoon.
It's understood that is likely to happen however, with assistant coach Justin Morgan telling News Hub he has already returned a negative test this week, while also suggesting that the health of Fonua-Blake has left the high-performance team "satisfied."
"He's fine," Morgan said.
"We've been monitoring that closely, apart from obviously the symptoms and the testing, we've made sure the heart rate has stayed within the correct parameters.
"Our high-performance team and medical team have been working very closely with him, and they're very satisfied."
The news surrounding Fonua-Blake follows the news that Reece Walsh will miss the game with coronavirus, with the club confirming yesterday that the star fullback is now in isolation for what would have been his first game in Auckland.
Chanel Harris-Tavita has replaced Walsh at fullback, with Jack Murchie also out, which drags Adam Pompey into the centres and pushes Euan Aitken to the second row, while Aaron Pene has been added to the bench.
Should Fonua-Blake be out, Bunty Afoa or Pene will start, with one of the two final reserves - Rocco Berry or Freddy Lussick - joining the bench.
