New Zealand's government have announced their border to tourists will be coming down on April 13.
It had originally been announced Australians wouldn't be able to travel to New Zealand until July, however, the change in date on the back of exploding cases in New Zealand - which have removed the need for the nation to keep the virus out - have seen the nation give the green light to an earlier resumption to tourism.
Only vaccinated Australians will be able to travel, however, from 11:59pm on April 12, the border to visa waiver countries - of which Australia is one - will come down. New Zealand will then allow travel to the rest of the world from 11:59pm on May 1.
“We have now received guidance that it is safe to significantly bring forward the next stage of border reopening work,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in announcing the news.
All quarantine commitments will be removed from crossing the New Zealand border, making it feasible to play games in Auckland.
The New Zealand Warriors had originally committed to stay in Redcliffe through to Round 15, when they were supposed to play the Penrith Panthers in their first home game back in Auckland on June 18.
That was moved to Redcliffe following the original announcement regarding a delayed border opening, with the Wests Tigers game on July 3 currently scheduled as the first back in Auckland.
They are then supposed to host the Melbourne Storm in Round 20, the Canterbury Bulldogs in Round 22 and the Gold Coast Titans in Round 25 all in Auckland.
While this morning's announcement provided hope the Warriors may return home for games from Round 8, the club have since commented, suggesting their position is unchanged and that they will only attempt to stage four games in Auckland this year.
“It provides more good news for plans to play four games at Mount Smart Stadium from July 3 but our overall position is unchanged,” Warriors CEO Cameron George said.
“As we have said all along, our priority is to ensure we have stability for our players and their families while also doing what’s best for the competition.
“While we are further heartened by this news and the prospect of playing games at Mount Smart later in the season, we are committed to continuing our 2022 campaign in Australia and our six home games scheduled to be played in Redcliffe.
“This provides sufficient time for the border policies to become established and for New Zealand to move past the peak of its Omicron outbreak so crowds will be able to return to live venues.”
Should they have elected to return home immediately, then the Warriors could have added games against the Canberra Raiders, South Sydney Rabbitohs (Round 10), Newcastle Knights (Round 12), Cronulla Sharks (Round 14) and Penrith Panthers (Round 15) to the four which are currently scheduled.
