Warriors eye return date to Australia

The NRL want the New Zealand Warriors on May 3, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

The league is in discussion with the Australian government so the Warriors can resume training and is aiming for the rest of the league to resume the day after.

With the NRL looking at a May 28th return, Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys confirmed via email with all clubs that the Warriors will be coming into Australia in the next fortnight.

The Warriors were fearful that they may have had to return to Australia this weekend, gone through the 14-day quarantine period and then start a pre-season before the seasons commencement.

But the NRL made it known that other clubs would be returning on May 4th and the league is aiming to get permission for the Warriors to resume training 24 hours after arriving in Australia.

The RLPA have also been in discussions with the Warriors, discussing terms on which the players' families would also be able to come into Australia with the fear of them being in New Zealand for a few months.

Should Australia's coronavirus numbers continue to drop even more, V'landys has said that the return date is more than achievable.

The NRL are currently working out the terms and looking at different hotels and training venues to make sure the interstate teams and the Warriors will not all be in the same quarantine place, and are exploring individual venues with a 'Project Apollo' team to accomodate this.

While teams and players from NSW will likely be able to stay at their own homes when the season resumes, the three QLD teams, the Storm and the Warriors may all have to be based in NSW.

With a coronavirus spread between the playing groups feared by the NRL, the decision has been made by the league to do all they can to make sure individual venues are able to e accommodated.

Project Apollo boss Wayne Pearce and his team are currently working on the logistics of the seasons resumption and how all of this will work, with Pearce wanting more information from the Australian and New Zealand governments about the limitations that are set in place for the Warriors.

The Apollo committee are also currently in discussions with a biochemical and weapons expert who has been in discussion with the Australian army and police on how to properly set up proper training and playing environments.

Warriors owner Mark Robinson insists the club are committed to playing part in this current NRL season and two more weeks in New Zealand before flying out to Australia will most certainly satisfy and put some sort of an ease on the squad.

The NRL have been labelled as "ambitious" by the state and government officials about their set return date of May 28.

Coaches around the NRL have agreed they will not resume training until the Warriors are able to commence theirs.

The New Zealand government is currently contemplating opening up its borders again should both New Zealand and Australia get an even firmer grip on coronavirus and properly managing the disease.

"Our figures with Australia, it's almost as if we've got a trans-Tasman bubble between our two countries and if the figures keep on going that way then that is a serious possibility," New Zealand's foreign affairs minister Winston Peters said.

"We are exploring that as we speak."

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison have also been in discussion about the possibility of opening up its borders.

"We are aware of their interest in that, it has not got much beyond that," Morrison said. "But we are not at present contemplating any border changes at the moment. We will work closely with New Zealand, we have all along."