Website of the YearThe Warriors will be without centre David Fusitu'a for the first few weeks of the NRL season, having just started his 14-day quarantine period in Sydney away from the rest of the team.
However, it's not because he just had a baby, which was the bizarre news to come out of the Australian media yesterday.
Fusitu'a arrived in Australia earlier this week after missing the charter flight to Tamworth due to personal reasons.
Warriors assistant coach Tony Iro said last week that Fusitu'a had "a couple of things to work out at home".
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.READ MORE:
• Rugby League: Warriors await confirmation for full contact training
• Rugby League: Warriors coach Stephen Kearney opposed to NRL dropping referees to one
• NRL: The Warriors are set to fly to Australia - now the players hope their families can join
• Rugby league: Inside the Warriors' quarantine training facility - Roger Tuivasa-Sheck excited for NRL season after 'tough' first training session
But according to Fox Sports Australia, Fusitu'a stayed back for the birth of his child, leaving fans baffled by the supposed news.
"Fusitu'a was granted permission to stay in Auckland for the birth of his first child," said a Fox Sports reporter.
The video of the gaffe was shared on Twitter by David's wife Eden, who was quick to correct the news report.
"David Fusitu'a has not had a child. Lol," she wrote on Twitter.
The 25-year-old centre will see out his 14-day quarantine in Sydney on his own before joining the team in Gosford where the new team will be based for the remainder of the NRL season.
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney said Fusitu'a will miss at least the first three games of the season restart as he'll need time to get back to full match fitness.
However, Kearney said he was happy with the progress of the rest of the team ahead of the May 28 start date.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME."I'm very pleased on the back of last week, with the way the boys came back from the lockdown period," Kearney said.
"Also, the work we put in last week, we've had two really good days' training this week. So we're tracking along in the right direction. We've got a couple of areas we need to keep working on and we'll continue to do that."
