NRL: Brian McClennan urges Warriors to stay in Australia and continue season

Former Kiwis and Warriors coach Brian McClennan has urged the Warriors to stay in Australia so the NRL season can continue.

The Warriors were due to fly home on Sunday after losing their Round Two game to Newcastle on Saturday, but agreed to stay put for at least the following week after the New Zealand government enforced guidelines that would see people entering the country needing to self-isolate for 14 days.

The Warriors have based themselves in Kingscliff in northern NSW ahead of this Saturday's game against Canberra and it's unknown yet whether they will commit to staying in Australia beyond that, or go home.

Australian Rugby League Commission boss Peter V'landys told The Daily Telegraph it's still possible the season may carry on without the Warriors, but if they returned home and were forced to self-isolate it would still be a major disruption to the league.

McClennan said the club should be "more hard-nosed" about staying on this side of the Tasman and wants it to "keep cracking on and going as far as you can with it" so the season has a greater chance of continuing.

"You should always endeavour to keep going forward," McClennan said today in an interview with Trackside Radio.

"I personally believe they have to try and stay there and crack on."

Brian McClennan. Photo / Photosport

McClennan said rather than treating rugby league like a game, the NRL should be viewed as an employer and the players as the employees who, if they want to keep getting paid, should do what's necessary to go to work.

"You'd be trying to keep them there. I would be. I'd be saying, 'Hey, at the end of the day, this is our job'," McClennan said.

"You've got to try and compare it to other forms of employment ... they've got to stop thinking about themselves as rugby league players and just think about themselves as employees.

"There are miners that go six weeks on and a couple off weeks off because that's how they support their families at the end of the day.

"Everyone's got to get a bit more hard-nosed and crack on."