Rugby league: New Zealand Warriors to lose Euan Aitken and Josh Curran for two weeks after Covid-19 scare

The Warriors will be without star duo Euan Aitken and Josh Curran for the next two weeks after the pair were passengers on a flight with a Covid-19 positive flight attendant.

The two players were returning to the Warriors' base on the Central Coast after spending time during the bye week on the Gold Coast, and will now have to isolate for 14 days – regardless of their own test results.

"They flew back on a flight last night from the Gold Coast to Sydney with an air hostess who has tested positive so they've had to now go into quarantine for two weeks regardless of their test results – they got tested today – so that's where we're at with them," Warriors chief executive Cameron George confirmed to the Herald.

"Poor old Euan, he was supposed to be on a flight earlier in the day but that got cancelled so he got onto this flight, the poor bugger. So, they're stuck in their rooms in isolation for 14 days."

The club allowed players and staff to spend time away from the team base during the bye week, affording them some time to enjoy the break. A number of players and staff returned to New Zealand during that time, with about a dozen arriving back over the Tasman yesterday.

"They're just unfortunate now," George said of Aitken and Curran's situation. "We got that news this morning and worked through the process today. Everyone's aware of what we have to do and how we do it. Unfortunately, they're just not eligible to play.

"We just seem to get the raw end of the deal every time something's happening at the moment. But you just have to deal with it, look at opportunities and see how we work through it."

The Warriors are already in lockdown in their team bubble, with the Central Coast and the rest of the Greater Sydney area having a stay-at-home order in place since 6pm local time on Saturday. The area will be in lockdown for 14 days, and it is expected the NRL matches scheduled to be played in the area during that time will be played in empty stadiums.

The Australian Rugby League commission is set to meet early this week to decide how to proceed with the competition, with 10 of the 16 teams in the competition based in the impacted area.

The Warriors are scheduled to host the St George Illawarra Dragons at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford on Friday night, though there is a chance games scheduled to be played in the area could yet be relocated.