Rugby league: Warriors cautiously optimistic about chance of NRL relocation, following travel bubble confirmation

Senior Warriors players are cautiously optimistic about the prospect of returning home, off the back of the government announcement regarding the transtasman bubble on Tuesday.

Quarantine free travel between New Zealand and Australia will be possible from April 19, which invokes the possibility of NRL games being staged at Mt Smart this season.

The Warriors haven't played in Penrose since August 2019, when they faced the Rabbitohs in the penultimate game of that season, and would welcome an end to their enforced absence.

"That would be great news and great news for the club," said Warriors vice captain Tohu Harris. "And for our fans as well. Obviously, there's a lot of things to go into it and we have to make sure it's safe for us to go back, without putting the competition in jeopardy. There's a lot of things that we need to consider."

The Warriors are scheduled to remain on the Central Coast for eleven more rounds. Their game against the Knights on June 19 is slated to be their last from the Australian base, ahead of a break for the representative round.

When the competition resumes the round 16 clash with the Dragons (July 2) could be their potential homecoming, with the Warriors scheduled to travel back on June 21

But that is dependant on the ongoing Covid-19 situation, as any hint of another border shutdown or local lockdown could have a chaotic effect, which means the players can't think too far ahead.

"It doesn't really change for us," said Harris. "We know the position we're in at the moment, and if we get to go home then that's a bonus and a huge positive.

"It's a bit harder the other way around if we were at home and then there was a day where we might have to go away for the first time, that's a different situation. But at the moment where we're pretty happy where we are."

"We've got a lot of time to get our heads around it [with] the dates that have been proposed to us so let's just wait and see and we'll deal with as it comes."

Fellow forward Jazz Tevaga, who is one of the few Warriors' players without his family in Australia, has a philosophical approach.

"I haven't heard too much about the bubble," said Tevaga. "I know we're locked in here until June. So I'm just going to focus on that. If the bubble opens up and my family want to come over and visit, happy days. But if not, I'll just continue what I'm doing."

The team was disappointed with their "passive" display in Sunday's 32-12 loss to the Roosters, a clear step back after their heroics in Canberra the week before.

"There was a lot of telling things in our review that showed that we didn't put ourselves in a position to compete with a side like that," said Harris. "Defensively we were passive and they were a lot more aggressive than us."

"That showed as the game wore on, it was harder for us to build momentum. They won a lot of the play the balls through that aggression and that line speed [and] we just didn't do that when they had the ball."

The Warriors are still assessing the extent of Addin Fonua-Blake's knee injury but the marquee prop is likely to be sidelined for several weeks.

"[At the time] we knew it was from a knee clash but we didn't know whether it was just a contusion or a cork," said Harris. "Obviously it's a bit more serious than a cork so hopefully we do get a good result out of that."

Warriors coach Nathan Brown has named a drastically reshaped forward pack for the clash with the Sea Eagles on Friday.

While the back division is the same, Addin Fonua-Blake (injury), Bayley Sironen (injury) and Bunty Afoa (suspended) are all unavailable.

That means a new front row of Tohu Harris and Leeson Ah Mau, while Jack Murchie will start in the back row.

Off season recruit Kane Evans is in line for his club debut after being named on the bench, with Tom Ale and Josh Curran the other new interchange options.