Rugby league: Why Warriors homecoming could be in doubt due to New South Wales Covid-19 scare

Uncertainty around the Covid-19 scare in New South Wales could put the Warriors' homecoming at Mt Smart Stadium in doubt should the state be unable to get the outbreak under control.

The Warriors are set to host the Canterbury Bulldogs at their Penrose base on August 15, however with the Greater Sydney area in a two-week lockdown since 6pm local time on Saturday night, the future of that fixture appears murky.

Although the date is more than a month away, the latest outbreak serves as a reminder of how quickly the Covid-19 environment can change, particularly given the Warriors were supposed to be back in New Zealand already in their initial season plan.

In that plan, the Warriors were set to return to New Zealand this week and host the St George Illawarra Dragons at Mt Smart on Friday.

"Thankfully we made the decision to stay here because of the ongoing risk," Warriors chief executive Cameron George told the Herald.

"The Dragons wouldn't have been able to fly over to play us this week and we would've been separated again from families and taken back to Australia.

"In terms of the August date, we've just got to get through this week first and see where we get to then."

The Warriors, who are based on the Central Coast, are one of 10 NRL teams impacted by the New South Wales lockdown, with the Australian Rugby League commission set to meet in the coming days to discuss how best to work around the situation.

Those clubs have reverted to the same Covid-19 protocols they were observing during the 2020 campaign, with teams to go into their own bubbles and matches expected to be played behind closed doors in the Greater Sydney area.

The Warriors are scheduled to host the Dragons at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford on Friday night, however it is yet to be determined if that will still be the venue, with the possibility of matches being moved out of the Greater Sydney area rather than being played in empty stadiums.

"At this point in time, we're probably going to have another meeting tomorrow and will get a better idea of what the week looks like, but we were able to train as a group this morning in the confinement of our training facility. We just have to keep working with the NRL around what it looks like," George said.

"We've been here before. We had a brief chat this morning and said we've got to have a can-do attitude about everything that's getting thrown at us now. The thing I explained is we have just got to make sure we do the right thing and respect the situation we're in, but we've also got to have a real good can-do attitude of getting the job done.

"If that means we're in lockdown, it means we're in lockdown. We've been here before, we know how to handle it. We've just got to work through the process with everyone else."