Warriors players hope to go home next month but are prepared to remain in Australia for a second successive season to ensure the competition continues without the risk of being disrupted by border closures.
A meeting between Warriors management and the NRL next week is expected to decide whether the team can return to New Zealand on June 21 as scheduled to prepare for their first home match at Mt Smart Stadium in almost two years against St George Illawarra on July 2.
The decision by the New Zealand government to ban travellers from NSW last weekend after a man from Sydney’s eastern suburbs tested positive to COVID-19 has raised concerns that the team could be stranded on either side of the Tasman whenever future cases occur.
Warriors coach Nathan Brown stopped short of publicly criticising Parramatta for needing to seek an exemption to the NRL’s COVID protocols to name a team for Sunday’s match at Suncorp Stadium but he did remind the Eels of the sacrifices made by his club and players.
Parramatta are awaiting clearances for rookie five-eighth Jakob Arthur, interchange forward Ray Stone, back-up hooker Joey Lussick and utility Jordan Rankin after ignoring the NRL’s advice to clubs to withdraw players from last weekend’s NSW Cup matches.
With five-eighth Dylan Brown and centre Marata Niukore suspended, the Eels have only 17 available players who had remained within their COVID biosecurity bubble after the NRL re-introduced Level 3 restrictions last Thursday.
With Chanel Harris-Tavita returning from a foot injury last week for the first time since round two, Brown injected Walsh into the game with 26 minutes to play in last Sunday’s disastrous 38-32 loss to Manly. Playing in the halves, the former Bronco made an immediate impact with a line break, a try assist, two tackle breaks and a try of his own.
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It was confirmed on Tuesday that Peta Hiku’s shoulder injury will rule him out for the rest of the season. But Walsh only made three tackles and missed just as many so with Brown already raising the issue of possible burnout for the teenager later in the season, he will want to tread carefully with his prized recruit at such an early stage in his career.