The past fortnight has been eventful for Warriors coach Stephen Kearney - to put it mildly.
With his side caught in Australian limbo as a result of the coronavirus border restrictions, Kearney has been forced to mitigate his own players' concerns over being separated from their families, while trying to keep them focussed on the field as well.
With the team back in New Zealand and reunited with their families after the NRL's decision to suspend the season, he's now facing another 14 days separated from his own loved ones.
Kearney has come back to Auckland to "tidy up a few things", leaving his Brisbane-based family behind and putting himself back into the two-week self-quarantine period.
“There's no doubt it's been a challenge [being away from the family] through this whole journey, working over here with the Warriors," Kearney told Fox Sports. "This has just added another level to it.
“I think, in times like these, as we would all know, you want to be closer to the ones that love you most and not to be able to do that [is hard].
"I'm here, battling on alone and not doing a great deal. I got some dumbbells from the footy club last night, so I'll be working out of my garage over the next couple of weeks - star jumps, walking up the stairs a 1000 times.
"My wife back home, who's got two girls, [has] been looking after them... it's been a challenge."
And Kearney admits there are plenty of challenges ahead, as his squad faces four weeks in lockdown.
Although there's no resumption to their season yet in sight, all players will need to find a way to remain in game-shape.
"Our footy club will be locked up, as of tonight... Mt Smart Stadium, where we do all our training, will be locked up and won’t be opening up for four weeks.
"We're working through that with our high performance manager and we're going to try to manage that best we can. Its an opportunity for the lads to have a bit of a break, but you can’t do a great deal', when you can't leave the house for 14 days.
"So it's going to be a challenge... probably doing squats in the garage by yourself.
"We’re just going to try and manage it that way - its difficult times."
