The NZ Warriors may yet host games at Mt Smart Stadium this winter, with Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters suggesting the club's return to Australia could help pave the way to a 'trans-Tasman bubble'.
After more than a month in coronavirus lockdown, the Auckland-based team have travelled to the New South Wales town of Tamworth, where they will simultaneously train and undergo a 14-day quarantine to prepare for the planned NRL season restart on May 28.
On Monday, Peters - who's also NZ's Foreign Affairs Minister - congratulated both the NRL and the Warriors for taking the first step to potentially establishing a more open travel relationship with Australia.
"The Warriors' participation in the NRL in Australia shows that a trans-Tasman bubble could work seriously well," Peters says.
"Australia and New Zealand are two of the most integrated economies in the world. The idea of a bubble with Australia was floated two weeks ago and this is an example of the sort of action that could happen within it, while always ensuring the protection of public health.
"Officials in both countries are considering all aspects of the trans-Tasman concept and planning how this could happen more broadly."
Last week, Peters said the bubble would only work without the mandatory 14-day quarantine on either side of the Tasman, an idea that now seems closer, given encouraging recent COVID-19 statistics across Australasia.
"Officials in both countries are considering all aspects of the trans-Tasman concept and planning how this could happen more broadly," Peters adds.
"A trans-Tasman bubble needs to be carefully managed, as we move out our COVID-19 restrictions."
Under current planning, the Warriors would stay in Australia for the rest of the NRL season, which is scheduled to finish in October.
The loss of revenue from home games constitutes a substantial financial blow for the club and chief executive Cameron George is cautiously optimistic that blow could at least be somewhat softened.
"If you asked me two weeks ago, I would have said no, but it's shifted so dramatically in the space of two weeks," George told Sky Sports Radio. "Who knows what it's going to look like in a month's time.
"If Australia-New Zealand restrictions get relaxed to a point that enables us to come home, there's a big possibility of that happening.
"But we've focused on being there for the duration. That's our mindset."
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney also added his endorsement to the suggestion.
"If we were to get some games at Mt Smart at the back end of the competition, that'd be good," Kearney said from the team's new base in Tamworth.
"We'll keep our fingers crossed that everyone does the right thing on both sides of the Tasman.
"We might get to that stage."
