Damian McKenzie's three-week Super Rugby Trans-Tasman ban won't mean any time off, as he's expected to carry out some of the basic chores of his Chiefs teammates, assistant coach David Hill jokes.
McKenzie, 26, was shown a straight red card in the Chiefs' 40-34 loss to the Reds in Townsville, resulting in the first New Zealand defeat of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
The livewire playmaker has since been handed a three-week ban, and will miss the remainder of the competition.
But despite McKenzie's disappointment, Hill says that the Chiefs have been doing what they can to let their star make it up to his teammates.
"He was pretty upset after the game, he's slowly coming round," Hill says.
"He's slowly coming round... We're a pretty tight group. We give each other a little bit of stick.
"He's probably going to fill water bottles and do some laundry to make it up to us for the next day or two - until we kick him out and get rid of him."
"We've been giving Damo a bit of grief to be honest," teammate Mitchell Brown adds. "Rubbing it in a little bit, having a bit of fun."
But with McKenzie sidelined, the Chiefs will need to find a new first-five or fullback in order to replace the versatile playmaker for Sunday's clash against the Rebels.
"I think we're just lucky we've got good guys waiting in the wings, with Trasky [Kaleb Trask] and Gats [Bryn Gatland] and guys like that," Brown says.
"We've got Chase Tiatia and Shaun Stevenson who are both pretty classy fullbacks as well," adds Hill.
"We've got some great options, [we're] very confident and have faith and trust in the whole squad to do a job.
"We'll just crack on and find the best combination for the next couple of games."
McKenzie's ban will see him out of action until June 19 at the earliest, freeing him for the first All Blacks test of 2021, against Tonga at Mt Smart Stadium on July 3.
Join Newshub for live updates of the Chiefs v Rebels Super Rugby Trans-Tasman clash from 3:35pm Sunday.
