Warriors’ sad exile from New Zealand to continue in 2022

The New Zealand Warriors have announced they will be based in Redcliffe for the 2022 NRL season.

It represents yet another season away from their home nation for the Warriors, who spent the entire 2021 season in Australia due to Covid-imposed travel restrictions.

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The move to Redcliffe for next season is yet another gut-wrenching blow for the Warriors, as their homecoming game for 2021 at Mt Smart Stadium was cancelled due to the rapid Covid outbreak in Sydney in July.

Warriors chief executive Cameron George lamented the club wouldn’t be able to play in front of their home fans in New Zealand.

“Our dream hasn’t changed,” George said. “We’d love to be back in Auckland playing at home in front of our families, members, fans and sponsors next year, but we also have to ensure everyone here has some stability in their lives.

“With the pre-season starting in early November we don’t have much time to work with.

“We can’t get our players, staff and families back to New Zealand in the foreseeable future, so we need to have a base here, not to mention considering all the needs of our players, families and staff like accommodation, schools and job opportunities for partners.”

But George insists Redcliffe is the next best option for the Warriors and is thankful for the support of the powerbrokers at the Redcliffe Dolphins.

“We joined forces with the Dolphins two years ago and this wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Tony Murphy and our friends at the club,” George said.

“The Dolphins have got great facilities for our training needs and a wonderful venue in the Moreton Daily Stadium for the home games we’ll play there.

“This gives us some certainty about our plans for 2022.

“We couldn’t be more grateful.

“At the same time, we are leaving the option open to play games back home.

“Our members and fans have waited so long. We had to cancel plans to play the Bulldogs in Auckland in August and that really hurt.

“We’re just hoping the landscape will settle down to enable us to play five or six of our home games in New Zealand during the 2022 season.”

The Warriors will be hoping their fortunes in 2022 are a significant improvement on their 2021 season.

Despite unearthing a serious gem in young gun Reece Walsh, it was a year to forget as Nathan Brown’s side slumped to a 12th place finish after a promising start.

The Warriors were inside the top eight until round 10 when their form began to tail off.

A 44-0 thumping against the Gold Coast Titans left Brown with plenty of food for thought going into the off season as the club looks to make the finals in next year for just the second time since 2011.