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Warriors NRL players wavering on NZ return

3 minute read

Two of the three Warriors NRL players who had targeted a return to Auckland if their families can't cross the Tasman might yet stay put.

KEN MAUMALO
KEN MAUMALO Picture: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

The Warriors' deadline for NRL players returning home is looming large although interim coach Todd Payten has revealed two of them might yet change their minds.

Payten said the NRL had made no progress in its bid to get government exemptions for families to join the squad at their relocated base in Terrigal on the NSW central coast.

The club wants their request met by July 19 or else the door will be open for wingers David Fusitu'a and Ken Maumalo, along with prop Agnatius Paasi, to return to Auckland, quite possibly ending their seasons.

However, Peyton says while one unnamed player remains adamant he will end his time in Australia, the others might yet stay put.

"Two have probably wavered a little and one of the guys is still pretty firm on getting home," he said on Wednesday.

"It's not as black and white as people think in terms of homesickness. It's other extenuating family circumstances that are pulling them back, which I totally understand.

"We've got 12 days. We just need the government and NRL to give us the answer that we're looking for."

Payten didn't think the impasse was a distraction for the players in the lead-up to Friday's match against the Titans on the Gold Coast although, as a coach, he was "nervous" about the implications of seeking up to three more loan players after next week's game against Cronulla.

He has retained faith in the ability of ARL Commission boss Peter V'Landys to deliver on the promise the club received before they agreed in early May to undergo an Australian vigil.

"If I go on what I've seen from him in the last four-six months, I'm reasonably optimistic he'll get it done," Payten said.

"I'm still hopeful but we haven't had any progress in the last 12-13 weeks. I understand it's a government agency - I understand it's hundreds of applications."

Payten said the Warriors would benefit from the return of skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck from suspension and the first appearance this season of tough forward Jazz Tevaga off the bench.

Kodi Nikorima is ruled out after suffering a head knock in last week's 26-16 win over Brisbane. But Payten was impressed with how this week's starting five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita saw that match out.

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