Gold Coast Titans coach Justin Holbrook will miss the club's second trial match against the New Zealand Warriors after testing positive to COVID.
It means Holbrook will spend a week in isolation, with the club releasing a brief statement to confirm the coach tested positive on Monday.
"Gold Coast Titans Coach Justin Holbrook has tested positive to COVID-19 today and will be in isolation for the next week," the statement read.
"He will miss Saturday’s trial game against the Warriors at Redcliffe."
It will come as a blow to the Titans, who will hand over control to the assistants in what has been touted by the club as essentially a full dress rehearsal ahead of their first regular season match against the Parramatta Eels a fortnight later.
Clubs have spent the entire pre-season grappling with the impacts of COVID, with all clubs having their pre-season disrupted, and some having to go as far as to cancel training for days at a time or cancel training camps.
While much has been made of players who will miss games through COVID, little has been made of coaches who catch the virus.
The Newcastle Knights spent their first trial on Monday evening without coach Adam O'Brien behind the clipboard in an intentional move to prepare for likely disruptions.
Other clubs could well employ the same procedures over the next week in an effort to prepare for the COVID-hit season as much as possible, with current government health regulations still requiring individuals to isolate for seven days upon either catching COVID, or being deemed a close contact, which is now defined as being in an enclosed space with a positive case for four or more hours.
The Titans trial against the Warriors will be played at Moreton Daily Stadium in Redcliffe on Saturday afternoon at 3pm (AEDT) - 2pm (local).