After time away from the teams Central Coast base, Warriors duo Euan Aitken and Josh Curran have been forced into a two-week isolation under the COVID protocol.
The pair have been told to isolate after a cabin crew member from their Saturday night flight from Gold Coast to Sydney tested positive.
All passengers of the Virgin Australia flight have been told to isolate for up to two weeks, regardless of whether they return a positive test result or not.
Aitken and Curran have started their isolation away from the team but have yet to receive their own COVID test results. Both players took the opportunity to spend time away during the bye week, with Curran seeing family on the Gold Coast in what seemed at the time as a harmless endeavour.
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Four other Warrior teammates are nervously awaiting the pairs test results, as they have been deemed close contacts and are currently isolating themselves.
If Aitken and Curren return negative results, the four players will be able to leave isolation and be eligible to play the Warriors next match against the Dragons. If the results come back positive, the players will have to also isolate alongside Aitken and Curran for the next 14 days, giving headaches for the Warriors selection due to limited player availability.
Warriors CEO Cameron George was quick to squash any speculated wrong doing by the pair, shedding light on how the past 48 hours have played out.
"They are in isolation regardless of their test results, and the other four guys are also in isolation until the results come back," George said.
"They can then go back to normal if they are negative but Euan and Josh, regardless of their results, are in isolation for two weeks so that is a problem for us in terms of player availability for the next few games.
"The guys havenโt done anything wrong, they just happened to be on that flight and they now need to work through that now, and understand what that means."
The now spiralling COVID situation in Sydney has unfortunately delayed the Warriors plans to return to New Zealand, with the Trans Tasman travel bubble on hold indefinitely.
The same 2020 COVID protocols have been put on the NSW based clubs including the Central Coast based Warriors, with empty stadiums and charter flights being required for the indefinite future.
