Warriors coach Stephen Kearney is trying to keep positive after his side suffered a double-blow yesterday both on and off the field in the NRL's opening round.
The Warriors were thumped 20-0 by the Knights in their opening match of the season but just before kickoff, the New Zealand franchise also found out they would be heavily affected by the Government's new coronavirus policy.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced yesterday that everyone arriving in New Zealand would be forced to self-isolate for 14 days, meaning the Warriors would be on lockdown for two weeks when they returned from playing in Australia.
Kearney said that news didn't affect his players' mindset heading into the game.
"We've had a wonderful couple of weeks preparation leading into today," the Warriors coach said.
"We got beat up a bit. I thought the Knights did a really good job defensively and we couldn't get any traction with the footy."
Kearney added there were still some positives from his side even though they failed to score a point.
"I thought the group tried really hard, we just didn't put it in the right places at times," Kearney said. "The Knights did a really good job defensively, we couldn't gain any momentum. That's a credit to them and we've just got to be better at that."
The NRL is reportedly looking at making the Warriors camp in Australia until the policy is lifted as any team attempting to travel to New Zealand to play the Warriors would also be affected by the self-isolation requirements.
However, that could add stress to the Warriors with at least eight of the 17 who took the field yesterday being fathers to young families and Peta Hiku expecting a child next week.
The Warriors were meant to play the Sharks in round two at Eden Park as part of a double-header with the Auckland Blues but with the Super Rugby suspending its season due to the Government's policy, that is no longer the case.
A decision on the future of the NRL season is expected later today.
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