AFTER wearing Tamworth on their hearts all season, the New Zealand Warriors, featuring Milton-Ulladulla's Jack Murchie, have now been given the chance to play in front of local fans at their original home away from home during their COVID-19 affected NRL campaign.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It follows confirmation by the NRL on Monday that the Warriors' round 16 encounter with the Newcastle Knights has been set down for Scully Park - Australia's country music capital on Saturday, August 29 from 3pm.
The Warriors, who recently announced Nathan Brown as their head coach from 2021, spent more than two weeks in quarantine in Tamworth after flying in on May 3 ahead of the resumption to the NRL season.
The stay had a profound effect on the players and staff with Tamworth's postcode 2340 being embroidered on the club's playing jerseys as a way of thanking the community for its support in giving the Vodafone Warriors a home when they went into quarantine.
"It's such an exciting opportunity for us being able to return to Tamworth to play in front of fans at Scully Park," said Warriors CEO Cameron George.
"We've played with Tamworth's postcode 2340 on our jerseys throughout the season and hold the region and its people very close to our hearts.
"We'll never forget what they did for us.
"When we were stuck without a home just before the season was about to resume Tamworth came to the rescue by setting up a home away from home for our players and staff to meet their quarantine requirements.
"The circumstances meant the team couldn't connect with the community then but with this game, we'll, at last, have a chance to say thank you to those who are able to make it to the game."
Warriors captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck said he and the players had always hoped they'd be able to return to play in Tamworth.
"We loved our time in Tamworth and can't thank the people enough for how welcoming they were," he said.
"While we weren't able to get out of our bubble then we felt like the whole city was with us and has been ever since.
"Every time we trained on Scully Park we thought how cool it would be to play an NRL game there as a way of saying thanks.
"It's awesome that we'll now be able to do that on August 29."
