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Four Warriors players ditching team midway through season

Australian Associated Press
·2-min read
Pictured here, Ken Maumalo and David Fusitu'a are among the players returning to NZ.
Four homesick Warriors players are returning home to be with their families. Pic: Getty

The four homesick Warriors will depart midway through the NRL season after booking flights home to Auckland.

The club confirmed Ken Maumalo, David Fusitu'a, Agnatius Paasi and King Vuniyayawa will leave their Terrigal team base on July 27, two days after the round 11 match against the Sydney Roosters.

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It will come nearly three months after the squad began their historic relocation to Australia to play out the season.

Pictured here, the Warriors training at their Terrigal base in NSW.
The Warriors have been based in Terrigal on the NSW Central Coast. Pic: Getty

In that time, the NRL has been unable to convince government agencies to grant an exemption for the players' Kiwi families to join them.

The club had originally designated this Sunday's match against Cronulla as the last before the players were free to return home.

However, it is understood they have been unable to secure an Auckland flight until a week later, leaving the foursome clear to face the Roosters.

The Warriors will then seek four loan replacement players from other clubs, adding further disruption to a season that has been far from smooth sailing.

Club denies rift with player agent

This week, club management was forced to declare it doesn't have an issue with controversial player manager Isaac Moses, as has been widely reported.

Warriors owner Mark Robinson recently said the club wants to reduce its involvement with Moses, which partly explained why Moses-aligned pair Blake Green and Gerard Beale won't be re-signed.

Reports the club have asked veteran forward Adam Blair - also managed by Moses - not to take up an option to play next year prompted CEO Cameron George and chairman Rob Croot to issue a joint clarification.

"The fact is we have 12 players from our squad coming off contract this year and a number of managers are involved," their statement said.

"Who players are managed by doesn't form the basis of decisions we make when negotiating contracts."