New Zealand's most capped NRL player Adam Blair has been praised for his leadership after the Warriors veteran announced he will retire this weekend.
Blair confirmed on Saturday that Sunday's clash with Manly would be his last in the NRL, taking his tally to 331 games after previous stints at Melbourne, Wests Tigers and Brisbane.
The 34-year-old has been one of the Warriors' inspirational leaders this year, ever since photos of him leaving his wife Jess and young family in New Zealand emerged in May.
"Adam has made an amazing contribution not just to the Warriors but to rugby league across the board," Warriors chief executive Cameron George said.
"He has had a huge influence on our players, especially the younger ones, with the way he has gone about looking after himself.
"He sets extremely high standards off the field and in the way he prepares himself for every training session and every game.
"It would have been an incredibly difficult decision for Adam knowing he had the option to play on for another year but, in the end, Jess and the kids have come first."
Coach Todd Payten also praised the way Blair had handled himself earlier this month, after his grandmother died in New Zealand as he remained in camp in Australia.
Blair finishes with the most games of all New Zealanders in the NRL, ahead of Benji Marshall (324), Ruben Wiki (311) and Simon Mannering (301).
Meanwhile, the tribute to Blair will be a fitting way to end the Warriors' time in Australia and in camp on the Central Coast.
At one stage they won four of five games to become a shock finals contender, before dropping their last three.
Players and staff will return to New Zealand via a chartered flight on Monday morning, before spending two weeks in hotel quarantine.
"The Warriors have been outstanding the way they've been able to carry themselves," Manly coach Des Hasler said.
"There's something too with COVID ... maybe actually being in camp has been beneficial for those sides.
"I know it has worked very well for Melbourne ... so there are positives and negatives about it.
"But the sacrifices they have made in regard to being away from family is a wonderful testimony to them and the way they have handled that."
STATS THAT MATTER:
* Warriors have won three of their past four against Manly.
* The Warriors are ranked in the bottom three teams for points scored, linebreaks and tackle busts.
* Manly's 24 points conceded per game this year is the most of any Des Hasler-coached side since 2005.
Stats: Fox Sports
