Newcastle Knights have shelved their normal routine and will travel to Sydney on game day for Sunday's clash against Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval as the NRL brings in strict new isolation rules aimed at protecting the players from the coronavirus.
The decision not to travel the day before the game and stay in a hotel overnight was made at the request of the NRL to avoid potential interaction with the public.
Knights coach Adam O'Brien and his staff and players will instead bus it down to Leichhardt Oval, leaving mid-morning Sunday, with the aim of arriving at the ground around two hours before kick-off after a meal and walk at a local park.
It's understood it is the first time in 27 years the club has traveled on game day for an NRL match in Sydney.
Knights director of football Danny Buderus said the new measures are necessary because of the current extraordinary circumstances.
"Everyone's in the same situation with game-day travel and the strong isolation procedures that are in place so it's going to be whoever handles things the best that will come out all the better for it," Buderus said.
"At the moment, we are just challenging our players and all our staff along those lines. We need to all play our part in that. The idea of staying in a hotel is against the procedures of the NRL and given the circumstances, that's totally understandable."
It's believed the last time a Knights' NRL side opted to travel to Sydney on the day of a game was back in 1993 when David Waite was coach and Michael Hagan was captain.
It was for a clash against North Sydney at North Sydney Oval when the cash-strapped Knights were out of finals contention and looking to save some money on accommodation. The Bears scored five tries in a 34-4 thumping. Buderus doesn't expect any issues on Sunday and there will be no excuses if the Knights don't perform.
"There will be no rush to get there and the plan is to have a bit of a walk around at a local park down there beforehand," he said.
"As we normally would, we'll have a pre-game meal prepared to take down with us and we'll stop and have that as well. The idea is to get to the ground around 2 pm which is normally when we would arrive a couple of hours before kick off. That's the one thing we wanted to keep normal for the players - getting to the ground two hours before we kick off. We view that as a key component of our preparation."
Asked how the coach and players have adapted to the stricter isolation rules, Buderus said:
"Adam is just getting on with it. Everyone is in the same boat and there is nothing we can do so it's about getting prepared as best as we possibly can and getting ready for 4 pm Sunday."
Meanwhile, Daniel Saifiti [34mins] and Herman Ese'ese [26mins] will be looking for more game time than they received against the Warriors when they come up against the Tigers. Both were disadvantaged when Jacob Saifiti and Tim Glasby went off for HIA's but later returned.
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