NRL players have packed up their lives and left locked-down Sydney to keep the 2021 season going in Queensland, with a double-header on the Gold Coast kicking off hub play.
Every team except Melbourne will be settled in the sunshine state as of Wednesday night, with some families to follow suit next week.
But they will quarantine separately for two weeks before being reunited with partners and dads.
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The Warriors’ mid-season recruit Chad Townsend was among the players preparing for time away from their children.
“Essentials sorted,” he joked on a picture of two of his kids sitting in a suitcase, with his youngest lying nearby.
“All for you.”
Bulldogs prop Ava Seumanufagai shared an image of himself with his daughter.
“Feels like daddy just got home and now he’s going again,” he wrote.
“She’ll understand one day that everything I do is for her.“Shoutout to all the boys and their families in same boat. We got this. Be home soon.”
Rabbitohs veteran Alex Johnston offered two versions of his departure.
The former NSW winger put his baby in a suitcase and wrote “packing the essentials”.
Then he filmed a TikTok, which you can watch in the video at the top of the page.
“You’re my baby. Of course I’m going to take you, of course I wouldn’t leave you behind,” he said.
The camera shifted to show Johnston talking to his Playstation - with his child now sitting on the floor behind him.
Canberra forward Corey Horsburgh, meanwhile, shared a picture of his dog looking out of a car window.
“How sad,” he wrote with a laughing emoji.
Almost 500 players and staff boarded the chartered flights out of NSW and the ACT on Wednesday for at least a month in Queensland.
But there is every belief it could last the rest of the season.
Each member of the game’s bubble has been warned about their behaviour and need to follow quarantine rules.
They will be kicked out of Queensland if they don’t comply.
Most players committed to the trip after being told late Monday night to have their bags packed to be sent north.
One of the biggest questions surrounded Cronulla prop Aaron Woods, whose wife Sarah is due to give birth this week.
He was on Tuesday named by the Sharks to take on Canberra on Saturday.
- with AAP
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