Warriors ace Herbert buoyed by family time

The first Warriors player to be reunited with family has described the emotion of the occasion and how it will motivate him through his NRL campaign.

Outside back Patrick Herbert welcomed partner Kirri and three-month old baby True Tuatahi Herbert into the team’s Gosford accommodation on Monday.

It was the first time any family member has linked up with the 50-strong squad of players and staff since they left Auckland on May 3.

Kirri and her son travelled from Auckland to Wollongong in early May after being given an exemption to isolate there with her Australian family for two weeks.

They spent a day and night with Herbert before returning south but the young family will be permanently together from next week at the team’s Terrigal apartments.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” Herbert said.

“It gave me a burst of hope and made me even more complete and gave me another drive to go to training and do what’s best for me and my little family.”

Details around when Herbert’s teammates will welcome family to Gosford remain unclear.

Herbert said leaving loved ones behind in Auckland was the toughest part of the Warriors’ commitment to play out the season in Australia, particularly because they are a family-orientated club.

“We don’t want to make it all for nothing,” he said.

“When times get tough, I think we can have that in our back pocket to push through those hard moments in a game.”

Herbert noted that his son had spent most of his life in isolation of some sort and suggested he might take him to Warriors games in his boot bag to introduce him to rugby league.

Herbert received an early lesson on how his living dynamics will change from next week when the family moves in.

“It was meant to be our sleep-in today and I was up at six o’clock.”

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