Garrick sweating on try celebration protocols

For the player who topped Manly's try-scoring list last season, it's a conundrum.

Reuben Garrick, who scored 16 tries from 28 games in his rookie year at Manly, doesn't know if he can hug his teammates, or receive high-fives, slaps on the back after scoring a try in the new social-distancing world of 2020.

"I haven't heard anything about that," Garrick said after Manly completed their first session under coach Des Hasler in six weeks.

"I haven't scored a try in 2020 yet so I have got to do that first before I think about celebrating them."

The NRL has mapped out detailed protocols and regulations for club training and players' living at home before the competition resumes on May 28.

One of the next steps will be reviewing – and perhaps amending – the rules for game day, depending on what the government health and medical experts will allow.

Contact sessions can be added to NRL club training regimes from this weekend.

As a winger Garrick doesn't do a lot of that anyway but he's just loving the fact he can run free again around his mates.

"I've had a lot of time to myself. I'm in an apartment with no backyard so it's been driving me insane," he said.

"I really enjoy training. As hard as it is it's been great coming back, having that camaraderie again. It's definitely something I've missed.

"You train as hard as you can by yourself but it's a different dynamic when you come back with the team. It's never the same by yourself."

However, in this new environment of watching who you touch or how not to congratulate someone who does something exceptional at training, Garrick is learning.

"You've got to hold yourself back a bit. At the same time it’s the protocols and we've got to do our part to get the game up and running," he said.

He thinks there is enough time for the Sea Eagles to find their rhythm by the time the Telstra Premiership resumes.

"I'm ready to play right now. But it's just three weeks to get those combinations sorted again.

"We did do a big pre-season before rounds one and two so that's not going to waste. There's a lot you can touch on and improve there."

Second-rower Curtis Sironen also relished the chance to link with his halfback Daly Cherry-Evans at training and then out to centre Moses Suli and Garrick on the right flank.

"We've been training in twos at most [during isolation] so being able to throw a footy again to more than that … I'm loving it," Sironen said.

"I've also really enjoyed the extra rest  ... I had off-season surgery so the extra rehab has been great even though I did play rounds one and two.

"There'll be a few sore bodies. But it's great to be back having a laugh, a bit of banter, spending some time with your mates."

Manly were due to play the Warriors in round three but a rescheduled draw – to be announced soon – may have a different opponent.

"Every team in the NRL is just as hard as one another. Every team shows up, especially after this break, everyone will want to start on the right foot," Garrick said.

And as for Hasler, happiness for the one they call "the Mad Professor" is having his students back.

"He probably missed footy more than anyone. He seems happy to be back here," Garrick said, adding that the flogging he gave the players on their first day back made the coach smile.