The Knights, along with 10 other NSW-based clubs and the Canberra Raiders, have been ordered by the NRL to relocate to Queensland for the next month in a desperate attempt to escape Sydney's coronavirus outbreak and keep the competition operational.

Newcastle will stay on the Sunshine Coast and share a resort and training facilities with Sydney Roosters, Manly and Penrith. The other relocated teams will be based in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.

Only the three Queensland sides and Melbourne Storm will be able to continue living and playing at home.

With eight rounds remaining and then another month of play-offs, players at the 12 relocated clubs could potentially be living in hubs for the rest of the season.

As the Knights prepared to pack bags before boarding a chartered flight on Wednesday, veteran Mitchell Pearce said it was a "stressful time" for players and their loved ones, but plenty of other people were "doing it tougher".

The NRL hopes partners and families will eventually be able to join players in the hub accommodation.

"People with partners, kids, it's a stressful time," Pearce said. "We can look at all the negatives around it, and that's going to get a lot of people down.

"Or you can look at the positives for us as footballers, and I know a lot of the boys were talking like that this morning, coming through the doors. We're getting paid good money. We've got a job to do. It's only going to be a short stint in the scheme of our lives ...

"We've just got to bunker down, wherever we're staying, and live and breathe footy for however long it takes."

Less than 24 hours after the announcement that Origin III had been switched from Newcastle to the Gold Coast, Knights players learned during a Zoom hook-up on Sunday that they would be relocating for at least the next four rounds.

They have no desire to re-live last year's 10-week lockdown during the first wave of the pandemic.

"There's a lot of gratitude from everyone that we still get paid great money to do what we love," Pearce said.

"I think if you asked any player in the NRL, we all live a privileged life in that regard.

"We appreciate what we do, and we get to do what we love.

"But the other side is it's obviously a real stress in that it's going to affect families and partners and kids. There's a lot of stress on people, but we're not alone there.

"There's a lot of people doing it tougher. But to go away from your families, is going to be tough for a lot of the boys ... it's a job that we need to go and get done, and that's what we'll be doing."

Pearce said after the experience of last year, players "were always aware that it was a possibility" they may need to be based in bubbles at some point during the season.

The Warriors have spent the past two seasons based in Australia, mainly on the Central Coast and in Tamworth, while Melbourne Storm stayed for much of 2020 on the Sunshine Coast.

"There's obviously positives in all situations, and negatives," Pearce said.

"Whichever team has the best mindset will benefit most out of this last little period going into the finals.

"I'd like to think we'll be a team that takes a positive approach. We're basically on the corner of the eight now, tying with Cronulla.

"So it's game on, not only for us but a lot of teams in and around the cluster there ... as a Newcastle club, we're all just focused on this back end of the year and doing the job, for the town and for us, to get what we want."

Pearce said there has been "plenty of chat" between players, coaches and officials about the need to adhere to the NRL's strict protocols. A host of players at rival clubs have already been sanctioned for flagrant breaches.

"That's purely at the forefront of our minds, regardless of where we're staying," he said.

Newcastle's players have to deal with the upheaval while trying to stay focused on one of their most daunting assignments of the season - Melbourne at AAMI Park on Saturday.

Pearce said it would be a "massive" boost if the Knights were able to upset the ladder leaders.

"It's a big challenge for us ... the toughest game of the season," he said.