The 31-year-old will return to the wing after spending 2024 at centre. Video / Michael Burgess
Twelve years ago, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was named the NRL’s best winger, as part of a premiership-winning Sydney Roosters side.
But after moving to fullback, switching clubs and switching codes, the 31-year-old is back to where it all started, albeit as his side kick-off the NRL in the unfamiliar setting of Las Vegas.
As expected, Tuivasa-Sheck will start 2025 on the wing, named to wear the No 5 when the Warriors run out against the Canberra Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
Admittedly, that shirt number is only one different to the No 4 he donned to start last season. In reality, though, Tuivasa-Sheck will hope 2025 plays out much differently.
Despite being named as the NRL’s best fullback in 2015 and the competition’s best player altogether in 2018, the No 1 jersey was occupied by Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad by the time he returned to the sport after a switch to the Blues.
That forced Tuivasa-Sheck elsewhere, and with the two wing spots held by Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Marcelo Montoya, centre was where he’d slot in to hold down a first-team place.
However, 12 months on, you’d be hard pressed to make the case that Tuivasa-Sheck’s time in the centres yielded the same success as his days in the back three.
And now, on the eve of the Warriors’ 2025 campaign, the man himself concedes that while it didn’t pan out the way he or coach Andrew Webster envisioned, there’s no regrets on his part.
“At this stage of my career, I’m just glad to be on the field, glad to be in the 17,” he said.
“The coach had an idea of where he wanted to play me, he had the game plan. For me, as a player, I was just keen to get on the field.
“I bought into the game plan. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s all part of the game of NRL.
“You have to keep moving forward with it. This year I’m excited to be on the wing. We’ll go from there.”
Tuivasa-Sheck should at the very least feel comfortable back in his old position.
Beginning his career at the Sydney Roosters, he spent his first two seasons playing as a winger, before moving to fullback after Anthony Minichiello retired at the end of 2015.
And even though Tuivasa-Sheck didn’t look back once he did switch to fullback, his skill-set comfortably meets the demands required of a modern-day winger.
Even in his 30s, Tuivasa-Sheck still boasts the fast footwork needed for an outside back, while his game intelligence and physicality have never been in question.
In the Warriors’ pre-season victory over the Melbourne Storm, he scored twice and made 104 running metres playing on the wing.
Those metres will be more than handy once the season begins in earnest, with Webster’s Warriors game plan relying on wingers to carry the ball at the start of sets, and get forwards into position to attack the try-line.
From a fourth-placed regular season finish in Webster’s first campaign, 2024 had the Warriors in 13th, with just nine wins from 24 games.
But this year has brought a reset with it.
Captain Tohu Harris and Shaun Johnson have both retired, while Addin Fonua-Blake has also departed for the bright lights of Cronulla.
But given his place as a senior statesman and former captain of the club himself, Tuivasa-Sheck says Sunday’s season opener against the Raiders gives the Warriors their first chance to make a statement that 2025 is, in fact, their year.
“It’s a chance for us to show what we’ve been doing over the pre-season. We’ve got a new group, a new set of leaders, new players coming in, new plans.
“I’m just excited to go out there and express it. The last month we’ve been running against each other.
“I’m excited to play with this new group of boys.”
Alex Powell is an online sports editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.
