Everything about New Zealand Warriors is pretty depressing right now, so news of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's return to Aotearoa to prepare for his rugby union shift forced me to tap into excitement. Having loosely followed Auckland Blues matters and generally observing Aotearoa rugby at the same time as documenting the Aotearoa Warriors and Kiwi-NRL takeover, this is an intriguing intersection of rugby code antics.

The first thing to know about Tuivasa-Sheck and his time at the Warriors revolves around the NZ Warriors curse. This is not the space for an exploration into the NZ Warriors curse and all that needs to be shared is that 25 years have seen the same dark voodoo manifested in various ways - regardless of the people who come and go. My favourite version of Tuivasa-Sheck in the NRL was his four years at the Roosters where he quickly became one of the best wingers in his first two seasons, before sharing fullback duties with Anthony Minichello and then taking over that gig fulltime.

As soon as Tuivasa-Sheck linked up with the Warriors, the curse wiggled it's way into the equation. Seven games in, a bung knee rubbed out that first season and then we started the Stephen Kearney era in 2017 with the highlight being 2018 when the Warriors finished 8th and Tuivasa-Sheck won the Dally M (MVP) award and Fullback of the Year. That was the only year during Tuivasa-Sheck's Warriors tenure in which the Warriors finished better than 10th and had a winning percentage over 45 (57%).

My memory is currently refreshing among clouds of Lorde’s vitamin smoke, so I'm not sure what you remember from the 2018 season. Apart from the six games in his first year of NRL footy (2012) and the seven games in 2016, Tuivasa-Sheck's best year with the Warriors in 2018 saw him score the fewest tries (3), average the lowest run metres per game (178m/game) and register his worst tackling percentage (59.10%) of his career.

Correct. You got it. Chur whanau.

Tuivasa-Sheck's award-winning 2018 was the worst statistical season of his eight seasons with 10+ games.

Tuivasa-Sheck averaged 200+ metres per game in four years of his 10-year career. The first was his last year with the Roosters when he was peak-RTS and this came with 70 percent win rate. The other three years of 200+ metres per game were his last three years with the Warriors and this saw the Warriors win less than 40 percent of Tuivasa-Sheck's games in each of these three seasons.

In true Warriors fashion, Tuivasa-Sheck played under four coaches across six seasons with the Warriors. The Warriors had seven coaches last decade, eight if we chuck Nathan Brown into that equation. Tuivasa-Sheck got a taste of the NZ Warriors curse in his first season and then got the full hangi of Warriors curse antics. In full Warriors curse styles, the year everyone got to celebrate Tuivasa-Sheck was his worst statistical season and as I can't bring myself to say anything negative about the Otara legend; the fact that Tuivasa-Sheck couldn't impact winning with the Warriors is because of the curse.

I've steadily pondered how Tuivasa-Sheck's stats relate to winning during his time with NZ Warriors and this flows into his best asset that he'll take into rugby union - running the footy. If he wasn't averaging 200+ metres, Tuivasa-Sheck was bumping that 200m mark every game and this was mainly due to his usage as a 'up the guts' ball-runner early in sets of six. Tuivasa-Sheck would routinely make a defender miss and/or poke through the defensive line to get his team on the front foot.

Everything before and after would not take advantage of Tuivasa-Sheck's mahi though. Perhaps we could point to better ways of using Tuivasa-Sheck such as him hovering around the ruck, ready to pounce on momentum or zoning in on giving Tuivasa-Sheck favourable conditions; time, space and a staggered defensive line. Instead, Tuivasa-Sheck was essentially a glorified battering ram while with NZ Warriors.

Tuivasa-Sheck did not find a 'last pass' groove either as many of the NRL's best fullbacks do. This again is likely due to how NZ Warriors used Tuivasa-Sheck and instead of being selective, saving energy for attacking bursts, we got the battering ram. A fabulous, fun, fresh battering ram but Tuivasa-Sheck rarely looked comfortable finding extra numbers out on an edge with a range of passes.

Not much of a kicker, Tuivasa-Sheck did take up some of the drop-out duties this season and could bang them 45m. Tuivasa-Sheck averaged the most kicking metres per game in each of his last three seasons and after forcing three drop-outs in his first seven seasons, Tuivasa-Sheck forced seven droppies in the last three seasons.

Running, distribution and kicking.

Other factors such as defence are harder to gauge as Tuivasa-Sheck was usually caught in niggly spot defensively due to his team ... not being very good. At fullback, Tuivasa-Sheck missed tackles and made try-saving efforts. I can't measure his defence, I can suggest that his mana can't be questioned and if defending in rugby union midfield position, Tuivasa-Sheck's drive will see swift improvements.

I genuinely believe Tuivasa-Sheck has the best footwork of either code around the whole planet.

Let that sink in.

A 10/10 grade for Tuivasa-Sheck's running isn't hyperbole.. His distribution and kicking skills are weaker though and I'd chuck his distribution around 6-7 out of 10 (offloads are huge in this) with his kicking falling down to 5-ish. Hence, I do not believe Tuivasa-Sheck would play fullback for Auckland or The Blues in the next six months.

Wing could be an option, yet my favourite option is the midfield. Wing would provide Tuivasa-Sheck ample opportunities to run at forwards with more gaps in the defensive line when returning kicks, plus no defender could stop Tuivasa-Sheck out wide when isolated. Midfield would require some work on his range of passing, while I'm eager to see Tuivasa-Sheck get the footy in the standard 'out the back' play which both codes are structured around.

In union this means first-five passing behind a pod of forwards, with Tuivasa-Sheck getting the footy in space against a moving defensive line. Quick recycles will be a staple of Tuivasa-Sheck’s work and he's also got the ability to offload which comes after poking through the defensive line. This could see Tuivasa-Sheck shine as a midfield off-loader like the uso Sonny Billy Williams.

I do not believe Tuivasa-Sheck is an automatic All Blacks factor. That's mainly due to All Blacks depth as there are wingers/midfielders with the All Blacks who are already world-class, which Tuivasa-Sheck has to work towards. At the NPC level for Auckland, I'd strongly advise catching a glimpse of Tuivasa-Sheck as he'd be making a lot of blokes look as though they were tackling Caspar.

This leaves me most interested in how Tuivasa-Sheck fits into the Blues. Zarn Sullivan is an excellent fullback with something Tuivasa-Sheck doesn't have - a booming left boot. Caleb Clarke and Mark Telea are pretty damn good wingers, AJ Lam goes hard and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkins is a highly decorated prospect. TJ Faiane is one of my favourite union players and I'd love to partner his skill as a typical #12 with Tuivasa-Sheck; that's already the case with Faiane and Rieko Ioane though.

The Blues squad for 2022 won't be sussed until later this year and perhaps some lads will make a move to open up passage for Tuivasa-Sheck. As sexy as a Tuivasa-Sheck/Ioane midfield combo appears, they are extremely similar in having running as their best weapon and I'd want Faiane to balance that out somehow. Then again with Beauden Barrett (Harry Plummer and Stephen Perofeta offering depth) pulling the strings and Sullivan dabbling in play-making/kicking, that could be the balance that I'm looking for with Faiane.

Tuivasa-Sheck went to school down the road from where I grew up. He's a South Auckland legend and coming from Aotearoa where we see nifty footwork every day, this dude has the best footwork I have ever seen. This sets up the most intriguing wrinkle of Tuivasa-Sheck's move to union as I'm curious to see how such an excellent ball-runner transitions back to union - how does the best footwork in the world look on a union field in 2021?

We also know for certain that Tuivasa-Sheck is a top-tier bloke and professional. This means that I'm confident Tuivasa-Sheck will develop his weaker skills and he will want to showcase a wider variety of skills than he has been doing in recent years. Remember that as a kid Tuivasa-Sheck would focus energy on training his footwork, plus Tuivasa-Sheck has consistently pushed himself out of his comfort zone to grow as a young man. That's where I expect Tuivasa-Sheck to shine.

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