The one phrase I have used the most this year centres on the disappointment of how the New Zealand Warriors' 2016 NRL season panned out. Everyone was quick to rip on the Warriors from every angle and while much if this was justified as their forwards were non-factors for much of the season, defensive woes continued and the Shaun Johnson x Thomas Leuluai halves combo stuttered, I kept falling back on the absence of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

Consider this to be my ancient philosopher moment; expectations of the Warriors were blown through the roof by the signing of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, with Tuivasa-Sheck ruled out for the season those expectations needed to change.

When Tuivasa-Sheck was signed, the Warriors automatically became a top-four NRL team in the mind of many. Yet when the Warriors were struggling, or upon reflection of how their season went, Tuivasa-Sheck's name was absent in much of the discussion about how the Warriors disappointed everyone once again. I found this to be a wee bit crazy, especially as just over a year ago (November 26, 2015) I wrote a thingy titled 'Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: The Great Hope'.

The impact of Tuivasa-Sheck's season ending injury was felt in what suddenly went missing from the Warriors line up and then the mayhem that followed with a rotating cast at fullback, a splintered play-making group.

2015 saw Tuivasa-Sheck break the record for most running metres in an NRL season. Allow that to simmer in your scattered brains folks, he was 22-years-old when he did this for the Roosters and this came about by averaging 22 carries and 229m every game. This earned Tuivasa-Sheck the Mr 200m title and anyone who averages 10m with every run, while taking over 20 runs a game, is going to boost any footy team. My favourite stat from Tuivasa-Sheck's 2015 season though - on top of his freakish running production/efficiency - is that he averaged .50 try assists each game, with 12 try assists for the season which had him only behind James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce.

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Throw in the fact that Tuivasa-Sheck scored 12 tries himself, played every damn game for the Chooks in 2015 and was named Dally M Fullback of the Year and we've got a legit freak-a-zoid who can change the course of a club. God, Jah, Buddha and Allah had different ideas for 2016 though as Tuivasa-Sheck came down with a bung knee and instead of having a fullback who breaks tackles for fun through the middle of the field, averaging 10m with every run, taking more runs than any Warriors prop would (into big forwards may I add) while also doing damage out on the edges with his speed and play-making ability ... the Warriors were left to fiddle with Tuimoala Lolohea and David Fusitua at fullback.

That situation was nothing less than a shambles, in stark contrast to the consistency that Tuivasa-Sheck offers. One week Lolohea was playing fullback, the next week he was yanked for Fusitua, with Fusitua then being moved to centre to cater to the needs of fans and punters who were baffled that Lolohea couldn't find a spot in this team. All of those distractions and general mayhem was created by the absence of Tuivasa-Sheck.

Tuivasa-Sheck is one of a few players in the NRL who could improve any team they are put in thanks to their ability as footy players. His arrival and subsequent absence also coincided with even more questions being asked about the culture at Mt Smart in what was a horrible season off the field for the club. This now offers some interesting context to a few paragraphs I wrote this time last year...

“Ali Lauitiiti’s signing made me ponder what value he would have in guiding the younger lads. Lauitiiti has experienced far more than any other current Warriors player has and while Manu Vatuvei is a great leader - specifically for the Island guys - Lauitiiti has lived in England for over 10 years and has a different perspective. Tuivasa-Sheck is similar, but he’s younger and will set the bar extremely high for others to follow suit.

While Lauitiiti, Luke and Robson offer experience and thus leadership, Tuivasa-Sheck can’t be slept on as a leader. I can’t believe that Tuivasa-Sheck (nor any other new recruit) hasn’t heard the talk of the Warriors’ culture etc and I have a funny feeling that Tuivasa-Sheck will make it his personal mission to change that.”

It's easy to judge and gauge how Tuivasa-Sheck can make the Warriors better on the field, I'd put the intangible influence of Tuivasa-Sheck up there as being almost as important as being Mr 200m/Dally M Fullback/record breaker. People like to connect the dots between a poor club culture and a team that has a large Pacific Island contingent - which is pretty much racism and neglects the fact that the club has been run mainly by smug white jokers.

Here we have a young Pacific Islander who took the hard road by leaving his home in Auckland straight out of high school to join the Roosters, flourishing in a highly professional environment where he won a Premiership. Tuivasa-Sheck is about as anti-stereotypical-Warriors-culture as they come, making him the perfect young leader for the club. He also happens to deal in entertainment as he's a powerful runner with all sorts of subtle skills; I'd suggest that if Tuivasa-Sheck plays a full season with the Warriors, he'll leap-frog Shaun Johnson in terms of popularity, marketability and the 'I wanna step like RTS' factor with the kids.

Just as Tuivasa-Sheck was conveniently forgotten in discussion amongst mainstream experts when dissecting another Warriors 'failure', Tuivasa-Sheck has kinda been forgotten as the face of the Warriors. I don't think it'll take too many games next season for that to change.