Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to remain in NRL despite approach from NZ Rugby
He’s led the Warriors so well in their four-month nomadic existence that the All Blacks came calling. But Roger Tuivasa-Sheck obviously isn’t easily impressed by one of the world’s best sporting brands.
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Warriors captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is poised to remain in the NRL despite being approached by New Zealand Rugby for a code switch next year.
The 27-year-old has one million good reasons to stay in league, but also the priceless gift of basing his family in Australia next year, with the Warriors set to be based in Queensland’s Redcliffe.
Tuivasa-Sheck has struggled throughout the 2020 NRL season being away from his wife and two young children — who are in Auckland — however it was a family decision and he did have the option of relocating them to Central Coast, where the team has been based due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions.
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His son was only three months old at the time the NRL hub set in, and Tuivasa-Sheck and wife Ashley decided it was best for the children to remain at home in Auckland.
Since then, speculation has been rife that Tuivasa-Sheck could switch codes in order to be closer to his family.
With the increasing likelihood of the Warriors being based in Redcliffe for the entirety of the 2021 NRL season, as opposed to Central Coast where most Warriors players are comfortable, rugby sensed an opportunity.
NZR contacted Tuivasa-Sheck about switching to union and potentially trying to become an All Black.
However, their offer is understood to have been around $550,000 a year — the top All Blacks earner, Beauden Barrett, receives $990,000 a season.
Tuivasa-Sheck is earning $1.1 million a year as the third-highest paid NRL player, only behind Daly Cherry-Evans and Ben Hunt. and has two years to run on his contract.
Over the course of two years, he’d lose more than $1 million if he switched to New Zealand rugby.
Added to that, Tuivasa-Sheck has been assured he can relocate his family to Redcliffe next year — and that has virtually shut the door on any code switch.
It means the Warriors – who are set to sign Manly’s Addin Fonua-Blake – will have their captain on board until the end of 2022.
The Warriors play the Raiders in Canberra on Sunday, followed by Manly on Saturday week, and will then return to Auckland for the first time since May for a mandatory quarantine before they’ll be reunited with their families.
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The team bravely fought for a finals spot this season under immense emotional turmoil — four players returned to New Zealand under the strain of family separation — but they cannot make the playoffs after losing to Cronulla last weekend.
The Warriors, under new coach Nathan Brown, will spend the Christmas holidays in Auckland and also have a seven-week pre-season camp there before the squad and their families relocate to Redcliffe in 2021.
Some players’ wives, who hold Tongan passports, have not yet obtained permission to relocate to Australia next year, but Warriors and NRL officials are working with the respective governments to ensure this is resolved in coming months.
Originally published as Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to remain in NRL despite approach from NZ Rugby