The cumulative effect meant the Warriors didn’t have the resources to offer Tuivasa-Sheck what he would demand on the open market. Especially off the back of his brilliant 2025 season, where he rolled back the years with a series of vintage performances and scored 12 tries, his biggest haul in a decade.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck had a brilliant 2025 NRL season. Photo / Photosport
Then there was the contract term. While the Warriors were open to a one-year extension, the Herald understands that finding room for a two-year deal would have been much more difficult. It may have been a possibility – with a club option – but was remote.
A longer term would have also carried a degree of risk. Tuivasa-Sheck is the ultimate professional, who has been setting standards since he was a teenager and continues to show up opponents a decade younger. But the demands on wingers in the NRL are only increasing, and Tuivasa-Sheck will turn 33 in June. There aren’t many wingers or centres who survive into their mid-30s in this competition.
If Tuivasa-Sheck were the sentimental type, he might have considered a further 12 months in Auckland – with uncertainty beyond there – but he would have also known this might be his last big contract, depending on what happens with the much-hyped R360. His stock is high, after his 2025 deeds, so it made much more sense to seek a longer-term deal now. Though discussions were held with other NRL clubs – including the Roosters – the Super League option probably made more sense, for several reasons.
Firstly, he would have found it hard to play against the Warriors. He has done it before – when he was at the Roosters from 2012-2015 – but since then has given his heart and soul to the Penrose club, one of only two men to have captained the club more than 100 times, along with Simon Mannering and ahead of other illustrious names like Steve Price, Stacey Jones and Tohu Harris.
Secondly, the NRL is an unforgiving grind. Super League isn’t a holiday – far from it – but it is less intense and slightly easier on the body and mind.
Thirdly, going to Wakefield offers the opportunity to experience the Northern Hemisphere for a couple of years. It’s a priceless chance to explore Europe with his young family, while also pursuing any other business interests that might arise on that side of the world. Tuivasa-Sheck has always enjoyed pushing himself, and it’s an assignment that will take him outside his comfort zone.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been one of the most popular players in the history of the Warriors. Photo / Photosport
Fourthly, it will allow Roger to just be Roger for the first time in a decade. In most of England, Tuivasa-Sheck will be anonymous – outside the league heartland in Yorkshire and Lancashire. It will be a big change, because Tuivasa-Sheck has been public property here since 2016, when he returned from Sydney to sign for the Warriors. He was the face of the club for many years, and it’s still hard to be anywhere in the city without running into someone who wants a photo, an autograph or a quick conversation.
And finally, this means Tuivasa-Sheck can leave the Warriors – and the NRL – on a high. He remains as brilliant as ever, and that is how he will be remembered by fans in Australia and New Zealand, rather than the possibility of a lesser version by the end of the 2027 season.
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.