Tuivasa-Sheck hopes to take the middle ground
Warriors captain Roger TuivasaSheck hopes the new rule changes to the NRL will play right into his hands.
The team take on the Dragons in a ‘home’ game at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford today in their first match since the resumption of the competition.
There have been two significant rule changes since the NRL went into hibernation after round two, which are that there’s only one referee on the field and also that for ruck infringements the referee will signal six again for the attacking team, rather than stopping play for
challenges the club has had to endure . . . it feels a lot longer than that.’’
As he reflects on some of the decisions the club has had to make within that period, one word comes to mind: ‘‘Unprecedented.’’
George knows there are plenty more challenges on and of the field to come in 2020.
‘‘Saturday will be a telling factor a penalty. That could play into the hands of the Warriors’ fullback, who arguably has the best footwork in the NRL, and Tuivasa-Sheck says he’ll look to make runs up the middle against tired forwards, when the ‘six again’ call goes out.
‘‘That was the point we were trying to establish in the first couple of rounds,’’ Tuivasa-Sheck said.
‘‘To find a way for me to be more effective in the middle and with that six again rule, hopefully I can use my footwork around forwards who’ve done back to back tackles.
‘‘I know it’s a tough gig in the middle, but I’m going to try my best to use my speed around the middle, around Wayde [Egan] and Karl
for a lot of reasons,’’ he says.
When the Warriors run onto Central Coast Stadium to play the Dragons, George will be 2156km away at his home just outside Auckland with his partner Emma and their young daughter Stella-Rose.
There’s little doubt he owes them some time after the trials and tribulations of the last two months but [Lawton], our hookers and also our halves.’’
It’s fair to say that the Warriors didn’t have the best of starts to this
after getting emotional when he saw his players separated from their families as they boarded the flight to Tamworth on May 3, George isn’t complaining.
‘‘It’s definitely not about me, mate,’’ George says as he redirects a Stuff question back to his players and staff in Australia and their families stuck back in Auckland.
NRL round 3, Warriors v Dragons
Central Coast Stadium, Central Coast; 5pm today Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Patrick Herbert, Peta Hiku, Gerard Beale, Ken Maumalo, Kodi Nikorima, Blake Green, Lachlan Burr, Wayde Egan, Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, Isaiah Papali’i, Tohu Harris, Adam Blair. Interchange (from): Karl Lawton, King Vuniyayawa, Agnatius Paasi, Eliesa Katoa, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Josh Curran, Adam Pompey, Jack Murchie.
Matt Dufty, Jordan Pereira, Brayden Wiliame, Zac Lomax, Mikaele Ravalawa, Corey Norman, Ben Hunt, Korbin Sims, Cameron McInnes, Paul Vaughan, Tyson Frizell, Tariq Sims, James Graham. Interchange (from): Josh Kerr, Blake Lawrie, Tyrell Fuimaono, Sean Aitken, Trent Merrin, Adam Clune, Jacob Host, Jackson Ford.
season, losing to the Knights 20-0, then the Raiders 20-6.
They’ve been tipped to battle it out with the Titans for the wooden
‘‘We’re all riding a lot of emotion at our club and the players and their families are driving that which we’re all very proud of.
‘‘It’s a club achievement and one that I feel like until we’d been thrown this adversity, a lot of people in the rugby league fraternity and in sport on both sides of the Tasman didn’t think we had it in us.
spoon over the rest of the season, but Tuivasa-Sheck says they’ve used the down time to analyse where things were going wrong
‘‘I always knew that we did. ‘‘So to navigate our way through all this with our players, our families and our staff . . . the credibility our club has received from it makes us all very proud but not surprised.
‘‘I feel like we’ve awoken the world to what our club culture is about.’’
As
aclub,
George said the and have a new approach for the remaining 18 games.
‘‘We’re going to try to keep simple this time round,’’ he said.
‘‘We were pleased with how our pre-season went, we were happy with the combinations we created, but I think when we came out we had a low completion rate and we couldn’t attack the way we wanted to. So it’s about keeping it simple and trying to wear teams down before putting on the big shots.’’
The Warriors have made several changes from the team that lost to the Raiders on the Gold Coast, with one of them being Gerard Beale coming in to play centre, in place of David Fusitu’a. it
What: Where, when: Warriors:
Dragons:
Warriors have helped maximise the NRL’s potential.
‘‘Without us, we were probably going to jeopardise a lot of people’s jobs, a lot of people’s livelihoods and a lot of fans’ excitement and passion around the game so it’s a great achievement by the club from owners right through to players and families.’’