High excitement: RTS at fullback
By the time the Warriors run out on to Mt Smart Stadium tomorrow, it will have been 1003 days since Roger Tuivasa-Sheck last wore No 1 for the NRL club.
And if fans are excited by his return to the fullback spot, Warriors coach Andrew Webster shares their enthusiasm.
Despite the 2024 NRL season being just three rounds old, the Warriors have been hit hard in their No 1 stocks.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (hamstring) is yet to play in 2024 after being injured pre-season.
Taine Tuaupiki has been solid at fullback but was ruled out of facing the Newcastle Knights tomorrow through concussion.
That leaves the Warriors down to their third choice No 1, albeit with the huge caveat of being one of the best to wear the jersey for the club.
Before he left for a stint in rugby in 2022, Tuivasa-Sheck was one of the best fullbacks in the game.
In 2018, he won the Dally M medal for the league’s best player, the first Warriors to claim the accolade.
Three years on, though, Tuivasa-Sheck has switched to the centres to allow Nicoll-Klokstad to remain at fullback.
The first three games of 2024 have seen Tuivasa-Sheck wear No 4, as he gets used to his new position.
But with no other specialist option, Webster has moved his marquee recruit back to his old position as the Warriors target a second win of the year.
“I thought Taine did a fantastic job,” said Webster. “He was one of our best in the first three games, he allowed Rog to get used to that centre role.”
Tuivasa-Sheck last wore No 1 in an 18-19 loss to the Dragons before his move to rugby.
In the three years since, Tuivasa-Sheck has become an All Black, returned to league and shifted into the centres.
“Roger’s wanted to play centre the whole time and do his bit for the team,” Webster said. “He’s always known he’d be third man up [at fullback]. He welcomes the challenge.
“Roger’s different this time. He’s always been a team guy, but he knows he doesn’t have to put the whole team on his back. He plays a role, he’s another cog in the wheel. He’s a very good one. He’s excited for it.” However, regardless of what happens tomorrow, Webster said Tuivasa-Sheck won’t be at fullback for long.
Nicoll-Klokstad is scheduled to return for the round-five trip to face the South Sydney Rabbitohs away, and play his first game of 2024.
Like Tuivasa-Sheck, 28-year-old Nicoll-Klokstad is also in a second stint with the Warriors, after he left in 2019 to join the Canberra Raiders.
In that case, Nicoll-Klokstad departed after being unable to displace one of Tuivasa-Sheck, Ken Maumalo and David Fusitu’a in the first-choice back three under Stephen Kearney.
In his time away, Nicoll-Klokstad developed into one of the NRL’s best fullbacks and was instrumental in Canberra’s run to the 2019 grand final, where they were beaten 14-8 by the Sydney Roosters.