NZ Warriors star Roger Tuivasa-Sheck considers switch to Saudi-backed Rugby 360
Photo:
Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
NZ Warriors star Roger Tuivasa-Sheck admits a return to rugby union is not off the table, once his current contract with the Auckland league club ends in 2026.
The double international logged three tests for the All Blacks in a brief dalliance with the 15-man code, before returning to league last year and has been linked with a possible switch to a new Saudi-financed Rugby 360 competition to launch in two years.
Other NRL stars in the mix appear to be Newcastle Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga and Melbourne Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen.
"It's something that my manager is aware of and he's put in front of me, but it's something in the future," Tuivasa-Sheck said. "I don't know what's happening - I'm just taking it game by game.
"My contract ends in 2026 and he's doing his job just keeping my future open, but at the moment, I'm enjoying playing my footy here and hopefully I can be here for a long time."
The former Dally M Medal winner left the Warriors in 2021 to chase All Blacks selection for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, but never really adapted to requirements of rugby union and rejoined the Warriors for the 2024 season.
The
Sydney Morning Herald
reports his commitment to the LIV Golf-type rebel outfit is imminent, although the competition doesn't begin until 2027.
Tuivasa-Sheck has not discounted a switch back to rugby, but insists an extension with the Warriors is still an option.
"That's what the manager is doing right now," he said. "He's putting options in front of me, so we'll see what happens after 2026."
Tuivasa-Sheck spent last season in the centres, but is back on the wing and hitting his straps, as his team consolidates their position in the top four on the competition table.
"This is home," he said. "I came back for a reason and just want to keep playing footy.
"You don't get those contract chats if you're not playing good footy, so I've got to focus on that."
Warriors chief executive Cam George alerted other NRL CEOs to the threat at a conference last week.
"I'm aware of players that have been interviewed and engaged with," he told
Sydney Morning Herald
.
"I'm aware of the significant financial opportunities that it could bring, particularly around the branding of the players as individuals.
"I needed to alert everyone, so that they are across this and what it could bring in the next few years, because it's a real and genuine concept that is growing momentum and could be quite attractive to any number of players.
"My understanding is that the financial windfalls are real and they're significant. I'm sure that the financial windfalls are far greater than anything we've ever seen before in rugby."
At 32, Tuivasa-Sheck has a reputation for his professional approach to the game - whichever code - and he's nowhere near a decline in his powers.
His 2025 campaign was hampered by an early hamstring injury, which sidelined him for six games, but he scored seven tries in 10 appearances, including a double against South Sydney Rabbitohs in June.
"I haven't spoken to him about it [Rugby 360]," Warriors coach Andrew Webster said. "I just asked him if he was OK today with the story and he said, 'Yep', so we left it at that.
"I think there might be six players that come off contract on 1 November, so we've got plenty of time to sort that out and we haven't spoken to any of them.
"I don't know if Roger wants to keep playing or what his dreams are, so we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it, but we've got plenty of time at the back end of the season, before 1 November, to have those conversations."
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