Out of isolation and back into training, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has decided to mix things up this off-season.
The Warriors skipper has spent the last few days training with the New Zealand Sevens side in Mt Maunganui, little over a month removed from him having to address the rumours he was eyeing a potential code switch.
Stuff understands it was the 27-year-old who reached out, wanting to "meet the side" and "see what the environment was all about".
He didn't expect to train, but upon arriving took little convincing to pull the boots on and join in the session and was set to train again with the squad on Friday.
A NZ Sevens spokesperson said while they would love to announce they had signed the 2018 Dally M Medal winner, he was only there to train.
Warriors CEO Cameron George, says this isn't any indicator that Tuivasa-Sheck is about to switch codes to go to next year's Olympic Games in Japan.
"Each year Roger does an education trip, last year he went to the States," George told Stuff.
"But this year he can't travel and it was coincidental that where he was staying in Papamoa, the sevens team were there too. So he went into their camp to watch and learn.
"If he could have travelled overseas, like last year when he went training at a university, he would have. He spent a week working with a sprint coach last year."
That Tuivasa-Sheck chooses to spend his off time, continuing to become a better player says a lot about him.
"He's keen on learning things and different training methods and the club were fully aware of what he was doing with the sevens team," George said.
Throughout the club's roller coaster season away from home, Tuivasa-Sheck expressed his frustration at being regularly linked with a move to rugby union.
George moved quickly to quell fears his captain wouldn't be at the club next season, after comments made by incoming coach Nathan Brown in September.
Speaking on Australia radio, Brown said at the time it would be a 'bonus' for the Warriors if Tuivasa-Sheck was still with the team in 2021, and that the club's captain still had All Blacks aspirations.
Tuivasa-Sheck was the only Warriors' player who spent the entire season away from his family.
The club could face a similar scenario next season, and be forced to base themselves in Australia again, though one factor in the club's favour this time, is time to plan.
This article was originally published by stuff.co.nz and is reproduced with permission
from WWOS https://ift.tt/3eAdnTr
No comments:
Post a Comment