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Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's manager responds to rugby switch reports

1st February, 2018
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Roger Tuivasa-Sheck of the Warriors. (AAP Image/David Rowland)
1st February, 2018
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Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s transition from rugby league to rugby in time for the 2019 World Cup is reportedly all but complete.

The Warriors and Kiwis fullback will sign on with New Zealand Rugby and likely join the Blues for the 2019 Super Rugby campaign, according to Radio New Zealand, putting himself in the frame for an All Blacks World Cup call-up.

The Samoan-born livewire played both rugby and rugby league throughout high school before joining the Sydney Roosters in late 2011.

He has since gone on to earn a big-money move to the Warriors and become club captain.

He is yet to inform his Warriors teammates of the move, according to RNZ.

Australian media reports in October – around the time of the Kiwis’ disastrous Rugby League World Cup campaign – suggested that Tuivasa-Sheck had long-held ambitions to play the 15-a-side game and crack the All Blacks.

At the time, Tuivasa-Sheck kept quiet on the speculation.

Yet, should he switch from league to rugby, he may have a fairly difficult time earning a black jumper amidst a crowded back-three field.

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He’ll have little time to earn the trust of coach Steve Hansen before the 2019 World Cup, while a score of prodigious backs – including Rieko Ioane, Damian McKenzie and Jordie Barrett – will play protagonists’ roles in 2023.

Other players could also emerge in the meantime – but Hansen didn’t mind the idea of having Tuivasa-Sheck at his disposal.

“I like the rumour,” Hansen told reporters in October.

UPDATE: Tuivasa-Sheck’s manager, Bruce Sharrock, has responded to the reports of his client’s switch to the Blues, emphatically quashing the rumours.

“It’s another case of journalistic sensationalism and this is one of the reasons why we don’t speak to people,” Sharrock said.

“I can tell you categorically, I’ve not even spoken to the Blues.”

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