Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: The Otara Kid Who Became A Warrior

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck joins Marc Ellis and Ric Salizzo on Herbie for Sportscafe Legends. He's played for the Roosters, the Warriors, the Kiwis, Toa Samoa, the Blues and the All Blacks. This is his last NRL season before a two-year deal at Wakefield Trinity - and with a knee reconstruction behind him, he's watching the Warriors' run from the sideline rather than the field. Roger talks about growing up in Otara, being coached as a kid by Eric Rush, ringing Rushy to tell him he was leaving rugby for league, and why he picked 12 when he came back to union. Timestamps: 0:00 Cold open 0:43 Welcome to Herbie 2:11 League fitness vs rugby fitness 2:53 Why he chose 12 4:31 Learning the game at first receiver 5:29 Eric Rush the junior coach 7:58 The phone call to Rushy 8:44 Why league suited him 9:53 Community and 40 memberships 10:59 The pathway out of school 12:05 A premiership in his second year 12:40 When he knew he had a gift 14:15 Getting knocked back 15:06 Blazers, kit and choosing union 17:32 Coming home to the Warriors 18:11 Saying no to mum and dad 21:39 Heroes: Rushy, Carlos, Benji 22:11 Eric Rush and the water slide 23:37 Watching this Warriors season injured 24:45 Two ACLs and the next surgery 25:36 All Black 1204 27:11 Wakefield, and letting go of the plan 30:41 His brother, LeBron and a PlayStation launch 34:15 The Herbie project 34:52 Otara was a village 36:42 What the travel cost him 39:15 What's changed at the Warriors 41:23 What it takes to win a premiership