Warriors club legend Roger Tuivasa-Sheck appears to have played his final NRL game after confirming he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in round 12. The 32-year-old outside back used Instagram to announce he would not play again this year before joining English side Wakefield Trinity next season.
“That’s my footy done this year,” he wrote. “ACL confirmed. Tough to accept, but the season goes on. We got something special going. Big love for all the messages.”
Tuivasa-Sheck pulled up sore following a tackle on Hayden Buchanan early in the first half of Saturday night’s defeat of St George Illawarra and left the field. He wore a brace on his knee after fulltime and went for scans on return to Auckland, where his prognosis was confirmed.
Tuivasa-Sheck had been playing his first game back from a minor shoulder injury and was enjoying a great campaign for the second-placed Kiwi club. The Warriors, who have never won the NRL premiership, appear a great chance of playing finals this year, but without Tuivasa-Sheck.
It appears a devastating end to a sparkling NRL career for Tuivasa-Sheck, who is the only man to have won the Dally M Medal playing for the Warriors. He also won Dally M Captain of the Year in 2020 for his inspirational leadership while the Warriors were stranded in Australia amid COVID-enforced bubble restrictions.
Tuivasa-Sheck made an emotional return to the Warriors in 2024 after spending two years playing rugby union, and three Tests for the All Blacks. A fullback in his prime, Tuivasa-Sheck has in recent seasons found success returning to the outside backs, where he began his career at the Sydney Roosters. He played 242 NRL games, 158 of those across two stints for the Warriors and the remainder for the Tricolours.
Tuivasa-Sheck’s injury came the week after in-form halfback Tanah Boyd suffered an ACL rupture at Magic Round. The Warriors’ season now sits at a fork in the road; their 2025 campaign did not recover following ACL blows to Mitch Barnett and Luke Metcalf in quick succession.
