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Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has rejoined the Warriors after two years in rugby union, and a rugby league critic says the club should sign another All Black.
A leading Australian rugby league journalist claims the Warriors should be striving to sign a high-profile All Black to join dual international Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
Tuivasa-Sheck, a former NRL Dally M player of the year – has returned to the Warriors after two seasons in rugby union with the Blues, and three caps for the All Blacks.
The NRL is to allow clubs to sign players from rival codes over and above the salary cap, and The Sydney Morning Herald’s chief rugby league writer Adrian Proszenko said “the Warriors should be the first club to avail themselves of it”.
Proszenko penned a column entitled: “The gamble your NRL club must take to be a success in 2024”.
He said the Warriors “already have the signature of returning cross-code star’’ Tuivasa-Sheck, “but now is an opportunity to inflict a real blow on struggling rugby union”.
“All Blacks Ardie Savea, Damian McKenzie and Richie Mo’unga have enough good football in them to top a short list.
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The Warriors NRL team launched a new strip designed and made by Kiwi apparel company Dynasty.
“The Warriors are on the crest of a wave and securing a big name, with minimal salary-cap damage, is too good an opportunity to pass.”
Mo’unga – whose older brothers played representative rugby league for Canterbury – could be out of range as the 29-year-old has signed a three-year contract with Japanese rugby union club Toshiba Brave Lupus.
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Ardie Savea, in action in the Rugby World Cup final against the Springboks, would be a fine catch for the Warriors, according to an Australian scribe.
Savea is also having a season sabbatical in Japan with Kobelco Kobe Steelers , which McKenzie, 28, is committed to the Chiefs and is a leading contender for Mo’unga’s vacated All Blacks’ No 10 jersey.
In 2020, Savea told The Ice Project podcast, hosted by former Warriors halfback Isaac John, that he had been thinking about trying his hand at rugby league, potentially as early as 2021.
After extensive media publicity, he later recanted and committed his future to New Zealand rugby.
Since then, Savea, 30, has gone on to become one of the All Blacks’ best and was World Player of the Year in 2023 after an outstanding World Cup.
Proszsenko’s column contained urgings for all NRL clubs.
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Jason Taumalolo in action for the Cowboys against the Broncos.
He recommended the Cowboys release former Kiwi and ex-Dally M award winner Jason Taumalolo from his seven-figure annual contract and suggested the Sharks should try to lure veteran Kiwis enforcer Jarad Waerea-Hargreaves from the Roosters because the Cronulla club needed a “grizzled, old, angry forward’’ who could “harden up his teammates and teach them how to win”.
As for recently-departed Kiwis coach Michael Maguire, Proszenko said Raiders should keep the newly-appointed New South Wales State of Origin coach as Ricky Stuart’s assistant and heir apparent.
“They say a man cannot serve two masters, but Maguire has done a fine job of it so far,” Proszenko wrote about Maguire’s dual role with the Canberra club and the Kiwis.
Proszenko said Wests Tigers should also try to secure former Wallabies and Argentina rugby union coach Michael Cheika – a former Roosters assistant and Lebanon Rugby League World Cup coach – as head of football to give rookie Kiwi coach Benji Marshall “an old head to lean on”.
