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'He'll kill it': Warriors captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck backs Ardie Savea's possible switch to rugby league
Warriors captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck believes All Blacks star Ardie Savea would dominate in rugby league should he make the cross-code switch.
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Savea made headlines earlier this week when he revealed that he is eager to ply his trade in the 13-man code, before going on to state his ambitions of representing Samoa in rugby league.
It’s a potential move that one-time Dally M Medal-winner Tuivasa-Sheck, who played alongside Savea and other future All Blacks such as Patrick Tuipulotu and Ngani Laumape for the New Zealand Schools side in 2011, highly endorses.
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“He’s just a champion athlete,” Tuivasa-Sheck told Stuff.
“He’s just someone that challenges himself each time and he’s always looking forward to a new challenge.
“If he does, I wish him all the best and hopefully he comes here.”
If a move to rugby league does transpire, Savea and Tuivasa-Sheck aren’t likely to be teammates as the 26-year-old Hurricanes loose forward has expressed his desire to join an NRL side with sustained success, something of which the Warriors have struggled to achieve since their inception in 1995.
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Speaking on The Ice Project podcast, Savea mentioned the Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters as two potential destinations.
“Strategically I would want to got to a team that was dominating, like the Storm or Roosters,” he said.
With 17 rugby league tests to his name with the Kiwis, it’s unlikely that Tuivasa-Sheck and Savea would play alongside each other internationally as well given the latter’s aspirations to play for Samoa – something he can’t do in rugby union after having earned 44 caps for the All Blacks.
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However, it’s difficult to envisage the Warriors not being among the raft of NRL clubs chasing Savea’s services if he does decide to transition to league once his contract with New Zealand Rugby expires at the end of next year.
Savea is currently recovering from a knee injury sustained during the All Blacks’ World Cup semi-final defeat to England last year, with his return date being monitored on a week-by-week basis.
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