On a balmy winter day at Scully Park in August, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck showed why he is the Warriors' $1.1 million man - bamboozling Knights defenders to score two arresting second-half tries.
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Five months later, the superstar No 1 was back in Tamworth to confirm the veracity of a Daily Telegraph exclusive this week: he will leave the Warriors at the end of the season in order to chase his All Blacks dream.
Speaking to the media on Saturday morning via a video conference call from the Mercure Hotel - the Warriors' base while in Tamworth for preseason training - Tuivasa-Sheck said he decided a few months ago that "this was the time" to switch codes.
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The Warriors will release the 27-year-old from the final year of his contract, signed in 2018, so he can return to a sport he grew up playing.
"It's always been there: it's no secret," he said of his rugby aspirations. "It's been popping up in the news here and there, because rugby's been a game I grew up playing. And rugby is where I started my junior footy ... it's always been there in the background."
One of the NRL's marquee talents - the 2018 Dally M Medalist, a two-time Dally M fullback of the year and the 2020 Dally M captain of the year - said he "fronted" his teammates when he learned a journalist had got wind of his pending code switch.
"I wish I could have announced it properly and let them know first and in a better way," he said. "But the boys have been really good and really supportive and they're keen to make it happen this year, and I'm all in with them."
He also said: "This club is really important to me and special to me. I've been wanting to do all I can for this club. And I'm even more driven to try and make it happen this year, and I know the team are too."
It has been speculated that Tuivasa-Sheck will likely sign with the Auckland Blues. The father of two has lived most of his life in Auckland.
But "all of that is up in the air at the moment", he said of his playing future beyond this year, adding: "All those finer details are left to my manager, Bruce Sharrock."
Tuivasa-Sheck's former Roosters teammate, Sonny Bill Williams, jumped to rugby and won two World Cups with the All Blacks.
When asked if he was eyeing the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, Tuivasa-Sheck said: "I've got a lot of people saying: 'You're going to the All Blacks'. But that's a bit disrespectful to a brand like that.
"My whole thing is just to go back and play rugby. You don't just walk into a brand like the All Blacks: you've gotta earn your way in."
The New Zealand international - who joined the Warriors in 2016 from the Roosters and has played 94 games for them, scoring 26 tries - said leaving the New Zealand side would be "tough".
"Because I've poured a lot into this club, and this club has given me a lot too. Hopefully I can finish on a high, and we as a club can finish on a high."
Tuivasa-Sheck would not commit to playing for New Zealand at the Rugby League World Cup in England in September and October.
Speaking on the same conference call, new Warriors coach Nathan Brown admitted he did not know that Tuivasa-Sheck was leaving the club until contacted by Daily Telegraph reporter Michael Carayannis this week.
"From my point of view," Brown said, "I didn't really know the finer details until Mick Carayannis rang me the other day, to be honest, and I spoke to Cameron [George, the Warriors' chief executive].
"Because I always said to Cameron: 'Don't tell me what's happening unless Roger's going. Because you didn't want to put too much energy into something that might not happen." He added: "Everyone's across it that needed to be across it."
George also spoke on the conference call and was pragmatic about losing his best player, saying it was "the reality of sport and the reality of the employment world".
Tuivasa-Sheck "deserves" the chance to "chase his dream with New Zealand Rugby", he said, adding that Warriors recruitment manager Peter O'Sullivan, Sharrock, Tuivasa-Sheck and himself had discussed the code switch for "a number of weeks".
It had been "important", he continued, to "respectfully explore the options with Roger, understand what his desires were". "And at the end of the day, Roger's earnt the respect from the club to [reach] the decision that we have come to," he added.
George said that if Tuivasa-Sheck wanted to return to rugby league, the Warriors had "first right" on signing him. But he has "no doubt" that the sublime talent will make it in rugby. "He's a successful athlete and he's a champion bloke, and he'll work his backside off to make it successful."
