Spine-tingling NRL rivals give Roger Tuivasa-Sheck a stirring farewell
One of the most emotional scenes of the NRL season unfolded in front of a Gold Coast hotel on Thursday morning as Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was farewelled by teammates and rivals with a giant haka.
Not long after the New Zealand Warriors announced on Monday their most popular player would be returning home before the trans-Tasman bubble closed, a message was sent to rival NRL clubs staying in the same Mercure Gold Coast Resort about the planned send-off.
Warriors skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was given a spine-tingling farewell by rival NR players.Credit:Getty
The feedback was so overwhelming around 30 players from the Warriors, Eels and Canberra performed the famous haka as Tuivasa-Sheck and Leeson Ah Mau, who also requested a early leave pass, were blown away by the gesture.
The players were allowed to come together and mingle after their 14-day quarantine ended on Wednesday night.
âWe sent a message to the other clubs staying here in the hotel about how our boys wanted to do a haka for him, and we wanted to extend the invitation to the other clubs to participate in it,â Warriors chief executive Cameron George told the Herald.
âEvery club wanted to be present in their entirety, and not just to do the haka, but to be there.
âWe had a meeting in our team room this morning behind closed doors where I said a few words on behalf of the club. It was emotional for everyone.
âWe then held Roger and Leeson because the boys had a plan to race outside and form a guard of honour to where the haka would take place.
âRoger and Leeson had no idea until they were outside.
âWe got out there and every club followed up on what they said they would do.
âIt was a great experience for a lot of the Australians to see what the Warriors culture is about. It was also so good to see our ex-players like [Parramattaâs] Hayze Perham, Isaiah Papaliâi and even David Kidwell get involved.
âIt was a sign of respect for Roger and Leeson ... it was a credit to all the clubs participating in what was a real emotional moment for our club. Weâre losing two really good people.â
Warriors owner Mark Robinson chauffeured the players to the airport, and nearly caused them to miss their flight as he started to drive towards Brisbane, only to realise the pair were jetting out of the Gold Coast.
Robinson took the opportunity to say his own last goodbyes to the pair when he drove them to the airport.
âMark was chatting while cruising along when Roger said to him, âmate, I think weâre going to Brisbaneâ,â George said.
âThen he said, âyeah, thatâs where Cameron told me weâre goingâ. Roge then said, âno mate, weâre flying out of the Gold Coastâ. They basically had to do a U-turn on the freeway.
âI told him, ânothing like a last-ditch attempt to keep them hereâ.â
The Warriors dropped a bombshell on Monday their superstar No. 1 had played his last game in the NRL.
With the Warriors no longer in finals contention, and the news New Zealand would close its borders to Australia until September 24 after Friday, an emotional Tuivasa-Sheck flagged the early exit with George and coach Nathan Brown on Sunday.
The early exit will allow the 28-year-old to start his All Blacks dream, with Tuivasa-Sheck to likely commence training with Auckland ahead of the ITM Cup - formerly known as the National Provincial Championships - as early as next week.
His immediate release cost Tuivasa-Sheck about $250,000 in earning for the final three months of his Warriors deal, while he stands to earn a maximum $50,000 playing in the ITM Cup before his Auckland Blues and New Zealand Rugby deal takes effects from November 1.
Souths forward Keaon Koloamatangi said of the special scenes for Tuivasa-Sheck and Ah Mau: âIt was pretty crazy, we went up there at 8.30am, and it was good to see all the clubs get out there and show the clubs show their respect for Roger and Leeson. It was spine-tingling to watch. Itâs good to see the other boys from other clubs jump in to do the haka.
âIt shows what he has done for the game and he was sent off the right way.
âEveryone has seen his highlights on Youtube. You look up to people like that when youâve watched them for a while.â
Christian Nicolussi covers rugby league for The Sydney Morning Herald.
0 Response to "Spine-tingling NRL rivals give Roger Tuivasa-Sheck a stirring farewell"
Post a Comment