While Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's return to the Warriors seemed destined for some fans, the dual international himself said it wasn't always on the cards until a fated chat over coffee changed his mind.
Tuivasa-Sheck is back at Mt Smart after fulfilling his All Blacks dream, signing with the Kiwi NRL club in April after two seasons of rugby union with the Blues.
It seemed like the perfect homecoming - he'd left the Warriors midway through their 2021 campaign while the side was based in Australia for the Covid-19 pandemic and new coach Andrew Webster had had his sights set on securing Tuivasa-Sheck from the moment he took over the club.
But the former Dally M winner revealed he wasn't sold initially.
"[Webster] said, 'Rog, we're going to be a team that competes, going to be a team that turns up for each other'," Tuivasa-Sheck said of conversations late in 2022.
"I go, 'Webby I've heard this before, tell me what's different?'.
"If you put yourself in my shoes I had been here since 2016 – probably had three or four coaches and different managers who had sold me the same thing – 'we're going to do A, B and C to get this title' and each year it goes up and then we lose that coach."
Of course, the Warriors went on to stun the competition, becoming a top four team under the guidance of Webster and return to form of Shaun Johnson.
But even amidst this year's resurgence, Tuivasa-Sheck said he still was contemplating a rugby union deal in Japan.
"I had a Japan deal lined up," he said.
"I was just going to go, take my family, explore the world and see what happened from there."
But before he finalised that move, a catch up with close friends and former teammates Tohu Harris and Jazz Tevaga in December last year led to a change of destiny.
"I said 'OK, let's sit down and have a coffee and just tell me one thing; do I just go, go to Japan and take off and see what happens? Or do I come back, is there something [good here]?'," Tuivasa-Sheck recalled.
"They [Harris and Tevaga] both looked to each other and said 'bro, there's something here'.
"That got me excited, so I then had another catch up with Webby and made the decision to come back.
"Hopefully in the next couple of years something special happens."
Fast forward to April and the deal was finalised, allowing Tuivasa-Sheck to finish his time in rugby union with Auckland in the NPC while watching the Warriors flourish under Webster with a style and identity he'd long sought after during his previous tenure with the club.
"It got me excited watching the first couple of pre-season games and seeing a few different attitudes, boys wanting to defend the goal line, boys playing in yardage," Tuivasa-Sheck said.
"I'd watch the games and kick chase, defence, goal-line defence, that's all attitude there. If you see that and see that this guy's made a wrong decision, but his man next to him has covered for him, he's busted his arse [to save his mate], I love that.
"I want to go and compete next to players like that."
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