NRL rugby league star Tuivasa-Sheck lined up for R360 move – reports
Current rugby league star and former All Black Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is being lined up for a big-money switch to the breakaway R360 competition, according to reports in Australia.
The move would see the 32-year-old New Zealand Warriors winger, one of the biggest names in the NRL, switch codes from league to union for the second time in his career.
Tuivasa-Sheck’s signature would also represent a coup for R360, whose UK-based organisers plan to launch the franchise-based global rugby competition next year.
Sources close to R360 told City PM last month that its organisers have secured funding to start in 2026 and believe it will turn a profit in its second year.
They have offered salaries of £1m to 40 of the world’s top players, although until this week that recruitment drive was thought to be limited to players in rugby union.
Tuivasa-Sheck’s fellow NRL star Kalyn Ponga, 27, has also been linked with a move to R360, amid uncertainty over his future at the Newcastle Knights.
R360 sources say they already have binding agreements with numerous rugby union players, the identities of whom are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.
Organisers have mostly targeted players whose contracts expire at the end of next season, meaning there would be no compensation due to their current clubs.
R360 a real threat to rugby league, says coach
Warriors chief executive Cameron George last week warned NRL chiefs that R360 could pick off its top talent with the promise of far greater financial rewards.
“I raised it at a recent CEO’s meeting to ensure everyone’s aware of the real and genuine Rugby 360 concept,” he said.
“I’m aware of players that have been interviewed and engaged with. I’m aware of the significant financial opportunities that it could bring, particularly around the branding of the players as individuals.
“I needed to alert everyone so that they are across this and what it could bring in the next few years, because it’s a real and genuine concept that is growing momentum and could be quite attractive to any number of players.
“My understanding is that the financial windfalls are real and they’re significant. I’m sure that the financial windfalls are far greater than anything we’ve ever seen before in rugby.”
Tuivasa-Sheck’s deal with the New Zealand Warriors runs until 2027 and is worth around $550,000 (£268,000), according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Former England centre Mike Tindall is currently the public face of R360 and is one of its founders. Others involved include ex-Bath Rugby head coach Stuart Hooper.
The competition has been designed to have eight men’s franchises and four women’s at launch, with plans to add expansion teams in future seasons.
If successful, it would be the biggest shift in club rugby in the history of professionalism.