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Don't play the victim: The mantra behind Warriors' run
Scott Bailey, AAP •  September 10th, 2026 5:10 pm
Halfback Tanah Boyd is one of several key position Warriors to have gone down injured in 2026 | Photo: Dave Hunt/AAP
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has revealed how the Warriors' mindset of refusing to play victim has helped them remain title contenders in a season of injury-enforced upheaval.
The Warriors will enter Saturday evening's home qualifying final against the Dolphins with something close to their best team on the park, after a year beset by injuries.
Despite fielding nine different spine combinations and seven separate halves pairings, the Warriors still finished second and are genuine premiership threats.
Taine Tuaupiki was injured in July, but is back playing fullback for the Warriors in the finals | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
"It's our system, and everyone learns the system from our coaching. But the other thing is our mindset of just don't be a victim," Roger Tuivasa-Sheck told AAP.
"Don't be a victim to, 'oh, this player's out, he's out, we shouldn't win this game'.
"That's a mindset that Barney (Mitch Barnett) sets, that Fish (James Fisher-Harris) sets, that (Kurt) Capewell sets, saying that we believe in whoever comes up.
"It's just next man up."
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is still hopeful of playing in the finals after dislocating his shoulder | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
The next-man-up mindset is nothing new, often adopted by sides at this point of the season when injuries hit.
But the Warriors' results still defy rugby league logic.
In this season alone five players have won games playing halfback for the club, while Taine Tauapiki and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad have both spent time as fullback.
Tanah Boyd and Luke Metcalf have both been first-choice halfbacks at times before injuries, while Chanel Harris-Tavita and Te Maire Martin ar the No. 6 and No. 7 for the finals.
Tuivasa-Sheck himself had his final NRL season ended by an ACL rupture in May, while forward Jackson Ford was second in the Dally M count before tearing his pec.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's NRL career was ended by an ACL rupture this year | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Ford is back for the finals, but coach Andrew Webster is now without his most potent winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak after a dislocated shoulder.
"We've had time to build," Tuivasa-Sheck said.
"When Webby arrived in 2023, there was something special brewing then.
We went to the finals, we fell short, and then from then we've been just getting to the finals and falling short.
"It's a system that everyone's buying into and everyone believes in it. The biggest difference this year is the collective buy-in. Because there's evidence of it working."
The Warriors found themselves in a similar situation last year, sitting in the top four until the penultimate round when a raft of injuries began to take their toll.
Both the Dolphins and Warriors are within three wins of claiming a maiden premiership | Photo: Bianca De Marchi/AAP
But Tuivasa-Sheck said it was evident as far back as April when they demolished Melbourne 38-14 at AAMI Park that this year's group was built different.
"We were a good side. We had good players, we had a good team, we were tracking really well, winning some good games," the 33-year-old said.
:We won round one, round two convincingly against some good teams.
"But it wasn't until that Melbourne game where we started to realise that we can possibly dominate if we all buy into this.
"That was when that belief became massive."
