Then the Warriors’ star off-season signing, who had previously played 84 games for the Sydney Roosters, as well as 11 internationals for the New Zealand Kiwis, was told he had to leave the field.

In the current edition of Inside Sport magazine, the New Zealand Warriors skipper offers a rare insight into the torment suffered by professional footballers at the very moment serious injury strikes.

In round seven of last year at Westpac Stadium, the young rugby league superstar and Canterbury sports brand ambassador felt a quick shock of pain at his knee after being flipped on his back in a tackle. Not thinking anything of it, he played on. He didn’t know it at the time, but Tuivasa-Sheck had suffered a serious ACL injury which would eventually rule him out for the remainder of the 2016 season.

“Soon after the tackle, I took a carry and went to step off my left foot. That’s when I felt my leg go. I felt really weak and was helped off the field to the change room,” he tells Inside Sport this month.

“In my mind we were going so good. I was really finding my rhythm. That’s why I wanted to stay on and keep on going; I’d done a few good runs and a few good touches in the game. I really enjoyed being out there; when they told me to come off, I was really angry. I demanded they put me back on. I was fighting with the trainers, but my knee wasn’t right.”

The 23-year-old fullback has revisited the sidelines in recent weeks as he recovers from a head knock suffered in the Warriors’ clash with the Melbourne Storm in round two.

The club across the ditch will be sweating on Tuivasa-Sheck’s availability against the St George-Illawarra Dragons in Sydney on Sunday. The Warriors have notched one win from their first three matches in 2017 - their opening-round victory over Newcastle at Mt Smart Stadium.