Roger Tuivasa Sheck concedes the switch from league to union has been tougher than he expected.
The former Warriors captain is used to being one of the most experienced on the field - but he's now adjusting to life as a "rookie" in the Blues set up.
Tuivasa-Sheck's loving his move to the Blues, but admits swapping codes has been tricky.
"Definitely a lot [more] challenging than I was thinking," he says.
"You know there's a ruck, to me it looks like a mess. It just looks like boys smashing in but there's actually a key element.
"There's some technique stuff they're trying to do.
"The most challenging part is just understanding my role. It's a tough gig just trying to come in and understand my role because one week I start to feel okay, like I get it then the next i'm out of position.
"You've just got to keep learning as you go."
He's gone from one of the best in the NRL, back to learning the basics of union, and the 28-year-old's been forced to take things slowly - that's not easy for someone used to setting games alight week in week out.
"That's the challenge of myself," Tuivasa-Sheck adds.
"Of course, I want to come in and put my best foot forward and start ticking the boxes right from the start.
"But I've got to understand, it's been a while since I've played some rugby."
That was a decade ago as a schoolboy, a whole different game to the one he's preparing for now.
"The constant change in pictures, that was one thing we didn't have in high school," he explains.
"If someone's standing in front of you, attack that guy. But you look down and look back up it's a whole new picture."
Tuivasa-Sheck's also had to alter his body, with different demands on a union midfielder, compared to a league full-back.
"That's probably another challenge is with league and union there's a lot of different bodies.
"There's a few quick cheetahs out there and a few hippopotamuses out there. Definitely as a midfielder I'm trying to add a bit more weight, maybe move to 98 to 99 kgs.
"In league as a fullback all I do is just cover [kilometres] and play around the 94-95's [kilograms].
Some fine tuning is needed, but Blues coach Leon MacDonald's been blown away with Tuivasa-Sheck's approach.
"We've spoken about how quickly he's taken to the game and that's through his professionalism and the way he works," MacDonald says.
"An example this morning I had a couple of clips to show him. He already had them ready to show me. That's the time he takes in his preparation."
A coach's dream at training, so is he ready for that long awaited first game?
"Oh absolutely ready to go," MacDonald adds. "He was probably ready a couple of weeks ago. His frustrations about not playing are pretty obvious.
"He's got to the point now where he's no different to any of our other players who get it wrong from time to time."
"It's not until I lace up and I run out in the colours [that] it will feel official," says Tuivasa-Sheck.
"At the moment I still feel like I'm a rookie."
A rookie the rugby world can't wait to finally see.
