At the end of a frustrating and dramatic 2021 campaign, NZ Warriors forward Jazz Tevaga was faced with a choice.
By his own admission, Tevaga hadn't been "too red hot" in the previous two seasons, but he wears his heart on his sleeve and while his 'mongrel' can be his best asset, it can also be a hindrance, evidenced in their final game of the season against the Titans, where chaos erupted with him at the fore.
Fast forward six months and the Papakura local's "worked his arse off" in pre-season and made changes in all areas of his game, after a confronting conversation with coach Nathan Brown.
"I spoke to [Brown] at the end of last year and it was almost like, 'if you don't pull your head in, you'll be shown the door'," Tevaga tells Newshub.
Hard words to hear, especially for someone like Tevaga, whose passion for his boyhood club is obvious. He publicly insisted last year his desire to stay at the club, despite negotiations stalling at the time.
His chat with Brown was exactly what he needed.
"It just made me realise and reflect on who I wanted to be as a player," he says. "It was a hard self-reflection.
"I had to make some changes, I've worked my arse off in the pre-season and put myself in a position to play some good footy."
Reflecting now, Tevaga, 26, is thankful for Brown's honesty and admits things could have been very different, had he not taken the feedback on board.
"I look back at it now and think, thankfully he did have that conversation, because I wouldn't be in this position I'm in now.
"It was definitely a learning curve, but I don’t want to look back and I'm looking forward to putting on some good performances this year."
The coaches have noticed a change too and not just in Tevaga, with the entire squad forced to ask themselves some tough questions.
"We need players that aren’t just content with playing NRL or just playing for the Warriors," assistant coach Justin Morgan tells Newshub. "We want players who want to win competitions.
"Those tough conversations have had to be had with those players and to be fair to them, most of them have really taken that information on board, and they've come back and they've shown they want to play in September.
"For those things to happen, they've had to get their body in shape, their life away from the club in shape... their recovery, food, their diet, all those things that go into being an exceptionally good NRL player.
"That was the challenge that was set out to a lot of players… do you want to just play the 26 rounds, or do you want to leave a legacy at this club and with this jersey, when you move on at some point?"
For Tevaga, who came through the Warriors system and grew up supporting the club, a third season away from home is taking its toll, making a return to Mount Smart all the more enticing.
"I didn't mind it at first," Tevaga recalls. "I was a young man essentially, had no partner, no kids, but just recently, it's started to get a bit hard.
"I've been away from home for three years now. Even with them opening the borders, we still weren't able to get home for a quick visit.
"All the boys sort of got excited, and the coaches explained to us there's a delay with getting PCR results and all that. It got our hopes up for a bit and they got shut down pretty quick.
"I think we're going to have a massive crowd at home, regardless of where we sit on the table, but it's going to be a better welcome home, if we’re coming off some wins."
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