Dally M medal winner Roger Tuivasa-Sheck reckons he'll hit the ground running both physically and mentally when the Warriors begin next year's NRL campaign.
The Warriors skipper returned from knee surgery in time for day one of pre-season, a rare feat for someone used to late returns because of international duties or injury.
Voted the best player in the NRL for 2018, Tuivasa-Sheck's season ended on a low when he was carried off midway through the Warriors' elimination final loss to Penrith.
The fullback was devastated to miss New Zealand's Tests against Australia and England but that did allow him to join some of the club's lesser lights for pre-season training last month.
He hopes it will translate into an electric start when the Warriors host Canterbury in round one on March 16.
Battling niggles throughout this year, the metre-eating Tuivasa-Sheck expects to be fitter in 2019 and a superior all-round player.
"I want to be better at my catch-and-pass and there's so many other things that they're pointing out, so if I just keep focusing on the small things they'll lead to bigger achievements at the back end," he said.
Tuivasa-Sheck will also take the same self-centred approach into games that helped him raise his level midway through the 2018 campaign.
Even the departure of halfback Shaun Johnson to Cronulla won't prompt the 25-year-old to spend time trying to find solutions in terms of tactics and personnel.
That, he said, is coach Stephen Kearney's job.
"I'll just focus on getting myself right before I get the team right, there were big lessons that I took from last year," he said.
"I tended to turn up to training and check what boots everyone was wearing and stuff like that. That just took my head away from what I was doing.
"I strung together some pretty bad performances last year so it's very important that I focus on myself before I look at carrying anyone."
Tuivasa-Sheck is impressed by the athleticism and enthusiasm of Warriors juniors Chanel Harris-Tavita and Hayze Perham, considered the front runners to replace Johnson.
He said both teenagers remind him of a young Johnson and either could slot into a proven spine of hooker Issac Luke, half Blake Green and himself.
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