The former Queensland centre became one of the NRL’s forgotten stars in his two-year stint with the Warriors, where untimely injuries and upheaval in the club’s coaching ranks hampered the 29-year-old’s ability to settle at a new club. 

He’s not the first player to struggle after leaving the famous Melbourne Storm set-up where mastercoach Craig Bellamy runs one of the tightest ships in the NRL.

Nielsen admits he found the shift harder than he anticipated after five years with the Storm particularly in the wake of coach Matt Elliott’s resignation in April last year.

‘‘I was at Melbourne for five years and I was really comfortable there and knew my role within the team,’’ Nielsen said.

‘‘It was second nature to me, Craig Bellamy runs a pretty tight ship so to break away from that is hard. You get used to the way coach wants things done and the way the team works at its best. 

‘‘I was at my peak playing my best footy and you go from that into a new club, new coach new team all of that...It was a complete change. We had Matt Elliott first and then halfway through last season we had a change of coach. That was pretty different, they were both different style of coaches.

‘‘Throw a couple of injuries on top of that and it makes it really hard to get back to your best form and be comfortable knowing what your role is within the team.’’

Nielsen managed eight games under Elliott’s replacement Andrew McFadden and was preparing to return Auckland for the Warriors preseason before jumping at the unexpected chance to return to Australia.

‘‘I was towards the end of my holidays just relaxing and preparing to go back to New Zealand and then I got a call from my manager and over the past few weeks it’s all come about,’’ Neilsen said.

‘‘I’ve been a Dragons supporter since I was a kid up in Mackay and my mum and dad have been since they were young as well so it’s exciting to finally be here,’’ he said.

‘‘They’ve lost some quality players especially in the outside backs and I believe there’s a good opportunity for me to offer something to this team.

‘‘I believe I can come back to Australia and play some of my best footy again.

‘‘Being under Mary [Paul McGregor] who’s an ex-centre who’s played for NSW and Australia is a big factor in why I came here.

‘‘I believe Mary can really get the best out of me and hopefully there’s better things to come.’’