[2] Nelson was signed by the Auckland Warriors and played for their Colts side in the 1995 Lion Red Cup.
[3] In 1996, he was involved in the Waitakere City Raiders side that lost the Lion Red Cup grand final, despite Boycie scoring three tries.
He was then selected in the Lion Red Cup XIII that played against the touring Papua New Guinea team.
[11] In 2004 he played for Limoux Grizzlies in their successful Challenge Cup run, which was ended by an 80–20 loss to Wigan in round five.
[19][20] Nelson was named the assistant coach of the New Zealand Warriors Holden Cup team for the 2017 season.