Josh Papalii still hasn’t forgotten the blast he received from Canberra coach Ricky Stuart last NRL season.
The star forward returned to Raiders training more than 10kg overweight after letting himself go during the 2017 World Cup campaign with Samoa.
The slip in training and diet standards set the Queensland enforcer back so much that he was axed from the Raiders’ first-grade squad early in 2018.
There was speculation his poor form could see his time with the Raiders come to an end because he was coming off-contract.
But being dropped to Canberra’s NSW Cup team for a game propelled him towards another State of Origin series, before ending the season with a second Meninga Medal.
If Papalii was able to achieve that coming off a low fitness base, the Raiders faithful should be excited about the prospect of him in full flight this year.
The 26-year-old says he never wants to prepare for a season in the manner he did last year.
To shed the excess weight, Papalii was forced into the Raiders’ “fat club”, which included early-morning cardio sessions.
“It’s something I won’t forget, to be honest, after that World Cup campaign,” Papalii told AAP.
“It was pretty tough to come back and not be ready for round one last year.
“I worked pretty hard to get back to where I should have been so it feels good to come back day one ready to go and feeling pretty healthy.
“I thought I finished off pretty strong last year and hopefully I can bring that form into this year.”