I remember talking to a former Super League club coach a number of years ago and he said to me that during the off season, you’d be amazing at home much weight some players can pack on.
In fact, even during the course of a couple of weeks on the sidelines through injury, a player can throw on a lot of weight.
You have to remember how much energy these guys burn over the course of a normal week in any given season. Between March and October, every single week, through training and playing, players are burning more energy than some people would use over the course of a month!
Because of this output of energy, Rugby League players eat a lot of food. They need to replace the energy somehow!
So if you can imagine fueling the engine that runs a Rugby League player between March and October, every single day, that is an eating regime that becomes a lifestyle!
So, the off season rocks up, and what happens? Players have to watch what they eat because their output of energy is a lot less then it usually is.
Even the most professional player will pack on weight over the off season. That is just how the human body works.
That is also what the pre season is for. Players come back for a very short off season, they burn off the weight they have gained, they get close to match fitness, and then the train games start to get them ready for the season proper.
Now, some players throw on more weight than others. These are just regular people. Some of us can eat what we want and don’t put on much weight. Others have to watch what they eat or they will become the size of a rounded statue outside of St Helens stadium!
At the end of the day, unless a player is a complete pig, completely unprofessional and comes back carrying a ridiculous amount of weight, it doesn’t matter as long as for round one of the competition he is fully fit and ready to go.
Now, Greg Inglis is a big human. His ideal playing weight would be bigger than some forwards in the game. At times, yes, he has played carrying a few extra kilo’s. However, the current talk about what he weighs now is just beyond absurd!
Inglis didn’t take part in the NRL Finals or the Four Nations due to injury. He had off season surgery and hasn’t been able to train. I think considering he didn’t train at any intensity from early September until yesterday, he doesn’t look to bad at all!
Another thing to remember is that he has a few months to lose the bit of weight he has added over all of that time. For a professional athletes, training just about every day, under the supervision of professional trainers and doctors….it wouldn’t even be an issue that he or anyone at South Sydney are worrying about in the slightest!
Anyway, tell me another center in the game you would take over an over weight Greg Inglis?
The Daily Telegraph, for what ever reason, keeps pushing this line that suggests Greg Inglis is going to be a useless fat blob for South Sydney. I’d suggest that if he was to have played for the News Limited owned Storm or Broncos this season, this would not be a barrow that they would be pushing.
Greg Inglis will be fine. He won’t be the player at Souths that has the most weight to lose, he won’t be the player at Souths that has the hardest time losing the weight he does have.
Thankfully, his biggest problem right now is losing a few extra kilos over the next few months. Lets be thankful he is doing that with an eye on the upcoming NRL season and not doing to for some other sport.
