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MELBOURNE Storm recruit Sam Kasiano wants to get back to being the best prop in the game, and if means digging holes and repairing divots along the way, then so be it.
The former Canterbury enforcer opted out of the final year of a lucrative contract at the Bulldogs for a fresh start in Melbourne after 139 NRL games.
The 2012 Dally M Prop of the Year and former New Zealand and Samoa international has taken the first steps towards redemption, completing a two-week work placement at Werribee Racecourse.
Storm premiership coach Craig Bellamy introduced the compulsory work program for all recruits — regardless of experience and reputation — more than a decade ago to remind players about life outside the football bubble.
Make no mistake, had Cooper Cronk moved to Storm from Sydney Roosters, he too would be paired up with an employer. Players do weights from 5.30am, go to work from 7am-3pm, and then return to the club for team meetings and skills sessions.
Kasiano was based at Werribee Racecourse for two weeks with the track workers.
Sandor Earl, who signed with Storm last month after completing a four-year peptide trafficking ban, worked with a landscaper in Seymour, about 90 minutes north of Melbourne, between sessions at AAMI Park. Others laboured at building sites with concreters, plumbers and painters.
Bellamy keeps the rules of engagement simple.
The jobs must be hard, outdoors and labour intensive.
Kasiano repaired divots for days, walked laps of the course, dug holes and helped with moving the running rail.
“I’ve never walked that far, ever,” Kasiano told the Herald Sun.
“Holding that rake all day and just punching the holes in is pretty tough.
“It does (take it out of you) but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
“It’s a privilege for us to play rugby league as a job, not to take things for granted.”
Bellamy has tinkered with his infamous pre-season regimen over the years but there are some non-negotiables. The work placement is one of those.
Twelve-hour trackside days paid dividends for Kasiano and Storm prospect Kayleb Milne, who were tipped “a couple” of Flemington winners during the spring carnival, including Redzel and Fastnet Tempest.
“If we went earlier we would have got the tip for (Melbourne Cup winner) Rekindling,” Kasiano said, laughing.
The 196cm giant took the competition by storm in 2012 at the Bulldogs but has since battled fitness and injury woes.
He slipped out of the starting line-up this season and faced the prospect of losing more minutes with NSW Origin and Kangaroos enforcer Aaron Woods moving to the club next season.
He attracted interest from NRL rivals St George Illawarra, Parramatta and Warriors but a coffee date with Bellamy sealed the deal for Kasiano, who took a pay cut on the three-year transfer.
“He (Bellamy) took me to his favourite cafe,” Kasiano said.
“He said that he really wanted me and he could get me back playing like how I was playing back in 2012.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...utm_source=TelegraphSport&utm_medium=Facebook
The former Canterbury enforcer opted out of the final year of a lucrative contract at the Bulldogs for a fresh start in Melbourne after 139 NRL games.
The 2012 Dally M Prop of the Year and former New Zealand and Samoa international has taken the first steps towards redemption, completing a two-week work placement at Werribee Racecourse.
Storm premiership coach Craig Bellamy introduced the compulsory work program for all recruits — regardless of experience and reputation — more than a decade ago to remind players about life outside the football bubble.
Make no mistake, had Cooper Cronk moved to Storm from Sydney Roosters, he too would be paired up with an employer. Players do weights from 5.30am, go to work from 7am-3pm, and then return to the club for team meetings and skills sessions.
Kasiano was based at Werribee Racecourse for two weeks with the track workers.
Sandor Earl, who signed with Storm last month after completing a four-year peptide trafficking ban, worked with a landscaper in Seymour, about 90 minutes north of Melbourne, between sessions at AAMI Park. Others laboured at building sites with concreters, plumbers and painters.
Bellamy keeps the rules of engagement simple.
The jobs must be hard, outdoors and labour intensive.
Kasiano repaired divots for days, walked laps of the course, dug holes and helped with moving the running rail.
“I’ve never walked that far, ever,” Kasiano told the Herald Sun.
“Holding that rake all day and just punching the holes in is pretty tough.
“It does (take it out of you) but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
“It’s a privilege for us to play rugby league as a job, not to take things for granted.”
Bellamy has tinkered with his infamous pre-season regimen over the years but there are some non-negotiables. The work placement is one of those.
Twelve-hour trackside days paid dividends for Kasiano and Storm prospect Kayleb Milne, who were tipped “a couple” of Flemington winners during the spring carnival, including Redzel and Fastnet Tempest.
“If we went earlier we would have got the tip for (Melbourne Cup winner) Rekindling,” Kasiano said, laughing.
The 196cm giant took the competition by storm in 2012 at the Bulldogs but has since battled fitness and injury woes.
He slipped out of the starting line-up this season and faced the prospect of losing more minutes with NSW Origin and Kangaroos enforcer Aaron Woods moving to the club next season.
He attracted interest from NRL rivals St George Illawarra, Parramatta and Warriors but a coffee date with Bellamy sealed the deal for Kasiano, who took a pay cut on the three-year transfer.
“He (Bellamy) took me to his favourite cafe,” Kasiano said.
“He said that he really wanted me and he could get me back playing like how I was playing back in 2012.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...utm_source=TelegraphSport&utm_medium=Facebook
