NRL: Learning curve for Warriors' forward

Russell Packer is seen as a cornerstone. Photo / Getty Images

Modern-day props are athletic types. They are typically tall, with long limbs and with very few, shall we say, curves.

Look at Roy Asotasi, Steve Price, Brent Kite, Antonio Kaufusi and Willie Mason. Then there's Russell Packer.

"I don't have the most athletic or correctly-built body," he says with a wry smile.

He might grin about it now but last year his body looked like it might let him down before he had even got going. He played five NRL matches but did it with constant and nagging pain in his feet and hips.

He suffered from something called plantar fasciitis, a painful condition of the foot that in his case was caused by biomechanical faults. "Last year I had a lot of problems with my feet," he says.

"It was a sharp pain. This year I think I have managed it a lot better and learned how to minimise the effects. I have been to a podiatrist and worked on different in-soles and different boots and I don't seem to be having any problems now."

Even more than an offload or a silky step, a player's tool is his body. Without it, an NRL career is an impossibility.

Like a lot of youngsters, Packer used to think he was bullet-proof but the "flesh wounds" he suffered last year has changed the way he thinks.

"Ivan is always talking to me about that - maintaining my body," he says. "It's going to be a big part of keeping me in first grade. I get a few problems with my hips and feet and I had bad posture when I was young.

"I'm trying to do little things throughout the week, like jump on the bike for 20 minutes or do extra stretches or pilates to strengthen my core. Hopefully, it will sustain me in the NRL for a while longer."

The Warriors hope so, too.

They see Packer as a cornerstone of their forward pack for many years to come and it was why they signed him last year to a deal which keeps him at the club until the end of 2012.

Their faith in him has so far been well founded. Last weekend against the Rabbitohs, in what was only his ninth NRL game, he ran for an impressive 156m - the most of any forward in the game - made 35 tackles and produced two offloads.

He has started all four matches this season but what is the most striking thing is his consistency, especially for someone not yet 20.

He is yet to miss a tackle this season and has made only one error. He's also been a difficult customer to contain, with 11 tackle breaks and one try to his name. "He looks like he's 29 and plays like he's 29 but he's still a big kid," coach Ivan Cleary says.

"We always had a lot of confidence in him and just watching him in the off-season gave us the hope that he was going to have a good year.

"Russell's biggest challenge is going to be his body. He's not the modern-day athlete when you look at him but inside is a pretty good engine. He has some bio-mechanical issues and he's a big guy as well. It's going to be something he's going to have to look after if he wants longevity in the game."

Packer has the best mentor he could hope to have. The 19-year-old rooms with Steve Price on away trips and admits to being a sponge around the 35-year-old veteran of 302 first-grade games.

"Steve is the master of doing the little things to maintain his body," Packers says admiringly. "He's been here since I first came to the club so he has been as much a part of my development as anyone.

"I am still a rookie in every sense of the word. I'm still learning every day and I will continue to do that until I stop playing league. I just want to do it until my body allows it."

And for Russell Packer, that's the big unknown.