NRL: Packer is sorely tested on field

Warriors Russell Packer in typical guise. Photo / Getty Images

It's not something you expect to see from a professional player - Russell Packer trudging back to the interchange bench with boots in hand as the game goes on around him.

It's not blisters Packer suffers from. Instead, the 21-year-old front-rower is afflicted by plantar fasciitis, a painful condition of the heel that in his case is caused by biomechanical faults.

He also suffers from compartment syndrome, which gives him tight calves and contribute to lower leg soreness, and will have surgery at the end of the season to correct that.

His feet get so painful at times he removes his boots after a stint carting the ball up for the Warriors in a game. He wears orthotics, has his feet strapped for matches and regularly takes Panadol or Voltaren before games to help alleviate the pain but there's little more Packer can do.

"I've had it since 2008," he says, "but there's no remedy for it. I will have surgery at the end of the year for my calves but there's not much I can do about it. My feet get really sore but you just have to get on with it.

"I don't really know what it is. I just get sore feet, man."

Warriors doctor John Mayhew likened Packer's condition to others like Jerome Ropati, who has a short stride so has problems with his hamstrings, Micheal Luck, who is prone to being cut and requiring stitching, and Manu Vatuvei, who has had to change his running style to accommodate his massive thighs. It is merely the hand Packer has been dealt.

"Everyone has their Achilles heel, to use a pun," Mayhew says. "Micheal Luck just looks at someone and he seems to bleed and other players are relatively immune.

"It makes life uncomfortable for Russell. It's not career threatening but it's tough on him. A lot of effort has been made to try to help Russell."

That has included trying out and usually discarding countless brands and shapes of boots. It seems inevitable Packer will eventually have boots made to fit him but the problem is, at 21, he is probably still growing and developing.

Much like his rugby league career.

Packer is no longer the new kid at Mt Smart Stadium, despite his young age, and has already played 57 NRL games. Along with fellow prop Sam Rapira he was expected to form the cornerstone of the Warriors pack for years to come and is signed with the club until the end of 2012.

He's had a decent season so far, averaging 91m and 28.7 tackles a game in his 43 minutes on the park.

He's been good in recent weeks since being dropped to the Auckland Vulcans following the Warriors' 26-18 win over the Sharks in round 4 and was an outside chance to make the Kiwis for Friday night's Anzac test against Australia.