NRL: Rookie eats his way to start for Warriors

Mason Lino was bound for France until he injured his shoulder. Now he's earned a starting place with the Warriors. Photo / Getty Images

Family joins in as new halfback makes the changes needed to get his game on track.

Rookie Warriors playmaker Mason Lino's dedication to improving his diet and game preparation has resulted in his whole family making a lifestyle change.

Lino's prospects looked bleak at the start of the year, after a shoulder injury ruined plans for playing with AS Carcassonne in France, forcing him to stay home for a lengthy stint of rehab.

Handed a lifeline in the form of a part-time contract back at the Warriors, the former Under 20s co-captain and 2014 NYC Premiership winner knew he had to make changes to help salvage his career.

Appealing to his family for support, the 21-year-old convinced them to join him in improving their diet, as he set off down the long road that eventually led to his debut NRL appearance in last week's loss to the Cowboys.

"At the start of the year, when I was in rehab, I didn't think anything was coming," said Lino.

"But I had good support around me with my family, my friends, and my partner, and they've helped me put my head down and I just worked really hard.

"I wasn't really eating the right things. My nutritional side wasn't the best, so when I started talking to my parents, I told them, let's all move to healthier eating because it will benefit me and you guys.

"Now my whole family are eating healthier. My parents are really doing it as well now, so that's definitely made it a lot easier for me to eat really good foods to give me the nutrition I need to play some good footy.

"It definitely improved my performance and made me fitter. It gave me a lot of energy to do a lot of work on the field and stay focused."

Starting at five-eighth alongside Marist clubmate and Under 20s halves partner Tui Lolohea, against the best player in the world, Cowboys skipper Johnathan Thurston, made the hard road back all worthwhile. Having his family there to enjoy the occasion added to the emotion of the evening.

"Running out of the tunnel it was just a dream come true," he said. "My family were up there cheering, I could hear them screaming, and it was definitely a buzzy feeling. You can say it was a bit of a silver lining to doing my shoulder.

"I know the way Tui plays and we can work off each other. We've played a bit of touch and tag together, so we kind of know how each other plays, and it works well for us."

Lino is quick to credit former Under 20s and current NSW Cup coach Stacey Jones with developing his game. The former Warriors and Kiwis great opened his eyes to the complexities and subtleties of halfback play.

"Stacey has definitely helped to simplify the game for me and help me read the game a lot better.

"Learning to count numbers a bit better, because it's all about getting the ball to space and finding the numbers.

"He's opened me up to running the ball more, too, and taking the line on."

Coach Andrew McFadden was impressed with what his young charge produced in his first outing and had no hesitation in naming him to start again on Sunday against Wests Tigers.

"He was good and certainly that's why he's got another opportunity this weekend," said McFadden.

"He had some spark and he'll get better. It was game one, so he's got a long career ahead of him and he's going to get some opportunities."