There has to be a finely tuned diet behind Westpac NSW Blues hooker Reece Robson’s ability to make 50 tackles in an 80-minute Origin performance.
NSW was reduced to 12 men for the majority of Game One in Sydney on 6 June and Robson answered the call – he was everywhere.
It begs the question of how he fuels his body – protein shakes, bananas, bottomless bowls of pasta or porridge?
“I’m a very simple eater – a meat-and-three-veg kind of guy. I don’t venture too far,” Robson told nswrl.com.au
“I will load up on a few carbs, like everyone does, a few days out from the game. But nothing out of the ordinary there either – just some spag bol.”
While the Robson diet doesn’t hold many hidden treasures or secret recipes, his outlay on a football field definitely does.
In Game One this year he had 134 receipts with the ball, more than the combined effort of Queensland rakes Ben Hunt and Harry Grant (108).
In Game Two in Melbourne Robson played 68 minutes but had 97 receipts – still pipping the Hunt-Grant effort of 94 even though he spent 12 minutes less on the field.
Game Three on Wednesday night (17 July) in Brisbane will be a similar output.
“I just do everything I can to make sure I’m not letting anyone down and I’ve got my mates’ back.
“They will do the same for you so it comes down to that mutual mindset.
“The opposition is going to keep coming at me all day so I just need to be there and keep turning up.”
The NSW Blues can thank Braden Robson for Reece’s work ethic.
“I have an older brother (Braden), who was a pretty good footy player coming through, and having him a couple of years older I always wanted to be around him,” Robson said.
“I loved trying to compete with him even though that was tough because of the age difference.
“That’s probably where my competitive streak comes from – always trying to keep up with him.”
Big occasions at Suncorp Stadium are nothing new to Robson, when you consider the North Queensland-Brisbane Broncos local derbies over the past five years.
Robson made his Origin debut there in Game Two last year.
“It can be hard to hear and if it was my first game with the guys (Jarome Luai and Mitch Moses) I might have been more worried about what to expect,” Robson said.
“But going into this game I’ve played a few times before with Mitch and Romey so I know what to listen for – I know what they want and when they want to do things.
“The calls definitely come but you kind of already know which way your halves are going if you’re counting the numbers.
“It gets to a stage where the crowd is so loud and they feel on top of you, that you can’t tell whether they’re cheering or booing.
“In that case you just do what you’ve trained for.”
