How Darius Boyd got his body right for round one

Darius Boyd is noted as a perfectionist and the Brisbane Broncos captain has revealed how he worked overtime to get his hamstrings right and his body ready to play in the round one clash against St George/Illawarra.

Boyd has told a special Broncos edition of the pan66.com Podcast that he would "definitely be there" for the Telstra Premiership season opener against the Dragons next Thursday.

He explained how he had "a little bit of a mishap about six weeks ago" but had worked really hard since, on top of the work he'd done before Christmas on his hamstrings and calves. 

Boyd said the performance staff had given him a  tailored program that had him "feeling really good right now".

"I had a lot of tendon pain last year around finals time and they reckon that can take up to three months [to heal] so I got that right over November and the Christmas break but when I came back in early January, I had a lower muscle injury with my hamstring," he said.

"I came back from the Christmas break into full training and in hindsight probably needed to easy my way back in, but we've had a better approach over the last six weeks and it is feeling really strong at the moment.

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"I have been quite shocked at training. We wear GPS vests and that tells us how fast we are running and how many high accelerations and  kilometres we are doing and in some of the drills, I've done 150 to 200 per cent more accelerations than I'd do in a game.

"That has given me a lot of confidence knowing that if I am doing it on the training paddock, I'll definitely be able to do it on the field."

 Boyd has revealed why he feared being dropped for the 2006 grand final in an extensive Podcast interview with pan66.com and provided some fascinating insights into the dynamic of his close relationship with coach Wayne Bennett and why the duo has been such a successful partnership for 12 years.

Boyd was grateful to Bennett for being given his NRL debut in 2006 as an 18-year-old and relates how he played every game for Brisbane until the second last round match, where the coach said he was young and needed a rest.

He was recalled to the side the next week and played in the preliminary final against the Bulldogs where Brisbane staged a remarkably comeback to win, but after the match Boyd was nervous.

"In the prelim' final, Matt Utai ran over the top of me and scored a try, and they kicked a 40/20 on my side," Boyd recalled.

"We are all celebrating going to the grand final, and I'm in the shower wondering if Wayne was going to pick me for the next week because I didn’t really think I'd had the best game.

"He obviously picked me, and we won the premiership. There were a couple of moments [in 2006] where he trusted me and I really respected that."

Boyd also discusses in the Podcast his future prospects of playing five-eighth, whether Brisbane's 12-year premiership drought is a burden or a challenge, explains why the lack of metres the Broncos props make compared to other front-rowers is not an issue and speaks frankly about why he will pull the pin on his career if he doesn’t believe his football reflects the "best version" of himself.