A jet-lagged Jordan Turner was seeing stars by the end of his first Canberra Raiders fitness session, but the English recruit hopes he can continue a Pommy renaissance in the capital.
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Turner is in contention to play at the Auckland Nines pre-season tournament to press his claims for an NRL jersey for the 2017 campaign.
The versatile UK Super League veteran looms as a key cog in the Green Machine's hopes of taking their premiership dream to the next level.
He is following the path forged by Josh Hodgson and Elliott Whitehead, with the English international duo stamping themselves as fan favourites at the Raiders.
But Turner wants to earn his own reputation and his journey started by sweltering through a fitness session at Raiders headquarters last month.
"There was a day when one of the conditioners asked me to come in and knock the cobwebs off me," Turner said.
"I was expecting a little run out and I'd only been off the plane for a couple of days so I was a bit jet-lagged. About halfway through the session I was nearly passing out.
"I can see the improvement in myself already in that short space of time and I've acclimatised, I've just got to stay strong. This time of year is tough on anyone, never mind me.
"I'm being thrown in the deep end and told to get on with it. But I can't complain about the weather."
The 27-year-old signed with the Raiders after deciding he needed to test himself to take his career to the next level.
He has played for Salford City, Cull FC and St Helens, where he was a teammate of Sia Soliola, in England and his versatility won him St Helens' player of the year award in 2013.
Turner can play in the outside backs, halves or back row and admits he doesn't know where he fits into Canberra's roster.
"I prefer to play in the halves or centre, but depending on the way [coach Ricky Stuart] wants to go next year, maybe I might be able to get a utility bench spot," Turner said.
"I'd just be happy to make the squad for round one, that comes first and then we'll see how we go from there."
Turner hopes he can do enough to earn a spot and enhance the English perception created by crafty hooker Hodgson and hard-worker Whitehead.
"I'd played in Super League for 11 seasons and I felt to take my game to the next level was coming out here and testing myself in what's considered the best competition in rugby league," Turner said.
"I think Josh and Elliott were in probably similar situations to me and you can see from being out here [in Canberra], they've gone to a level they never reached in England.
"Hopefully I can sort of emulate what they've done."
