He is nine kilograms lighter, still the heaviest player in the Canberra Raiders' squad, but uncapped forward Shannon Boyd hopes an off-season fitness regime leads to an NRL debut.
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The 21-year-old gets a chance to stake his claim when he turns out for the Raiders as a part of their 28-player squad in Saturday night's final trial game against the Newcastle Knights in Tamworth.
The Cowra product is in his third pre-season with the Raiders' NRL squad after he was the second-youngest player in the top squad in 2012 behind young gun Jack Wighton.
Boyd was hampered with several injuries last year, including having a bursa (fluid sac) removed from his knee. But the biggest alteration has been to his body shape.
Having ballooned out to a hefty 129 kilograms when he reported for pre-season training in November, Boyd - who stands at 192 centimetres - is down to 120kg and his goal is set at 117kg.
He is still easily the biggest bopper in a massive front-row rotation, alongside Paul Vaughan (108kg), Tom Learoyd-Lahrs (112kg), Brett White (110kg), David Shillington (112kg) and Dane Tilse (113kg).
''I came back pretty heavy from the break, had a bit of fun,'' Boyd said.
''I still need to lose another two or three kilos to get where the other players are at and get a little bit leaner.
''I'm making the times a lot better and I'm starting to take it more seriously.''
Boyd got through a 20-minute stint at the start of the opening trial against the Melbourne Storm in a sign of his improved fitness.
Learoyd-Lahrs described Boyd as a ''monster'' and believes he is physically ready for the step up to first grade.
''Any sort of advice or criticism he's copped for being a big bloke he's really taken on board,'' Learoyd-Lahrs said.
''He's just got a big frame and you've got to work really hard to get your body down to that level to get fit and agile without losing your strength. It's a trade-off, but he's really finding his way now.''