ACT Brumbies hooker Anthony Hegarty wants to prove he can be a physical force when the Super Rugby season begins on February24.
But like most of the Brumbies forwards, Hegarty was trying to pack the kilograms back on yesterday after their draining trial match in Darwin.
The high humidity took its toll on the players as they shed as much as 6kg in the 25-0 victory over the Western Force.
Despite playing just 40 minutes each, lock Sam Carter lost 6kg and prop Dan Palmer dropped 5.5kg, with Hegarty 3.5kg lighter than his pre-match weight.
They felt the effects as they tried to recover, but Carter drank four litres of water on Saturday night and has already returned to his playing weight while Palmer and Hegarty are almost back to normal.
For Hegarty, the pre-season trial was an opportunity he didn't think he would have when he was initially left out of Jake White's squad.
But with Stephen Hoiles departing, Hegarty won a contract and will likely be given a chance to play in round one with Siliva Siliva still easing back into training after knee surgery.
Hegarty played eight games last season while Stephen Moore and Huia Edmonds were injured.
''I wanted to come out and prove a point. I'm physical enough and I can play Super Rugby,'' Hegarty said.
''I was pretty happy with how I played against the Force. Five months ago I don't know if I was in the state of mind to come back and play again, but now I'm hungry again.''
The scrum was one of the strongest parts of the Brumbies' game against the Force in the first match under coach Jake White.
The front row of Jerry Yanuyanutawa, Hegarty and Jono Owen over-powered the Force's top props - Salesi Ma'afu, Nathan Charles and Pek Cowan.
And when Palmer, Stephen Moore and Ben Alexander came on after half-time, they were equally impressive.
''I think the scrum performed really well, it's where we want it to be at this stage of the year,'' Palmer said.
''There are always going to be things to work on, but we're in a pretty good space at the moment.
''We're not going to get ahead of ourselves but we're in a good headspace.
''There's a good feeling around the place at the moment and when you have a good performance on the park, that builds confidence.''
White believes the Brumbies' scrum can lay a platform for the team in attack and defence.
''You must never underestimate the importance of the set piece,'' White said.
''You can have all the fancy plays in the world, but if you don't win the set piece you've got a problem - the scrum is vital and the scrum we've got can put teams under pressure.''
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