Injured Penrith prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard has turned to KFC’s popcorn chicken and mashed potato in a desperate bid to quickly regain the 8kg of weight he lost with a broken jaw.
The NSW front-rower, who injured his jaw four weeks ago, had the bands taken out on Monday and can only now begin to open his stiff mouth and talk properly.
In that time the 115kg prop was basically left eating out of a straw, seeing him a lose a tonne of weight and physically behind ahead of his hopeful round-21 return.
“It’s hard. When you’re trying to force food through a syringe there’s only so much pumpkin soup you can eat,” Campbell-Gillard said.
“The first week was tough and it just got really tough after that. Trying to get as much energy and food in the body without trying to lose too much weight – you don’t do it on purpose but it happens.
“I ended up losing about 8kg. There was nothing I could do about it, but I have to try and regain that within four weeks and work hard to try and put it back on.”
So with that in mind, Campbell-Gillard has turned to the usually unhealthy addiction of fast food to turn his body back to what it once was when he made his NSW debut just over a month ago.
“I reverted to in the last couple of days doing mashed potato and popcorn chicken from KFC. It’s all about the tastebuds,” he said.
“You don’t realise it absolutely sucks when you can’t eat and chew and you just find little ways to try and get as much food and protein in a syringe.
“It sucks but that’s rugby league. I’ve just got to try and find those extra kilos to put back on.”
Campbell-Gillard’s layoff has at least been a fruitful one.
He last month put pen to paper on a five-year extension that will keep him at the club until the end of 2024 – making him the second most secure player in the game contract-wise behind Jason Taumalolo.
But he’s vowed not to get complacent in that time.
“I don’t want to get comfortable and I think some people tend to get comfortable if they have a contract secured for a long period,” he said.
“I definitely don’t want that. I’m still here to better my football and work hard.
“The security is a massive bonus but I’ll work very hard every game I play when I pull on that jersey.”
Graham
Guest
Lol
Forty Twenty
Guest
You've just got to remember to fish out the odd chicken pop corn that slips under the Banjo strings and disappears into that black hole.
Forty Twenty
Guest
The stuff is poison, you can eat high quality ,high calorie food to put on weight same result but much better for you and your performance. Olive oil has the same calories as the cheap stuff they use in fast food.
tim
Guest
Maybe the bunker decisions can be shown as RCG's vomit coming out red or green.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Easiest way to do it quickly. It’s not like he’s eating all this crap then sitting around the rest of the day. Just a basic dirty bulking method. Eat heaps of crap, lift weights. Easier and faster than a clean bulk though it normally makes the cut much harder. Something RCG doesn’t need to worry about.
KingCowboy
Guest
Come on, everyone love a bit of Colonial, get on board!
Adam
Roar Guru
I'm partial to a Zinger burger myself
The Barry
Roar Guru
Remember he is from Penrith so he would have grown up eating that stuff and washing it down with Mountain Dew...
Forty Twenty
Guest
Is eating absolute crap the best way for a professional athlete to put on weight?
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
He should have a chat to Jack Bird about putting on weight.
RandyM
Guest
popcorn chicken is yuck, just stick with the original recipe - 3 piece box all the way
The Barry
Roar Guru
Missed a chance with the headline : RCG on KFC for NRL 8KG ASAP