Retired rugby league star Ryan Papenhuyzen is using mental fortitude built during his years with the Melbourne Storm to forge a new career as a golf caddie - and he's available for hire.
Papenhuyzen shocked the NRL when he walked away from his contract but the 27-year-old is fully embracing his love of golf and will travel the world this year in his new role, mostly on the bag of Australian Daniel Gale.
He still keeps an eye on rugby league - continuing his podcast with ex-Storm teammates Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes - but said he wasn't missing it with golf his No.1 sport.
"I wanted to give myself a good separation away (from the NRL) just to learn something else and not consume myself with something I'm familiar with, so just sort of dive in the deep end and see what can come of this," Papenhuyzen told AAP.
With the Middle East swing of the DP World Tour's secondary-tier circuit rescheduled due to the Iran war, before heading to Europe Papenhuyzen will have a stint at an exclusive golf course in New Zealand to further refine his skills as a pro golfer's right-hand man.
"I played the other week at a course called Tara Iti and enquired that if Dubai didn't go ahead, would I be able to come over and caddie just for members, or just random people who rock up to play, and they said yes," he said.
"I'm going to fly over there for three weeks, and play and I guess learn a bit more of that craft.
"Majority of the year will be with Galey but if I have a few gaps here and there, I'm open to working with other people and I've put that out there if people need a caddie for a week."
While he lacks professional golf experience, Papenhuyzen said feedback on his caddying had been positive and he believed he brought a difference perspective to the table.
"I had a bit of imposter syndrome early because you hear about caddies just being scratch golfers and former pros and so I was like well, I've played golf for a long time but my handicap is 11 so would I be good enough for this role?
"But then I think with all the experience I've learned through footy and being in a high-performance environment and even just being around golfers and learning the mental side of it, I've got my own little touch on it.
"I'm aware I'm not the perfect caddie but I'm me as a caddie and I think that's valuable to some people."
Papenhuyzen is also spreading the gospel about the power of the mind to other athletes via an app called Optimize Mind Performance, that has been embraced by the US Olympic team, NFL players, collegiate athletes and also Cronulla NRL team.
"We speak about the physical side of things, like how much more is there to gain physically ... but the mental side I think is the edge and that was my realisation towards the end of my career," he said, investing in the technology alongside six NFL players including four Super Bowl winners from the New England Patriots.
"To perform well physically, you need to have the mental side of things covered as well so I think it's the great thing about it is it's so accessible and it's been tested on the global stage.
"I think it's just an edge for the next generation but even those people now that are trying to look for something for them to work with."
