Tom Trbojevic is hoping his trip to the United States to work with renowned reconditioning specialist Bill Knowles can be a turning point in an NRL career that has been wracked by injuries.
The 26-year-old Manly fullback was flying to Philadelphia on Saturday to work with Knowles, who last year assisted South Sydney fullback Latrell Mitchell to return to his best after he suffered two serious hamstring injuries in three seasons.
Trbojevic sustained a grade-two hamstring strain in December at pre-season training, one of many such injuries that has contributed to him playing just 44 NRL games in the last four seasons.
The NSW Origin star is scheduled to have 20 sessions in 10 days with Knowles, who has also worked successfully with elite athletes such as Tiger Woods, Andy Murray and Frank Lampard
"Talking to a lot of people, (Knowles) is one of the experts in this field. I have got a lot of confidence and I am very open-minded to go over there and apply myself the best I can," Trbojevic said.
"A lot of it is to do with reconditioning your body and rewiring to move better and put less stress on your hammies and other areas of your body.
"In the short term it is about definitely moving better and hopefully that has a long-term effect and I can stay on the park."
"We have had a zoom call with Bill so we have a little bit of an idea about what he does as a whole."
Trbojevic noted the impact Mitchell had last year on his return from working with Knowles. He confirmed he had "exchanged a few texts" with the Rabbitohs custodian about Knowles' methods.
Trbojevic said "hopefully" the trip would be the catalyst for his luck with injuries finally changing for the better after yet another setback last month.
"It was quite frustrating. I was a little bit down," he said.
"I was really enjoying training back at pre-season so it wasn't good but I have moved on from that and now I'm in the process of getting myself right.
"Being down is only going to get you so far. Once you evaluate the situation....you know you are going to get yourself right.
"I am really grateful for the opportunity and excited to go out there, learn a few new things and take them back...and hopefully implement them into your training regime."
Trbojevic said he was "definitely" on track to play in round one of the NRL against Canterbury on March 4.
He expected to cross paths in the US with Melbourne fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen who is also training with Knowles as he makes his way back to fitness from a fractured knee cap.
