IF you were to nominate who you thought the Warriors’ hardest trainers were, you’d expect the likes of Ryan Hoffman and Simon Mannering to top the list.

But in welcome news for Warriors fans, Konrad Hurrell is the name on the lips of his teammates when posed the question of who has impressed most at training during the pre-season.

It goes to show just how much can change in a few short months.

In October last year the centre was told by Warriors management that they would not stand in his way should he be able to find a new home for 2016.

Round 19

But determined to prove the club wrong and that he was serious about making his time with the Warriors a success, the 24-year-old knuckled down during the off-season, changing his diet and attitude towards training.

“Konie,” Vatuvei offered without hesitation when asked who has impressed at training.

“He’s been under the pump for the last couple of years.

“The effort and amount of training he’s been doing off and on the field is showing at training.

“He’s looking ripped and he’s letting people know — he’s taking his top off every time.

“It’s good to see he’s fresh and in good shape. He’s taking a lot of photos without his T-shirt now and that’s a good thing.

“It brings a lot of his confidence out. I’m excited to see when he starts playing.”

Bbq for dinner 👌👌 #ouua A photo posted by koni_hurrell (@koni_hurrell) on Jan 29, 2016 at 11:23pm PST

The start of his change in attitude came last year when he sat out of Tonga’s 28-8 World Cup qualifying win over Cook Islands on Andrew McFadden’s recommendation.

After the 2014 break he returned to training overweight and battled a knee issue for much of the season.

It was something he was desperate not to repeat. So he changed his diet and trained on his days off.

According to his teammate and close friend, Vatuvei, the threat of having to leave the club may have been the kick up the backside Hurrell needed.

“I think he wants to prove the people who doubted him wrong, that he’s still got the goods and I reckon he does,” Vatuvei explained.

Sorry big bro @manuvatuvei maybe next time ae 😉😉 OG trying to keep up 😝😝 still love you toko #ouua #speedkills haha Photocred : @rapomare A photo posted by koni_hurrell (@koni_hurrell) on Jan 27, 2016 at 9:48pm PST

“The only thing I reckon that let him down was his weight and keeping in shape and he’s looking sharp now.

“Everyone needs a kick up the bum. I’ve had my one in 07 or 06 after that Parramatta game (where I dropped multiple bombs).

“For the club to do that to him was his way of learning and you can see the change it’s put upon Konie.

“Hopefully he’s going to have an awesome season and I know that he will and he’ll be fighting for his spot because there are a lot of outside backs in the team fighting for spots.”