Hampson’s bulked up after time in the gym

AN off-season in the gym has helped transform Tweed Seagulls hooker Liam Hampson’s body from club footy wannabe to NRL prospect in less than six months.

The Keebra Park product’s talent has never been in doubt.

Hampson’s freewheeling running game was the adaptor that converted Moeaki Fotuaika and Payne Haas’s forward dominance into pristine service for Tanah Boyd’s backline at the school in 2016.

A sub-75kg frame has held the 21-year-old back ever since.

Stints with both the Warriors and Titans Under-20s programs in 2017 were marred by injuries caused by punching above his weight defending in the frontline.

His graduation to senior football via Southport Tigers put him on the radar for Ben Woolf’s Intrust Super Cup side at Tweed in 2019.

Hampson carved out a niche as a specialist No.14, providing spine coverage and energy as a substitute but hungered for a starting jersey that would only be earned in the gym.

“I’m pretty confident in my game but I knew I had to put a bit of weight on this year,” Hampson said.

“When I played in last year’s grand final at Southport I was only 76kg.

“I’ve been knuckling down in the gym, getting a bit bigger and maintaining my speed, which is a highlight of my game, and now I’m 84 kilos.”

His NRL audition in the Intrust Super Cup will have to wait as COVID-19 forced the cancellation of Tweed’s season.

It means Hampson will return for the entirety of the Southport Tigers’ 2020 season, where he can learn to use his new frame to devastating effect in the RLGC A Grade competition.