Melbourne winger Suliasi Vunivalu has been given the green light to smash the Storm’s hotel buffet as he looks to regain his playing weight following his time out with a broken jaw.
Vunivalu was all smiles this week ahead of his early NRL return against North Queensland at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Sunday.
But the 24-year-old, who has suffered shoulder and knee injuries through his 104-game career, said his jaw injury, which required surgery, was the worst.
He dropped about five kilos in four weeks with his diet restricted to soup but has healed quickly after initial fears he wouldn’t be available until finals.
“With all the injuries I’ve had the jaw was the annoying one because you can’t really eat anything,” the Fijian international said.
“I had a a burger after the Manly game and the surgeon saw me and said I wasn’t supposed to eat that.
“I told him I took everything off and was licking the sauce.”
Vunivalu said he was getting close to his playing weight of 99kg.
“I’m about two kilos away from my normal playing weight so I’ve been trying to eat heaps – stocking up on chicken teriyaki and a bit of mayo to get it back to normal,” Vunivalu said.
While the second-placed Storm are set to play finals, each game is part of a countdown for Vunivalu, who will switch to Queensland in Super Rugby next season.
He said he wouldn’t be watching the Reds qualifying final on Saturday, with the Storm his only focus.
“It’s starting to hit me already, everything is going to go fast and I’ll miss the club,” Vunivalu said.
“I shed a tear when we won the premiership so I’ll probably shed tears with the club, they’ve been really good to me from the start and believed in me.”
Vunivalu backed his Fijian Test teammate Isaac Lumelume to replace him for next season after impressing as his replacement.
“He’s confident but a quiet guy,” Vunivalu said.
“He did his job and that’s what Craig (Bellamy) wants.”