A prescription of pre-season pilates was just what the doctor ordered for Tyson Frizell's ongoing back problems.
The St George Illawarra second rower had back surgery before last season, and suffered a number of flare ups over the most recent summer - including one that almost ruled him out of the Four Nations final.
However he has since partaken in pilates twice a week, and the problems have become a thing of the past.
"It has helped me out a lot," Frizell said.
"It's something that I wasn't used to and something that I had never tried before."
The Dragons' forwards have had a history of living a graceful life off the field.
Former teammate Trent Merrin was enlisted in ballet and jazz classes as a young child and now that he's left the club for Penrith, Frizell has picked up the tag.
"It was pretty bad (at the start)," Frizell said.
"I'm still not so good at it but I'm definitely getting a lot better and it has helped me out a lot."
Not that his gracefulness was a trait that could be used to describe his hard-running performance against the Panthers on Saturday afternoon.
Free from the pain that troubled him through the off-season, the NSW Origin representative was one of the Dragons' best in their opening round 42-10 win.
The 25-year-old ran for 120 metres and produced three offloads, working with a starting forward pack that totalled 728 metres in the win.
It also marked the first time the Dragons had put on 40-plus points in more than 21 months, but Frizell and his teammates are refusing to read into the opening-game hype, much like they ignored the pre-season critics.
"It's round one," Frizell said.
"We've still got to build throughout the year and we've still got a big game this weekend."
One thing he is more confident in though is his future in pilates.
"I'll be doing that through the whole year," Frizell said.
"It's looked after my body so far and it's only going to help my recovery."
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