A LIGHTLY framed Sam De Koning arrived at Geelong weighing eighty-five kilograms.<\/p>\n
De Koning, selected with pick number 19 in the 2019 National Draft, now weighs in at around 100 kilograms.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old defender said his drastic body transformation is down to a \u201chectic\u201d diet program, consuming up to six meals a day, even eating until he was sick at times.<\/p>\n
Standing at 204 centimetres tall, De Koning is having a breakout season, averaging seven intercepts and a tick under five marks a game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a blessing and a curse that I was born with a good metabolism because my diet is basically to try and eat as much food, but obviously good food, as I can,\u201d De Koning told Sportsday<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThroughout my experience in the hub in 2020 and also the short finals one in Perth in 2021, it was about trying to get as much food in as I can and throughout pre-season \u2013 sometimes I\u2019m eating until I\u2019m sick.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely hard and you have to commit yourself. It\u2019s around five or six meals a day. It\u2019s pretty hectic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can be a bit boring having rice and pasta and steak and chicken all the time, so it\u2019s about trying to find variety and getting yourself up to make meals and preparing meals and staying professional.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause the goal is to play AFL and if that means putting on weight then that\u2019s what you have to do.<\/p>\n \u201cI peaked throughout this pre-season at 103, but I think that was a little too heavy.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment, I\u2019m sitting at around 100 and I\u2019ve put on around 15 kilos throughout my time in the AFL.\u201d<\/p>\n De Koning received a Rising Star nomination after finishing with 19 disposals, 11 intercept possessions and nine marks in Geelong\u2019s win over Adelaide in Round 11.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n