Sacrifice that sparked Keaon Koloamatangi’s incredible transformation

Uber Eats drivers in Sydney’s southwest mightn’t be happy, but a ripped Keaon Koloamatangi is reaping the benefits of an acai-free diet and is down to a playing weight he hasn’t had since he was running around at centre in junior footy.

Pictures of the Rabbitohs edge forward training over summer caught everyone’s attention, with the one-time Origin forward dropping about 10 kilos and looking fitter than ever under new coach Wayne Bennett.

“I probably haven’t been this light since I was born. I feel a lot better with myself. I just wanted to challenge myself off the field. I’m still trying to perfect it, but I’m happy with it,” he said.

“I dropped a lot (of weight). I was very overweight last year to my standards, and when I had a chat with Wayne in the off-season, he asked what I thought was the best position for me, and I felt like second row was my best position.

“If you look at all the best ones, I feel I’m one of them. But if you’re not fit enough, you’re not going to excel into a top three or top two in that position.

“I know I can get there if I’m in the right fitness level, so hopefully I can get to that.”

Koloamatangi said he weighed about 118kg playing in the middle last year but has dropped to 107 or 108kg this season after deciding to give up his favourite tasty treat.

The sacrifice is clearly working given he was able to play 80 minutes in the season opener – up from 74 minutes in 2024 – while his attacking numbers are all up on previous years now that he has more energy.

“I was pretty bad on desserts, so I pretty much cut that out and saw how long I could go without that,” he said.

“That was probably two or three months and I shredded pretty quickly. It wasn’t too much of a massive difference in my diet.

“I was eating anything that was in the cupboard but mainly Uber Eats acai because I live in the Canterbury-Bankstown area and acai is pretty big over there. I had to cut that out, so Uber Eats has probably lost a bit of money now.

“It’s a bit of a different feeling being lighter because sometimes I feel a bit less powerful, but I’ve been lifting well in the gym, so I’m just trying to get comfortable in my own body again.

“It’s still a little weird not having that much weight because I was used to playing with it. The last time I was that light was when I was playing centre in SG Ball.

“Instead of me playing well for 20 minutes and then disappearing for 10 minutes and having a break, I can consistently do that effort now.

“That separates the average back-rowers from the top ones – the stuff that’s not on the stats sheet like kick chase and tidying up errors.”

That kick pressure isn’t good news for former teammate Lachlan Ilias, who will have to tackle Koloamatangi 15 times when the Rabbitohs take on the Dragons on Saturday afternoon.

“We actually talk pretty much daily because he’s one of my closest mates. I’ll probably still talk with him until Saturday and then I might rip his head off,” the back-rower said.

“That’s how it is in footy. You’re best mates off the field, but on the field, if you’re not wearing the same jersey as me, then I don’t really care.”