David Klemmer might be entering his 10th NRL season but the Knights prop says he feels as fit as he did when he first entered the fray as a young Bulldogs' tearaway.
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Klemmer, 28, has been reinvigorated under the club's new performance staff and training regimen this preseason, reclaiming his spot in the starting front row.
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The experienced prop has relished the fresh approach, which he said had taken the entire squad "out of our comfort zone" and left him feeling the best he has in years.
"As you get older, it gets harder, but I feel like I'm 20 years old," Klemmer told the Newcastle Herald.
"I feel good, I feel excited.
"We obviously had a bit of a clean-out of the high performance [staff]. Hayden Knowles, Craig Catterick, all these guys have come in. They've had a lot of experience in rugby league and everyone has all bought into what they've done.
"It's a different sort of fitness these guys have brought in, which has been good for us, it's something we're not used to. We've been taken out of our comfort zone and I've really enjoyed it."
Klemmer, who has made 176 NRL appearances, has been a consistent workhorse in his three seasons at the Knights, as he was at the Bulldogs beforehand.
In fact, every year since 2015 Klemmer has been in the top 10 players for post contact metres, last year ranking sixth with, on average, 66.7 metre per game.
But late last season Klemmer started being used as an interchange player. Jacob Saifiti, who went on to win the Danny Buderus Medal, became the preferred starter alongside brother Daniel.
After coming off the bench on six occasions at the back end of last year, Klemmer started in the front row in the club's two trials.
He was a standout against the Bulldogs and followed it up with a solid hit out without the Saifiti brothers against the Storm.
Klemmer's pre-season efforts have pleased coach Adam O'Brien, who confirmed on the Toohey's News podcast last week that the prop had won back his starting spot in the side.
"Klem has been outstanding for us right across the summer and it's a reward for him, not a demotion for Jacob," O'Brien said on the podcast, recorded before it was revealed Daniel Saifiti would miss the season's opening rounds.
"I also like the fact we will have at least one Saifiti on the field all the time with Jacob coming off the bench."
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While Jacob has been promoted to the starting side this week in his brother's absence, Klemmer said he was happy to take on whichever role suited the team.
"Wherever Adsy wants to play me," Klemmer said.
"He chucked me in the starting side and I felt really good out there [in the trials]. I've just got to keep doing what is best for the team.
"I'm really enjoying what I'm doing at the moment and if they say otherwise, I've got to do what's best for the team."
When Klemmer joined the Knights before the 2019 season, many of the side's current forwards hadn't even played 50 games.
Mitch Barnett, Jacob Saifiti and Lachlan Fitzgibbon had played less, while Daniel had played slightly more.
Klemmer was often described as the pack's leader in his first couple of seasons at the club, but he has watched his teammates come along in leaps and bounds over the past three years.
The former Blues and Kangaroos representative believes the Knights' pack now has the right level of experience to do some real damage this season.
"There's a group of us that have been around for a while now and I think we've all taken ownership," he said.
"Everyone has been here for a couple of years or they've played NRL for a long time. We're not that inexperienced, we're pretty mature.
"As long as we keep each other accountable and keep working hard for each other, I think we've got a nice level of experience."
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