But the 22-year-old, who struggles to find footy boots to fit his size 16 feet, is not just watching what he eats these days - he makes sure the Raiders see it too.

"I send photos to our dietitian every night of what I eat, that keeps me on track pretty well to make sure I eat healthy," Boyd says. "He'll come back with suggestions, like adding more fibre or protein.

"He goes through and does up meal plans for us. He's given me photos and countless amounts of recipes to cook."

To realise how much Boyd has grown as a footballer in the past year, you need only look at how he's knuckled - or trimmed - down.

Not long after coach Ricky Stuart arrived at the Raiders in late 2013, Boyd was yet to make his NRL debut, was coming off contract and was weighing in at over 130kg. Then came the moment Boyd was cut down to size, having skipped an appointment with the club's dietitian.

"Ricky just pulled me aside and said 'Mate, you need to fix your attitude'," Boyd recalled. "It was my weight and attitude.

"I think I lost a bit of focus towards footy there for 12 months, I didn't have much of a year [in 2013] and started getting frustrated with injury. I went off track, put on weight.

"I probably started to doubt myself more than anything. I came back, did that pre-season and thought this is probably going to be my last crack at it, if I don't do it this year I'll probably end up moving back to the [family] farm [at Cowra]. So I just ripped in, did my best and it paid off."

As is turned out, Boyd made his NRL debut in round one last year, played 21 games, was awarded Raiders rookie of the year and re-signed with the club until the end of 2017. The 22-year-old and former Under-20s NSW Origin representative now has bigger goals going forward.

"I'd love to try and make the [NSW] Country side this year, that'd be awesome," Boyd said. "Then obviously try to get in the Origin side, it might be a couple of years away if I ever got the chance. But it's about trying to mature as a footballer, to get in and work out how to be a dominant player in the comp."

Ask former Australian Kangaroos prop and now Raiders assistant coach Brett White if Boyd ever got too big for his boots and White just laughs.

"If he can find boots to wear, he'll be a good footballer," White says, referencing Boyd's size 16 feet, bigger than NBA superstar LeBron James. "He's got to play in those Grasscats because they don't make boots big enough for him.

"The boys cut his bootlaces the other day. For anyone else, it's not a big thing, they've got plenty of boots, but he's got limited choice in his footwear.

"The thing I like about Boydy is he's always kept his feet on the ground. You can tell him where he's going wrong or what he needs to fix and he reacts well to that. He handles criticism, but he can take a rap and not let it go to his head.

"If he can gain as much this year as he gained last year, it'd be fantastic, it'd put him right up there in the game. I've got no doubt he's going to have a long career, last year was more for his development."

When he's not playing NRL, Boyd spends his weekends and holidays hunting feral pigs. The biggest he's landed even had his measure, weighing 132kg.

"He was a good pig," Boyd says. "He had no ears on him so the dog didn't know what to do, it was pretty scary going in on it.

"I've been put up a tree before, I grabbed my knife and cut my fingers open, that was probably my most hairy moment. It knocked my dog off and chased me, I didn't have much option but to go straight up the tree. I didn't even have time to think about dropping the knife."

But what's tougher, bringing down a boar or an opposition prop?

"An NRL prop for sure, I don't do any work with the pigs, I just go in there and grab hold of them once the dogs get them. The dogs do all the work."

Boyd has continued to work on his weight in the off-season. He's shed 2 per cent body fat since November, while maintaining a 122kg frame.

He will start Canberra's NRL season-opener against the Cronulla Sharks on the bench, but Raiders coaching staff marvel at his motor for a big man. His minutes are expected to rise in 2015.

"[Ricky Stuart] slowly weaned me into it last year, he only let me play 15-20 minutes [per game] in the first 10 rounds and then he let me start a few games towards the end. He was trying to get me to play around that 40 minutes per game, to make sure I can get those two 20-minute stints out."

Boyd, 194cm, can look up to his father for his genetics. His dad is 198cm, his grandfather 200cm.

"My parents come to every game, they even went to Darwin last year and watched us play Parramatta ... I think they like getting away from the farm," Boyd says.

The family farm, near Cowra, is Boyd's respite. He gets back there at every chance, to help with the family's metalwork business, shear sheep, harvest lucerne, fatten lambs.

"It's just over 1000 acres, but I wouldn't mind buying onto the farm when I'm finished playing ... making it a bit bigger."