At midnight Friday, 10 NZ Warriors players will finish a gruelling 24-hour exercise bike ride, raising money for mental health.
Led by hooker Wayde Egan, the group has pedalled for the Gotcha4LIfe Foundation, which has empolyed some of the biggest names in the NRL to help raise awareness around suicide.
No, it's not cruel and unusual pre-season punishment from Warriors coach Nathan Brown, it's designed to get the conversation around mental health moving.
"It's a pretty cool sort of initiative they've got going," says Egan. "It's a pretty big killer of young people in Australia and New Zealand, especially between the ages of 19-26."
Gotcha4Life was founded by Australian TV and radio personality Gus Worland, and getting rugby league icons on board is a huge part of its project.
Spearheaded by some of the biggest names in the NRL, incluiding James Tedesco and the Trbojevic brothers, the foundation wants to show that even the toughest blokes in footy struggle with mental health and encourage others to seek help.
"A little kid who's sitting there at Brookvale Oval for Tom [Trbojevic] or the new Sydney Football Stadium with Teddy going, 'That bloke says it's okay to show emotion, that bloke says it's okay for me to tell someone I'm struggling'," says Worland.
Egan's also one of those players hoping to break the stereotype.
"If you're a young fella and you see guys like that promoting the brand, and coming out and speaking about their mental health, you're going to be more inclined to speak about it too," he says.
Worland agrees: "I've got all these rugby league players who are playing the toughest sport on the planet, but they can actually have moments where they say, 'you know what, I do have moments where I feel overwhelmed'.
"Having these types of people, it just obviously makes your foundation rise up in terms of awareness, but they can actually help with the action by doing stuff like Waydo and the boys are doing at the Warriors."
Worland hopes to bring the charity to New Zealand, with Kiwis legend Benji Marshall already on board as an ambassador.
"I thought we needed someone from New Zealand, and Benji and I did a photoshoot one day, and he said, 'mate, if you think it's bad over here, it is serious in New Zealand, we need to get over there'.
Meanwhile, Egan and the Warriors are keen to show people - particulary young males - that anyone can be vulnerable.
Send donations to GOTCHA4LIFE.
