Survivor contestant Michael Crocker recreates camp at home

Ex footy star Michael Crocker has revealed how Australian Survivor changed his lifestyle, admitting he continued to sleep outdoors even after returning home.

He might be suddenly back in the spotlight after retiring from the NRL in 2013, but former footy hard-man Michael Crocker is feeling pretty laid back about being back on TV.

“It’s business as usual — I’ve been pretty low-key about it all and it’s just been fun watching it with the family and filling in the gaps with them,” Crocker says.

Now working in the crane industry, the 41-year-old former player for the Sydney Roosters, Melbourne Storm and South Sydney Rabbitohs realised a long-held dream by becoming a contestant on Australian Survivor: Blood v Water, along with his sister-in-law Chrissy Zaremba.

“I knew it would be physically and mentally tough, as well as fun and challenging, both socially and strategically,” he says.

Michael Crocker in 2013, when he played NRL for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Picture: Costello Brett

“I loved every minute of it. Not having food or fire for three days, I loved that because that was the true Survivor experience, and doing everything tough just made it that little bit more special.”

It also acted as the kick he needed to put his health back on top of his priority list, with Crocker conceding that, prior to Survivor, he’d let his fitness drop off a bit.

“I was pretty slack for a couple years. I was really struggling with some feet and ankle problems for a while,” he says.

“My exercise was really running around coaching kids sport teams and walking the dog. I started doing a couple of fitness classes a week prior to Survivor, just to know that I could still do that stuff.

“Since I’ve come back I’ve really focused on making sure I do one or two group classes a week, and I’m starting to do more pilates and yoga to build my body back up. And that’s not from the show - that’s from football.

“I need to strengthen all those little things that I haven’t used for a long time.”

Competing in Australian Survivor alongside sister-in-law Chrissy was a long-held dream for the ex rugby league star. Picture: Nigel Hallett

It probably says something about Crocker’s tough-as-nails mindset that, even when he was back in the comfort of his family home, he tried to continue with some of the more challenging elements of his Survivor experience.

Though I’m not sure how happy his partner, Kiri-Moana Procter, was about it.

“I continued eating rice and beans for lunch for probably three months after filming ended and I still have it a couple of times a week,” he says.

“It’s strange. I came home and refused to put the air-conditioning on, and I put sand in the backyard and would sleep next to a fire on the sand. I found that sleeping in the sand I’d wake up with zero aches and pains. I felt good. I felt fresh.

“It’s amazing how you can reset your body and your mind just by getting back to a really simple life and you realise how little you actually need. It’s been an amazing change to my mindset and philosophy on life.”

MICHAEL CROCKER ON…

Exercise

“Playing team sports all my life, I don’t find it rewarding training by myself. Training with people and having someone next to me to help push me through, or for me to be able to help push them through if they’re struggling - I really enjoy that. And I’m finding the more I train, the more productive I am for the day.”

Crocker admits his fitness had fallen off since he retired from rugby league. Picture: Mark Evans

Diet

“As a kid and all the way through to my football career, I ate a lot - I’d carb load, but was also really active, so it all worked out. But once I retired, I found that I was putting on weight pretty quickly,” he says.

“So I did a 30-day cleanse, and ate foods like meats, vegetables, salads - nothing processed, no sugars, I got off the milk, and from that I lost a heap of weight. I also have a diet that suits my blood type now, which helps.”

Mindfulness

“I started doing yoga in 2010, and my yoga teacher put me on to this meditation course. It made a huge difference for me. Something my yoga teacher said after a class changed my whole outlook,” he says.

“She said that the whole practice was about taking our time and being slow, and she just reminded us to take our time, to just walk out of the class and do everything slowly. For someone like me who’s used to running around at 100 miles an hour, it was nice to learn to sit back and relax, slow down and enjoy every moment.”

Australian Survivor: Blood v Water airs on 10 Sunday to Tuesday.

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