Darius Boyd
Former Broncos captain Darius Boyd (pictured with wife Kayla), who went vegan after watching a Netflix documentary, has reverted to eating meat after struggling during pre-season training.
An NRL star who went vegan after watching a Netflix documentary has reverted to eating meat after struggling during pre-season training.

Former Broncos captain Darius Boyd adopted the plant-based diet at the end of last year's season after watching The Game Changers.

The documentary, produced by Arnold Schwarzenegger, follows high-performance athletes who decided to give up meat and go vegan.

Boyd was such a fan of his new diet he encouraged fellow teammates to make the switch in November.

But he has since parted way with veganism, opting to eat animal products during his pre-season training with the Broncos.

According to The Courier-Mail, the 32-year-old found the training to be more difficult on his body, especially during the summer heat.

He has reportedly been one of the squad's strongest trainers since scrapping the plant-based diet.

The Broncos released a statement in November last year denying the club's nutrition program endorses veganism.

The club said it had 'high-quality meat suppliers that we value enormously as part of our program' and would not be encouraging players to give up animal products.

The statement came as Boyd's vegan diet made headlines.

At the time, teammate Corey Oates confirmed Boyd had spoken to players about ditching meat, but the Broncos winger said: 'I can't live like that every day.'

Oates also said not many players were eager to try veganism long term.

Coach Anthony Seibold also responded to Boyd's diet in a statement: 'We do not endorse or use a diet of this type in our program.'

'And we will not be adopting any approach similar to this kind of diet.

'The Broncos have full-time dietary staff whose important function is to monitor what the players eat, as it is vitally important to our training and development program.

'We also have some high-quality meat suppliers that we value enormously as part of our program.

'If individuals choose this approach that is totally fine for them to make that choice, just as it is if someone gave up a type of food because of religious or ethical beliefs.

'But any suggestion the club would be embarking on a vegan-type approach to player nutrition would be totally incorrect.'