Canterbury league legend embracing the Hyrox hurt

Former Warrior and Hornby Panther Corey Lawrie is finding success in a different sporting arena after turning his hand to Hyrox, a high-intensity fitness race that combines running with eight functional workout stations.

Lawrie will compete at the Hyrox World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, from June 18-21 in the men’s 45-49 age group.

He will be joined by fellow Cantabrian and good mate Robbie Wilson, who will compete in the 25-29 division.

Now 46, Lawrie retired from premier rugby league with Hornby in 2024 after a career that included four NRL appearances for the Warriors in 2007.

He qualified for the world championships after finishing second at a Hyrox event in Auckland in January, before the winner opted not to attend the world finals.

Lawrie said Hyrox filled the gap left by rugby league after he hung up the boots.

“Being active is what’s good for me. I’ve got no league now, so I had to fill that void with something, and since I was a good league player, I found I had to be good at something again.

“Running became quite good, and that was quite reasonable, and then I found I was quite good at this.”

Lawrie said preparing for Hyrox was vastly different from getting ready for a game of league.

“This is just very endurance-based – you’re hurting for the whole hour and five, 10 minutes. There’s no real respite – I can’t go hide behind the ref or behind the posts on the Hyrox field.

“If you get me in a good light, there’s an ab or two poking through. I’m trying not to carry weight – obviously that helps with my running – and I’m not getting bashed by four people every Saturday so the body is recuperating better than it was.”

Lawrie was due to leave on Wednesday for Manchester, where he will spend time with family before heading to Sweden for the championships.

After the event, he will spend another week in the United Kingdom before returning home and back to his job as a scaffolder.

The trip is costing Lawrie $12,000, which he raised with the help of several others. He said the support he received had been “very humbling”.

“I’ve been very, very lucky. Three or four people sponsored me actual money and my UK family paid for my flight, so I’ve been very fortunate with that.

“I did a raffle for some Warriors jerseys and other knick-knacks that people donated. I sold 400 tickets in 24 hours. I shed a tear when all the tickets were sold. I think 90% of people were buying tickets to support me.

“It’s hard to put into words, but I’ve been very fortunate with the people I’ve got in my life. It must mean I’m a semi-good bugger if people want to support me.”

The competition started on Thursday, with Lawrie’s event set to begin between 1-1.20am next Saturday (NZT) with the event broadcast live on the official Hyrox YouTube channel.