The knockers won't deter Broncos veteran Darius Boyd, who is keen to contribute in any role next season.
Boyd was a popular punching bag this year, with his leadership and commitment harshly questioned by pundits and trolls.
Speculation has recently arisen that Boyd could be replaced as Brisbane's captain and battle for a fixed place in the NRL team.
However, the former Queensland and Australian champion is excited about 2020 and believes he has more to give.
"I don't read too much into [the negative] type of stuff," Boyd told jetwinvip.com while promoting the return of the NRL Nines in Perth.
"I don't have social media, I don't watch talk shows or read papers. I've learned that's not good for your mental space.
"A lot of the time it's just to sell stories or papers. Headlines [without] a lot of truth behind them. I just focus on myself, my family, what I can be doing better at the club."
NRL Nines 2020 is headed to Perth
Boyd switched from fullback to five-eighth in 2019 and a move to centre has been touted – but the 32-year-old doesn't mind what number he wears.
"Personally, [my goal] is being pretty consistent in whatever position I'm playing and making sure I'm doing my best for the team each week," said Boyd, who celebrated the birth of his second child in September.
"As a group we need to be better and probably some of the older guys in the group need to help the young guys with that ... We need to close the gap between our best and worst performances."
Boyd scores from perfect Milford kick
Brisbane's up-and-down season came to a shuddering halt in week one of the finals with a record 58-0 loss to Parramatta.
While stressing that performance "wasn't acceptable", Boyd said it was a fair effort to even reach the playoffs after a turbulent start to life under coach Anthony Seibold with six losses from eight games.
"Having new coaching staff come in this year, having eight to 10 debutants play, a couple of our experienced guys [James Roberts and Kodi Nikorima] go through the year – to still make the finals, there's definitely a lot of positives to take out of the season," said Boyd.
"I've been saying it all year – we've got some really special talent around the club at the moment."
Perhaps none more special than teenage tearaways Payne Haas and David Fifita, the latter of whom excelled for Australia last weekend at the World Cup 9s.
The mobile behemoths will no doubt be star attractions if picked to play in the 2020 NRL Nines in Perth, and Boyd is looking forward to playing alongside them.
The one-time Clive Churchill Medallist dismissed concerns about player burnout or injury risks.
"Instead of going to the sand dunes or hills for fitness in pre-season training, you can go to Nines and play a bit of footy – have a bit of fun while doing fitness," he said.
"You'd be playing another trial somewhere anyway if you didn't have the Nines."
The 16 NRL teams will be split in four pools, while the four NRLW sides will compete in a round-robin.
Dragons NRLW gun Shaylee Bent said it's a great chance to grow the women's game in new areas.
"It'll be really good for the young girls and females [in Perth]," Bent said.
"Having it out here will [spark] more interest and bring the girls hope that they can make it as well."
