Rugby league is, to some, like a strand of someone else’s hair in a restaurant meal: hard to avoid and harder to stomach.

From the mindless quotes and unsavoury scandals, to the close proximity to gambling and a mythology founded on physical sacrifice, the code is far from everyone’s cup of tea. But one of the sport’s most considered voices says, over his coffee in Melbourne’s CBD, there is more to league than meets the eye.

“It’s probably easier to pigeonhole a rugby league player as a drunk, abusive or a drug taker,” Christian Welch says, arguing players’ behaviour is no worse than that of the broader community. “It makes people more uncomfortable if we reflect on Australia as a whole, instead of just going ‘oh, rugby league players, they’re the ones abusing their partners or taking drugs’, when it’s probably more of an indictment on where everyone is.”

It’s the kind of comment that might be expected from a former director of the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) and a hard-working prop – the position in the sport that sacrifices most for the team.

But Melbourne Storm’s towering 29-year-old – who will graduate with an MBA later this year, has dabbled in professional writing, and lives in Richmond in Melbourne’s trendy inner east – largely evades expectation. Storm chief executive Justin Rodski says Welch is different to other players: “He’s articulate, he’s funny, and he’s quite smart.”

Welch is first and foremost an advocate for the game. Speak to him – about the nature of competition equalisation, about strategies for building a team, about interchange – and it’s clear he loves footy deeply. But the game has not always loved him.

The Queenslander was thrust into the furnace of Australian media last year as one of the most vocal members of the RLPA as the players’ body sought to secure a better deal around pay and conditions. Welch was already wrestling some of Australia’s most powerful men on weekends, but it meant a similar confrontation continued throughout the week.

According to others familiar with negotiations, it was often Welch that called out Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’Landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo in meetings on Zoom or in boardrooms.

“Naturally it’s a little bit combative when you’re in those meetings because you’re negotiating, it’s giving and taking,” Welch says. “But, like, we eventually got there, didn’t we?”

The RLPA and NRL did strike a deal – and Abdo and Welch still exchange text messages – but Welch was targeted by some sections of the media for his part in the long-running divide. “It’s alright if you’re going well but I wasn’t probably playing to the ability where I was at in previous years, you become a very easy candidate for criticism.”

The former Maroons middle had worked hard to come back from an achilles injury the previous year, after twice returning from serious knee injuries. By the end of the season, the veteran was benched in the second week of the finals. Even worse was to follow; coach Craig Bellamy took the Storm captaincy off him within weeks of the season ending.

“I’ve struggled a bit from there right up until late,” Welch says. “You take a bit of a hit personally, and maybe a bit of your ego and your pride, because you’re basically getting told that we can offer this to someone else who can do a better job at leading this club than you.”

Rodski noticed a change in Welch’s demeanour. “He probably did withdraw for a little bit,” he says. “But if you look at him now, I’m seeing him more committed, more dedicated with more energy.”

Welch doesn’t disagree. “I probably went into a bit of a, not a hole, but I was very introverted and not too keen to, I suppose, be in the club outside of training hours, which is pretty unlike me.”

The prop has juggled a commerce undergraduate degree, an MBA, various international study trips and work with charities – most recently with Camp Quality – over the course of his career.

“You play better footy if you have a more balanced life, and you’ve got something outside because it can really chew you up,” he says.

Welch has been widely tipped for a role in corporate Australia when he hangs up the boots, but he remains true to his socially minded principles. Of his work with the players’ union, he is most proud of securing a first-ever collective bargaining agreement for NRLW players.

“The men and women really banded together and combined our leverage and strength and said [to the NRL], ‘you need to resolve this before anything else happens’,” he says.

The 2020 premiership winner has returned to the Storm’s starting side in recent weeks as they have moved to third on the ladder. But even as some, such as Maroons legend Gorden Tallis, call for his inclusion in Queensland’s State of Origin side, Welch has been quick to shut speculation down, saying recently “I probably wouldn’t consider myself really in the frame at the moment”.

Instead, Welch is taking each week at the Storm as it comes after what he describes as a “humbling six months”. He says he has a “couple more years left” playing in the NRL. But he is also wary of possible long-term health risks due to blows to the head, counting that he has had six concussions, including one earlier this season.

“That’s a pretty big number which is a little bit scary,” he says. “You don’t really know the science – I haven’t really been knocked out bad but also, having six little ones could be worse than one or two big ones.”

Welch raised the risk to brain health – largely a taboo subject in rugby league until recently – last year in a bid to win the players’ more say in how long seasons could be.

It’s an area that continues to drive calls for reform in the game, such as outlawing long kick-offs to reduce high-speed collisions and potential concussions. Others have passionately defended the game’s tough traditions.

Welch – not unlike in his role negotiating the players’ pay deal – is usually the one carrying the ball up. But he wants long kick-offs to stay. “A kick off-carry – it’s a tough one. Because you’re generally getting flogged, because there’s no one really up next to you, there’s no threat of you passing the ball, you’re on a hiding to nothing,” he says. “It’s just part of the game.”