#94 – Brett White: From Player to Coach, Hard Work, and Setting a Vision for Success
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Episode Summary:
In this episode, Ian Hawkins sits down with former NRL player and current coach Brett White. They discuss Brett’s transition from player to coach, the importance of hard work, and how setting a clear vision is essential for success. Brett shares insights from his playing days, lessons learned from coaching, and the mindset shifts required to lead and develop high-performing teams. Whether you’re an athlete, coach, or leader, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways on discipline, resilience, and long-term success. success.
About the Guest:
Brett White is a former professional rugby league player and current coach, known for his leadership both on and off the field. A standout front-row forward, he played for prominent NRL clubs like the Melbourne Storm and Canberra Raiders, earning a reputation for his hard-hitting, tough play. White's dedication to the game and his relentless work ethic made him a key figure in the teams he represented.
After retiring from playing, White transitioned into coaching, where his deep knowledge of the game and strong leadership skills have made a significant impact. He has held various coaching roles with both club and representative teams, emphasizing player development, team culture, and tactical acumen.
Beyond rugby, White has successfully extended his leadership expertise into the business world through his venture, Raise Your Game. The business is focused on helping individuals and organizations develop leadership skills, resilience, and peak performance—principles that are central to success in both rugby and business. White's ability to inspire and empower others has made Raise Your Game a valuable resource for those looking to elevate their personal and professional lives. His multifaceted career continues to showcase his versatility and commitment to excellence in both sport and business.
Certified Practitioner in Whole Brain Thinking https://herrmann.com.au/
Owner of ‘Raise Your Game’ Leadership/Teamwork business consultancy. IG: raiseyourgame_
Instagram: @brett_white10 - https://www.instagram.com/brett_white10/
LinkedIn: Brett White - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-white/
About the Host:
Ian Hawkins, host of "Sport Is Life," is dedicated to showing how sports can transform lives. With extensive experience as an athlete, a coach, PE teacher, community volunteer, and manager at Fox Sports, Ian brings a wealth of knowledge to the podcast. His journey began in his backyard, mentored by his older brother, and has since evolved into coaching elite athletes and business leaders. Ian's commitment to sports and personal development is evident in his roles as a performance coach and active community member. Through "Sport Is Life," Ian shares inspiring stories and valuable lessons to help listeners apply sports principles to all areas of life.
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Transcript
and 127 times he made t
Speaker:he hairon the back of my neck stand up.
Speaker:Wow, so 100%. But it
Speaker:always sort of drew back to, you know,
Speaker:our identity and who we wanted to be. And
Speaker:like I said, the the, the vision of where
Speaker:we, where we're going and who we are.
Speaker:Brett White has been involved at the top
Speaker:level across the NRL as a player in
Speaker:those great years of the Melbourne Storm,
Speaker:although some might tinge with
Speaker:controversy with the Raiders
Speaker:played for NSW, played for Australia and
Speaker:now coaching for at NRL level and
Speaker:also at those same 2 representative
Speaker:levels as well, you can learn a heap
Speaker:around the importance of vision. He talks
Speaker:a lot about how. Essential it is for
Speaker:success in all areas of your life to have
Speaker:your values set, know what they are and
Speaker:live them. And I especially enjoyed,
Speaker:and I think you're going to love the
Speaker:little bit or a little bit longer
Speaker:bit that we talked about last year's
Speaker:State of Origin and a call from this
Speaker:year's coach Wally was on the pod and how
Speaker:they're going to do it again this year.
Speaker:Enjoy.
Speaker:I'm Ian Hawkins and this is Sporty's
Speaker:life. The purpose of sport, as I
Speaker:see it, is to see your vision become a
Speaker:reality, find your voice, create
Speaker:strong connections and learn to trust
Speaker:your body.
Speaker:Good. Brett, how you going?
Speaker:Good, Good. Thanks for having me on. Oh
Speaker:mate, thank you. It's always good to to
Speaker:work with people who've worked at the
Speaker:highest level. So I appreciate you coming
Speaker:on and investing this time.
Speaker:You're one of the players that's gone
Speaker:from playing to
Speaker:coaching successfully.
Speaker:Is coaching something that's always been
Speaker:in your blood, you reckon? Is it always
Speaker:something that's come naturally?
Speaker:No, it's certainly not something I I
Speaker:thought about doing as a player.
Speaker:I think, you know, working Down Under or
Speaker:seeing how hard Craig von he works at
Speaker:Melbourne, especially the young, the
Speaker:early days when I was down there and
Speaker:thinking that's that's madness. You know,
Speaker:who'd ever want to be that crazy?
Speaker:But I think it was maybe a natural
Speaker:progression for me. I I actually grew up,
Speaker:my family had a horse riding business, so
Speaker:I grew up actually teaching people how to
Speaker:ride from a young age. Spent a lot of
Speaker:time out on trial rides
Speaker:and naturally coaching.
Speaker:So I think it was a natural thing I
Speaker:learned early on and
Speaker:sort of progressed through my football
Speaker:career and didn't really think about it
Speaker:until the end of my career when when
Speaker:Ricky Stewart sat down and said, look,
Speaker:I'm not going to sign you re sign you as
Speaker:a player anymore. I'm going to offer you
Speaker:a full time coaching role. That was when
Speaker:he first arrived at Canberra Raiders and
Speaker:I was lucky enough and went well, I've
Speaker:got this opportunity going to full time
Speaker:coaching. Why not have a go at it, see
Speaker:see what comes of it and I haven't looked
Speaker:back since. That was 2015 I
Speaker:think when I first went into that.
Speaker:Was that a bit of a like, was you, were
Speaker:you expecting that? Was it like even
Speaker:though you were like, it's good that they
Speaker:had a progression for you, it was a bit
Speaker:of a shock to the system that he was
Speaker:basically called on time on your career.
Speaker:That's funny, at the at the time I wanted
Speaker:to play on and I thought I could. Now I
Speaker:now if I look back at I'll I'll football
Speaker:games come up and and those last last
Speaker:year or two and I watch myself go around
Speaker:and go, yeah, I'm glad he made the call
Speaker:and I wasn't getting any quicker slowing
Speaker:right down and and of course, as as a
Speaker:player, you think you can still still do
Speaker:it, but it was certainly the right time
Speaker:for me to, you know, and he done it a
Speaker:really good way, you know, sat me down
Speaker:with. Respect and said how
Speaker:things were he wanted to change the the
Speaker:roster over and thought it was really
Speaker:good opportunity to bring me in and keep
Speaker:me on board. Yeah and I'm I'm so
Speaker:grateful for Don Ferner who was in the
Speaker:room at the time, CEO and and Rick
Speaker:and and the respect you know that they've
Speaker:really that's where my coaching career
Speaker:started and I've got those two guys to
Speaker:thank. Yeah, that's really cool. And I
Speaker:reckon they've spotted something in you
Speaker:that that maybe you hadn't realised at
Speaker:the time. But I, I like what you said
Speaker:there about learning to teach writing. I
Speaker:think those skills do get, they
Speaker:get put in place from a young age and it
Speaker:comes naturally. And I imagine if your
Speaker:family's got that, that your parents. Or
Speaker:at least one of your parents were
Speaker:naturally teachers or guides of
Speaker:some sort as well. Yeah, there's a lot
Speaker:that went a lot I learned from a young
Speaker:age with that, obviously having a family
Speaker:business that I spent every
Speaker:every day of every school holidays
Speaker:working in it. And, you know, we'd
Speaker:be taking rides as a, you know, 60
Speaker:hours of riding every day.
Speaker:And then you've got the, the, you know,
Speaker:saddling horses, unsettling. You have
Speaker:people walk through the gates. And tell
Speaker:you they're really good, raw experienced
Speaker:writer. And then I'm not sure which foot
Speaker:to put up to step up in the in the
Speaker:stirrup. So you've got to you've, I
Speaker:think you I learned as a young age, you
Speaker:know, especially, I guess
Speaker:analysing people and working, trying to
Speaker:work people out like the young age
Speaker:working out. If that's really an
Speaker:experienced writer to go on that, you
Speaker:know, you've got to match people up to
Speaker:how how well they write and what sort of
Speaker:horse. And, you know, trying to
Speaker:pick up those little cues on on people
Speaker:and. And where, where they're situated
Speaker:with their experience. And you know,
Speaker:there's things like that, obviously the,
Speaker:the coaching of how to ride a horse,
Speaker:you know, going through safety
Speaker:instructions, things like that,
Speaker:presenting in front of the group before
Speaker:they go out for a ride. All these
Speaker:things I didn't realise at thetime. I
Speaker:look back now and, and they've, you know,
Speaker:they've given me the tools. I really
Speaker:needed to go, you know, to go into
Speaker:coaching. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:And I know you did a lot of work in
Speaker:leadership that's being able to do that
Speaker:as a team, stand in front of a crowd.
Speaker:That's that's learning how to be a leader
Speaker:at a young age as well. Right. Yeah,
Speaker:that's, that's it. And you know, you can
Speaker:imagine, you know, we used to take out,
Speaker:you know, probably maybe 15 people on
Speaker:horses at a time. You know, you,
Speaker:you've got some safety aspects there.
Speaker:You've got sometimes you get some yahoos
Speaker:that want to come on and think that
Speaker:they're jockeys and race each other. And
Speaker:so you've got safety issues that you
Speaker:know, at times. They have to pull people
Speaker:up and, you know, protect them from
Speaker:themselves. And,
Speaker:you know, really be quite stern
Speaker:with, you know, you're leading this group
Speaker:and and keeping them safe as
Speaker:well. So there's there's a lot of that,
Speaker:there's encouragement side of it.
Speaker:Obviously there's a lot of nerves around
Speaker:horse riding. People get nervous. They're
Speaker:big animals being on a horse for the
Speaker:first time. So again, it's analysing
Speaker:people and and working out is this has
Speaker:this person just needs some confidence.
Speaker:Yeah, to, to, to improve
Speaker:and, and feel comfortable and enjoy that
Speaker:experience. Or is it someone, like I
Speaker:said, that's a Yahoo that thinks they're
Speaker:better than they are and can get
Speaker:themselves into a dangerous situation
Speaker:really quick where you need to pull them
Speaker:up and pull them into line and.
Speaker:Yeah. So it's that whole thing you've got
Speaker:going the whole time, which is no
Speaker:different. You know, the best leaders,
Speaker:it's about the people.
Speaker:You know about when you need to encourage
Speaker:someone, when you need to pull someone
Speaker:up. Uh, making those the
Speaker:boundaries really clear, umm, and trying
Speaker:to help them get better and, and really
Speaker:let's enjoy the experience. And that's
Speaker:yeah, that's ultimately what coaching is,
Speaker:is, you know, get the players to really
Speaker:enjoy what they do because if they enjoy
Speaker:what they do and it's a great
Speaker:environment, yeah, you get the best out.
Speaker:That's how you get the best out of
Speaker:people. Umm, no different a workplace
Speaker:or a football team or, you know, horse
Speaker:riding group. You know, people want
Speaker:to be involved in in and have these good
Speaker:experiences. And that's,
Speaker:that's what they'll always remember and,
Speaker:and ultimately that's what will drive
Speaker:their energy while they're there doing
Speaker:it. Love that, love it.
Speaker:If you look back over your career when
Speaker:you're playing. Were you kind of
Speaker:playing that sort of coaching role? Maybe
Speaker:not outwardly, tactically, or maybe you
Speaker:did, but more around that analysing your
Speaker:team mates and working out what motivated
Speaker:them and what they needed to hear from
Speaker:you or what action they needed? Yeah,
Speaker:probably. Maybe just
Speaker:naturally without knowingly or certainly
Speaker:I never thought of it as a as a player. I
Speaker:was, I was lucky enough to be involved
Speaker:in, umm, multiple leadership groups.
Speaker:What was the player?In involved in
Speaker:that. So I guess somewhere along those
Speaker:lines I would have would have been doing
Speaker:that without realising it. Like I
Speaker:said, it's probably a, you know, for
Speaker:doing it for so many years growing up.
Speaker:That was probably a natural thing that,
Speaker:you know, that I was used to doing, just
Speaker:come second nature. I, I imagine, though,
Speaker:that if Rick, Ricky and and Don Ferner
Speaker:have recognised it, and then it must have
Speaker:been something that was just flooding out
Speaker:of you, just without you realising. Yeah,
Speaker:without doubt. It's like I said, it
Speaker:probably goes back to spending years in,
Speaker:in leadership groups, you know,
Speaker:I think. It was four years in the
Speaker:Melbourne Storm leadership group and
Speaker:through one of the toughest periods of,
Speaker:you know, the club's career.
Speaker:Being through that and and and having
Speaker:those experiences and and learning those
Speaker:things you learn along the way.
Speaker:It's certainly, it snowballs into into
Speaker:more leadership, better, you know, the
Speaker:way you conduct yourself and the way you
Speaker:go about your business. So I think that
Speaker:that grows. Yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. So you're working every
Speaker:weekend. Does that mean your footy
Speaker:continued? Your footy career didn't start
Speaker:until later in life? No, it
Speaker:was. It was mainly school holidays at.
Speaker:Yeah, I worked in the family business
Speaker:during school holidays, weekends were
Speaker:still football.
Speaker:So I was, no, I was from a young age
Speaker:footy and, and footy was a, a great part
Speaker:of my life growing up. It was certainly
Speaker:something I never ever looked at as a
Speaker:career opportunity. It was just, you
Speaker:know, for all the fun, all the, all the
Speaker:good reasons to play sport, it was all
Speaker:about that. It was. You know, we
Speaker:had a, our, our coach owned a big
Speaker:property and we used to go out there
Speaker:camping and, and.
Speaker:All sorts of things. So it was more about
Speaker:a group of group of friends we had
Speaker:and hanging together. And again, it was
Speaker:that environment and all those great,
Speaker:great experiences we had along the way
Speaker:that that really, you know, I think got
Speaker:the best out of me, certainly as a as a
Speaker:young player playing,
Speaker:but really didn't have that
Speaker:end goal of of making a career out of it.
Speaker:That that's something again that just
Speaker:sort of popped up and I guess. Happened.
Speaker:Yeah. Wow. What I love is I'm
Speaker:looking at your bio and what I'm seeing
Speaker:your words like culture, leadership,
Speaker:resilience, these are all these things
Speaker:that you just learned as a kid. Like how
Speaker:blessed to have that sort of upbringing
Speaker:that a lot of people don't write like you
Speaker:learned it because it was just part of
Speaker:everyday life. Like you think about that
Speaker:camp that must have been great for the
Speaker:team, bringing a better bond and
Speaker:connection. Yeah, there's
Speaker:sort of certainly a lot of look at my
Speaker:childhood at, at, Yeah, there,
Speaker:there's a lot of those things that I
Speaker:learnt. You know, there's a lot of
Speaker:country kids grow up on the farm and
Speaker:their properties and working, working.
Speaker:And that's all they know. They and they,
Speaker:they develop these great work, work
Speaker:ethics. And it's just something you don't
Speaker:really think about. It's just something
Speaker:you've grown up doing. But you know,
Speaker:there's also a lot of a lot of sacrifice,
Speaker:you know, working in the family business.
Speaker:Every every school holidays also
Speaker:those sacrifice of you know, I never, we
Speaker:never went away on holidays as a kid.
Speaker:So, yeah, like I look at caravan parks
Speaker:now and think they're the greatest thing
Speaker:ever because it's something I missed out
Speaker:on doing as a as a kid growing up as
Speaker:going on those, you know, those camping
Speaker:trips away with the family. We were, we
Speaker:were working in a business. So it's
Speaker:also that sacrifice.
Speaker:Of that. Certainly
Speaker:appreciate the small things.
Speaker:Yeah, wow, I've got great memories of
Speaker:those caravan park holidays, but it's
Speaker:interesting that you've got that like
Speaker:same draw to them. Do you take your kids
Speaker:now on those sort of trips? Yeah, Yeah, I
Speaker:do. I it was, it was sort of something as
Speaker:my kids got to that age that sort of they
Speaker:they've got a bit older now, but
Speaker:certainly when they're sort of that six
Speaker:years to 15 year age that
Speaker:used to love, Yeah, love taking them
Speaker:camping. You know, camping, roughing it
Speaker:and camping to caravan parks. Yeah,
Speaker:we'll certainly make sure my kids have
Speaker:had those experiences. Yeah, and I reckon
Speaker:that's one of the best things about being
Speaker:a parent is that we might have missed out
Speaker:on certain things and and we can
Speaker:sometimes have hang ups about that. But
Speaker:other than pass that forward to the next
Speaker:generation is one of the great gifts I
Speaker:reckon certainly is. That's really
Speaker:cool. I'm curious, you would have been
Speaker:either still playing or just out of your
Speaker:playing career. Do you do you get people
Speaker:in those sort of setups wanting to
Speaker:chew your off or are people really pretty
Speaker:respectful?
Speaker:Oh, I guess it's, yeah, I, I don't think
Speaker:I've found too many people ever
Speaker:disrespectful there. Certainly a lot of,
Speaker:lot of questions get asked. And that's
Speaker:yeah, that's a great thing about our game
Speaker:is there's always a lot of interest in it
Speaker:and people wanting to, wanting to
Speaker:know whether it's what a club was like or
Speaker:a certain player was like, or an
Speaker:experience that, you know, I've been
Speaker:through was like.
Speaker:Yeah, I find people in person
Speaker:are are certainly a lot kinder and a lot
Speaker:nicer and and easier to talk to than
Speaker:certainly some of the things you see
Speaker:online people. People put up, but
Speaker:that's certainly correct. Two different
Speaker:types of yeah, you get that online and
Speaker:then you get the real people. Certainly
Speaker:much rather talk to the real people.
Speaker:Yeah, when you get those opportunities
Speaker:to. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:You mentioned that country upbringing in
Speaker:the hard work I had been cross on
Speaker:recently, he was actually the the good
Speaker:man who got me in contact with you and he
Speaker:talked about the same sort of thing going
Speaker:up in that more of that urban setting and
Speaker:that was just part of the make up. How
Speaker:well did that serve you then going
Speaker:forward into your
Speaker:career in football, being a coach, the
Speaker:leadership work you did just that having
Speaker:that hard work ethic instilled in
Speaker:who you are? Yeah, it's it's certainly
Speaker:the foundations of, you know.
Speaker:Umm, everything I've been able to do in
Speaker:my career was always based around
Speaker:the hard work I was. I was never going to
Speaker:get out worked by anyone.
Speaker:I guess that striving to be your best,
Speaker:you know, one of the greatest tools you
Speaker:know, to do that is, is hard work. It's
Speaker:whether it was, you know, as a player, I
Speaker:was always, you know, the, the extras,
Speaker:whether it was at training or or away
Speaker:from training on my own, no different. My
Speaker:coaching career is, is always extras.
Speaker:There's always. You know, most off
Speaker:seasons I'm I'm doing some personal
Speaker:development, some sort of course, some
Speaker:sort of trip somewhere. Last
Speaker:couple years have been a bit hard with
Speaker:doing Rep football. And whatnot, but
Speaker:certainly previous to that, there's a lot
Speaker:of lot of PD stuff that
Speaker:gets done. So it's it's no different as a
Speaker:player, you, you probably physically
Speaker:working as a coach, you're mentally
Speaker:working on that, whether it's bettering
Speaker:yourself or learning how to better other
Speaker:people. Yeah. And it also transfers
Speaker:across to every other part of your life.
Speaker:And a lot of the listeners are not going
Speaker:to be familiar with that elite level, but
Speaker:they will have. Elite work environments
Speaker:or or other parts of their life and what
Speaker:you said there is that continual personal
Speaker:development. You're always working on
Speaker:something that's really important for the
Speaker:people listening to really make sure
Speaker:they've got as part of their sort of
Speaker:daily game plan is to have that.
Speaker:That commitment to be
Speaker:working on themselves as well, yeah. And
Speaker:I think it's something that you know that
Speaker:you. It's an
Speaker:Infinity learn, you know, I guess life,
Speaker:you continually learning, you're never
Speaker:going to get, you know, you're
Speaker:never going to I guess like football
Speaker:really it's. You're never gonna get to
Speaker:the finished product. You continually
Speaker:work at it. You know, there's a
Speaker:there's a famous story about Cooper
Speaker:Cronkin in an Origin series one time
Speaker:where on the day off he
Speaker:took a bag of footballs down.
Speaker:Or the playing group was going out to the
Speaker:movies and Cooper grabbed a
Speaker:bag of footballs and went down and
Speaker:practised his field goals on the day off
Speaker:while you know, all the other players are
Speaker:off in enjoying their downtime.
Speaker:Guess how they won the game?
Speaker:By field goal. So it's, it's one of
Speaker:those, those things you always think
Speaker:about, you always strive to be the best
Speaker:by those little extras and those little
Speaker:extra things you do not always going to
Speaker:get the rewards, not always going to be
Speaker:the finished product, but it's a
Speaker:continual growth of, of looking to be
Speaker:better and, and taking every opportunity
Speaker:to, to grow and, and, and be better.
Speaker:Well said. Now it's well
Speaker:known that Melbourne are looking for good
Speaker:people first and foremost. So how did you
Speaker:end up in Melbourne? Is that your first
Speaker:first grade game? Was in Melbourne too.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker:Actually I I moved from the country, I
Speaker:moved to Sydney to start an
Speaker:apprenticeship, had nothing to do with
Speaker:football. I, umm,
Speaker:I, I got up to Sydney a, a country town,
Speaker:country boy with didn't know anyone, just
Speaker:started playing football at Hurstville
Speaker:United, uh, in the middle of Sydney
Speaker:just to get to know some people. Umm,
Speaker:lucky enough got picked up and asked to
Speaker:go for a troll at Saint George. Uh, Saint
Speaker:George junior's come through the ranks at
Speaker:Saint George. I had a few the last
Speaker:couple of years I was there. Umm, I was
Speaker:about 21, had a couple of injuries,
Speaker:missed a lot of football. Lucky enough to
Speaker:have a guy by the name of Peter
Speaker:O'Sullivan was a was a coach there
Speaker:at Saint George. When I think I was
Speaker:when I was about 19 and he went down, he
Speaker:got a job as a recruitment officer down
Speaker:at Melbourne Storm. So a couple years
Speaker:later I was struggling with some
Speaker:injuries, couldn't get on the field and I
Speaker:was, I was throwing a lifeline by, by
Speaker:Melbourne and and by Peter
Speaker:O'Sullivan. And pretty much the way it
Speaker:happened was I had a phone call one day
Speaker:and it was Craig Bellamy and he
Speaker:said pretty much said there's an
Speaker:opportunity if you
Speaker:opportunity to play first grade down here
Speaker:for you if you want to come down here and
Speaker:work hard. So we'll
Speaker:come back to, you know, my upbringing
Speaker:and, and there's one thing I did know how
Speaker:to do, certainly probably wasn't the most
Speaker:talented footballer, but I, I
Speaker:knew I could work hard and, and that was
Speaker:as basic or as simple as it was.
Speaker:If you come down here and work hard, I'll
Speaker:give you an opportunity.
Speaker:That's that's all I needed. All I needed
Speaker:here was like this magic, magic words
Speaker:that umm, yeah, I said right now I'm, I'm
Speaker:packing my bags and couple of months
Speaker:later I was, I was down in Melbourne and
Speaker:you know, one of the toughest pre seasons
Speaker:ever. I've ever experienced.
Speaker:Uh grew a lot and umm, round one
Speaker:. 2005 made
Speaker:my NRL debut.
Speaker:Wow, and 4-5 good
Speaker:years there, Really good years.
Speaker:6-6 Yeah, well.
Speaker:And we don't have the other details
Speaker:around that, you know, the
Speaker:what transpired, but it must have just
Speaker:been like you must be pinching yourself
Speaker:with just the success and, and being able
Speaker:to play with some of the what, what
Speaker:we've seen now over the course of their
Speaker:career, some of the best players of all
Speaker:time. Yeah, probably at the time you
Speaker:didn't realise how good they really were.
Speaker:You know, that was all when they're all
Speaker:young first the the early
Speaker:years of in the development of, you know,
Speaker:the big three and the likes of,
Speaker:you know, young Israel Flower and he's in
Speaker:his first year, first year or two in in
Speaker:NRL. So you know, they're good players,
Speaker:but you don't realise, you know, how big
Speaker:they are in our game. How I
Speaker:say, you know, I used to play the ball
Speaker:and Cameron, Cameron Smith would pick it
Speaker:up and pass it to Cooper Kronk and Cooper
Speaker:Kronk could go to Billy Slater and off to
Speaker:Greg Inglis and and Israel Flower On the
Speaker:end of the line like that are superstars.
Speaker:You look back and they're some of the
Speaker:greatest players we've had in our game.
Speaker:We're all down there and like I said at
Speaker:the time, I just, I just teammates, we're
Speaker:all just, we're, we're really young in
Speaker:our careers. That it
Speaker:was just probably before, you know, just
Speaker:as the start of all this success and
Speaker:and certainly for those guys
Speaker:individually, you know. We're just,
Speaker:we're all the same. We knew how to work
Speaker:hard. We all all worked hard. They all
Speaker:got wonderful work ethics.
Speaker:Those guys were certainly a lot more
Speaker:naturally talented.
Speaker:But yeah, we all brought into a pretty
Speaker:simple way of training, way of doing
Speaker:things, a way a way of life, a set of
Speaker:values and the environment was
Speaker:fantastic. It's probably everything we
Speaker:spoke about so far was the key
Speaker:ingredients down there. And the
Speaker:success still, still runs through with
Speaker:the same recipe. Yeah,
Speaker:exactly. Same recipe, just rinse and
Speaker:repeat. There must have been, well, has
Speaker:to have been this, an element of
Speaker:evolution of that as well, like making
Speaker:subtle changes along the way. But the
Speaker:essence of it's still the same as it was
Speaker:20 years ago. I
Speaker:yeah, I, I presume. Look, I, you know,
Speaker:it's been a long time. It's what is it 14
Speaker:years since I left Melbourne now. But
Speaker:I, you know, I, I know, I know that
Speaker:the basis of.
Speaker:You know, what they, what they value
Speaker:down there as an organisation and, and
Speaker:the people that are involved, the you
Speaker:know, there's some people that have been
Speaker:there, you know, for for years, you know
Speaker:, 20 odd years down there and you
Speaker:know, I don't think they changed too
Speaker:much. They keep it simple. And
Speaker:like you said, really it all starts with
Speaker:the people. You get the right people and
Speaker:you create that environment.
Speaker:Everyone's on the same page and.
Speaker:Rinse and repeat. Do you remember
Speaker:growing up, like you just said, you'd
Speaker:never thought about a career, but did you
Speaker:watch the footy and think like why? Did
Speaker:you have aspirations to sort of be
Speaker:playing at that high level or you just
Speaker:played?Thought the big lights in the NRL
Speaker:was you know.
Speaker:milesaway. I
Speaker:was like any other kid, like I
Speaker:still remember going to, I went to
Speaker:the SFS to watch us an NRL game,
Speaker:the Bulldogs and the Broncos when I was
Speaker:about 12 years old. And, and just, you
Speaker:know, the admiration and the admiring,
Speaker:you know, the, the big stadium and the
Speaker:lights and these players that I'd seen on
Speaker:TV and. I still remember
Speaker:Fatty Wharton walking across the Oval and
Speaker:thinking he was the biggest star ever.
Speaker:The only things that I, I, I probably
Speaker:never believed, umm,
Speaker:that I could, could one day be
Speaker:playing on that field. Uh, certainly I
Speaker:think within us all, there's, there's
Speaker:that, umm. There's always that
Speaker:self self doubt that you know,
Speaker:that I could ever, you know, in a small
Speaker:town country boy, how am I ever going to
Speaker:get get there? An impostor
Speaker:impostor syndrome would
Speaker:as always, always there, I think within
Speaker:us all. So I certainly
Speaker:it probably wasn't really a goal like I
Speaker:said it was. It was something that come
Speaker:later to me and and.
Speaker:Once I locked onto it, I didn't let
Speaker:it go. Yeah, I love it. That
Speaker:time at Melbourne where?
Speaker:Saw well documented things all sort of
Speaker:falling apart like for you
Speaker:personally. Did you just get on
Speaker:with it or did you find it like really
Speaker:difficult to deal with from a mental and
Speaker:emotional perspective, just the the
Speaker:magnitude of of what was happening?
Speaker:To be honest, probably still do. Yeah,
Speaker:right. It's it's
Speaker:something that that, yeah, like without
Speaker:doubt it's, it's that that day that all
Speaker:broke was, was definitely the hardest
Speaker:day. I've ever
Speaker:come across. It was the 22nd of April
Speaker:2010. Umm,
Speaker:when it all broke and you can imagine at
Speaker:the peak of your careers and the peak of
Speaker:your, you know, everything we've done.
Speaker:I just come off a kangaroo tour playing
Speaker:for Australia. Yeah, I've been
Speaker:playing Origin, you know, played four
Speaker:grand finals and to be
Speaker:told that that everything's pretty much
Speaker:been taken away from you in one one.
Speaker:10 minute team meeting was
Speaker:was there wasn't even a hey, this is
Speaker:what's happening. There's gonna be an
Speaker:investigation. It was sort of upside
Speaker:down in terms of. Here's a
Speaker:punishment for what's happened.
Speaker:We had had no idea. So it's certainly
Speaker:yeah, most of the time I try and make
Speaker:jokes and laugh about it.
Speaker:To to try and master the the pain
Speaker:that's with inside. But yeah, it's
Speaker:certainly, certainly hasn't been an easy
Speaker:thing.
Speaker:Yeah. It's not
Speaker:that I've played at that level, but as a
Speaker:footballer I've always thought still 13 or
Speaker:7-8 against 17, you're still going to
Speaker:beat what's there. It's not the first
Speaker:team that's been stuck with stars and it
Speaker:certainly won't be the last team, but you
Speaker:still have to go out there and do the
Speaker:work right there. Must be part of you
Speaker:just going well, we know what we did
Speaker:like. We have to work our ass off for
Speaker:this. Well, it
Speaker:wasn't a team stacked with stars because
Speaker:there was no one brought.
Speaker:I think Anthony Quinn, who was a winger
Speaker:was the only, only player that was
Speaker:brought. There was a couple that come
Speaker:that come, come down
Speaker:there like Mick Crocker is a lifeline
Speaker:because not many, no, no one else wanted
Speaker:him at the time. He he was considered too
Speaker:hard work, but certainly wasn't
Speaker:stacked. It was all the players were
Speaker:developed and brought through. So it's,
Speaker:yeah, there's a lot and everyone's
Speaker:going to have their their view on their
Speaker:own opinion and and they're that's all.
Speaker:Fine and well. But I'd
Speaker:imagine if you're a doctor and you've
Speaker:you've worked six years to become a
Speaker:doctor and someone walks in and says
Speaker:you're no longer a doctor because
Speaker:organisation.
Speaker:Has done this, this and that and you have
Speaker:that. All taken. You know everything
Speaker:you've worked for and achieved taken away
Speaker:from you within a 10 minute team
Speaker:meeting. Without a
Speaker:full investigation, I
Speaker:guess is
Speaker:it's yeah, it's not easy. Yeah,
Speaker:heartbreaking, I imagine. Certainly
Speaker:was certainly. Yeah, it's it's like I
Speaker:said it it it certainly changes.
Speaker:Yeah, you learn a lot. You
Speaker:certainly learn some of my proudest.
Speaker:Things I've been proud of is is how that
Speaker:the the club held together
Speaker:after it. That year
Speaker:, 2010, we were weren't playing for any
Speaker:points, but we still won the same amount
Speaker:of games we did the year before.
Speaker:How do you mentally as a team able
Speaker:to do that? Like we were playing teams
Speaker:that were playing for final spots,
Speaker:beating. And, and they had everything to
Speaker:play for. We had nothing but.
Speaker:We had our values that we believed in and
Speaker:we had these values that were driven
Speaker:into us and, and you know, they were
Speaker:just habitual things that, you know, you
Speaker:turn up and get your job done. I can
Speaker:still vividly remember listening to the
Speaker:footy on the I think you might have been
Speaker:playing on Sunday, the first game after
Speaker:it all come down and, and the crap
Speaker:because it was a home game, I think from
Speaker:memory. Yeah,
Speaker:and, and, and the crowd was right behind
Speaker:you. And I just remember being like, I
Speaker:got goosebumps again when you were
Speaker:talking about it and getting goosebumps
Speaker:and going what, what, what?
Speaker:Unbelievable to get that sort of
Speaker:motivation to play and
Speaker:win when that's happened in that week and
Speaker:it and it other people might have been
Speaker:reacting other way. But that was just
Speaker:like, to me, like I've always been
Speaker:someone observing people's behaviour and
Speaker:how they react. And I just thought that
Speaker:was unbelievable. And as a para fan who's
Speaker:who's never been a massive supporter of
Speaker:the storm in any way, I was so
Speaker:blown away in a, in a good way about just
Speaker:how impressive that game and then how
Speaker:that just continued. Yeah, To be
Speaker:honest, Ian, I I think there those
Speaker:those sort of games are are probably easy
Speaker:because it's a a motion.
Speaker:You know. I want to say
Speaker:around maybe around about around 6.
Speaker:Where you know the first week or two is a
Speaker:motion, but what about around
Speaker:20 at the end of the year when you know
Speaker:that emotion's gone? It's a long
Speaker:year. You're starting, you know players
Speaker:are starting to sign at other clubs and
Speaker:you see it's all starting to break up
Speaker:that. That's when the
Speaker:that's when the true colours show
Speaker:and they're they're the games that are
Speaker:probably most proud of in terms of.
Speaker:You know what what that
Speaker:team, what the club was about.
Speaker:So they're they're the ones that, like I
Speaker:said, it's easy to do things on emotion.
Speaker:That's when it when it gets really hard
Speaker:later in the year that, you know, still
Speaker:being able to do it. Yeah, hugely
Speaker:impressive.
Speaker:So if we move forward now to you, the
Speaker:coach. Does that
Speaker:still drive you right now like
Speaker:success because of that heartbreak? Is it
Speaker:to make it even more driven to get
Speaker:success? No, It's probably the other way.
Speaker:Yeah, right. Yeah, it's probably. It's
Speaker:probably gone the other way, like. Yeah,
Speaker:you win a premiership and they say it can
Speaker:never be taken away from you. Well, guess
Speaker:what? I had it up twice.
Speaker:So it's probably not. And
Speaker:don't get me wrong, I, you know, I'd love
Speaker:nothing more. So
Speaker:not that it comes across the wrong way.
Speaker:It's, it's probably that that's not the
Speaker:the number one about building that
Speaker:culture and environment. And ingraining
Speaker:those, those, those values that it was
Speaker:based on. That's the important part,
Speaker:because it's a, it's a,
Speaker:like I said.
Speaker:The success and the those really strong
Speaker:good teams or, or the good clubs or the
Speaker:good environments, good cultures that
Speaker:what they're based on gives them the
Speaker:success. Those values of hard
Speaker:work, you know, the selflessness
Speaker:of putting the team first, that that was
Speaker:a massive part of it doing. Yeah,
Speaker:everyone taking accountability and doing
Speaker:their part in in what the team needs.
Speaker:Sometimes you didn't like doing, you
Speaker:know, doing what you're doing.
Speaker:From a personal level, but if it brings
Speaker:the team success.
Speaker:It's it's worth it, so.
Speaker:That's probably like I said, don't take
Speaker:it the wrong way. Yeah, I love winning
Speaker:and I'm still, you know, competitive as
Speaker:but I think the number one thing is, is
Speaker:that building those those cultures,
Speaker:environments, that's.
Speaker:Ultimately will lead to the
Speaker:success and not only having it
Speaker:once, but that staying at the top and
Speaker:ongoing. Yeah, absolutely. That's what
Speaker:you talked about at the start is it's got
Speaker:to be fun, it's got to be happy
Speaker:environment. Otherwise what's the
Speaker:point? It's still life, right. I guess
Speaker:it's it's around
Speaker:666 stained
Speaker:success. Yeah, sorry
Speaker:with the SS there, but that's ultimately,
Speaker:yeah, the the longevity of it
Speaker:long term, you know that long term
Speaker:vision. You
Speaker:know, I think that's one of the big
Speaker:things about leadership and and.
Speaker:Certainly the, the great leaders that
Speaker:I've worked alongside have worked under,
Speaker:especially when I've got into coaching.
Speaker:You know, some of the what makes them so
Speaker:great is being able to set a set a
Speaker:vision, a clear vision of where, where
Speaker:we're going as a group. And
Speaker:you know, everyone on board to, to that
Speaker:vision. And then, you know,
Speaker:ultimately, like I said, the, the people,
Speaker:the environment in behind that and then
Speaker:the, the work that the detail in the
Speaker:work. Yeah, the habits
Speaker:and then you get into your
Speaker:flow of it. Yeah.
Speaker:I remember when I did some work with the
Speaker:Dogs a few years back, I was talking to
Speaker:the I might have been head that you'd be
Speaker:familiar with well being, had a well
Speaker:being and for the NRL and and him talking
Speaker:about how there's a correlation between
Speaker:good quality.
Speaker:Well being and careers and
Speaker:people work and results and
Speaker:interestingly, you're at the Titans now.
Speaker:You said Titans were a bit of an outlier
Speaker:because they were they had the best
Speaker:metrics or one of the best metrics, but
Speaker:the results weren't necessarily flowing
Speaker:through there. How much
Speaker:part do you play in that as an assistant
Speaker:coach to making sure those
Speaker:young men that are under. Your
Speaker:tutelage are getting good advice around
Speaker:who they are as people.
Speaker:Yeah, obviously it's a, it's a massive
Speaker:part of our game now that that,
Speaker:you know, I think every team,
Speaker:you know, we all have similar gym
Speaker:programmes, we all have similar fitness
Speaker:programmes with.
Speaker:There's a coaching part strategically,
Speaker:we're all doing a similar X's and O's,
Speaker:but like you said, ultimately
Speaker:what are the what are the top teams
Speaker:doing? What are the what's the
Speaker:difference? And a lot of that is, you
Speaker:know, between the years and and, you
Speaker:know, the well being of players and, and.
Speaker:How much they buy into
Speaker:that vision.
Speaker:That, that organisation and youknow, it
Speaker:is, like you said, it is driven a lot,
Speaker:lot of the time by the welfare
Speaker:departments. Yeah, that's, that's one
Speaker:aspect of it. And, and yeah, I
Speaker:think footy clubs are like any business
Speaker:where you have multiple cogs going
Speaker:and, and they've all got to be, they've
Speaker:all got to be humming and working In Sync
Speaker:to get the results.
Speaker:Some some Canon. The
Speaker:results are the results.
Speaker:Yeah. So if you look at your own personal
Speaker:journey and some of those setbacks that
Speaker:you already talked about and other
Speaker:moments like?Is
Speaker:there, can you remember moments of
Speaker:helping a young footballer where
Speaker:they needed a bit of a lift and just how,
Speaker:because I know what it's like as a coach
Speaker:when you, when you see the impact of your
Speaker:work, yes, from a football perspective,
Speaker:but also from that just general well
Speaker:being perspective, it just gives you such
Speaker:a, a buzz when you help someone that's
Speaker:over something that they might have been
Speaker:blocked on. I you
Speaker:see it all the time. I probably I saw it
Speaker:probably the most as
Speaker:a when I had the NYC, the National Youth
Speaker:comp under under 20s hold under 20s.
Speaker:At at Canberra I had NYC team for for
Speaker:two years, 2000 and
Speaker:1617. And I
Speaker:probably saw the most then with
Speaker:especially young, young kids that, you
Speaker:know, they come from all sorts of
Speaker:different backgrounds and environments
Speaker:and you got to try and get these kids.
Speaker:I guess. Oh yeah, They
Speaker:come from a lot of the time from
Speaker:afar and moved to a foreign
Speaker:place and you got to get them
Speaker:comfortable. You got to get them, you
Speaker:know, deal with the homesickness is a
Speaker:different way of life sometimes.
Speaker:And I think that that was probably the,
Speaker:the most I've seen where, you know,
Speaker:and everyone, everyone has their own own
Speaker:issues going on in, in the background.
Speaker:Some are able to handle it, some need
Speaker:some help. And there's, there's many
Speaker:times where, you know, my phone was
Speaker:always on. I, I, I told those, the, the
Speaker:players all the time that, that they can
Speaker:call me at any time. And multiple times I
Speaker:had a late night phone calls about, you
Speaker:know, something that's happened out. Out
Speaker:on the town or something that's happened
Speaker:at home. It's I
Speaker:think that's all, all part of the
Speaker:coaching is, is looking after the people
Speaker:1st and certainly seeing, you know,
Speaker:there's a few
Speaker:where definitely need to then call on
Speaker:assistance of, you know, some, some
Speaker:experts. I'm no by no means
Speaker:an experts in in any of those
Speaker:deeper areas. But yeah, it's just
Speaker:knowing when to when you need to call on
Speaker:someone that that is as in those right
Speaker:areas. But certainly especially at the
Speaker:young age of, you know, 19 year olds that
Speaker:you know, they're still trying to work
Speaker:out life in itself, let alone.
Speaker:An environment of high perform, high
Speaker:performance team, you know, in a
Speaker:in a big football club. But yeah,
Speaker:there are some interesting times.
Speaker:Certainly got, you know, from a personal
Speaker:point of view a lot of growth from that.
Speaker:Yeah, it was a wonderful experience.
Speaker:Awesome. I hear a lot of
Speaker:the best coaches talk about stories that
Speaker:they tell and inspiring, and I'm sure
Speaker:there's only so many times you can use
Speaker:the same trick to try and get teams up.
Speaker:But can you remember?
Speaker:Something from a coach that like just
Speaker:had your 10 foot tall and and like just
Speaker:played unbelievably as a result of what
Speaker:you heard before you went out there.
Speaker:Umm, look,
Speaker:I, I, I don't think so much umm,
Speaker:the one off speeches.
Speaker:As much certainly I Then
Speaker:again, I'm probably wrong 'cause I, I, I
Speaker:said that I once played, you know,
Speaker:Well, I once I
Speaker:played 127 games under Craig Bellamy
Speaker:and 127 times he made t
Speaker:he hairon the back of my neck stand up.
Speaker:Wow, so 100%. But it
Speaker:always sort of drew back to, you know,
Speaker:our identity and who we wanted to be. And
Speaker:like I said, the the, the vision of where
Speaker:we, where we're going and who we are.
Speaker:And, and ultimately the
Speaker:feeling of belonging, I think
Speaker:that's a, that's a massive thing in, in
Speaker:team environments. We, we all have a
Speaker:natural instinct. And I think it goes
Speaker:back to, you know, prehistoric days have
Speaker:been of Cavemen and, and being in
Speaker:tribes where we all, you know, to
Speaker:survive back then, you needed to be in a
Speaker:tribe. You need to be belonging a group,
Speaker:because if you got isolated out of that
Speaker:group, it was a, a matter of survival.
Speaker:You, you, you didn't survive. And I think
Speaker:that's an inbuilt mechanism in us all
Speaker:where we don't want to be outcast
Speaker:from any group. We want to feel like we
Speaker:belong to it. I think we feel like we
Speaker:belong to it. And our roles
Speaker:clear. Whether I'm a, you know, my, my
Speaker:job is lighting the fire every night for
Speaker:our, our caveman family. Well, that's my
Speaker:job and I've got to get that done. And
Speaker:other people rely on me. Well, it's very
Speaker:similar to a football sense, you know.
Speaker:My my. For me to belong to my
Speaker:team, I needed to run hard and get quick
Speaker:play the balls. I didn't need to get
Speaker:offloads. I didn't need to, you know, put
Speaker:kicks in. I didn't need to do anything
Speaker:else. I just needed to run hard and get
Speaker:quick play balls because then you, you
Speaker:know, you can't Smith jump out and Cooper
Speaker:Cronk does gives it to Billy Slater and
Speaker:everything else is, you know, we win the
Speaker:game. So that was that was my small
Speaker:part of all I had to do and and that's
Speaker:how I felt that I belonged. And I think
Speaker:when it all comes back to those things.
Speaker:That for me, that's where the
Speaker:the I I drew my inspiration from is being
Speaker:able to do that small part.
Speaker:Well, everyone who's a league fan knows
Speaker:how important that role is. So are you
Speaker:saying small part from a place of
Speaker:humility or because that's how it was
Speaker:coached to you that everyone just plays a
Speaker:small part?
Speaker:No, probably from the way I was coached,
Speaker:definitely. It, it was
Speaker:just, you know, ultimately just know
Speaker:your role and, and get that done. And you
Speaker:know, if, if everyone does their part,
Speaker:that's it's rugby league's an easy game.
Speaker:It's. Yeah, and I think that's what,
Speaker:like I said, drew my energy and and.
Speaker:Got, you know, got the best out of me as
Speaker:a footballer.
Speaker:Yeah, it's good. I'm
Speaker:curious as a New South Welshman about
Speaker:last year because what was clear from the
Speaker:outside is that there was a connection in
Speaker:that group that hadn't seen for many
Speaker:years and it got collective
Speaker:buy in from the from the masses as well
Speaker:like. You never go to
Speaker:Queensland game three confident,
Speaker:but I just was and
Speaker:that was just the effect of of all of it.
Speaker:And I think there's a general feel as
Speaker:well is that people like actually
Speaker:believed. And it's not like the the team
Speaker:was, you know, suddenly we had all these
Speaker:different players in there. We had a few
Speaker:new players obviously, but there's
Speaker:obviously something magic about
Speaker:that. Full that camp and
Speaker:you being a part of that, that must be a
Speaker:really proud moment.
Speaker:By 100% , rightit's funny, I I
Speaker:actually said throughout this
Speaker:series. That last year was
Speaker:the most, most connected, I felt to that
Speaker:the NSW jumper.
Speaker:You know, and I think. However many
Speaker:games, half a dozen games and and,
Speaker:you know, over three years or three
Speaker:series or whatever it was that,
Speaker:you know, playing in that jumper. And yet
Speaker:I felt most connected to it last year as
Speaker:a an assistant coach. Umm,
Speaker:and that come from.
Speaker:The one the group joined. But ultimately
Speaker:what we've been talking about is the
Speaker:vision that was set. Mad's
Speaker:done a wonderful job of setting this. You
Speaker:know where we're going and and who we
Speaker:want to be. And the
Speaker:players saw that clearly jumped on board.
Speaker:Wonderful group. Again, you talk about
Speaker:people, not only the the playing group,
Speaker:but it was right through all the staff
Speaker:and it's probably one of the definitely
Speaker:one of the best groups I've I've I've
Speaker:worked with. In terms of,
Speaker:you know, everyone just done their role.
Speaker:Helped out where they could.
Speaker:But again, we talked about that recipe
Speaker:of, you know, good people, the vision set
Speaker:everyone goes about, works hard and gets
Speaker:their job done.
Speaker:That's yeah, ultimately that's what, you
Speaker:know, we did talk about, you know,
Speaker:that if we're all connected to the jumper
Speaker:and do what's best for the jumper, it it
Speaker:will be seen by. The
Speaker:people in New South Wales and, and they
Speaker:will ultimately connect to the jumper
Speaker:even further and be proud of it. And and
Speaker:that's certainly the, the vision we we
Speaker:wanted and, and chased and, and you know,
Speaker:it certainly pleased me. You know,
Speaker:hearing you talk about that, that, you
Speaker:know, you feel that it, you could see
Speaker:that from the outside. That was a
Speaker:feeling. And you know that that was a
Speaker:real big goal, goal of yours last
Speaker:year. Yeah, awesome. The only,
Speaker:the only let down for me is I took my
Speaker:young fellow to his first Origin game and
Speaker:we knew after 8 minutes that the game was
Speaker:done right. I was again really super
Speaker:impressive how the team hung in there and
Speaker:and there was still there was still in
Speaker:the game with with 20 minutes, 15 to
Speaker:go like that. Again, super impressive.
Speaker:But then in the end, it's just in the
Speaker:modern day, particularly Origin, playing
Speaker:with the man less is is nearly
Speaker:impossible. But I but I'm a
Speaker:bit of a footy nuffy, so I just absorbed
Speaker:myself and all this sort of stuff And I
Speaker:listened to magic talk on multiple
Speaker:podcasts on on TV shows and and he talked
Speaker:about the the lengthy went to. I heard ex
Speaker:players talk about how, you know, major
Speaker:organised a coffee with me and he bought
Speaker:the jersey out. It was literally a
Speaker:physical, physical connection as well as
Speaker:the as the emotional connection, bringing
Speaker:back that moment with Turvy, which. Blues
Speaker:fans will remember and it felt like we
Speaker:we did a Queensland or Queensland, but
Speaker:that's what it felt like even to the
Speaker:extent of remember the press conference
Speaker:in Melbourne where where like, you know,
Speaker:you can say he wasn't rattled, but I
Speaker:reckon for the first time in his career,
Speaker:Billy looked rattled. And I I was blown
Speaker:away And and it was super impressive what
Speaker:magic did And and like you said that that
Speaker:requires collective buy. And so, yeah,
Speaker:well done. Yeah. Thank you and thank
Speaker:you. That was like
Speaker:I said, it was just.
Speaker:Yeah, all the all the sacrifice and hard
Speaker:work that goes into, you know, you know,
Speaker:for all the players, all the staff to
Speaker:have that, you know, pay off and
Speaker:and be a part of that and. Something
Speaker:that's so big that to
Speaker:make NSW the people in New South Wales
Speaker:. Proud and
Speaker:connected to that jumper again, I think
Speaker:it was just it was it was great for for
Speaker:our one hour game for Origin,
Speaker:but more importantly the the sky blue
Speaker:jumper. Yeah and I think about, you know,
Speaker:teams talk about Next up mentality and
Speaker:the best teams have that and it doesn't
Speaker:matter. They come in and they fall into
Speaker:the system. Well, I know they were out
Speaker:without some big names, but we're without
Speaker:some huge names and yet those guys just
Speaker:stepped in and and did the job. Yeah,
Speaker:again, super impressive. Interesting that
Speaker:you said the vision so important.
Speaker:And if I bring it back to a lot of what I
Speaker:talked about this podcast is what you
Speaker:could apply to your life. All of these
Speaker:things that we're talking about here
Speaker:today are so important. Like you talked
Speaker:about having that vision and having that
Speaker:buy in got to have a vision for your
Speaker:life, right? You've got to have you've
Speaker:got to have those things in place. And if
Speaker:you put your leadership hat on because
Speaker:you do work with businesses in in your
Speaker:own leadership business. It's the
Speaker:same language, right? It's the same.
Speaker:Things need to be in place.
Speaker:it'sa, it's a wire. Why, you know,
Speaker:the vision is a why, why, why are we
Speaker:here? Why, why do we get out of bed and
Speaker:go to work every day? Why
Speaker:as a, as a business, as a footy team,
Speaker:it crosses over so similar.
Speaker:If people can see that
Speaker:vision, they feel like they
Speaker:belong. They connected to it. They're
Speaker:certainly, certainly going to work a lot
Speaker:harder than than you know if there
Speaker:isn't a vision and.
Speaker:Sorry, I lost this colon.
Speaker:You could you could take that if you need
Speaker:to. Get him on. I'm
Speaker:Jake, all that. It's a good, it's a good
Speaker:time. He must have heard me thinking
Speaker:because I was, because I was going to
Speaker:ask. So, so you've
Speaker:got laws now in place, you're still
Speaker:involved. Umm, how do you then
Speaker:bring that same energy and connection
Speaker:across?I imagine that's already well and
Speaker:truly underway. And give me hope, mate.
Speaker:Give me hope for this year. Like what?
Speaker:How are you going to replicate that? It's
Speaker:a phone call probably. I could tell you
Speaker:after I made this phone call.
Speaker:Yeah, we've, like I said,
Speaker:we've got a camp coming up. I think you
Speaker:know it is it is holding on to.
Speaker:That definitely that culture we had and
Speaker:that. The connection
Speaker:to that jumper? Lord's got some.
Speaker:Some. I guess
Speaker:some things where. It's not
Speaker:changing. It's how do we do it even
Speaker:better, which is, which is a key thing.
Speaker:It's, you know, how do we take that and
Speaker:how do we, how do we improve it? Because
Speaker:we certainly don't want to just rely on
Speaker:that. That was last year that's done and
Speaker:dusted. It's not going to.
Speaker:It's not going to help this year on the
Speaker:field. We've got to we've got to keep
Speaker:driving that what was important.
Speaker:So he's got some ways he, you know, it's
Speaker:not not changing everything, but
Speaker:how can we even be better? So it's
Speaker:really looking forward to that. But I
Speaker:probably won't know too much more about
Speaker:than that until I give him a call
Speaker:back. Yeah, Yeah. And and you're going to
Speaker:have that same core group of players and
Speaker:I imagine a lot of. Guys who were
Speaker:injured, who have been an integral part
Speaker:of the squad for the last few years,
Speaker:would have been involved even if
Speaker:they weren't playing. Yeah, no doubt,
Speaker:Yeah, no doubt it's yeah. Even
Speaker:all the staff, all the staff have been
Speaker:kept the same as a couple new ones that
Speaker:have come in. To replace
Speaker:outgoing that for whatever reason,
Speaker:but majority, I think it's like 95% of
Speaker:the staff are all the same. The playing
Speaker:group will be very similar depending on
Speaker:obviously on fitness and
Speaker:availability.
Speaker:And that's, that's really important that
Speaker:carrying, carrying through and holding
Speaker:together and, and staying on that same
Speaker:track. Going to get more of
Speaker:some of the life stuff in a minute, but I
Speaker:want to ask about your current role with
Speaker:the Titans and
Speaker:another. Were you there before Des got
Speaker:there as well? Yeah, the year before,
Speaker:yeah. Yeah. So you had another changeover
Speaker:of coaches. You must be getting good at
Speaker:being able to adapt to that. Or is that
Speaker:just the the way of the the modern coach?
Speaker:You've just got to be able to be
Speaker:adaptable because people come and go
Speaker:quite often. They're yeah, they're all.
Speaker:They're certainly all different. Umm, you
Speaker:know, I've worked for uh, I think it's.
Speaker:6 head coaches now and they're certainly
Speaker:all all very different.
Speaker:Des was took a little bit of adjusting
Speaker:too. He's the the way he
Speaker:views the game and especially
Speaker:he's massive on analysing and and the
Speaker:numbers out of the game and whatnot.
Speaker:So certainly took a lot of adjusting
Speaker:probably to the to the Des
Speaker:change, but the learning's been
Speaker:phenomenal. Like I said, they've all.
Speaker:They're all genuine in in.
Speaker:Yeah, the way they do things is a
Speaker:reflection of of them, who they are as
Speaker:people. They're genuine to that, which I
Speaker:think is really important, not trying to
Speaker:copy anyone or or they're, they're just
Speaker:what they believe.
Speaker:It's probably been one of my biggest
Speaker:learnings, but you know,
Speaker:all all suddenly different how they're,
Speaker:they're probably really good in different
Speaker:areas individually. Umm,
Speaker:yeah, certainly the way yeah, Des
Speaker:analyses it and breaks it breaks the
Speaker:game down and that's been been super
Speaker:impressive to watch. Yeah. Well, and I
Speaker:think that's a common theme when people
Speaker:talk about that, about his work.
Speaker:Are you? It's like, I know this time,
Speaker:yeah. Everyone's excited. Everyone thinks
Speaker:they're a chance. And. And to me, it's
Speaker:never been closer that you probably got a
Speaker:few standouts, but then try guessing
Speaker:5th to to 17th, right? Like.
Speaker:Come down to injuries and a whole lot of
Speaker:things, but you must be confident 'cause
Speaker:they've you've built quite a good squad
Speaker:there. Yeah, we're unbeaten
Speaker:for this this year, so it's it's all
Speaker:good. We're fit,
Speaker:we're firing, we're
Speaker:it's the same for every club. Every club
Speaker:you talk to now, they're all all fit,
Speaker:feeling good. We
Speaker:certainly like any team we need, we need
Speaker:some luck. We need to keep our best
Speaker:players on the field. We need to keep,
Speaker:you know, the playing together and
Speaker:cohesion. There's there's been a little
Speaker:bit of a adjusting in our spine. We've
Speaker:added to our Ford Pack so we've got a bit
Speaker:more grunt through the middle.
Speaker:So as long as you know, as long as we can
Speaker:get that luck, I certainly, I certainly
Speaker:think we can. Now
Speaker:definitely an improvement on on last
Speaker:year, yeah. And I
Speaker:remember something obviously clicked for
Speaker:the team because you said it was quite a
Speaker:change with Desi, but something cleats
Speaker:because there was a there was a period in
Speaker:the middle of the year where where where
Speaker:you guys were going like real good, like
Speaker:upset wins and and in games that
Speaker:perhaps had no right to be based on
Speaker:previous form. Yes, I think early on it
Speaker:took a little bit of an adjustment like
Speaker:we said, then sort of hit your groove.
Speaker:Then maybe the back end probably run out
Speaker:of a bit of juice, which is
Speaker:something we identified, a bit of energy.
Speaker:We had a few injuries and, and, uh,
Speaker:needed to rely on some of our young
Speaker:players, especially through the middle
Speaker:after Lee, you know, we lost Tino
Speaker:in Round 2. So some of those younger
Speaker:players had to come up and, and certainly
Speaker:played more footy than we'd expected
Speaker:and it probably, you know, wore us out of
Speaker:the back end, but. They'll
Speaker:certainly be better for that. We, we had
Speaker:Tino back in, we had Reegan Campbell
Speaker:Gillard in there.
Speaker:And, and hopefully that'll, that'll, you
Speaker:know, we don't have that early period
Speaker:through the, the start of the year,
Speaker:through that readjustment period. You
Speaker:know, we, we know our footy now so hit
Speaker:the ground running early in the season,
Speaker:get that form throughout it and and the
Speaker:longevity through through the back end of
Speaker:the the season, I think we'll be in a
Speaker:better place to handle. Yeah. And
Speaker:and again, like you said, provided people
Speaker:stay fit, no one's bashing the Titans
Speaker:this year. It's an impressive large
Speaker:line up. Yeah, it is, it is. It's
Speaker:like I said, if we can keep everyone on
Speaker:the field this.
Speaker:Certainly some experience in there
Speaker:you get you know, even with the back
Speaker:rollers day for feeder and Bo firm or
Speaker:who's been on the cusp of origin.
Speaker:You know Tino most got awake and Reagan
Speaker:Campbell Gillard or origin player so.
Speaker:There's there's 55 players here that
Speaker:you know, within our middle that are
Speaker:experienced and that origin
Speaker:ability. You know, we certainly got the
Speaker:speed in County Kinney and and Jayden
Speaker:Campbell, AJ Brimson
Speaker:in the in the half. So if we're forwards
Speaker:can get us rolling and, and those guys
Speaker:can play off the back of that. You got
Speaker:guys at Lafayette and Capera that'll
Speaker:finish it off. And.
Speaker:We need that luck. Keep em away out
Speaker:there. Keep em all on the field. Yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. Now, what inspired
Speaker:you to start your own gig? Because on top
Speaker:of your coaching, you've got your
Speaker:leadership business. Yeah. How did that
Speaker:come about?I don't know
Speaker:if it was so much inspiration. I think it
Speaker:was a mentor of mine. They
Speaker:were talking about one day having coffees
Speaker:and and talking about obviously the
Speaker:stress of coaching. It's probably the
Speaker:most. Most
Speaker:unsecure industry in the
Speaker:world and is coaching you know, certainly
Speaker:knows job security.
Speaker:And talking about, you know, how how that
Speaker:can be a stressful thing. And he
Speaker:sort of spoke about maybe taking
Speaker:some of the stress off while having a
Speaker:Plan B. And, and
Speaker:using, utilising the experienceI've had
Speaker:in the game and, and the things I've
Speaker:learned, all the things we talked about
Speaker:earlier and, and crossing that over
Speaker:in in a business sense and working in
Speaker:business so. A few,
Speaker:you know, more coffees and sort of
Speaker:started put it together and
Speaker:come up with some workshops that had
Speaker:businesses pick up really quick to the
Speaker:point where you know now it's it's it's
Speaker:all been on word of mouth. You
Speaker:know, the moment I've had almost put
Speaker:everything on hold. I've been pretty
Speaker:busy last couple of years and with origin
Speaker:also the Kangaroos at the back end of the
Speaker:year, so off seasons.
Speaker:Still doing fully stuff so then come back
Speaker:around into the preseason. So it's pretty
Speaker:much all year round as as coaching and
Speaker:footy for me at the moment, but have
Speaker:ticked away in the background with some
Speaker:of this the the business consulting
Speaker:leadership and workshop user
Speaker:user model whole brain thinking, which
Speaker:is a company called Herman
Speaker:where a few years ago I went away and
Speaker:become a certified practitioner and it's
Speaker:it's. Essentially understanding what part
Speaker:of the brain we use when we think. Yeah,
Speaker:you know, the brain's like a muscle. We,
Speaker:we use certain parts in, in certain ways,
Speaker:We all think differently,
Speaker:which, you know, it's, it's pretty common
Speaker:to understand that. But you know, working
Speaker:on thinking agility and being overused
Speaker:different parts of our brain and, and
Speaker:understanding how, you know, the, the
Speaker:makeup of the different parts we use when
Speaker:we do things and how that, how that's
Speaker:viewed and how we look into that. So
Speaker:that's certainly a big been big part of
Speaker:my coaching is the whole brain thinking
Speaker:and and then tying that into the
Speaker:leadership and then
Speaker:running workshops in or around that with
Speaker:with businesses. Yeah, I love it.
Speaker:And and some of the things I mean, I I'm
Speaker:going down that Ave as well as using
Speaker:those sport analogies you've got raise
Speaker:your game. There is, is the business
Speaker:leadership resilience, peak performance.
Speaker:Umm, all of those skills are so
Speaker:important, whether it's business, whether
Speaker:it's football, but also like family life,
Speaker:right? Like. It's often
Speaker:the place that we don't necessarily apply
Speaker:it the most, but bringing those skills
Speaker:across to those areas. Like,
Speaker:I don't think I talk a lot with clients
Speaker:is you don't want to bring work home, but
Speaker:you want to bring the best parts of what
Speaker:what actually is successful at work and
Speaker:football, right Process
Speaker:values, which take the emotion out of the
Speaker:conversation. So what could you share
Speaker:around those sort of ideas and, and
Speaker:how you would recommend this woman when
Speaker:you're doing that sort of leadership
Speaker:coaching, how they would apply that to
Speaker:their everyday life?Yeah, I, I think.
Speaker:I think a lot for me, a lot of it's
Speaker:probably the other way where, where what
Speaker:you do in, in life is what will go into
Speaker:your, your career in, in
Speaker:terms of you know. The
Speaker:way you are with people. You
Speaker:know, your time management, do you turn
Speaker:up on time or, or you know, are you good
Speaker:with your time in life?
Speaker:Because that'll, that's a really
Speaker:important part, especially in in high
Speaker:performance, being on time for you.
Speaker:Your, your word is your word. If you say
Speaker:you're going to be there at a 5:00
Speaker:meeting, are you there at 5:00? Can you
Speaker:be relied on? And, and how that's yeah,
Speaker:that's really important to a lot of
Speaker:people. Those small things.
Speaker:So the the discipline, hard work, the
Speaker:resilience. I think.
Speaker:I guess my advice to anyone is to develop
Speaker:that within their own.
Speaker:Lives away from their career and that
Speaker:that will philtre through a new career.
Speaker:Yeah, spot on. You mentioned
Speaker:again, I want to dig a bit more into this
Speaker:personal stuff because the majority
Speaker:of the people listening are going to be
Speaker:not necessarily have been exposed to that
Speaker:level of elite training. You
Speaker:mentioned like even those guys at the top
Speaker:level have an element of self doubt.
Speaker:So what's one or two tips you can give
Speaker:them that despite?
Speaker:A lot of evidence to say you're going to
Speaker:be successful even if you've got things
Speaker:in place. How you are able to continue to
Speaker:show up the best you can despite the self
Speaker:doubt. Define more of that self belief.
Speaker:I think it comes back to, you know,
Speaker:probably over use the word hard work, but
Speaker:ultimately what is hard work, It's
Speaker:preparation, it's preparing.
Speaker:And how well do you prepare? We'll give
Speaker:you the confidence. That's where
Speaker:confidence comes from.
Speaker:Whether it's a preparing for
Speaker:a presentation in front of.
Speaker:In front of your boss or to your boss? Is
Speaker:that a you know, how well do you prepare?
Speaker:How much time is put into that?
Speaker:That that becomes then the the conference
Speaker:piece that you know, you've done it that
Speaker:many times and and we all get nervous
Speaker:about things. I present nearly every day
Speaker:to a group of footballers and day in, day
Speaker:out. And you still have that little bit
Speaker:of beforehand. So it's natural.
Speaker:That's that's the energy part. And that's
Speaker:what drives us understanding that when it
Speaker:does happen that that those nerves
Speaker:energy and it's OK, but the, the
Speaker:preparation that you've done leading into
Speaker:that meeting. Is.
Speaker:Where you'll be able to beat the the
Speaker:little, little person that we all have on
Speaker:our shoulder telling us that you know.
Speaker:The players are gonna laugh at you today.
Speaker:They're not gonna believe you today.
Speaker:Certainly all have that that's that'll
Speaker:probably never go away. And that's that's
Speaker:OK. And that's but it's also being aware,
Speaker:awareness around that stuff,
Speaker:around any addictions.
Speaker:First thing, first part of it is an
Speaker:awareness. That's the first way of
Speaker:changing anything is being aware of it.
Speaker:Yeah. Love it. That, that, that is OK.
Speaker:We all, we all have a little person. We
Speaker:all have that thing in our back of our
Speaker:heads going. It's not gonna, you're gonna
Speaker:be laughed at today. But then you have a
Speaker:other side of it. And the preparation
Speaker:part that I've prepared as well as I can.
Speaker:I've prepared and prepared and prepared
Speaker:and how well I've prepared is how well it
Speaker:will, will, will shine through
Speaker:so good. And and that especially applies
Speaker:for for whether you're whatever sport
Speaker:you're playing as well. I love what you
Speaker:touched on there around nerves. This
Speaker:piece on that just this week on the
Speaker:podcast is around how often people think
Speaker:they're going into anxiety and it's
Speaker:nervous excitement Now, not to discount
Speaker:people with anxiety, but how often is it
Speaker:that you're going into a spiral that's
Speaker:not there because. Anything that has been
Speaker:important to me, I've got some nerves.
Speaker:Like if if you want to do a really good
Speaker:job today, like it's not every day I get
Speaker:to interview people at your level. And
Speaker:so, yeah, there's an element of nerves.
Speaker:But again, you do the preparation, like
Speaker:you said, it's it's a good one
Speaker:for the listeners to remember is that not
Speaker:everything goes clockwork, even though
Speaker:it's at the top level, still get nerves.
Speaker:I remember actually because I did a lot
Speaker:of years at Fox Sports as well. Sometimes
Speaker:when the players came in to get
Speaker:interviewed and so on, they looked really
Speaker:uncomfortable in that setting because it
Speaker:was not normal for them.
Speaker:Almost painfully so. Some of them. Umm.
Speaker:So yeah, everyone gets nerves and everyone
Speaker:'s got to build up that resilience to
Speaker:those situations. But preparation being
Speaker:Keith lover. Yeah. And send that
Speaker:awareness around it and identifying that
Speaker:that when we are feeling like that.
Speaker:You know, I'm feeling nervous about that.
Speaker:OK, That's that's OK. That's that's a
Speaker:good. That's good.
Speaker:Energy for it it's
Speaker:but again it comes back to the
Speaker:preparation and that won't get rid get
Speaker:rid of the nerves completely but it will
Speaker:will help with the confidence piece I
Speaker:think when the. When we've prepared,
Speaker:we are feeling confident and good about
Speaker:ourselves. It will balance out.
Speaker:The nerves won't take over.
Speaker:Yeah, spot on. Umm. He
Speaker:smiled when I was talking about maybe a
Speaker:bit uncomfortable in those sort of
Speaker:settings. Is that from your own
Speaker:experience or from watching maybe some of
Speaker:the younger players now? Both. Yeah. I
Speaker:don't think I just had that clear picture
Speaker:of that, you know, seeing those players
Speaker:or, or myself, you know, especially the
Speaker:younger years, the lights and the camera
Speaker:and. Oh, wow. And.
Speaker:Yeah, it's, yeah. I can just
Speaker:picture a lot of a lot of the young
Speaker:players that I think there's a there's a
Speaker:famous one. I know, well, I don't know
Speaker:how famous. I know when it was a it was a
Speaker:big thing that when Israel Flower and one
Speaker:of his young interviews, one of his
Speaker:first interviews that a reporter
Speaker:asked him a question and he didn't know
Speaker:what to say. He just said thank you for
Speaker:the question. It's a good way of
Speaker:dealing with it. That's good.
Speaker:Oh my. Licking
Speaker:something? At least he had something.
Speaker:Yeah. What struck me was.
Speaker:And not surprising, right? Like I imagine
Speaker:there's an element of being in a bubble,
Speaker:I guess less so in Melbourne because
Speaker:you're you're probably more anonymity
Speaker:there. You can go out, but particularly
Speaker:in Sydney and some of the bigger clubs,
Speaker:it's almost like going in and amongst the
Speaker:the public. And
Speaker:and less certain there than they would
Speaker:be. On the field in front of 20,000
Speaker:people. Yeah, it's,
Speaker:it's, I think nowadays like
Speaker:this. There's a lot more
Speaker:spotlight on players. I think you know,
Speaker:especially through social media that
Speaker:everyone's aware and and sees their face
Speaker:pop up on, you know, players faces and
Speaker:and names pop up. There seems to be a lot
Speaker:more.
Speaker:Yeah. Is it spotlight or awareness
Speaker:exposure? Yeah, definitely exposure.
Speaker:You know, not just as you know the
Speaker:footballer, but the footballer is a
Speaker:person.
Speaker:And there there is. They're exposed to a
Speaker:lot more of that, you know?You
Speaker:know, as people out in public and that
Speaker:awareness around who they are and, and
Speaker:what they do, there's, there's certainly
Speaker:a lot more awareness for the players of,
Speaker:of how they conduct themselves. I know,
Speaker:you know, even as things like getting
Speaker:photos with, with people and
Speaker:making sure they're not in compromising
Speaker:positions in the way that they, they're
Speaker:in the photo. I know there's a lot of a
Speaker:lot of players that have a, you know,
Speaker:some rule awareness around that.
Speaker:Yeah, some have less awareness as we've
Speaker:as we've seen. Yeah,
Speaker:I always come back to.
Speaker:Defending the player because if I had
Speaker:people follow me around with a camera
Speaker:when I was that age, like I'd have been
Speaker:embarrassed no doubt many times and.
Speaker:I remember Johnny Rapper talking about
Speaker:kangaroo tours. Like this guy celebrated
Speaker:legend of our game, but he goes, hey, we
Speaker:got up to all sorts of mischief.
Speaker:Yeah, certainly, certainly different
Speaker:world.
Speaker:I'm glad I played when I did.
Speaker:It says says every footballer from your
Speaker:generation and before.
Speaker:OK, so I'm big on the
Speaker:positive impact that sport can have on
Speaker:people's lives. For
Speaker:you what what is the legacy that you see
Speaker:sport can leave from your experience?
Speaker:On just like like the
Speaker:positive impact that it can have like you
Speaker:think of. I imagine that the
Speaker:Titans do a hyper work trying to engage
Speaker:the community. I'm sure you see stories
Speaker:come in from different fans and
Speaker:like sometimes you know, people
Speaker:given sport about rap. But for me it's
Speaker:like the good that doesn't get reported
Speaker:anywhere near enough and the positive
Speaker:impact that the teams can have.
Speaker:There's so much upside. I think one of
Speaker:the great things about rugby league is
Speaker:we're, we're a working class game. We're,
Speaker:we're blue collar game and a lot of our
Speaker:our fans, a lot of our, our players,
Speaker:myself included. You know,
Speaker:sometimes come from all sorts of
Speaker:different backgrounds, some of those.
Speaker:Backgrounds. Aren't
Speaker:always the pleasant ones and I
Speaker:think our game can inspire and and
Speaker:certainly does, you know, for those lucky
Speaker:few that get to go through and make
Speaker:careers of it can certainly change
Speaker:not only players but their whole families
Speaker:certainly. I'm not sure if I'd
Speaker:be living in as
Speaker:nice a place and as nice a house as I've
Speaker:got, you know, for my kids, you know, if
Speaker:I, if I didn't make it as a player.
Speaker:But also you really notice that when
Speaker:you do those things like hospital visits.
Speaker:And, and you see the players walk in,
Speaker:especially, you know, well known
Speaker:players walking to a certain room
Speaker:where there's, you know, kids, kids doing
Speaker:it tough or, you know, sick kids
Speaker:on a bed and, and their favourite player
Speaker:walks in. You see that there's that's,
Speaker:you know, it's worth everything. Yeah.
Speaker:You know, those sort of experiences.
Speaker:You know. As well as, like I said, the
Speaker:the legacy of leaves in, in terms of,
Speaker:you know, for communities, you know, a
Speaker:lot of communities are based around their
Speaker:football teams and it's probably one of
Speaker:the hardest things I've seen in the last
Speaker:few years as you know, our, our.
Speaker:Country rugby league probably UMM.
Speaker:You know, has struggled at times in
Speaker:certain areas. And
Speaker:I think that the effects that they can
Speaker:have on communities can is massive.
Speaker:I don't, I don't know what the answer is
Speaker:and I don't know how to fix that. But
Speaker:I think as a game we've got to be aware
Speaker:of that, that, you know, our basis,
Speaker:especially country rugby league, rugby
Speaker:league is so important to these
Speaker:communities. Not only the,
Speaker:you know, 4 rugby league and our our
Speaker:players in into the future, but also for
Speaker:the impact that it has on communities and
Speaker:and getting fire, yeah, getting young
Speaker:kids.
Speaker:Whether it's off screens or outer out
Speaker:of trouble and getting them playing sport
Speaker:and, and learning those disciplines and,
Speaker:and you know, those work ethics and
Speaker:values that the team sport can provide.
Speaker:That's that's probably the biggest area
Speaker:where we see the biggest impact,
Speaker:but it's also an area I think we've
Speaker:we've. Need to put a bit more
Speaker:energy into as a game. And I think
Speaker:that's as yeah, I'd love to see the
Speaker:government, government,
Speaker:politicians see the importance of that.
Speaker:How important it is that sport is
Speaker:in a whole to to our communities.
Speaker:Yeah, spot on. What about from
Speaker:a different perspective, You the
Speaker:fan or or like a a
Speaker:moment?In a sport you weren't
Speaker:involved in or even just a game you
Speaker:weren't involved in, like can you
Speaker:remember like a a really uplifting moment
Speaker:or just a moment where as a fan you're
Speaker:just like. Having the time of your life
Speaker:because you were enjoying the
Speaker:particular moment sport, like for
Speaker:example, 2005, the
Speaker:Socceroos World Cup qualifier, like
Speaker:that's just, I get goosebumps even
Speaker:thinking about it 'cause I was there at
Speaker:that game and you know, all the years
Speaker:where we turned up and, and been
Speaker:disappointed. Like it was a real really
Speaker:cathartic and healing for I
Speaker:think for many people. But you have
Speaker:anything like that you can recall?
Speaker:Probably. Probably the
Speaker:greatest thing that comes to mind is
Speaker:Kathy Freeman. In the 2000 Olympics her
Speaker:her run was the 200 metre.
Speaker:Talk about 400 uplifting moments
Speaker:like it's the whole nation.
Speaker:The pride of the nation in front of the
Speaker:world, you know, on the world stage. So
Speaker:you know, that certainly comes to mind.
Speaker:Yeah, different sports come
Speaker:from. A family
Speaker:that was certainly boxing fans as a
Speaker:young kid, so watching multiple
Speaker:fights at Costa Zoo, what he done, you
Speaker:know some of his fights when I was
Speaker:younger watching those.
Speaker:They're pretty pretty inspiring and
Speaker:impressive. Yeah. Great examples.
Speaker:What about you as the as the dad? Like
Speaker:have you had some some proud moments? Not
Speaker:necessarily just all about winning,
Speaker:watching young youngsters grow up and and
Speaker:get involved as well. Yeah, I'm, I'm
Speaker:just having my kids are sporty kids.
Speaker:You know, if I, I'm certainly not wonder
Speaker:if I make it or don't make it. I, it
Speaker:doesn't worry me at all as as long as
Speaker:they're, you know, I just want to see
Speaker:those values come through in them. And,
Speaker:and it's something we talk about
Speaker:regularly as a, as a family.
Speaker:Four kids, three are boys.
Speaker:And, and you know, just those values of
Speaker:hard work and resilience is, is pretty
Speaker:much it, you know, been able to overcome
Speaker:when things happen, that resilience piece
Speaker:and, and work hard. If, if you know, I've
Speaker:got one of my boys, my middle boy doesn't
Speaker:even play footy. He's he's
Speaker:into jujitsu. So it's, it's, you know,
Speaker:what do you want to do and, and how hard
Speaker:you want to work. If, if you know, if you
Speaker:want to go in a competition. You
Speaker:know, let's work hard at it and and when
Speaker:I see him working hard at something and.
Speaker:When I see him resilient of overcoming
Speaker:the challenges, for me, that's that's the
Speaker:greatest thing. It's not what they
Speaker:achieve. It's what they do along the way
Speaker:and and comes right back to where we
Speaker:started as a, you know.
Speaker:What I believe is the
Speaker:recipe for success and it's those
Speaker:values that stand tall and
Speaker:and I seen any time there's been
Speaker:success, I've I've seen those parts in
Speaker:it. Love it
Speaker:so good and and having done a bit of
Speaker:work around the community sport
Speaker:environment, it's, it's so important that
Speaker:parents know that and so it's great to
Speaker:hear you really.
Speaker:Yeah, emphasise that. That's the most
Speaker:important thing. Uh, the achievements
Speaker:will come if you provide the space for
Speaker:them and they understand values and they
Speaker:understand resilience and, and hard work
Speaker:and all those things. So yeah, well said.
Speaker:I was going to let you go, but I got one
Speaker:more question and I just thought of you
Speaker:worked with. The Australian set up as
Speaker:well. Yep, Yep. What what was that like
Speaker:working with Malamingo? He's got a bit
Speaker:of an aura around him and people talk
Speaker:about it like there's just something that
Speaker:yeah, so. So what was that experience
Speaker:like for you? Oh my, it's
Speaker:phenomenal mouse. He's an
Speaker:icon of our game, so. Umm,
Speaker:yeah, you, you probably,
Speaker:you, sometimes you forget how, how big he
Speaker:is in our game until, you know, you walk
Speaker:through an airport with him and it's like
Speaker:a rock star. He's he,
Speaker:he's, he does have that real aura. But
Speaker:one of the greatest things, and, and I've
Speaker:never seen anyone like it, is that being
Speaker:able to set that vision and
Speaker:create the, the right environment for
Speaker:that. So it's been a massive
Speaker:learning from now in in.
Speaker:How he views success
Speaker:has been been awesome. I've thoroughly
Speaker:enjoyed that and you know, and lucky we,
Speaker:we had some success this year with the
Speaker:Pacific Championship so.
Speaker:Hopefully we continue that. We've got
Speaker:Ashes at the end of this series as end
Speaker:of the season, NRL season. It looks
Speaker:like a trip to England, so three games
Speaker:over there. I'm not sure if that's been
Speaker:confirmed yet but looks like it's on
Speaker:track to be. So yeah,
Speaker:it's been been wonderful to
Speaker:work alongside alongside, you
Speaker:know, one of our icons of our game.
Speaker:Awesome. We must be doing something right
Speaker:in that coaching space because you're now
Speaker:assisting at at all of those levels.
Speaker:Do you have aspirations to be a headcoach?
Speaker:Yeah, without doubt. It's
Speaker:certainly something that.
Speaker:I'd love to be able to create my create
Speaker:my own environment.
Speaker:I think I can add a lot of value
Speaker:there in that space. So certainly
Speaker:something I I do have aspirations.
Speaker:One of the big things I think with any of
Speaker:it is around the timing.
Speaker:And making sure the timing's right when,
Speaker:the when and if that opportunity
Speaker:comes, you know, I'd grab it with two
Speaker:hands, but. At the
Speaker:moment it's I'm pretty busy, the
Speaker:three roles in place and I'm flat out
Speaker:and trying to be a father to four kids.
Speaker:So it's yeah, hands are
Speaker:full at the moment, but we'll
Speaker:keep keep improving and then the growth.
Speaker:You know, week in, week out. Yeah,
Speaker:fantastic. Well, I, I wish you
Speaker:all the best for this year, particularly
Speaker:for the Blues and for Australia.
Speaker:Thank you for for coming in and
Speaker:investing this time and, and
Speaker:sharing your wisdom and some great
Speaker:stories and.
Speaker:I better get. I better let you get back
Speaker:and call Lois back. Yeah, actually, he's
Speaker:run twice.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But yeah, thanks mate, appreciate it. He
Speaker:knows I work for this house alone. He has
Speaker:a long and harder. So he'll
Speaker:yeah, I'll be OK there. OK, cool.
Speaker:Come on. Cheers mate. Thanks a lot.
Speaker:Thanks for having me on. Great to have a
Speaker:have a chat and all the best with the
Speaker:podcast. Cheers, Brett.
Speaker:As a footy fan, I love that chat with
Speaker:Brett, hearing what it takes to be
Speaker:successful at that top level, whether
Speaker:you're a player or coach. I also love
Speaker:that he talked about a lot of the things
Speaker:you've heard me bang on about a lot. The
Speaker:importance of having a vision for your
Speaker:life, for your future, having buy in,
Speaker:having your values and living to them.
Speaker:So making sure that that is part of your
Speaker:game plan. It should be already your game
Speaker:plan, plan for life.
Speaker:Also two important things that
Speaker:he mentioned that awareness
Speaker:because you can't make any changes till
Speaker:you have awareness of something's there.
Speaker:So making sure you have that and one of
Speaker:the best ways to overcome self doubt,
Speaker:preparation. If you prepare, you won't
Speaker:necessarily remove the nerves, but you'll
Speaker:absolutely give yourself the best chance.
Speaker:So some great lessons there, make sure
Speaker:you add them to your game plan and
Speaker:enjoy the success that that will bring.
Speaker:You've taken the time to listen to this
Speaker:whole episode. Now it's time to take
Speaker:action. Commit to one thing you've
Speaker:learned today and make it happen. And to
Speaker:avoid any obstructions, join the Sporty's
Speaker:Life movement by clicking on the link in
Speaker:the show notes.
