Hannah Johnson excelled at hockey as a teenager - competing at the national level - but she always knew she had more to offer her teammates than athletic ability alone. Taking on the responsibilities of a team chaplain before she ever knew what that was, it was almost as if Hannah was destined to work with high level athletes as a friend, confidant and counsellor. 

Now working primarily within the Olympic and Paralympic sports which the majority of athletes are not funded for, the founder of Sports Care Australia has impacted athletes at numerous international sporting events including Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships. On this episode of the show, Hannah shares what she does and the impact she has on high performance athletes from right across the globe. 

Hundreds of thousands of people play cricket right across the world, but very few make it to the highest level, let alone represent their country in four World Cups. That is what Stephan Myburgh has done however, moving to the other side of the world to make his dream of becoming an international cricketer a reality.  After feeling as though he had missed an opportunity in the country of his birth, South African born Myburgh was given a second chance when thrown a lifeline by the Netherlands and didn't the hard hitting opening batsman take it with both hands. 

Retiring after the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, the left hander signed off his professional career having represented his adopted home in white ball cricket on 67 occasions, with his international career spanning 12 years. He scored 1,442 runs in those matches with nine half centuries, the highlight of his career coming when named in the International Cricket Council (ICC) team of the year at the 2014 World Cup where he finished as the third leading runscorer, including a record breaking 17 ball half-century against Ireland which propelled his side to the next stage of the tournament. 

Jason Fiddes has worked with professional sporting organisation for more than a decade, firstly with the Brisbane Broncos and most recently the NZ Warriors and the National Rugby League as a player wellbeing and education officer. With first hand experience of the pressures professional athletes face, he provides a fascinating insight into the environment our sporting heroes live in. From the Broncos heartbreaking grand final loss to the North Queensland Cowboys in 2005 to living in a Covid bubble with the Warriors, there is little Fiddes hasn't seen.

Jason shares his journey from a troubled youth into the professional sports setting, some of the key moments along the way and strong influences which have played a pivotal role in his career. He tells us about some of the initiatives the NRL has implemented to deal with mental health amongst playing groups, some of the great things rugby league players are doing in the community which don't usually get any attention, and sheds some light on life inside the NRL's Covid bubble.