By Katrina Oxenham
The podcast currently has 42 episodes available.
Mick Byrne is the head coach of the Fijian Drua. Hear how Mick made the transition from playing AFL to rugby, to AFL coach, rugby assistant coach, and now Head Coach of the new franchise in the Super Rugby competition, the Fiji Drua. We dive into the lessons Mick has learned over his extensive career, and why he chose to enroll in a psychology course to address his own ideas when his coaching wasn’t being acted on. Find out what differentiates a great coach from a good one, and why team culture and giving everyone a voice is so key in maintaining the relationship between assistant and head coach when challenges arise. Listen in to hear why Fijian players are so passionate, what this means for their game, and how the inclusion of two pacific island teams into Super rugby is helping prevent the skills drain to offshore teams. We wrap up with Mick’s hopes and goals for the Fijian Drua, and what you can expect from them going forward.
“I actually started to really enjoy the Aussie rules game. Running around fit my build. I was able to do a lot more in Australian Rules football with my build than I was able to do in rugby.” — Mick Byrne [0:02:24]
“My message wasn’t getting through. I still believe I was giving out good information, but it wasn’t being heard, it wasn’t being acted on. Something had to change: either I was going to have to give coaching away and get a real job, or I was going to have to work on myself.” — Mick Byrne [0:05:28]
“When it came to rugby, [Fijians] play the good parts of rugby. They don’t get caught up in the aspects of the game that are a bit stifling, they like to play the fun parts of the game.” — Mick Byrne [0:10:30]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Mick Byrne on LinkedIn
Fijian Drua
Katrina Email Address
RugbyKO
After his very recent retirement from playing Rugby, like many players, life after professional rugby can be difficult. Sam Wykes’ experience was no different at first.
However, with some determined resolve, he has created a wealth of opportunities for himself, from commentating to coaching and even corporate recruitment.
We hear what Sam’s transition from the life of a professional athlete to a desk job has been like, and how he has continued to give back to the rugby community.
We find out how COVID-19 and injury combined to spell the end of his career, and how he handled the difficult emotions surrounding this.
Sam also talks to us about his exciting new role and experience as a commentator for the Fijian Drua and some of the challenges he's faced, and what he is looking forward to this Super Rugby season.
We reminisce over his time at the Western Force and the Waratahs, and how the culture differs between these two teams.
“You’re surrounded by good people, a lot. Whether you’re in a winning team or a losing team it doesn’t matter. And any time I treated rugby like a job, I was unhappy. Because at the end of the day you’re supposed to enjoy it.” — @SamWykes4 [0:01:24]
“I always say ‘Yes’ to opportunities, even if I’ve got no experience, or probably no right being there.” — @SamWykes4 [0:11:21]
“We need all our teams firing at the moment to have a strong Wallabies team. There’s enough talent out there. I just think we’re neglecting the grassroots or the public school system to be able to get rugby playing again.” — @SamWykes4 [0:17:33]
“What I did is what I normally do, is just see if I can be of service to someone else. There’s always someone worse off than you, and there’s always someone better off than you. So, you just need to stay grateful.” — @SamWykes4 [0:19:28]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Sam Wykes on LinkedIn
Katrina Email Address
RugbyKO
Email RugbyKO
Developing Rugby India with Nasser Hussain
Most nations that play rugby also play cricket. One notable exception is India, where rugby is still a fledgling sport currently categorised under ‘other sports’. Today, we talk to Nasser Hussain, the CEO of Rugby India and the man responsible for putting the game on the map in India. Tune in to find out how Nasser himself got involved in the game and why he felt it was important to become an accredited world rugby trainer. We learn about the two major challenges facing Rugby India (infrastructure and media exposure), and what Nasser and his team are doing to address these. From the union’s upcoming targets for the high-performance Asian Games and Olympic teams to maintaining rugby participation at a grassroots level through the pandemic while supporting the community in any way possible, Nasser and his team are doing an incredible job! Join us to learn all about how this inspiring man is rousing a nation to rugby.
Key Points From This Episode:
“What we identified within Rugby India was there are a lot of players, but not enough coaches, not enough match officials. I think that's [one of] the challenges for developing unions.” — Nasser Hussain [0:04:39]
“During COVID, surprisingly, we’ve managed to get more partners on board. The fact that we didn’t have much to do on field [meant that] we spent time doing things which you put on the back burner and don’t prioritise, which are important as well.” — Nasser Hussain [0:08:30]
“Our focus is to ensure [that] our management and administration is top-notch, and hopefully everything else follows suit.” — Nasser Hussain [0:19:56]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Nasser Hussain on LinkedIn
Rugby India
Government of Odisha
Blade India
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology
BLK
Katrina Email Address
RugbyKO
Email RugbyKO
#A Day In Union is about uniting and connecting the rugby community globally. The initiative of Greg Mumm and John Anderson, A Day In Union aims to bring rugby back to its grassroots and shift the narrative to a more positive one., uniting all. We discuss where the idea came from, how everyone can get involved, and what different clubs around Australia are doing to celebrate it. We also find out what John has been up to as president of The Rugby Club of Victoria, and how he's making the sport more inclusive. Gregg tells us about his international coaching experience, athletes and their life post professional sport, and how the Fijian optimism and cultural identity inspired him to do a master's degree. We discuss the challenges facing players dealing with the end of their professional careers, and what to look out for as A Day In Union (26th of March) approaches.
“Rugby, unfortunately, as in most sports, was struggling with this concept of how to manage COVID and the impacts of it, so [A Day in Union] was about creating a good news story, about creating something to look forward to.” — John Anderson [0:02:06] .
“The game needs to go back to looking after its own people and own communities. This is hopefully a step in that direction, where we are reminded that the game’s great if we look after those communities and share the values and the fun and enjoyment that we grew up with.” — @gmumm1 [0:10:09]
“It’s almost been cooler in rugby circles to be divisive, lately, than it has been to be collaborative, so this is just reminding people that ‘let’s come together and tell good stories rather than bad stories’.” — @gmumm1 [0:12:24]
A Day In Union
John Anderson on LinkedIn
Greg Mumm on LinkedIn
The Positive Rugby Foundation
The Final Whistle
RugbyKO
Today’s guest, Robbie McRobbie, is a Scottish-born, British-educated, former police officer who is currently the CEO of the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU). Furthermore, he is a recipient of an MBE award for the role he has played in changing the lives of at-risk youth through sport, as well as the work he has done to advance UK/Hong Kong relations.
HKRU was the only national sports association to have a charity component, and we hear about the success of HKRU’s Community Foundation. Robbie's focus though is currently on the globally recognised Hong Kong Sevens Tournament, which Robbie is hopeful to have up and running again in November. The pandemic has meant that the past few years have not been easy, and Robbie speaks with humility about the challenges they have faced and the exciting plans he has for HKRUs future.
“[At Operation Breakthrough] we used sport and engagement with police officers to try and provide them with some positive role models and to try to break down barriers between the cops and the kids so the two sides stopped seeing each other as the enemy.” — Robbie McRobbie [0:06:39]
“If you’re lucky enough to be handed the reins, the mantle, the opportunity to take a lead with the Rugby Sevens, you feel very much like you are being handed a family heirloom to look after.” — Robbie McRobbie [0:12:36]
“Our hope and aim and objective is to get the Sevens back as soon as it is safe and practical. We have a date for November this year, so fingers crossed for that.” — Robbie McRobbie [0:18:59]
“One of the key focuses of the current strategic plan is to become a more data-driven organisation.” — Robbie McRobbie [0:31:14]
Hong Kong Rugby Union
Hong Kong Rugby Union Community Foundation
Operation Breakthrough
Kai Tak Sports Park
Premier Sports Asia
Robbie McRobbie on LinkedIn
RugbyKO
Sport, rugby in particular, formed the foundation of Nick Leah’s childhood. Walcha where he grew up, had several Ex-Wallabies and aspirational Wallaby trialists namely Peter Fenwick – who captained the Wallabies & Andrew Laurie who both along with his Dad drove a lot of the sport in the town & coached Rugby and Cricket. His dad also coached NSW Country and various zone representative teams, and heavily involved in reviving Junior Rugby in Country NSW during the late 70’s and early 80’s.
This passion for developing the next generation of players took Nick from a passionate player as a child into an equally passionate coach and development expert as an adult.
Over the past 20 years Nick has worked with sportspeople at all levels all over the world (with a 1 in 4 record of producing professionally contracted players!), and today, he is the Global General Manager of 6 Degree Sports, an elite performance consultancy which he shares some details about in today’s episode.
We also get into what drives Nick to do the work that he does, what he sees as the main issues preventing Australian rugby from thriving as it should, and why he believes that creating a clear vision is essential for the future of the game.
Key Points From This Episode:
“I saw what an organisation could do when everything is interconnected and there’s clarity around what you can do, and then I saw the exact opposite.” — Nick Leah [0:08:16]
“The Ignite concept was born out of, “How do we create a platform that can provide the information that grassroots coaches can easily access and provide to the players?” — Nick Leah [0:10:08]
“The best coaches provide a clear vision, can get people together, and are also looking at what’s next.” — Nick Leah [0:19:41]
“In terms of skill development and acquisition, the body learns when the conditions for each repetition is slightly different – the body then has to adapt to get movement to a certain ‘end-point’.' — Nick Leah [0:26:51]
Six Degree Sports
Six Degree Sports on Facebook
Six Degree Sports App
Chris Coyle
Nick Leah on LinkedIn
Walcha Rugby Union on Facebook
Country Rugby Union
On the 14th of January 2022, disaster struck Tonga and its surrounding islands in the form of a submarine volcanic eruption deemed to be hundreds of times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. For a country that is reliant on farming and rainwater, this incident has had devastating impacts on the Tongan people. In today’s episode, Peter Harding and Toutai Kefu, the CEO and Head Coach of the Tongan Rugby Union respectively, join us to share what the situation looks like on the ground at the moment and how you can assist the various organizations that are helping to rebuild Tonga. We can’t have a Rugby KO episode without at least a little bit of rugby talk, so at the end of the episode you’ll hear about what the past few years have looked like for the Tongan Rugby Union, and their exciting plans for the future.
Key Points From This Episode:
“Sport’s good for health but also good for mental health. And I can tell from talking to people over there, some people are going to need a bit of a lift because there’s a lot of hard work ahead.” — Peter Harding [0:03:56]
“Anything we can take would help at the moment because there’s a lot of people without stuff over there at the moment.” — Peter Harding [0:06:38]
“We rely a lot on the land to feed ourselves, and that has been compromised, so I think in the coming weeks that food shortage is going to be a real problem.” — Toutai Kefu [0:07:32]
“We’re the smallest country in World Rugby, and our budget at the World Cup is the smallest, and we’ve got the smallest population, but we’ve got the best players.” — Peter Harding [0:16:27]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
GoFundMe Tonga Tsunami Emergency Fundraiser
Tonga Rugby Union on Twitter
Tonga Rugby Union on Facebook
Youth In Union
Red Cross
New Zealand High Commission, Tonga
Katrina Email Address
RugbyKO
Email RugbyKO
Geoff Parkes is the author of ‘A World in Union - The Global Battle for Rugby Supremacy, published in 2017 to critical acclaim. He also writes for Australia's leading interactive sports website The Roar in his weekly column on rugby, 'The Wrap'.
He has published almost 450 articles, with almost 2 million views.
I chat to Geoff about Rugby, the writing he does for the sport, his views on where the game is at, and his views on the global game and its future
Geoff talks about his journey with Rugby, writing for The Roar and writing his in depth book about global rugby.
He discusses the best article he has written for The Roar and how he measures success. Geoff talks about the Rugby World Cup and an experience of writing articles that were immediate, on the pulse and by being immersed in the experience, it enabled the atmosphere to truly be captured.
Geoff says when writing online, the opinions of the general public appear live and are portrayed in a conversational way. He says it tests you as the rugby audience is informed, full of opinion and you must have your facts right, while also interacting with your readers.
Geoff tells us about the motivation for writing his book and why it was well received and consumed by the rugby and wider sports audience. The motivation Geoff says, was to address some discontent in the game and interview and discuss rugby people from around the globe. It evolved from there. World Rugby, SANZAAR, international competitions, media & broadcasting rights, weaker nations, and the impact of all of these on Rugby globally.
In the book it says 'A confused rugby calendar is subjected to a ‘land grab’ from clubs and national unions, all striving to maximize revenue.' We discuss whether the calendar has since been even more confused, particularly with the impacts of Covid globally. Geoff says it is not a clearer calendar or is there any real improvement in scheduling. Various reasons, including the Northern v Southern Hemisphere scheduling that is layered and difficult particularly with club competition. Private equity have invested in the game, there is an increased self interest in the game and the calendar is full with conflicting schedules.
In the book he discusses player welfare and say ‘Player welfare concerns are cited by all and sundry, yet are cast aside as soon as there is a dollar to be made. ‘ We talk about this, what else can be done and the risks associated with this highly combative sport.
We discuss the sport becoming professional, resources in the game broadly and how they are distributed, and the main globally challenges facing Rugby Union.
Geoff discuss how World Rugby has an Investment in developing parts of the game, non traditional markets, women’s, youth, developing nations and a lot of resources poured into these areas, but there is always never enough.
He states the commercial base in the game is not large enough in Australia. Domestic pressures occur from significant other sports in Australia, and the sheer population size and followers of Rugby Union provide challenges compared to other nations.
We talk about his thoughts on World Rugby bringing the sport together for a common goal globally when there appears a ’lack of a joined-up response from the major governing bodies whose self-interest is undermining the foundations of the sport ‘.
I ask Geoff if we have the right strategies and people in place to bring the game forward? Does he have faith in ‘the game they play in heaven’. and its future?
Geoff talks about his interest in writing a fiction book next time, his research into concussion in sport and his continuing support for Rugby Union.
Lolesio Sione played rugby union in his youth in Samoa. He and his family came to Australia in 2017, and settled in Melbourne.
He has been ear marked as a grassroots gun, and a promising young talent in rugby union. He is now part of the Victorian Rugby Academy and developed his game at Wyndham City Rhinos. The Backrower has also been recently asked to join the Rebels for preseason training with the club. He was also named in the junior Wallabies.
He discusses training at the Rebels, the influence of his brother who also played union, his time at the academy in Victoria, nutrition, training, and learning all he can about playing rugby Union to achieve his goal of playing with the Wallabies.
Lolesio says he’s grateful for the exciting opportunity to fast track his development with the Melbourne Rebels and in Victoria and we chat about his love of rugby union and aspirations to continue on this trajectory.
Kerry Chikarovski is a former NSW Liberal Leader and was the first woman to lead a major political party in New South Wales. She is also the Founder and Director of Chikarovski & Associates, a governmental relations, community engagement and stakeholder relations consultancy, which she founded in 2003, whose expertise spans a wide range of industries including financial, government, community, property and technology start-ups.
Kerry holds a number of non-executive board roles including, NSW Waratahs Rugby Union, Our Watch, Adopt Change, Road Safety Education and the Humpty Dumpty Foundation. She is the Chair of NSW Women’s rugby union, an ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, and a mentor with the Minerva Network, supporting professional sportswomen on and off the field.
Kerry can be seen and heard regularly as a media commentator across national television and radio channels including Sky News, ABC Weekend Breakfast, 2GB Radio, ABC The Drum, Q&A, Ch 7 Sunrise and was part of the key panel for the Seven News NSW 2019 State Election Coverage.
We discuss her time in politics and her reasons for leaving the most rewarding job so far of her career.
We discuss her role as a Director with the NSW Rugby Union, after originally being asked by Nick-Farr Jones to join the board, and the transparency and accountability moving forward of that board in relation to the Waratahs and the strategic decisions made.
We talk about the launch of her biography 'Chika', her involvement in women's Rugby Union as chair of the NSW Women's Rugby Union, the new competition named after her, the Chikarovski Cup and its progress in developing and nurturing the womens game.
Kerry says she is encouraged by the Stan deal and its commitment to broadcasting more female rugby.
Kerry talks about her involvement in the Minerva Network, and the satisfaction of mentoring female athletes. We briefly discuss the Rugby World Cup bid and also Olympic bid, and also her day job with Chikarovski & Associates.
Kerry provides an insight into her passionate and committed approach to Rugby Union with a particular focus on the female game and is looking forward to more and more time on the sidelines supporting the game she loves.
The podcast currently has 42 episodes available.