RugbyKO

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 cultu...

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 c...

Developing Rugby India with Nasser HussainMost 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 majo...

#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 maki...

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. ...

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 a...

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 m...

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 ...

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 ...

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 includ...