The Blind Side Podcast

Welcome to another episode of The Blind Side Podcast, I’m your host Nath Smith and today I catch up with a good mate and modern day Super Woman Jarin Baigent.

Jazzy has a had really interesting life and has a great story. Jazz is a proud Indigenous Australian and served 13 years in the NSW police force along with more recently starting her own business “Jarin Street” all the while being a mum and giving birth to 3 kids.

During our chat we talk about her life and were it all started and what it was like for her as a police officer and dealing with different issues within the police force, also some of the struggles of perception from some of her family with the decision to become a cop. 

We touch on modern day issues like Black Lives Matter and the recent protests and also some of the changes she would like to see in our society and also school system

My chat with Jazz was super enjoyable and also really inspiring, I personally think her story is really inspiring and is a great role model to other women and indigenous Australians also. 

As always, please share and subscribe to the podcast and if you can, please leave a review, it would really help share stories like Jazz’s to a bigger and wider community.

Thanks again for listening and enjoy… 

Welcome to another episode of The Blind Side Podcast, I’m your host Nath Smith and today my guest is a NRL and roosters legend who is 2nd on their all time try scorers list and 6th all time in games played, today I have a chat with Shaun Kenny Dowall.

Shaun made the journey to Australia and the NRL by dropping out of school at 15 to work and save enough money to buy a plane ticket to get here in chase of his football career. With no contract offers he backed himself which lead to him playing 277 first grade games along with representing his Maori culture and country many times. 

My chat with Shaun we talk about his career in detail and what it was like playing in 2 grand finals & winning a comp, what it was like playting for New Zealand and traveling the world.

We touch on some of the speed bumps in his career and the lack of truth reported by the media during those. 

We talk about now living in the UK and how corona has effected him and the team and also what he has planned for after footy.

SKD is a straight out champion both on the field and off, I hope you enjoy our chat and get  to see his blind side.

As always, please make sure you like and follow the show on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter and if you have enjoyed this episode or others, please make sure you leave me a review, I’d really appreciate it, thanks for listening and enjoy…

Welcome to another episode of The Blind Side Podcast, I’m your host Nath Smith and today on the show I have a chat with a long-time friend and brother who has had an awesome sporting career but an even more amazing personal journey.

My guest today grew up in humble beginnings in a small country town in New Zealand and went on to play professional rugby league and rugby union, which reached it’s peak in 2008 by representing the Australian Wallabies at the Hong Kong 7’s. 

Along with playing both codes at the highest level, he also represented Australia at 2 touch football world cups and won multiple NSW state cup and national touch football titles. 

My guest today is the great man, Willie Bishop.

Willie’s personal journey is an amazing story and we have a really open, real and raw chat about all things life, his career, his family, where he came from, his off field battles and what he has done to get to where he is today.

Settle in and get comfy, it’s a great chat and I hope you really enjoy it.

Welcome to another episode of The Blindside, I’m your host Nath Smith and today my guests are John & Maurice Kennedy, aka JK & MK aka KSquared 

These boys are as funny as they are talented, they bring a great energy to any environment they are in and my chat with them was no different.

Between the pair, they have represented Australian Schoolboys, Fiji Rugby League, held NRL contracts with St George Illawarra and the Penrith Panthers. They have also won State Cup and National Touch Football titles, a Ron Massey Cup and a host of other competitions along the way too.

Some of the things we talk about are coming back from major injuries and dealing with the mental side of those comebacks, one of which was a broken neck for Morry that could have meant not being able to walk again let alone producing the career he did and some of the effects that had on Johnny and their brotherhood.

We talk about their careers and the challenges they faced along the way to reaching the heights of the NRL and representing Fiji and also what they are up to now with their academy and wholistic wellness programs giving back to kids and the game they played. 

We also touch on the importance of Polynesian mentors for young kids these days and providing some “nuggets” for them and providing the guidance that they never had whilst navigating through their careers.

Headspace, mental health and growth mindset are something that Johnny and Maury are massive on and we talk about some of their mentors now in that space too.

The chat with the twins was really fun and full of laughs, hope you enjoy it and have some laughs too.

Welcome to another episode of The Blind Side Podcast, I’m your host Nath Smith and my guest today is coming to you via zoom call all the way from Hollywood, USA. 

My guest today has starred in the Australian Edition of the reality TV show Survivor, he has also appeared on Aussie icon shows, Neighbours and Home & Away but by far and wide the most notable accomplishment in his career so far is co-founding the mental health and well being charity – Livin’.

My guest today is none other than Sam Webb.

Webby and I chat about where he grew up and his career so far and what he is up to now living in America. We also chat about him recently contracting the corona virus and what the side effects of that was.

But most importantly we chat about his charity, Livin’ and how and why it started and what is it’s purpose.

My chat with Webby was full of energy and laughs along with some great stories, I hope you enjoy it.

Blind Side Prelude

·      Welcome – I’m your host Nath Smith, thanks for joining me for the prelude for Season 1 of the blind side podcast

·      What is the blind side podcast about? The blind side is about bringing you the other side of people and their stories that you might not get to hear or see. Sometimes through social media, gossip or otherwise you might think you know a person or a story but really there is a completely different side. The blind side is going to bring the real story from the horses mouth. 

·      These stories might be about their struggles, some failures and lessons they have learned throughout their life or career, or their story might be how they achieved the goals in their life and what it took to get there, what sacrifices they had to make and challenges they faced. 

·      The Blind Side might also might just be another side of a story that might have been reported in a newspaper or on TV. I have seen so many stories made up through the media that couldn’t have been further from truth or simply been made up to sell a story.

·      While finding out about these stories or journeys, I’m also going to bring to you the human behind the mask and what makes them tick and what their take on some current issues are.

·       I’ll be interviewing a whole range guests with some interesting stories. I’ll have some professional athletes, musicians, actors, reality tv stars, entrepreneurs and business people.

·      Lined up for Season 1 of the blind side I have some current and ex NRL stars, international athletes, ex-wallabies, top level Touch Footy players, current and ex cricketers, ex professional tennis players and golfers, stars from tv shows the bachelor and survivor and also some successful business owners and entrepreneurs. 

·      If you know of anyone that has an interesting story or you think would be great for me to interview, please reach out, email [email protected] or via the social channels facebook, Instagram and twitter. Also while you are there please, like, share and comment, I would love to hear your feedback both positive and negative its all good.

·      I’ll be releasing an interview every week and also a spin off show wrapping up the week in sports focused on mainly the NRL, NBA, NFL and MLB. 

·      The blind side will be available wherever you get your podcast from, iTunes, Spotify, google podcasts… make you subscribe and download to get all the episodes as they are released and please leave a review, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks again for listening and I hope you can tune in for the first season of the blind side podcast.

Welcome to The Blind Side Podcast, I’m your host Nath Smith and this is the 2nd half of my chat with Rugby legend Mark Gerard, in the 1st half we spoke about Mark’s early days and start of his career and in this episode we talk about his Wallabies games and what it was like playing against the All Blacks with names like McCaw, Carter, Lomu & Rokococko.

We also go on to talk about his time in the Japanese leagues and also his time coaching at the Warringah Rats and now on to his next challenge coaching in Texas.

Welcome to another episode of The Blind Side Podcast, I’m your host Nath Smith and this episode I chat with an old school buddy who I competed with and against through our early years, with him going on to play Rugby Union at the highest levels. 

His career included over 100 super rugby games for the Waratahs, Brumbies & Rebels as well as 23 tests for the Wallabies, my guest today is Mark Gerrard.

My chat with Mark was easy and flowed, so much so that I have broken it up into 2 halves and will release the 2nd half next week in another episode.

Mark had a massive career and comes from an exceptionally talented sporting family and we talk about what that was like growing up, we also delve into his footy career, his own family unit now and also his newfound passion for coaching.

One of the really interesting things we talk about is the mental battles of him missing his debut for the wallabies through injury, not once but TWICE. 

We also talk about the challenges of being a Dad at 22 and being away from home and also the flipside of that and how his son and wife gave him such a good grounding and value for being in the moment.

Mark and I go delve into his coaching philosophies and his time in Japan and more recently at the Warringah Rats and now on to his next challenge coaching in a start-up league in the United States in Texas.

Welcome to another episode of The Blind Side Podcast, I’m your host Nath Smith and today we are rewinding the rugby league clock and I catch up with hard man and loveable larrikin Josh Stuart. 

Josh is a rugby league legend, playing 133 first grade games for the North Sydney Bears and Northern Eagles which also included representing City Origin 1997.

Josh had a colourful career, he was fearsome and played the game tough, he came through the school system playing Australian Schoolboys for 2 years and then debuting at first grade at 20 and how he almost ended up being a Sea Eagle. We talk about the differences in the game today and the size of players now, including his nephew Nathan Cleary as a 95kg halfback.

We chat about the importance of the concussion protocol and player safety that has been introduced to today’s game. We also talk about some of Josh’s favourite teammates and what it was like playing in that era and being a part of club like the North Sydney Bears with a few war stories thrown in too.

After footy Josh has become a great family man and is helping people with mortgages and gets great satisfaction out of pitting smiles on people’s faces, who would have thought!

It was great sitting down with josh and re-living some stories from yesteryear, I had a few laughs and I’m sure you will too.

Welcome to another episode of The Blindside, I’m your host Nath Smith and today my guest is Duan Kaka aka Duan & Only aka lead singer of the band Manalion. 

Duan is seriously one talented individual, from early days as an aspiring athlete and dreams of making it in the NBA to now being a successful musician as a solo artist and a lead singer of a band.

Duan takes us through his journey from humble beginnings in a traditional Māori town in New Zealand to travelling through Europe and then making it happen in the big smoke of Sydney. During out chat we talk about the struggles of musician finding his way to then rubbing shoulders with some royalty of the music industry with names like Marley and Six60. 

We also chat about the dynamics of being in a band and the challenges that brings and dealing with humans then we touch on some ambitions for the band and his career in the future. 

Duan is one of, if not THE coolest dudes on the planet and his story, like him, is one of a kind.

I really enjoyed my chat with Duan and I hope you guys do to.