The Coaching Arena

On this episode I had the huge privilege to chat with elite rugby coach, Rod Seib.

Rod's CV speaks for itself. Rod is a former player for the Queensland Reds and Glasgow Warriors. He has also played for Australia in rugby sevens.

In March 2025, Rod signed with Irish side, Connacht Rugby as Senior Assistant Coach with responsibility for team attack. Prior to this, he was Head Coach of the Queensland Reds Academy, assistant coach at ACT Brumbies and in Nov24 coached the Australia XV on their UK tour.

This was an incredibly enlightening chat and I took so much from it. We spoke of many things, including :

• Always learning, learning from both good and bad coaches
• Knowing your audience
• Be it elite or learning, the best coaches are the ones that want to be there
• Facilitating the knowledge to the athletes so they can problem solve
• How to ask questions to get good learning
• Not always needing to have the answers, but you do need the logic to your thoughts
• The importance of body language, not just words
• Focusing on the growth, not the score
• The biggest mistake new coaches make
• A coach can learn from everyone, from u7 player to international athlete

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The willingness of elite athletes and coaches to sit down and share their insights on what makes a great coach has blown me away. I have learnt so much from these chat that that would have otherwise taken me years.

On this episode, I had the absolute privilege and joy to sit down and hear the views of Grand Slam Tennis player and coach, Sofia Shapatava.

This was an incredible chat as we spoke of many things, including :

• Patience
• The trust between a coach and athlete
• Understanding the individual
• How and when to give feedback
• Why the post match car journey home is so important
• Sport does not define the person
• The importance of embracing defeat, not dwelling on it
• Embracing the journey
• Avoiding burnout and maintaining your love of the game
• Quantity vs quality
• Always learning

I really hope you enjoyed this chat as much as I did.

Let me know what one lesson resonated most with you

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On this episode, I had the incredible fortune to sit down and chat with International Rugby Coach and former international player, William Broderick.

An incredibly enlightening chat, full of insights and advice from a highly talented coach.

We spoke of :

• Connecting and adapting to people and the situation
• Understanding your environment
• Engagement players
• Results vs Process
• The types of mistakes
• The how, not just the what - a coach's tone, body language and demeanour
• Treating players as humans, not machines

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On this episode I had the privilege to speak with professional rugby coach, Rhys Davies.

Rhys is a rugby coach at Saracens RFC academy and was previously at London Irish.

This was an incredibly insightful chat jam packed with advice on becoming a great coach

We spoke of :

• Understanding your players
• Falling in love with the process
• Goals, process and outcomes
• Core Values
• Becoming a professional rugby player
• Building connections
• Being open to changes and adapting
• Measuring progress
• Leadership

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On this episode I had the absolute fortune to speak with professional rugby player and coach Scott Hall.

Scott is the Women's head coach at Oxford University, founder of Rugby Allstars, professional rugby player at Chinnor and an academy coach at Bath.

This was such in inspiring chat, full of insights, experiences and knowledge that Scott passed on, including :

• Why it is the person first, then the player
• Being approachable to ALL players
• The sheer importance of honesty and consistency
• Taking opportunities.
• Despite setbacks, opportunities will still exist. It is the role of the coach to help provide solutions
• Having a leadership group
• Understanding your environment and finding your own way
• Creating an environment, culture and tools for players to excel in life, not just sport
• What three points create good culture

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On this episode it was absolutely fantastic to be joined by elite rugby player, Tim Swiel.

Tim has played at the elite level across the world, including with Western Province, Sharks, Stormers, Harlequins, Newcastle Falcons, Saracens and Chicago Hounds.

Tim is embarking on his own coaching journey and it was brilliant to chat on many topics, including :

• What is the most underrated coaching skill
• What a coach looks for in a player
• What a player looks for in a coach
• The importance of a team's culture
• The process versus outcomes
• Dealing with individuals
• How do you know you are making progress

Thanks for listening and let me know what advice resonated most with you

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On this episode I was hugely privileged to be joined by world renowned rugby coach Mike Friday.

I learnt so many things in this chat as we spoke of many things, including :

• What makes a good coach
• What is a coach's ultimate goal
• What is the biggest responsibility a coach has
• The power of flexibility and communication
• The importance of being able to adjust
• Reframing performance, not results
• Why you should get it wrong to get it right
• Developing people by using rugby
• Short term goals, long term mission

I really hope you enjoyed and took as many things away as I did from this chat with Mike.

Thanks for listening and let me know what advice resonated most with you.

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