There are some cracking yarns in here with Former Waratah, World Cup Winning Wallaby, Wallaby Coach and newly appointed GM Rugby at the Waratahs Andrew Blades.

From his start with 4 brothers at Lindfield Rugby Club to Killara High, Gordon, Waratahs and onto the World Cup Winning Wallabies. We spoke about his great experiences as a player and coach mixed with some great stories like sneaking onto the bench in a 3rd Grade Subbies match along the way.

We got a great insight into coaching and what makes a difference to players at all levels, the detail required at the highest levels of the game, but also what we all can do with coaching in the levels below. 

Truly a great listen and the Waratahs will benefit with Bladesy over the coming years

One of the most entertaining chats with a huge character of the game. Inge Visser is on the rise, coaching the Presidents XV in this years Super W competition and was appointed as Coaching Intern for the Wallaroos.

We chatted about her experience playing rugby for the first time as a 19 year old in the Islands in the Netherlands and her journey to professional player, moving to Australia, playing country rugby and driving 5 hours to get to Waratahs training. We got a great insight into her coaching style and her ability to bring groups together and the emphasis on the group dynamic and the skills required to be successful at the high level.

There are some great stories in here and we thoroughly enjoyed hearing rugby from a completely different, non traditional starting point that flowed into a life long passion

Loved this chat with 'Woody' aka Stu Woodhouse whose coached professionally over the last 20 years in England, Australia and the Phillipines, winning Premierships and scoring titles multiple times. His current role is as the Director of Rugby at The Kings School in Sydney. 

We talked through his experiences building teams, culture and bringing people together from diverse backgrounds through rugby and how much effort he puts into the love and care of the players to get the outcomes on the field. 

Former Wallaby, Waratah, Western Force player, Commentator, volunteer and all round good bloke Cam Shepherd gives us a great insight into rugby from a players perspective.

We chatted about Cam's rise through to the Wallabies including what it's like for a young kid to be training alongside your idol - in his case Matt Burke and his perspective on coaching under coaches like Ewen McKenzie, Eddie Jones, Laurie Fisher, John Connolly, Andy Friend, Robbie Deans and particularly the need for individual feedback and improvement. 

Cam talks about the support from some of his coaches to let him have the freedom to try things and the importance of that in developing skills. 

Theres even a few inner sanctum experiences like meeting Prince William and John Howard thrown in there for good measure

Campbell is the current Head Coach of the Waratahs Womens Championship winning SuperW team. He's been a driving force in the Womens XVs game both in the High Performance side and through his Club Eastern Suburbs.

This is a great story fo a person who invested themselves in the game playing , coaching, volunteering on the Eastern Suburbs board and his journey from player to 1st Grade Coach to Super W winning coach. 

We chatted about his coaching experiences and the need for more opportunities for the female athletes at the top of their game.

Great Podcast with Pauli just a couple of days before he was announced as the incoming NSW Waratahs Forwards coach

Fantastic insight into Coaching with Pauliasi as he talks through what he learned from his father, his time playing at St Josephs', playing alongside Wallabies like Phil Waugh and his journey to Head Coach at Eastern Suburbs. 

We dive into his coaching style, the importance of relationships and connection with players, the need for controlled quality communication and plenty of the art of coaching. 

Great podcast for aspiring coaches

Great chat with Garry Walsh a massive character and driving force of Rugby in New England & Central North as the Development Manager. 

We chatted about how Gary Ella started his life long obsession with Rugby, being coached by former Wallaby Coach Greg Smith, what and who drive rugby in the Central North, his non-negotiables for successful coaching and a whole lot more.

Enjoy 

Struggling to juggle the challenges of club v school footy, as well as the tyranny of distance in North West ,NSW Central North and Armidale juniors teamed up with clubs to find a solution.

In this podcast we talk to Central North Jnr President Renee Parks and local NSW Development legend Gary Walsh to learn how they grew youth rugby numbers from 200 to 1900 participants in 3 years.

By thinking outside of the box and having a clear vision to do whatever needed to get more kids playing rugby, this region made Friday Night Rugby Night. By allowing schools and clubs to play in the same comps, and hosting rounds in each of the towns rather than just Tamworth, competition administrators made it easy to play.

As they say, 'build it and they will come', and come they have, with numbers growing from under 200 players in 2017 to 1966 in 2020, including an increase of 450 players during Covid.

As Grassroots rugby answers the call to invest more in to the game, Rugby Foundations have become a common companion in our landscape.

Today we talk about the big three in Rugby Foundations - who between them have raised and invested over $2m over the last two years.

Learn how these three relatively new organisations work together to complement each other and support rugby at different level's.

Join Peter Murphy from the Australian Rugby Foundation and Peter Whittington and Paula Ward from the Rugby Club Foundation, and understand how they work with us at the Positive Rugby Foundation to support rugby.

A lot of Foundations, a lot of passion for the game and a lot of money that is being poured in to turning rugby around.