The Steve Dave Taj Podcast

In this episode, I sit down with Ben Gathercole - one of Australia’s most respected high-performance coaches, former leader in elite sport, and now CEO of Menslink.

From coaching Olympians and building elite sporting environments to navigating personal health struggles and helping young men through mental health challenges, Ben opens up about the realities behind success, pressure, identity, and purpose.

We discuss:

 - The hidden cost of high performance
 - Burnout, health, and emotional resilience
 - Why so many men struggle silently
 - The loneliness epidemic in modern masculinity
 - What elite sport gets wrong about fulfilment
 - Redefining success beyond achievement

This is a raw and honest conversation about ambition, masculinity, mental health, and what truly matters when the titles disappear.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Brandon and Liam, two passionate CrossFit athletes whose journeys are marked by discipline, resilience, and the power of community. They share how CrossFit evolved from a side activity to a life-defining pursuit, the mindset shifts required to compete at the highest levels, and the importance of support systems - both in and out of the gym.

Listen as they open up about overcoming injuries, dealing with setbacks, and the mental strategies that keep them moving forward. Whether you’re an athlete, a coach, or someone seeking motivation to push through tough times, this episode offers practical advice and heartfelt stories about growth, comparison, and finding joy in the process. Discover why it’s never just about tomorrow, but about making yourself proud today.

Jake is an exercise professional, and a personal trainer based in Canberra, Austrailia. He works with people to achieve their fitness goals. 

I met Brandyn at a CrossFit Competition in Canberra in February 2022. 

He qualified from Oceania to the 2023 CrossFit Games in the Age category of 16-17. We spoke about his journey to the CrossFit Games and the changes he had to make to his everyday routine to achieve this amazing milestone at such young age. 

A very special episode as I interview the legend Moses Petelo. I met Moses 2 and a half years ago when I first moved to Brisbane. I was introduced to CrossFit through Moses.

Moses Petelo is the head coach and owns CrossFit EXF in Brisbane. He finally made his dream to compete at the CrossFit Games come true along with his team mates Henry Carlile, Christee Hollard and Briony Challis. They were ranked #1 in the quarterfinals and #3 in the semi-finals in Oceania and #15 in the world at the 2022 CrossFit games.

Some of the things that we talked about in this episode:

• How the CrossFit EXF team came together
• Training routine
• Training and competing mentality
• Diet in the lead up to the Games
• How they bounced back in the last workout at the Semis to punch a ticket to the games
• Training at CrossFit Mayhem
• Family support

Scott Williams is a well known name in the CrossFit community in Canberra. Scotty is a CF-L2 Trainer, online coach and helps people be the best version of themselves. 

In this episode we spoke about his journey in the CrossFit industry with him recently making the biggest investment of his life in the Down Under Championship. 

If you live in Canberra and are looking to start your CrossFit journey, check out CrossFit SFS in Hume.

You can reach out to Scott Williams via his Instagram - scottywilliams123
CrossFit SFS - https://crossfitsfs.com/
Down Under Championship - https://downunderchampionship.com/

In today’s episode I am joined by 8x CrossFit Games Australian Regionals Competitor, 2 x CrossFit Active Team member, Eastern Suburbs Rugby Union 1st Grade Strength and Conditioning Coach and a well know personality in the CrossFit community, Luke Starr from Starr Strength and Performance. 

With more than a decade of experience in coaching and competing, Luke has developed his own high-performance system and his aim is to help athletes, coaches and anyone dedicated to reaching their full potential to benefit from his experience. He uses his business Starr Strength and Performance Programming as a vehicle to drive this. 

We talked about the key factors that assists an athlete that helps an individual to achieve peak athletic performance - Discipline, Routine, Nutrition, Recovery and Event day Athlete Mental Strength. 

You can find him on Instagram - Starr_Strength
or
visit his website - https://starrstrengthandperformance.com/

In this episode Tejas gives a sneak peak into his life and talks about the motivation behind starting this podcast.