Wandering Bear Podcast

A solo podcast giving an update on everything going on in the Wandering Bear Sports Universe

This weeks guest on the podcast is former Waratah, Brumbies and Wallabies back rower Stephen Hoiles. Stephen is currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Giltinis in the US Major League Rugby Competition.

This weeks guest on the Podcast is Brumbies Forwards Coach Laurie Fisher.

Laurie began his coaching career with the Brumbies in 2000 when he was appointed head coach of the Brumbies Rugby Academy and later assumed control of the Brumby Runners and the Canberra Vikings. He implemented a rugby program aimed at developing the cream of local ACT rugby talent into players capable of competing for training contracts or full contracts with the Brumbies squad. Guy Shepherdson, Matt Giteau and Julian Salvi all made successful transitions to the professional game under his guidance.

In 2003, Fisher was promoted to the Brumbies forwards coach under David Nucifora and contributed to their success as 2004 Super 12 Champions.

Fisher's contribution and devotion to the Brumbies as an assistant coach saw them earn success from 2000 as semi finalists, two time finalists and two-time champions.

Throughout his career Laurie has been a Head Coach for the Brumbies and Gloucester as well as serving as a Forwards Coach for Irish Province Munster.

This weeks episode is a bit different. I sit down with Hawkes bay Scrum Coach Francisco Deformes to talk all aspects of scrum coaching.

This weeks guest on the podcast is the head coach of the Kobe Steelers Dave Dillon. I loved talking to Dave. This podcast is such a great resource for people who want to learn how to get the most out of a group of humans. We talked about dealing with conflict, how important it is for people to feel a connection to the organisations they are apart off, coaching teams, learning from mistakes, why building relationships is critical and plenty more.

My biggest take away from this chat was that Dave had such a genuine interest in people and its made me reflect on how I can strengthen my relationships and do more to stay in touch with my people.

This weeks guest on the podcast is Anthony Seibold. Anthony is a former head coach of the Brisbane Broncos and the South Sydney Rabbitohs. This season he worked as a coaching consultant for the Newcastle Knights before taking over the as the teams defence coach. Anthony has recently taken up the role as the defence coach for the England Rugby Team working with Eddie Jones. I was really excited to talk to Seibs as he has been someone I have admired for some time and he absolutely didn’t disappoint. He has had to overcome some well publicised adversity and I was fascinated to hear about what he learned from that experience. There is so much valuable information in this podcast from tools to help you build culture, putting a coaching team together, how to deal with and handle adversity, how to look for ideas, book & podcast recommendations and how important it is as a coach and a human to have a growth mindset. It was an honour to spend some time with a great human and a great coach.

This week on the podcast we sit down with Pete Fairbairn the Director of Sport for Thrive PR & Communications. During his career Pete has worked as a Media Manager for the Melbourne Rebels, he’s worked as the Communications and Commercial Manager for the Rugby Union Players Association and in his spare time he works as an Adjudicator for Guinness World Records.

During our conversation we talked about Petes journey in media, how important relationships are whilst working in and with the media and what he believes athletes can do better to further enhance their profiles away from the sport.

This weeks guest on the podcast is Austin Gilgronis backrower Lachlan McCaffrey. As well as representing the Brumbies, Western Force and The Waratahs Lachie has played overseas for London Welsh, Leicester Tigers and Kyuden Voltex in Japan.

Lachlan has a unique perspective on a career in professional sport and is refreshingly open and honest about the ups and downs in his career. He has a great story and it was a pleasure to speak to him.

This week we are trying something a bit different and putting out a bitesize episode. What makes the ACT Brumbies So Special with Lachlan Mccaffrey.

Lachie Mccaffrey is a former Brumbies Backrower currently playing for the Austin Gilgronis in the US Major League

This weeks guest on the Podcast is known by many in the rugby world as “The Greatest Coach Ever”. Wayne Smith is one of only 2 coaches in history to win back to back Rugby World Cups. During Waynes career he has won Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders and the Chiefs and is considered to be the tactical genius behind the All Blacks Success during his 16 year tenure.

As a young coach it was a privilege to talk to one of the greatest and whilst the conversation is focussed a lot on Rugby, its really a podcast about life.