What a Lad

Joseph Sullivan, the Olympic Gold medalist in rowing, the 2 time Americas Cup winner with Team NZ and an absolute lad!

This really is an incredible story of someone who wasn't built to be an Olympic rower, who went on to become one of the greats. Purely through his mindset and effort. The story leading up to his Olympic gold medal moment is crazy. It's a moment that inspired the country and is one of the best moments in NZ sport ever. It won the best sporting moment of the decade at the Halberg awards last year.

It wasn't just pre the Olympic yarns that blew my mind, as how Joe was treated after the event was also unbelievable. I think many Olympic athletes would be able to relate, that once the big event you've trained so hard for is over, it's a real challenge to get back to a "normal" life. As he was battling away in a dark space, Team NZ randomly came into the equation and Joe became a 2 time Americas Cup winner as a champion grinder.

I really enjoyed hearing this story and as you'll hear Joe is an absolute lad who is pretty inspiring with what he has done. If you enjoy this episode please give it a share, comment or like so others can be inspired from this champion lad as well!

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One of the greatest loose forwards in All Black history, @jeromekaino is on What a Lad this week and what a lad he is!

The humble enforcer who has had an incredible rugby career, having played for Auckland, the Blues, Toyota Verblitz, Toulouse and of course he is a double Rugby World Cup winner with the All Blacks. Jerome has just recently retired from playing the game, after helping Toulouse win the Champions Cup and Top 14 double and he has now made a seamless transition into coaching.

On the side Jerome along with his best mates, have started @mintwear.co which is a brand with the most comfortable undies I've tried. They also have a great message behind them around male body confidence and being all inclusive. If you're keen to try them with 20% off, head over to www.whatalad.com and all the information is on there.

As you'll hear in this episode Jerome is such humble, easy going lad. Everyone who has played with him always said what a great lad he is and he was often one of the first people to make them feel comfortable in a new environment. It was an absolute honour to have him on the podcast and go through his journey. If you enjoy it please give it a share.

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Grateful to have the king lad Isaac John on What a Lad and man there was plenty to talk about in this one!

Starting with Isaac's successful NRL career, where he played for the Warriors, Panthers and Manly. He also got picked for the Kiwis from playing reserve grade!

Then we go through the transition into business after footy where he has excelled. He has started up the YKTR clothing brand, which has since expanded into YKTR sports and is growing very quickly. He also has a very successful podcast in the Ice Project and has recently launched the Inner circle which is an online education platform. He's making big moves and it was awesome to hear how he went about it.

As you'll hear Ice is an absolute lad, who has inspired so many throughout his journey, he's always willing to help others and is very generous with his time! If you enjoy this episode then please give it a share!

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One of NZ best comedians and NZ today host Guy Williams joins me this week for an absolute classic yarn.

The local Nelson legend himself, has had a very eventful career and has never been shy to put himself out there. Which is great for us, as it means there was plenty of interesting insights to talk about in this episode.

Some of Guys achievements include winning the Billy T award for comedy, in 2014 he was voted the Sexiest man in NZ, he's reached the charts with his hit song 'the Pigeon Song', he's worked in Radio on the Edge and has been part of plenty of TV shows, where he now has his own show NZ Today which is one of the greats! If you haven't seen any of those episodes, I strongly recommend you go check them out on Youtube.

As you'll hear in this episode Guy is an absolute lad, who is obviously incredibly funny but he also has a deeper side to him and has plenty of knowledge to share. If you enjoy this episode please give it a share, tag what a lad podcast and you're a lad!

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The man who possesses one of the deadliest side steps rugby has ever seen, Nehe Milner-Skudder, joins me this week on What a Lad to go through his rollercoaster journey.

It's so easy to talk up Nehe because he is such a champion lad, who throughout his career has always been so good to all of his fans, his team mates and the game.

On the rugby field he is lethal. For a period of time, he was carving up with every single touch of the ball, impossible to tackle 1 on 1 and he was the guy every kid in NZ wanted to be in the backyard. During that period, he won the Championship with Manawatu, he carved up Super Rugby with the Hurricanes and won the RWC with the All Blacks. He was flying! 
And then injury struck. It wasn't just one, it was injury after injury after injury, which has made it incredibly hard for him to get back to where he once was. However, what Nehe has done around speaking out about his struggles during his injuries, has been incredibly powerful for all other athletes. He is doing amazing work with mental health awareness by proving that even All Blacks can have their own struggles.

It was awesome to hear in this episode that Nehe still has aspirations to play at the highest level, so I'm super excited to continue to follow his journey back to the top.

As you'll hear in the episode, Nehe is an absolute lad whose rise to the top was pretty special to witness. If you enjoy this episode, please give it a share on your social media accounts, tag what a lad too so I can thank you personally.

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There is no game without the man in the middle, so it was awesome to get one of the best referees in the world, Ben O' Keeffe on What a Lad to give an insight into one of the hardest jobs in the world. 

Ben, who at the age of 32 has quickly gone through ranks and is now one of the best in the game. Having recently returned from the Lions tour of South Africa, he gives some great insight into the pressure involved in being in charge of a test match like that. He also gives great insight into what life as a top referee is like.

Rugby is such a tough game to referee as the rules are all so subjective. Yet, after almost every game played, if you read the comments they'll mainly be bagging the ref and his decisions. I hope this episode sheds some light into how difficult the job is and the fact that if you look at a game from one teams perspective there is always going to be missed calls.

As you'll hear, Ben is a great lad, who loves his rugby and wants to do his best for the game. I certainly learnt a lot from this episode and I hope you do too.

If you enjoy this one or you know someone who is always abusing the referees, then please share this podcast with them so they can understand what its's like out there in the middle.

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It's been a long time between pranks but when you have a young lad like Luca Inch around your environment, a prank was never far away. Luca is one of the most promising front rowers in the country, having recently played for the NZ u20s and is also in the 2021 Tasman Mako squad, at just 19 years old. He's also an absolute character, literally always smiling and he is just a real good lad to be around. 

Anyway for the prank, I knew that he really liked Cory Jane, so I called him up as Darren (Cory Janes mate) from the NZRU to see if I could stay at his house for the weekend. 

Anyway have a listen, if you enjoy it please give it a share.

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One of the great personalities in sport, Kurt Baker becomes the 100th guest on What a Lad and there's no better lad to raise the bat with!

Kurt's had an amazing career in the game and like most careers he's had his fair share of ups and downs. He's won everything possible in the NZ domestic game, ITM Cup Premiership and Championship, the Ranfurly Shield and of course Super Rugby with the Highlanders. A man potentially even more well known as the NZ 7s star has won World Cups, 2 Commonwealth Gold medals and has just returned home as an Olympic Silver Medalist.

Although he's had an incredibly successful career on the field, it's the way that he has carried himself off the field which will have the most impact. A man who has always been himself and stayed true to who he is, Kruto is one of those team mates who makes going to training fun! Never shy of a bit of nudity and has created an interesting trend of people getting naked on a team mates shoulder after winning something.

I really enjoyed this one with Kruto, he shares heaps of good advice throughout, as well as sharing some classic yarns along the way. If you enjoy this episode please give it a share so everyone can hear What a Lad Kurt Baker is!

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Straight back from the Tokyo Olympics as an Olympic Silver Medalist, I was lucky enough to get the great Scotsman and the All Blacks 7s coach Clark Laidlaw on this week.

Clarky has an impressive coaching CV having coached Taranaki, The Hurricanes, London Irish and is now the Head Coach of the All Blacks 7s side.

I really enjoyed this episode, Clarky gave heaps of insight into the preparation to the Olympics and the actual event itself. We also discuss his time as an assistant coach at the Hurricanes and London Irish, where he shares some of the lessons he learnt from his experience at both of those clubs.

As you'll hear, Craig is an absolute lad, who loves rugby, who has coaches some of the best players in the world and is always willing to share his knowledge.

Also if you are keen to support his brothers Charity which Clark has biked 12 marathons in 12 days in isolation then follow this link below, its for a great cause https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/12in12in21

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The proud Southern man, Jamie Mackintosh aka Whopper, joins me this week to go through his eventful career to date. 

During his time in NZ, Whopper was a highly rated school boy who played a record number of games for the NZ age grade sides, making NZ Schools at 16! He then went on to become the face of the Southland Stags, the Highlanders captain and was even capped for the All Blacks.

Whopper finished up in NZ rugby with the Chiefs and has since played all around the world including Montpellier, Ohio, Pau and he has just finished the MLR season in America with Austin. Now he is back in NZ, as the assistant coach of Otago for this seasons Bunnings Cup, ready to share his experience to the next generation.

Whopper sprinkles priceless advice throughout the podcast, in an episode you don't want to miss. As you'll also hear, the big marn is an absolute lad, who has loved a beer and a laugh throughout his career and happy to share his stories in his gifted story telling way.

If you enjoy this episode please give it a share, tag what a lad podcast it's very much appreciated.

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