What a Lad

Beauden Barrett is one of the best players in world rugby and one of the best lads you'll meet. It was awesome to get him on What a Lad and go through his journey to date as his journey is one of the greats!

In the episode we talk about everything, from what his life was like growing up in his super talented and rugby mad family. We reflect on his incredible career at the Hurricanes and touch on some of his favourite memories in the All Blacks, including that incredible try in the 2015 RWC final. We also cover his move to the Blues, how he has found his time in Japan with Suntory and much more.

If you like Beauden Barrett as much as I do, then you'll love this episode and as you'll hear he is an absolute lad! If you do enjoy it please share the episode and tag what a lad podcast in it and if you want to help the podcast grow head over to www.whatalad.com and treat yourself to something on there!

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I was shocked last week to hear that one of Englands most promising young players had to retire due to concussion. It was therefore great to get young Theo Brophy Clews on the podcast and hear how it all happened.

Concussion is a huge topic in the game right now and a topic I enjoyed talking about in this episode. Theo who is just 24 years old has been recommended to give up the game that he loves, due to concussion symptoms which is not an easy decision. An England age grade representative, who also debuted for London Irish at just 17, Theo had a huge future ahead of him in the game!

The man they call Boris for telling boring stories, will surprise many of his peers in this one as he shares some classic yarns from his rugby career. As you'll hear, Boris is a great lad and someone who will be very missed in rugby. In saying that, he is also someone who will be extremely successful out of the game in whatever he chooses.

If you enjoy this episode please share it, especially with anyone who has suffered or is suffering from concussions.. this might just help.

Also head over to www.whatalad.com and support the podcast by getting yourself some Lad merchandise, What a Lad Coffee or some PureSport CBD. It's all very much appreciated!

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The current All Black assistant coach and absolute lad John Plumtree joins me this week on What a Lad to go through his incredible career to date.

Plum has a very impressive CV, where he represented Taranaki, Natal Sharks, Hawkes Bay and even the South Africa 7s side. As for a coach it's even more impressive, having coached Swansea, Wellington, the Sharks, the Hurricanes, he was also the assistant coach for Ireland and Japan and now of course he is with the mighty All Blacks.

Plum gives some great insight into the selection process for the All Blacks, the pressure that comes with coaching them and gives some great advice to any aspiring coaches. He also shares plenty of good stories from his time in the game and as you'll hear in this episode he is an absolute lad so it was a pleasure having him come on.

If you enjoy this episode please give it a share and if you're keen to help the podcast grow, head over to www.whatalad.com and get yourself some Lad merch, What a Lad coffee or some puresport cbd. Any support is very much appreciated!

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With Super Rugby Trans Tasman underway I thought it was a great time to get an Aussie great on What a Lad and who better than the lad himself Brendan Mckibbin.

Brendan had a very successful rugby career having played for the Queensland Reds, he won the Super Rugby with the Waratahs, he became a London Irish legend, as well as that he got as close as you can get to becoming a Wallaby! 

There's so much in this episode, Kibbo loves a yarn and he shares some absolute classics in here. He also gives some insight into his mindset throughout his career around the fear of failure which is a huge part of rugby and something I found really interesting. 

As you'll hear, Kibbo is a great lad, unfortunately his mic was playing up a bit but the yarns were too good to not post it. If you enjoy this episode or any of the What a Lad episodes go help the podcast out by get yourself some Lad merch, some What a Lad Coffee, a straight face razor or some Pure Sport CBD all is very much appreciated.

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After the recent episode with Mark Abbott where we spoke about a few pranks, I thought it was a great chance to play one of my favourite pranks that he did during his time in the Hurricanes info committee. 

This prank is on the legendary Hurricanes try scorer and absolute lad Ben Lam. Those who know Blam will know he's a pretty low key kind of guy and very switched on customer so it was always going to tough going. However for this prank we follow a similar format to many of the other pranks, where we find a product with the same name as a player and see if we can form some sort of a partnership. For Ben Lam who else other than NZ Beef and Lamb.

If you haven't heard the pranks involving Fletcher Smith, Pita Ahki or Dalton Papali'i yet, make sure you scroll the archives and give those a listen. If you enjoy this episode then please give it a share.

Also head over to www.whatalad.com for the one stop shop on podcasts, merch, discounts!

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This is it, the moment you have all been waiting for (until it got leaked haha) but that's all good because in this episode we have one of the best lads in the game on the podcast, talking in depth about a huge decision in his career.

TJ Perenara is without a doubt one of the most influential players in rugby, you only have to look at the impact he has had with the Red Hurricanes in the Top League to see that. It's no wonder that there were plenty of teams wanting him on their books and plenty of fans wanting him to be apart of their team.

I guess it was the interest from the Sydney Roosters in the NRL, that made the whole decision even more interesting. The idea of TJ playing in the NRL got everyone talking and giving their opinion as to how he would go. In this episode he talks about just how close he did get to making the switch and he shares his own thoughts as to how he would have gone.

At the end of the day TJ has made the decision on what best suited him and his family and it was really cool to hear the whole background to his final decision.

As you'll hear, TJ is an absolute lad and he has come on the podcast before, so if you haven't heard that one, make sure you scroll back through the archives and listen to his full journey as well. 

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It was great to get me old mate Mark Abbott aka Jared on the What a Lad podcast and go through the big marns journey.

After being let go from the Canterbury Academy, Jared decided to back himself and move up to Hawkes Bay a move that instantly paid off. He made the Hawkes Bay ITM Cup squad and after just 5 games he got a phone call from Mark Hammett who was keen to get him involved with the Hurricanes. Jared went on to have a very successful career at the Hurricanes and he was a massive part of the sides culture. 

Jared then moved to Japan taking up a contract with the Coca Cola Red Sparks and he gives a great insight into what life is like in Japan on and off the field. He also shares his insight into the Japan Top League and what that competition is like.

As you'll hear Jared is a champion lad who has a great sense of humour so it was awesome to get him on What a Lad. If you enjoy this episode please share it on any social media platform you use., it's much appreciated!

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We're trying something new for this one, I've got 3 absolute lads on who have all been on before, Marty Banks, Jackson Garden Bachop and Tom Marshall as we try to pick an NRL side out of 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa players.

Switching codes has been a hot topic lately and it's always interested me to think which players would make a successful transition.

How we did it was, we all picked our own team and with out comparing sides until the podcast we tried to come up with a side. Not an easy task but it does make for some interesting debates.

If you think you can pick a better side head over to the What a Lad instagram page and give it a go! The person with the best team will win a very juicy prize! Also make sure you share this podcast, it helps out massively.

Also we will be getting jerseys made for this team, only one in each position so if you're interested in owning a WRL personalised jersey stay right on and the info will be out soon!

Side not- if you haven't heard the full What a Lad episodes with either of these 3 lads, go back through the archives and check them out!

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I’ve been looking forward to getting the great Willis Halaholo on What a Lad for a while now and man does he deliver with this one!

From life as a troubled teenager, surrounded with the wrong crowd. To becoming a Six Nations  Champion with Wales! I love hearing success stories like these and hearing the honesty Willis shares his story with is so cool.

Willis was always a very talented player but its fair to say he didn’t quite have the discipline required to get to the next level. He became a father at 17 and was doing all the wrong things, drinking, fighting, drugs. He then had a moment where he realised he wanted to change his life and he decided he was going to give rugby a proper go. He moved to Southland by himself, slept on a couch and started carving up.

Then came a Hurricanes contract which lead to a Super Rugby title, where Willis played a huge role.

Willis then made the decision to move to Wales with Cardif and is now playing at the highest level of rugby as he runs out for the Wales International side, which were recently crowned the Six Nations Champion.

This episode has so much in it, and there is so many lessons that can be learnt from it. Willis is an absolute lad for sharing and if you enjoy this episode please give it a share!

Also the Merch is out now so if you enjoy the podcast please go get yourself some Lad gear to help this podcast survive.

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Crossing codes seems to be a hot topic at the moment, so who better to get on What a Lad than one of the greatest to ever do it, Will Tupou.

Will was a NRL sensation at a young age playing on the wing for the Cowboys in the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Who could forget his try in Golden Point vs the Knights, one of the greats! As a big league fan, I loved hearing what it was like going into that environment as a teenager, playing with some legends of the game. One of my favourite things about playing with Tups, was the amount of JT (Jonathan Thurston) stories he had, so there's plenty of those in this episode.

After 2 years in the NRL Tups decided to change codes and head to the Western Force, where he made a seamless transition. His rugby union career has gone on to be a very successful one, playing international rugby for Japan at the 2019 RWC being a highlight. However, it was crazy to hear that he almost didn't play at the World Cup, due to some mental health struggles, something I never knew about playing alongside him.

There is so much in this episode, which cover the highs and lows of professional sport and it was awesome to get Tups come on and share his journey so honestly. As you will hear, he is an absolute lad and if you enjoy this episode please give it a share.

Also make sure you head over to www.whatalad.comwhere you can preorder some merch, or find discount codes for Straight Face razors or Pure Sport CBD.

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