What a Lad

I'm mixing it up a little bit with this one, going deeper in to the very important topic of mental health. For this episode I'm lucky enough to get on Austin Hay, a young English rugby player who has recently had mental health struggles of his own. Austin is a champion lad who was really keen to open up and talk about it, to potentially help anyone else out there feeling the same.

Austin aka the Seal is a guy I knew at Irish, as a real friendly bloke who always seemed happy so hearing he got to the point he wanted to take his own life really shocked me. It just emphasises how important it is to check on people, even the happy ones and just let them know you are there. 

It's not easy to come on a podcast and open up like this so I really appreciate seal for coming on and you can tell what a lad he is by being willing to talk to anyone out there who might want someone to talk to who has been through it.

If you enjoy this episode or know of someone who may benefit from hearing this one please share it.

And head over to www.whatalad.com to check out some juicy deals from puresportcbd or fortune favours or even just to check out some other episodes

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With the Joseph Parker fight this weekend, I thought it was a perfect chance to release the Loni Uhila aka The Tongan Bear prank. This prank was done in 2016, just before The Tongan Bear was about to fight the Brown Butterbean on the undercard for a Joseph Parker fight. So we got prank expert Reggie Goodes to call him as someone from Ducco Events, basically to see if we could get him the fight Joseph Parker for 25k. 

Anyone who knows the Tongan Bear will know he's one of the best characters in the game, such a funny guy but he is also confident in the ring. Hopefully we can make this fight happen as it would be a great fight and it’d be great for Loni to get his 25k.

If you enjoy this episode then please share it, thanks for all the shares to date and helping to grow the What a Lad podcast! 

For more information on the partners discounts head to www.whatalad.com 

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I've held off getting this guest on as long as I could. I know you need to time your big names well, so I think now is a great time to take the podcast global and get on an international sensation, who has the self acclaimed best banter in world rugby, Jebb Sinclair!

Jebb has represented Canada at two world cups, he's also represented them on the 7's circuit, he's played Super Rugby with the Stormers, he's won the Curry Cup with the Western Province and he's also a legend of the great club London Irish. He's obviously had a very successful career and some of the stories along the way are classic. Hearing how his Super Rugby career came about being one of the greats.

Everyone who's played with Jebb will know what a character he is, and it's fair to say he's very well known for 2 things, banter and fights. He does not let us down here with either as he shares plenty of stories about both of those topics.

As always if you enjoy this episode please share it and make sure you go check out www.whatalad.com for ways to get involved with our partners Puresport CBD or Fortune Favours.

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We are back with a prank, it's been a long time! This one was found deep in the archives which takes us back to 2015 when a young Mark Abbot calls Hurricanes forwards coach Richard (hard parts) Watt. 

The situation for this one was, Watty had flown up to Auckland for an appointment and unfortunately his flight back to Wellington was cancelled due to fog. The Hurricanes had training the next day so Watty decided to hire a car and drive back himself. So we thought it'd be a great chance to jump in and see if we can wind him up somehow.

As anyone who knows Watty will know he is one of the best lads you'll meet, however he does have a short fuse which has seen him clock up roughly 65 red cards during his rugby career. 

Anyway I hope you enjoy this one and as always if you do enjoy it please share it with a friend or on your social media platform and help grow the podcast. Any love is much appreciated!

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The beauty of a podcast, you think you know someone well, then you sit with them on the podcast and you are absolutely blown away with their story. That is exactly how this episode with the great man Mark Stafford aka Staffy went. 

Staffy has had an incredible journey to become the face of the TAB and the face of sport here in NZ but he certainly had a few bumps along the way. He shares some mind blowing stories in this episode including one how he died in a car crash but was brought back to life, in an event that ended his rugby career. 

Staffy also gives some unreal insight in to what goes on behind the scenes at the tab and some unbelievable match fixing stories.

I loved this episode as it has a bit of everything in it and you can hear what a genuinely great lad Staffy is!

If you enjoy this episode as always please share it, this is a great one to share with anyone who is having a tough time. 

Pure Sport CBD and to try some of this unreal product head to https://puresportcbd.com/ and enter whatalad20 in the promo code for 20% off.

Fortune Favours, to purchase any product with a 15% discount head to https://www.fortunefavours.beer/ and put whatalad in the promo code.

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In this episode I catch up with the Scotland international and London Irish star, Blair Cowan. 

I found this an interesting yarn hearing that Blair was someone who never really took rugby that seriously, he just loved playing the game. However when he did play the game he went hard! He has always been a player who just gets stuck into everything and he still is to this day.

The man they call Steeve, also talks about the time he missed out on the Scotland RWC squad, which is a real eye opener into how brutal being a professional rugby player can be on you mentally.

I loved my time at London Irish playing alongside this legend, he's top lad on and off the field, loved the banter and always delivered on the field!

If you enjoy this episode please share it on your social media platforms it's all really appreciated. It's awesome to see What a Lad growing so thanks for all the support to date!

Head over to whatalad.com to see how you can get redeem the discounts on offer for puresport or fortunefavours and get involved!

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Man this episode with Robbie Flynn got me good, it is the classic case of talent vs discipline but with so much more to it. Robbie Flynn really should be a household name. He should be known as a rugby player who played at the highest level, with the natural talent that he had. Unfortunately, Robbie blew chance, after chance, after chance, as he struggled with self discipline and like many talented kids, he just kind of expected things to happen.

Hearing Robbie talk about his upbringing was incredible and to say he had a tough start to life would be a massive understatement. His love for rugby throughout the episode is clear and self confidence that he has is refreshing to hear.

Now Robbie is still playing in Italy with the club Vincenza at the age of 35. He can look back on his career and realise what a great opportunity he missed out on but he also wants to help anyone out there who's in the same position.

Anyone who knows the man they call Megatron, will know he's a real character, who loves a good time so it was awesome to have him on What a Lad. I hope you all find this episode as inspiring and funny as I did and if you do know someone who would benefit from hearing this episode please share it with them.

The website www.whatalad.com is now live so head over to there to check it out and look out for the merch drop in the next few weeks! There's also a link to puresport and fortune favours on the website along with the promo code for a discount on there stuff.

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Many of you will be wondering who is Jacob Atkins? Well I can tell you right now, that he is a very talented rugby player and an absolute Lad who just loves code!

Although the man they call Snakob may look like a man coming to the end of his career, he is only just getting started! Still just 23 years young, the kid has been involved with the English Premiership side London Irish, for the past 5 seasons. Snake has a massive work ethic, always trying to improve and is patiently waiting for his chance to get some consistent game time to prove himself. A struggle that so many rugby player face at some point throughout career, some longer than others!

I personally found this a very entertaining episode, as the Snake shares some classic stories from his time at London Irish which just need to be heard.

If you enjoy this episode, as always it'd be much appreciated if you could share it with someone who you think would like it and help grow the podcast.

Don't forget to check out www.whatalad.com to see one of the great websites.

And if you're keen to get in on the pure sport CBD action head to https://puresportcbd.com/ and enter whatalad20 in the promo code for 20% off.

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For the first episode of season 2 I knew I had to get one of the biggest lads in the game on! Good news, I have got one in the form of the absolute lad himself, Marty Banks!

Banksy, who has built a cult following throughout his career due to his laddish behaviour and his very recognisable image, with his tall skinny frame and lush curly locks!

Not only is he a lad but he's also had an incredible rugby journey which has seen him experience some world experiences that not many players or people get to experience. He's played and lived in Russia, Italy, Reefton, Japan, Wellington, Dunedin and Nelson and has stories from each part of his journey.

Banksy was also responsible for kicking the winning drop goal in the Super Rugby Final 2015 which caused heartbreak for many (including myself) but also caused so much joy for all the passionate Highlanders fans and Banksy himself.

As you'll hear in the episode, Banksy is just a genuinely good lad, who's played out his dream as a professional rugby player and has had a heap of fun doing it!

If you enjoy this episode please share it on whatever social media platform you use. Any shares are much appreciated!

Also the What a Lad website www.whatalad.com is about to launch so stay tuned for some big moves in that space.

Finally if you're keen to try out some PureSport CBD oil, head over to https://puresportcbd.com/ and enter the promo code whatalad20 to receive 20% off your order. 

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I've just squeezed in an extra episode (solo) before the first episode with Marty Banks is released tomorrow, just to update you all on the plans for What a Lad going forward.

In the episode I talk about...

Where I'm at with rugby.

What I'm up to now.

Some of the plans that I have for the podcast.

The launch of some what a lad merch.

The launch of the website www.whatalad.com

If any of the above interests you then have a listen, if not tune in tomorrow for the big one

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