Sam Whitelock is one of the all-time greats of rugby! In this episode he discusses his recent decision to retire from Rugby and future plans. The man who is the most capped All Black ever has had an incredible career which was so cool to go through with him. You will be sure to learn plenty in this one!

I loved hearing around Sam's mindset to the game, his consistency to perform in some of the biggest games has been special to witness. Also his leadership is something that has really stood out for anyone who has played with him and when you hear the detail he would go to to make sure everyone was on, you can see why that part of his game is so well respected.

As you'll hear Sam is such a champion lad and you will realise why he has had so much success in his career.

Chapters

00:00- Introduction and Retirement Announcement

02:31- The Decision to Retire

07:47- Life After Rugby and Future Plans

10:00- The Challenges of Life After Rugby

11:11- The Influence of Family and Multiple Sports

24:49- Joining Canterbury and Playing with Legends

30:04- Transitioning to Canterbury and Making an Impact

31:09- Introduction to Canterbury Rugby

33:18- Journey to Becoming an All Black

41:08- Challenges of the Earthquakes and the Rugby World Cup

45:08- Captaining the Crusaders

55:17- Leadership and Developing Future Leaders

01:03:47- Transition to Japan and New Challenges

01:08:18- Memorable Games

01:08:22- The Importance of Family Support and Enjoying the Journey

01:11:15- From Good to Great: Consistency and Continuous Improvement

01:13:29- Questions

01:31:53- Setting Goals and Celebrating Achievements

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Dexter Dunn is one of the greatest Harness Drivers ever, period. His strike rate since he started out as a teenager speaks for itself. He was NZ's leading driver for 10 years straight, winning almost every big race there is to win in Australasia. He then moved over to America where he has quickly becoming the leading driver in America and the world winning over 50 Million in stakes!

In this episode you will hear an incredible insight into the life of a world leading reinsman, from how hectic his schedule is having up to 8 meetings a week to handling the aftermath of a bad drive with online abuse being a big part of it. You'll also hear the genuine love and care that he has for the horses with a pretty cool story about the horse Christen Me who is still with him today.

I really enjoyed this one, although a completely different sport there are so many similarities between harness driving and almost every other sport. Dexters mindset and competitiveness are what help him be so successful as well as some incredibly soft hands. As you will hear he is also just a massive lad, he loves a beer, loves his footy and can tell a yarn! 

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Will Jordan is one of those rugby players who is just a joy to watch. He's fast, he's got all the skills and of course he scores plenty of tries. His strike rate speaks for itself, having scored 31 tries in 31 games for the All Blacks at international level and he's quickly approaching 100 if to add on his Tasman Mako and Crusader ones as well.

However as we always hear on these episodes, the rugby professional rugby career is not just all good fun and scoring tries there are always ups and downs to go through with Will himself having had a tough run of late. Last year he suffered an unusual injury which had no time frame and left him struggling in a race against the clock to get back in time for the RWC. This year before the season has even started he's had to go under the knife on his shoulder which has ruled him out for the Super Rugby season.

It was awesome to chat to Will about how he has handled some of these harder points in his career, as well as all the incredible things he has done recently including a very strong Rugby World Cup. As you'll hear, Will is one of the easiest guys to have a conversation with, he has a great mind for the game and is just an all round champion lad!

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Matt Todd is one of the most understated Canterbury, Crusader and All Black legend there is! A man who just went about his work consistently every week racking up 20+ tackles, missing none and doing it all again the following week! There’s not many tougher than the great Matt Todd!

Some highlights in this episode were…

How much passion he has for the game from a youngster up until now.

What he lacked in natural ability he made up for with hard work and the ability to keep turning up.

Why he never saw Richie McCaw as a road block for his career more an opportunity.

How he became the Crusaders defence coach a year after playing.

Whether he thinks he could throw the boots on for the Crusaders this year?

And heaps more, including some classic questions from some of you.

After this episode I’m sure you will appreciate why there is so much respect for the great man down here. Tough, hard working and enjoys a good time which means he is of course a massive lad! An honour to get him on the podcast, I hope you enjoy the episode.

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Mulls & John from The Sporting Rumble and Jimmy Marshall from What a Lad have joined forces to bring you the the perfect poddy to get fizzed up for Super Rugby Pacific.

On the show we preview the 6 kiwi teams (including Moana Pasifika), look at the Coaches, All Blacks Bolters, who'd you live in a tent with on a deserted island, and who will win Super Rugby Pacific? 

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Follow What A Lad here: https://bit.ly/3SFcJsi

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When I think of genuine superstars of Australian rugby, I think James O’Connor. He is the youngest ever player to play Super Rugby at just 17years old. He burst on to the rugby scene with his boy band looks and his incredible talent. At 18 he was playing international rugby for Australia and with that came high expectations of him as a role model, a role he wasn’t ready for.

I loved this episode so much because you can hear in raw honesty what these young professional athletes go through when bursting onto the scene. James has had some incredible highs through his rugby but also some incredibly dark times, none darker than spending a couple of nights in prison in France.

The cool part of this chat is hearing where James is at now, he’s loving his rugby more than ever, he’s has a really balanced life and is now content with the little things in his life. 

This is one of the most inspiring episode of What a Lad and as you’ll hear James is an absolute lad who has so much knowledge which he shares in this!

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Not many thought I would be able to rope in the humble All Black legend Joe Moody on to What a Lad but here he is. In his first ever podcast, the great loose head prop (and a bit of tight head) shares his journey through his raw and honest nature that he approaches his life with.

Some of the highlights of this episode were...

Hearing how Joe grew up with 3 older sisters doing the odd dress up,

How he dominated for his country at wrestling up until the age of 21,

Why he moved to prop and how hard that transition was.

Breaking his leg the day before flying out to become an All Black on the end of year tour.

How close he was turning down going to the 2015 RWC.

How hard missing out on the 2023 RWC was on him.

And heaps more, including some great questions from you guys!

As you’ll hear, Joe Moody is a great lad, who shares his journey exactly how it is. True legend of the game and hopefully there’s a few more years left in him here!

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Brodie Retallick is one of the all time great All Blacks and also one of the all time lads so what better way to start What a Lad season 5 than with the great man himself! The man they call Guzzler has had an incredible journey and in his first ever long form podcast he goes through it all! Some highlights...

- Turning up to CHBS as the tallest kid in the school at Year 9.

- How he went from missing out on the Crusader Academy to becoming an All Black in the space of 3 years.

- How his training mindset helped him improve so quickly.

- The different experiences at 3 RWCs finishing with a Gold, Silver and Bronze.

- His time at the Chiefs which included winning 2 Super Rugby Titles

- Why he moved to Japan

- And heaps more including a heap of your questions!

As you'll hear Brodie is such a champion, he deserves all the accolades he gets and a true lad! If you enjoy this episode please give it a share and make sure you are subscribing so you don't miss another episode.

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Here it is, the last episode of season 4 and as always I love to finish the season with one of the all time lads and who better than the All Black and Chiefs legend Anton Lienert-Brown. Anton in my eyes has been someone who has been a real trailblazer for keeping things real, openly speaking about the highs and lows of his rugby journey.

In this episode he goes in to detail about..

The recent Rugby World Cup and his feelings pre and post some of those special games

How he went from being a Prop in year 9 to a CHBS 1st XV star in year 13

The influence Wayne Smith had on getting him up to Waikato and the Chiefs

Playing his first professional game at just 18yo, against the Bulls, at Loftus and the emotions that came with a disappointing debut.

His battle with aniexty leading up to becoming an All Black and what has helped him handle it.

His All Black career and some memorable moments,

And heaps more.

Anton is a champion lad who has had an incredible journey, I'm sure you will enjoy this one and if you do please give it a share. Also thanks for tuning in to another season of What a Lad, grateful for all the support and really excited about whats ahead in season 5!

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