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Andrew Webster welcome to my podcast thanks for having me oh my dog just jumped up just about missed it um Wow
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first of all up the W yeah up M what are you how God hey um M I'm sorry I'm
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probably going to Fanboy a little bit because I can't believe you know you're
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over at my place doing this podcast um it's a real sort of punch myself moment
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um uh I think it ISS a lot about you like I just miss I got your number off a mate I messaged you and you just said
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yep I'll do it but messaged me in a month and then sure enough TR of your word here you are yeah no I well yeah
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it's it was a BS busy period particularly towards the end of the year so I said no to lots of people trying to
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focus on the finals and yeah I wanted to get it done so I'm glad I'm here yeah do
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you you must get a lot of invites to go on podcasts and things how do you decide
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what you're going to do and how you what you're not going to do oh I don't I
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don't really know I just I work it out from time to time probably depending on
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the schedule now's a pretty good time of the year so um but yeah no I U you were
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very polite so people are polite and ask nicely and they patient then you're
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often willing to do things for people are oh that's nice yeah you were like messaging me in a month so exactly a
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month later I mess you then like give me another couple of weeks alarm went and then you went there so was good I've
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tried the same with um I don't know if you're familiar with um Scott Razer
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Robertson yeah course yeah I messaged him like about a year ago and said oh do you want to come with my podcast and
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he's like I've got a rule I only do one a year so I messaged him New Year's Day
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New Year's Day the next year and he's like I'm not ready just yet message me
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message me in a couple of months I messaged him like first of month um but no he's a nogo oh there you go
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okay but um there is so much to discuss with you and I mean the impact that you've had on the NRL the impact that
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you've had on New Zealand culture since you've been here but first of all very
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very tough question who is Andrew Webster uh he's a knockout guy I suppose he loves his family loves his friends
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loves socializing Loves All Sport really um obviously particularly rby league and
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yeah just love helping people get better and that's probably why I love coaching
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and um yeah I like a good time I suppose because I I I uh I research these things
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as much as what I can and uh there's there's a lot of like podcasts that
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you've been involved with online but it's generally just focused on like
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League chat y so it's hard to scratch beneath the surface and figure out who
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Andrew Webster the person is there is a league sports writer with the same name though that must get tricky yeah it used
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to get a lot more tricky when I was probably in more assistant coach uh people would have my number and his
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number and they would text me pretending to be him like meaning they wanted to speak to him or they would
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text him when they should have been talking to me so it got a beit tricky there for a bit but yeah all all smooth
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out yeah so you're you're from um you're from like a like a a league obsessed
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family yes that's one thing I can gather so you were a pretty decent player I was
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average at best but you know I played lower grades for for junior Reps for the Tigers and Paramount eel so at that
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stage I thought I was doing all right but um that's the thing that all these
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young players will find out only they said you only probably one or two get through from each age group and I
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thought I was tracking all right and probably got a rude shock when I uh as the standards started to rise that I
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just wasn't athletically gifted enough so but I always thought I understood the
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game so um I thought I'd have a have a crack of coaching and I loved it and wanted to stay involved in the game so I
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got involved in coaching early yeah it was do you think it was sort of your destiny in a way your brother's a coach
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as well right yeah yeah he's a coach to yeah and I I heard I don't know if this
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is um this is fake news but I heard your sister as well like when you were little
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growing up um you know you get a lot of people that pretend to to be the play they pretend to be Nathan clear or Sean
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Johnson whatever she pretended to be like a a coach she pretended to be like a coach SL commentator and she'd radio
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down on the phone and she'd tell them what they're doing wrong and then she'd
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Go Side Line Andrew webson then I'd have to say my comments we'd sit there and
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watch Friday night footy and like three idiots and but we love she was the oldest my brother James so oldest
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Catherine James is the middle brother and then I'm the youngest so I'm no
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doubt I was getting the crap job whatever I had to do bunker bunker guy bunker yeah yeah you would have one then
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but that was the job I would have got it so what what sort of age are we talking
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when you're pretending to be coaching a I'm sure my sister would have been like
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10 I would have been I would have been that means I would have been five and a half I suppose that's unreal yeah so
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yeah like who like who seriously who does that oh I think I don't know I think kids all love imagination don't
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they and love you want to be the the star you want to be the man in the arena yeah well like I said I was the youngest
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so whatever my sister and brother told me I was doing I think I'm guessing my
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brother would have been least more most excited about doing it because James is he probably like you say would have been
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thinking about being in the arena and then my sister she was she was SL commentator coach she was given lots of
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advice remember Benny need to go to shorts side I remember that one about three times does does she still message
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you now with thoughts on games and no she's the opposite she's a she's a good
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coach in her own right at Nall um but she's no she's more more supportive than
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give me advice um one other thing I um picked up that you said in an interview or somewhere you're a fan of horse
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racing yes is like a punter or no more just love the the game I mean I my my pop my uncle's horse trainers and then
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um but more harness racing and then um I've always loved the gallops but then I
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decided to buy a Gallop galloper two years ago and put all my friends and family into it and just had like a small
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share we're going to race and picnic races and uh we got lucky enough that it
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became a really good race hor so I've got become a bit of a hobby I think everyone's got outside yeah so I mean I
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could sit there and not have a bed on a race and watch it and love it and enjoy it um so it's not it's not about the
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gambling it's it's about the actual thrill of racing see not looking on your
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phone just having a couple of bucks on whatever's going on at Mooney Valley in
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the middle of the week not at this stage no and what about in your spare time what do you do um I've just had a son so
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I've had Max um he's only six months um obviously my wife's made a huge
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sacrifice coming over here and um we live here so yeah you know the most important thing is spending time with
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Max at the moment and them and then the other thing would be just friends and family love socializing love getting
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around love going out for dinner that'd be my favorite thing I'd say is going
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out for dinner where where do you go what does that look like for you oh anywhere in Orland orland's got great
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food yeah I could be it could be a pub we're going to go up the road to a pub
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tonight and have dinner after this and or it could be uh a fine restaurant but steak's my favorite and see food so um
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if you got that on on K oh mate have you have you been to juvo Steakhouse yes love
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it um see so your wife Emma M Emily oh sorry M yeah she'll shoot me if you say
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oh really why did I think it was Emma um so has you just signed like signed an extension on your contract so you're
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here for like another five years correct y so um how's she has she made friends
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here has she got friends here she's got friends here I mean how did she make
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them like like anti natal class or no I think it's been more well one was actually through one of those classes
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but um most of it's been obviously through football and we were here before too so we so and she was here for with
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me for the second year of that of that time so um yeah I don't know we just get
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out there and meet people um we're probably going to make some more friends I suppose with they will say when you
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have young kids you make more friends so yeah but no she's she's super dependent
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woman um she loves being a mom right now that's probably her main focus and uh
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yeah we're having fun yeah love new love being here love ockland I've heard you say that you're
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such a good Ambassador for this country yeah um yeah you were here as assistant coach for was that Andrew mcf yeah yeah
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so 2015 2016 correct yeah and so where did you live then what area I just lived across the road here across the road VI
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near VI Vicky Park in the Bowmont section Vicky park by the way that's the most Australian abbreviation ever I've
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never heard it called Vicky Park all right victoriia park Liv over there loved it could walk
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everywhere so yeah found Orland amazing City and yeah yeah it was when I got the
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opportunity was Ken to come back yeah cuz I mean you you're here you've got a
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busy job and you're doing very well but I mean if if home life's not good it's
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never going to work is it like she if she's homesick it's de done yeah that's
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right I think like it's clear for any player that if they're happy off the
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field then they're going to play their best football so it's always most
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important that you're happy and yeah we got a good balance in our life yeah so
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so your son Max he must have been born like SM being in the middle of the Warriors Season yeah we played the
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Broncos in napia um born the day before the game I literally left her at the hospital she drove herself to uh to
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birth care afterwards and uh went to the game that's how Rox is Savage and she
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had a um I don't know if I'm all to say this but as a zaran too so I don't know
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if we meant to do that oh was it like an elected one so that no it was just like
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a scheduled one no it's just last minute would would would you have missed the
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game if the need be or off for the birth I was I was going to miss the game I yeah the birth was i' never miss uh him
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being born so um but yeah there was a deal once uh once the if it didn't Clash
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um then I was off you managed to do everything actually actually yeah that so sha and um sha and Kayla they must
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have had their baby round about the same time yeah so well sha had a milestone game du to play um in
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param and we didn't think that it was going to happen and then Kayla felt like
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she was going to be fine so she said get on your bike and go and obviously her being a professional sports swi herself
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knows what it's what it's like and how much she want to win so she sent him on
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his way and had full support and lucky enough that nothing happened while he was away and got to get back for the
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birth CU you did it I can't remember exactly what the line was but you did a
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like a media standup thing and you had a very funny line about that can you remember what was that something like if
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the baby if you got the call that the baby was coming on on game day what was your what was your joke I said if the
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baby's coming the morning of the game he can leave if it comes at half time then
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he's staying so that was a joke but yeah it was it was very funny yeah we were
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trying to trying to think ways what was his last cut off to get back on a plane that night what was the last flight so I
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think it was like 7:30 and I think he would have to have left around half time for him to get there if you thought it
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all out no we thought about everything doing so oh yeah so how did you and him meet uh we met her work actually she
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worked at the paramid eels I was a uh assistant coach 20s coach then um and yeah she rolled up and was in the office
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next to me so she was very shy um I was bit outgoing so so they got to meet we were friends I left the club and then um
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kept in contact and then yeah we started dating just before I left to come to the
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Warriors and then we just put it on ice for 12 months and then I said come on come over so she got to experience New
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Zealand 2016 oh how good I cuz when you did your your daily speech um for Coach of the Year you said she she's not
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interested in League knows nothing about League not interested but she worked at
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the club she must know well it's quite funny because she actually worked in a
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really important role she was in charge of typing up players contracts um like she could sit there and tell you what
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every person's salary was on like stuff that people in the press and media would
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love to know her friends would know and she couldn't even tell you what number
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they were on their back so she didn't she didn't care anything about it she
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just enjoyed her job enjoyed the people um yeah had zero interest in what actually was happening on the field she
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she got an understanding of it now more of an understanding no I would say no but what does she do for the games does
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she watch she goes she when people cheer she cheers she understands Tri um but I
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like it like that like it's like I think if I asked em to get involved and learn
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it and understand that she would I I like coming home and she just says good well done or bad luck you know and she's
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so neutral all the time she changes the subject when I've had a bad day at work
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into something else and we start talk about something else instead of coming home and going oh he was bad and giving
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me all this advice telling me what everyone was doing wrong or right she I come home and she's so neutral about it
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and supportive um really cares when we win and cares when we lose but she doesn't care about the detail of the
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game or how it happened or give advice so suppose that's your job in your business yeah she's a trooper yeah yeah
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there was um a hell of a speech you made so the Del M coach of the year did you feel like you were going to you were
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going to win I feel like it sort of had to be you oring that one really oh I think Kev wers too I mean I feel I feel
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the coach of the year is hard because um there's two coaches that are in the
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Grand Final and that was Kevin wers and Ivan clear and the award gets given that
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week so um I feel like they're probably the two best coaches of the year if you
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ask me um so they' done a great job but I was privileged to win it um I wouldn't
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say it was a goal of mine but to actually um Mal Mana to present me coach of the year was a huge honor you know
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that was that was amazing so he's an idol of mine growing up as a kid so yeah
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was he was a captain of Australia when I was a kid supporting and my sister was probably ringing him tell him what to do
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down the sideline but no it it was a great honor but yeah I I didn't think I was going to
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win I wasn't sure everyone told me I was going to um but yeah I didn't I didn't
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want to get ahead of myself there it was it was a great speech and um yeah you you started off by giving a shout out to
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M your wife you called her um a good sort a champ and the most beautiful woman in the room um it was a it was a
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great speech was she um she looked like she looked embarrassed but embarrassed in a good way what did she say when you
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sat back down oh no she yeah she was she was definitely embarrassed I mean M doesn't like attention um doesn't likes
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to be the Limelight she likes to be there in the backgrounds but um I think she was she's grateful that I I thanked
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for everything she' done because I wouldn't be a about it so I think she
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was really appreciative of that um but probably didn't need to do it on the on
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thetion on stage oh and I'm sure she I mean it's a lot of sacrifices the um the
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partners make so to give them that acknowledgement I think that's really cool yeah no definitely I mean I
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remember we got the job um was a big decision we we knew we were pregnant with Max or just or we were we were
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trying to one or the other and to go away from your your family or your first child um particularly when your
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husband's away every second week she's done a great job and you had um no notes
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and it felt like you said all the all the right things you acknowledged all the right people said all the right
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things did you sort of plan and you like how do you how do you do your speeches you sort of plan on your head what you
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were going to say if I plan I'm hopeless I would I'd fall over and wouldn't know
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what to say so but I mean I think it's pretty obvious you think the people you
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love you think the players because you're not there about the players and you think the people who gave you the
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opportunity and that was Cameron and Mark Robinson so um you know the players this year I'm a reflection of them so
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and when they do well um I get praised but the end they they're the ones making
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the tackles and scoring the tries so I I didn't think it was going to be complicated I was from the heart that's
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what I felt you know try not to complicate things and yeah oh we I thought it was a phenomenal speech yeah
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I just wanted if any s have thought went into it no not too much no yeah um and yeah one thing you did say is um you
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said um to your team I love you boys so much which um I I thought that was really significant I thought there was a
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like a to like to me that um almost seems like a rural sort of like culture shf or you know like you you mentioned
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Mel Mana before and players that you watch growing up there's no way like Wayne Bennett in the 990s would would
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tell tell his team he loves them like prob not I mean it's it's only it's only
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a word it's not that big a deal but I think the fact that you said on that stage I was like oh [ __ ] yeah well
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anyone knows me I'm scared to show me Show my emotions to what I think um I don't know I generally do that we got a
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great group of players but they're a great group of people you know you know
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they they work hard they get along you could sit down and have a one-on-one conversation with any of them and
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actually enjoy it they're um going through lots of things off the field like good and bad and you sort of ride
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the [ __ ] coaster with them like if I could tell you which I wouldn't um so
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many conversations of the um just some bad times and hardships that they all go through um and then obviously there's
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some real celebrations so I do I generally built relationships with these guys and I love them so I'm scared to
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say it it's really cool it was it was really cool and uh yeah have you always
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been quite sort of um you like vulnerable and good at showing um sort of vulnerability I think more so around
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myself yeah like around my own performance I'm pretty honest about myself and willing to show if I make a
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mistake for example I would admit it you know um I feel I'm okay with that I I
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suppose there was a stage in my life where like you say showing showing people how much you uh care for them is
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not always the uh mainly thing to do no especially with Australian and New Zealand males I think yeah that's true
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but um yeah I'm just real comfortable in my skin right now so I don't doesn't
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worry me to say that but I don't think I I'm not sure I would have been like that
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all all the time yeah so yes so so the Warriors um phenomenal year this year you first came here 2015 for two years
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that was your first NRL job uh assistant coach yeah yeah first assistant coach yeah I worked in the NL Pride tigers
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paramet as under 20s and I was like what you call it the transition coach where I'd help those 20s guys to transfer into
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NRL so but that yeah he was my first assistant coach job in the NRL and I was in charge of the attack and yeah I can
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still remember it feelings like such a huge responsibility at the time so how did the team how did the team do then um
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we missed the playoffs both years um first year we were top four halfway through the year and I don't know if you
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remember sha broke his League against Manley so um I know it's it sucks relying on one on one play but he is
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your halfback and we crushed and burned at that time and then the next year we one game away from the top eight again
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and failed unfortunately but I had two great years here like learn a lot about myself and about New New Zealand culture
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there is actually I feel there's a difference um and yeah it was just it was an amazing time met so many friends
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and I I feel like I got miles better at my job and still really grateful for Andrew mcfaden what he taught me and
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responsibility he gave me yeah so the um the the coach I have sitting in front of me now like do you
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how how much of it is like parts of um people that you've worked with along the
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way like Andrew F Ivan clear yeah heaps I think the the the best thing I've always learned from probably Ivan
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particularly the last coach I worked with is always to be yourself and you can't copy and paste everything and you
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got to take the best pieces and the worst parts from wherever you've been you got to implement them and why I
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bring up the worst Parts is because you learn lots of lessons when you see things done the way you wouldn't do them
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or the way you don't think they should be done and then you get really excited
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when you see a coach that reassures you that this is actually the way to do it um but yeah you got to have your own
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style because if it's not authentic and it's not you then the players read that
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from a mile away and they think God this guy's not being himself and the moment
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that happens you're gone you got to make sure you're yourself and you got your
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own ideas and your own style and yeah I feel like I'm real comfortable with that
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at the moment yeah what what makes you so good I wouldn't I don't know come on come on
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be honest um what I read about you someone talked about just how good at attacking you are like what the yeah
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you've been called an attacking whz or a mastermind so what what does that mean
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exactly like I'm I I know probably as much as your wife does about League I don't know I think I think I've learned
00:19:46
to simplify things um so we got a great um coaching staff uh and they're all got
00:19:53
their own roles and capacity um my last job with the Panthers I was an attacking
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coach but I got to work with probably some of the best attacking players in the world so that always helps but I
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feel like you can complicate defense and attack and rugby league in general and if you have some real small focuses
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instead of being a jack of all trades and and and you're not a master of none
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that's never going to get you where you need to know so I don't try and cover
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every facet of attack and defense all the game rby League just try and focus on what's the most important things and
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instead of being just okay at it um we want to be the world's best at it and
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that's what we're trying to achieve so so as as head coach you've got other
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coaches um beneath you so like so yes so what's your job exactly I'm guessing a lot of it as like
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you mentioned before about the intimate conversations you have with some of the players I'm guessing a lot of it as like
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being almost like a counselor in a way yeah it I definitely think it is I mean you have so many one-onone conversations
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you close the door talk to the individual makings going well about their football and about their home life
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um I think my role is I've certainly got a real standing an idea and how I think
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we should play but I make sure that our coaches believe the same thing and I want to hear their ideas and I want to
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make sure they're empowered and uh they're in charge of different different
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elements of our game and uh and actually trust them and I do I trust them because
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they're so good at their job so um that enables me to free me up and um have
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those one-on-one conversations but I always still feel like I've I've got my
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eye on the football and I got the my eye on the detail I should say on what we're
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doing every day yeah I'm not sure where I heard this it may have been in a in a
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podcast that one of the players did or I may have read it somewhere but um kind of kind of a bigest deal I guess
00:21:38
has been made of the fact that um players have to walk past your open office door when they arrive and when
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they leave yep is that a thing or yeah yes we got a door in one door in one door out policy it's just just the way
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our facil is really built really it's just a design thing well it's just a
00:21:53
design field thing that like uh if there's five or six do in the facility that could get you to their sheds and if
00:22:01
they had a bad bad night and they wanted to avoid you cuz they you know look to beit tired or bad not sleep they could
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they could go in the back door easy to the sheds and you wouldn't even know you
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wouldn't be able to read their body language but you wouldn't be able to
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check in and just build that relationship anyway just a simple High a um and then on the flip side let's say
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things haven't gone well they haven't trained great and then they just want to
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leave in the back door they're going home unhappy aren't they so they're not
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feeling good about them elv as if they walk partially they can sit down they can clear it up uh you can say can I see
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you for a second they can check them with the coaches then they leave them really good about it and feel like they
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got things off the chest then they want to come back the next day because if you
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think about anyone's job if they want to come back the next day they're going to
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give you everything they've got as if they don't want to come back they're not
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enjoying it they're just going to give you a half half ass effort aren't they
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so that door is very much about the facility but what it gives us is make sure creates a bond between the coaches
00:22:59
and the players and make sure we we clear things up and we just yeah create those relationships so so so the players
00:23:06
like you and they want to play for you well is that part of you'd have to ask
00:23:09
them but I'm not I'm not I'm not trying to get them to like me I just hope that
00:23:14
yeah I hope that happens naturally so I'm not it's I'm not saying I'm not
00:23:20
saying you have to like me or I'll do whatever cuz if I just want to please them yeah and be a pleaser then they're
00:23:26
going to see straight through that yeah can't be everyone's mate can it can't be
00:23:29
everyone's mate but if it organically happens and I'm honest and I show I care
00:23:33
about them and I listen to them then I think we're going to get that anyway so
00:23:38
um yeah I'm yeah I'm not trying to be a pleaser but I'm I I would rather be
00:23:43
friends of every single one of them and um in Rugby Union uh the old blacks in particular that Springs to mind for this
00:23:50
one they have like um a senior um leadership group yep which uh you makes a lot of the decisions and is sort of
00:23:56
involved in the process you have the same sort of thing the year no no we um we don't have a senior players group we
00:24:03
believe in everyone should lead and can lead and should feel comfortable there's
00:24:07
guys who are more experienced players and so therefore they've been around for
00:24:11
longer and they've got stronger opinions and understand things a bit better so
00:24:16
they gradually will um promote their opinions and their ideas and they'll drive accountability naturally so we
00:24:24
don't sit in a room and go okay what do you guys think as like leadership group
00:24:28
what do you think how this week worked or how do you think that happened and then we we yeah we just don't do that we
00:24:35
if I feel like I need someone's idea from a leader like tohu Harris is a great captain always have conversations
00:24:41
I'll call them in I'll ask them their opinion I'll get five or six guys with
00:24:45
their opinion or I might throw it to the whole team so don't sit there in a leadership group every week and and
00:24:51
discuss things yeah that's a good way looking at it so it sort of removes that
00:24:54
US versus them yeah potential mentality well sometimes leaders lead from a from a way where they think that's only what
00:25:02
they think is best and they probably don't ask the group enough and some great leaders do and I've worked with
00:25:07
some great leadership groups and and got to sit there and be a part of it and watch how well they lead uh I'm not
00:25:13
saying it's not the best thing for every group but we just found last year it
00:25:16
wasn't the best thing for us we needed to all all take some responsibility um take some ownership of
00:25:23
our performance together and um if you're a young 20y old and you lead respectfully then you can lead so if
00:25:30
you're a a 30-y old player that's had 200 games experienced well I certainly
00:25:35
hope you are going to lead because you got so many experiences in your rugby league life yeah um this might be a dumb
00:25:42
question probably one of many dumb questions as I said I know less about rugby league than than your wife does um
00:25:48
could could you could you coach Rugby Union you know there's players that make
00:25:51
the switch with varying degrees of success you've got Roger to vus shb uh he he's done very well at rugby could
00:25:59
you know feels like a lot of what you're doing is is like managing people which
00:26:03
is surely transferable between codes could you coach Rugby Union or no certainly not no well lots of lots of
00:26:10
League coaches transfer to Rugby Union and become say defensive coach or whatever um but I I I think it's such a
00:26:18
specialist game and I would never undermine or what's the word disrespect uh Rugby Union and and all
00:26:25
those great coaches to just suggest that I could go and do it um would I could I
00:26:32
help and be a part of a small part of it and and kind of look and and give advice
00:26:38
but certainly not on the x's and the O's and the details because I just don't
00:26:42
understand it but you know we have great rby Union coaches that come to our training and we go to their training
00:26:48
because there there are parts of the game that are similar we can learn off it but certainly not arrogant enough or
00:26:53
[ __ ] enough to think that I could jump in their shoes and and do what they do well Ted so went from went from American
00:26:59
football to soccer by the way are you a fan of that show have you watched that show love that show love good our whole
00:27:05
team watches that show yeah so it's how how much of that is sort of you know I
00:27:11
this sounds like a dumb thing to say but how much of it is sort sort of realistic
00:27:14
uh I think I think um the the relationships are realistic I don't know some of the stuff certainly not you
00:27:22
wouldn't get away with um just how relaxed Ted is about some issues but he doesn't sweat the uh small stuff does he
00:27:30
you know and um he he really has his big focus on making sure the players believe
00:27:35
in themselves which I've got a I got a huge belief in that too so um yeah this
00:27:40
parts that are pretty cool and they certainly have fun and that's what we want to do we have fun so there's so
00:27:46
much Ted I can't believe I bought I'm sorry the boys bring it up okay hypothetical
00:27:52
question say you had like a Jamie tart on your team like a precocious player star player like gifted Talent or
00:27:59
whatever but was an absolute [ __ ] pain in the eyes to be around disruptive to the team what would you do you you I
00:28:06
wouldn't I wouldn't throw him away straight away that's for sure I wouldn't
00:28:10
I'm not like let's just get rid of that guy work with them um probably try and
00:28:16
break down why why they're acting like that and why they think they're better
00:28:21
than someone else or why they're not willing to do certain things I mean Jamie [ __ ] in that show was super
00:28:28
talented but he felt like he didn't need to connect with the group at all and not
00:28:32
every player likes each other but you should you should respect each other enough that you're willing to just show
00:28:37
each other respect and connect so um I'd probably just work with him break break
00:28:42
those walls down communicate with him and just say look every the team's going
00:28:46
this direction you're going the opposite so I'm going to work you're going to
00:28:48
have to work on this or it's see later but um if because everyone's not roll in
00:28:54
the same direction you're in trouble with cow and then shows it that just sounds like so much work
00:29:00
getting every Rong in the same direction like there's so many different you talk
00:29:03
about like breaking down the personality type and working out what's what's going
00:29:06
wrong with them or whatever it happens to be but you know do that with one or two people that's fine but when you're
00:29:12
talking a whole Squad that's a lot of work yeah it's a lot of work but yeah
00:29:15
it's good we got 35 players I mean I'm not the only one that helps relationships like I said our system
00:29:21
coaches do but yeah i' I'd like to like to think I'm across it as much as I can
00:29:26
be it's hard because um you know you you're not a mind reader and I'm not I'm
00:29:32
not a trained psychologist so I'm don't try to be I just try and be a friend and
00:29:36
listen and and make sure they're all good where does this um like emotional intelligence that you've got come from
00:29:44
is probably the way of been brought up really yeah yeah I think I think we could sit around the dinner table and we
00:29:49
could probably talk about most things um and I I don't know I've just been lucky
00:29:53
I think being the youngest in my family I've always been around older people and
00:29:58
um I'm extremely immature and extremely mature um probably my whole life so when
00:30:04
I'm a kid I could be the silliest man in the room and or silliest kid in the room
00:30:08
and I could also have a conversation with an adult and I I think just being the youngest can remember my mom would
00:30:14
drag me to restaurants and cafes with her uh with her friends when I was um still not ready for school so I'm sure
00:30:22
I've just been around older people and and just learn it naturally I think no
00:30:25
one sat me down and give me a lesson in it that's for sure yeah cuz how old are
00:30:29
you 41 41 yeah yeah so I'm I'm 50 and for like for guys us age you know 40s or
00:30:35
50s it's like it's it wasn't the way we were raised was it to like to show
00:30:39
vulnerability and to yeah you know sort of show emotion and you tell people you love them back to that thing again yeah
00:30:45
well yeah my family certainly told each other they loved them yeah I can remember I wasn't allowed to get out of
00:30:51
the car my mate was in the car next to me not say I loved you m i get shot so um but you're right like just the more
00:30:58
manly you got um probably in your teenage lives you weren't meant to be like that but yeah a lot of love in our
00:31:05
family a lot of love in our house so um yeah I like I said I was getting back to
00:31:10
it I think I felt we felt comfortable we could be like that in house yeah I think
00:31:14
it's something you you touched upon earlier it's you're you're comfortable
00:31:17
in your own skin and with who you are I think the more the more comfortable you are in your own skin the more the less
00:31:22
you give a [ __ ] about that stuff and about the image you're portraying yeah
00:31:25
definitely yeah um how do you how do you coach someone with um flare and Brilliance like like a a Nathan Clary or
00:31:32
a sha Johnson don't get in their way just make sure they're happy let them let them be them yeah let them um
00:31:40
what do you say let a let an artist what's the word um feel like they can be
00:31:46
as flar and as enjoy let them Express themselves that's the best way to say so
00:31:51
someone who's that brilliant if they can't express themselves then I don't
00:31:54
think you're going to get good results as long as with the team Dynamic uh go
00:31:59
for it I mean I think Nathan if you'd say was worked so hard to where Nathan
00:32:05
clear he his his flare has come from hard work as he's probably not naturally
00:32:10
flaring as someone like sha who uh has been extremely flare his whole career has actually still got that a part of
00:32:18
him but he's got even more control about him so it's funny how the flare can
00:32:22
leave you and come back and and you can you can work out what when you should use it when you shouldn't and I think
00:32:29
those two boys have got it down pat at the moment yeah CU like a lot of a lot of
00:32:34
coaches would come along and see SE how was sea now what is he 30 33 33 so yeah so you came along last year he was 32 a
00:32:41
lot of coaches would come along want to stamp their Mark think you his best days
00:32:45
are behind him potentially because he hadn't been that awesome the years leading up to that um but but you I mean
00:32:53
it looks like Shawn Johnson from 10 years ago it's like he he looks so happy
00:32:56
out there yeah and he's done such a phenomenal job yeah I think being back in New Zealand being with his family
00:33:02
made him so happy um I think he had a real ambition that he was like I'm not
00:33:05
going to finish this way um so he went after it um did I have faith in Sean yes I did I told him I said look this is the
00:33:13
end um don't let it be this way I think you got more in you and I told him that
00:33:19
um I want you to stay and play um but you're going to have to earn everything
00:33:22
it's not going to be given or guaranteed and I'm never s a more guy go after it
00:33:28
and the way trained in pre-season U then he grew in confidence and then what he did for the team was
00:33:35
amazing so um let's wind back the clock and go to um getting the job so did you
00:33:41
apply for it or were you like shoulder ta no I got a phone call about it I didn't apply yeah I got a phone call
00:33:47
saying look where um Nathan Browns just reside um and if you want the job let us
00:33:53
know U and if you do we're going to come back and have a chat to you so said yes
00:33:58
I want the job and then the COO come and Jo said right well next time I talk to you it's going to be yours to lose so I
00:34:05
knew I was a pretty good shot then you um you were assistant coach at the time at the penth Panthers under Ivan clear
00:34:12
um you must have had people saying what the [ __ ] are you doing withby yes like
00:34:17
like what's happening in um penth at the moment it's like they're creating a
00:34:20
dynasty right yeah it's like a phenomenal setup and uh you you could have been cushy there for however many
00:34:27
years and then eventually Ivan will leave and it'll roll over to you look I I don't think Ed would have rolled on to
00:34:32
me I mean that there's a lot of good coaches of the Panthers so I'd never
00:34:36
suggest that but um the thing for me was I didn't want to be a coach at any NL
00:34:41
Club I there was a few that I wanted to be a coach at and the Warriors is one of
00:34:46
those um why well I've worked here feel connected to the club I felt like I I
00:34:51
knew the culture of New Zealand and I love the people and you got to like love living where
00:34:57
you know going to work and like I mentioned before I love love this place so um yeah it was a no-brainer for me
00:35:04
and um did I have thoughts about cheese were doing weren a good thing here at Panthers I could be part of this for a
00:35:10
long time of course I did but i' literally never been happier in my life like we had great friends um football
00:35:16
was going great really connected to the community but um I also was like you know what I want to be a head coach I
00:35:24
love the New Zealand I love the Warriors I feel like can have an impact um I felt
00:35:29
that Cameron George and Mark Robinson really sold the ambition of what was going to happen in this place and I
00:35:34
wanted to be a part of it so in the end it was a no-brainer but yeah there was I
00:35:39
had to still do my checklist yeah so so you come up with um with some sort of like a a game plan or a strategy I'm
00:35:45
guessing what were the sort of um kpis like like I'm from an outside's perspective again I'm a I'm a bandwagon
00:35:52
jumper and I'll I'll jump on a bandwagon that's traveling very very fast I'll
00:35:56
wait um but like it's it seemed like there was going to be like potentially years
00:36:02
of rebuilding you know especially if you think back to like use the parallels between like the pinth Panthers like
00:36:07
there was a couple of [ __ ] years before they started making playoffs right yeah
00:36:11
I think um people were telling me I was mad I was I didn't want to come out in
00:36:16
the media and say this is a rebuild I didn't want to try and I felt like people do that to buy themselves time
00:36:22
they want a lower expectation of the board members they want a lower expectation of the fans but whilst
00:36:29
they're lowering these expectations they're constantly telling the players
00:36:32
through the public eye that they're not good enough so they're saying this is a
00:36:37
rebuild we don't have the team to do it yet give us three years so if you're one
00:36:40
of those players how do how do you feel when you hear your coach say that about all time so I'm I'm chips all in like I
00:36:48
don't care what people thinks I don't care if they hold it against me and they
00:36:52
say you said Webby this I was like we're going to get that confident as aou group
00:36:57
um then we feel like we can actually do something so there was no rebuilding for
00:37:01
me I didn't have a kpi around top eight or anything like that our goal is to win
00:37:06
the comp like every other club in the NL there's not one club in the NL doesn't
00:37:10
want to win the comp so our kpi was the exact same we W going to lower it by say
00:37:14
top eight we weren going to say let's make sure it's top four or let's just
00:37:18
not come last there's nothing stupid like that we were just going after let's
00:37:23
not come last let's not come last let's not come let's not get the wooden
00:37:28
spoon again yeah so there was none of that our whole thing was let's win as many games as we can let's not come last
00:37:35
let's crack up um but I mean like previous years it's the Warriors have been one of those teams where Midway
00:37:42
through the season you always look at mathematical chances like oh if the if the Titans win this weekend and such and
00:37:47
such then we've got a chance of making the top eight but there was none of that
00:37:51
was even needed this year like it just it was like a hot knife going through butter well we want to be consistent
00:37:58
like um want to be consistent in our performance alone results like I'd say this all the time but I
00:38:05
think we lost three in a row I think we lost three good teams um we came home here and we came home to sellout C crb
00:38:13
against Red Cliff dolphins and I I just I couldn't believe off the back with
00:38:18
three losses in a row that the crowd was still supporting us so I know there's a
00:38:23
loyal call fan wherever you go um but I felt like the warriors were fans were something different like like they were
00:38:29
proud of the way we were playing so whilst we didn't win during that period we we really were that the fans were
00:38:36
proud and so was I I was like boys look you're playing really good football here
00:38:40
um and then as a result we went out and had a crack a night that and we went on a run and won lots of games of football
00:38:45
so our big thing was even when we lost we'll be consistent and when we won were
00:38:50
we consistent because there was games we won and we weren't happy about the way
00:38:53
we played yeah even though the scoreboard looked good um in our four Wars at work we were lighten up that's
00:38:58
not that's not how we want to be that's not our standard so without boring
00:39:03
everyone like as long as we're proud of our performance like our whole thing is
00:39:07
about winning so winning is our business we understand that but you got to make sure you're proud of the way you
00:39:13
play yeah when you lose those three games in a row is there I mean do you feel the heat well I've only had one
00:39:21
crack at it and there was that that three times I didn't tonight I didn't
00:39:24
feel it I felt like we're playing good football the group was happy but like we
00:39:28
could see lot of the tunnel um yeah I mean you know three in a row is not fun like I didn't enjoy I didn't enjoy it
00:39:37
but um I certainly didn't feel any pressure at that stage now yeah and then um so then the home game against the
00:39:43
Dolphins is that the Wayne Bennett team yep yeah are you intimidated by him what
00:39:47
are you what's your relationship like with Wayne Bennett do you look up to him
00:39:50
no look up to him he's incredible yeah great coach lucky enough to spend a bit
00:39:54
of time um watching him Co coach um when he was at the Newcastle night so um yeah
00:40:00
what what what can you take from him like it's been an outstanding career what's made him so good well I think way
00:40:04
so dry in the metor and stuff like that but I think he's the best of putting his
00:40:08
arm around a player that I like he's very very good at that he's very good at
00:40:12
making I think the players feel like it's their idea so I've seen him take
00:40:16
drills and then he say to a player going you take this and then he manipulates the drill but then everyone thinks the
00:40:22
players come up with it like he's just he's very smart and classy that um yeah
00:40:28
and generally obviously looks like he cares about his players so he's about in the time I spent with him I
00:40:35
couldn't believe how many times he asked them how their family were or their mom
00:40:38
and dad or something like that so yeah he's amazing but I didn't get intimidated by those guys because I'm
00:40:44
not tackling them you know what I mean like we're coaches so he sits on the other side of the field I sit on this
00:40:49
side of the field and there's no intimidation after yeah also you've got
00:40:54
the uh the delm award for Coach of the Year which you you carry around with you everywhere I'm guessing what what do you
00:40:59
get for that is it a a medal a trophy what is that uh just a big trophy of obviously it's the daum night is after
00:41:06
Da and messenger which is a famous player a long time ago so um everyone gets a like a a trophy of him and it's
00:41:16
big and heavy and yeah I gave it to my mom and dad to put on their their mental piece at home just say thank you for
00:41:22
everything they're done yeah so you've got no sort of trophies or memorability or anything at
00:41:29
your own place uh yeah got a Warriors my Warriors jersey from from round one we got that on the wall I was lucky enough
00:41:35
the club gifted that to me which I was really grateful for because I never thought that would come or expect that
00:41:40
to come um and how do you mean you never as in you being a head coach of an NL team well there things that happen for
00:41:47
players they get jerseys I've never seen a head coach a debutant jersey so that
00:41:51
was that was really nice I Lov that actually meant a lot to me um you got that on on a wall upstairs but no got if
00:41:59
you walked into our house you wouldn't see much football stuff at all um hence
00:42:04
why my my wife likes that because she's not she's not into football but um I
00:42:09
don't know I just I just yeah I like it's not to say that I won't have a man
00:42:14
shed one day with things in it but yeah right now I don't throw them out or throw them away it's just um I don't
00:42:20
have them on display anym yeah you I suppose you're at that point of your career where you're just too busy
00:42:25
focusing on what's next that it's not time to pause and reflect although did
00:42:28
you do that at the end of the last season yeah no definitely I'm I yeah I definitely did I mean I'm not not one of
00:42:35
those guys who has to move on straight away um I like to just pause and celebrate and will pause and reflect um
00:42:44
because I I want this to be fun I want to enjoy it I don't want it to be so stressful that I I don't even get to
00:42:51
enjoy of the good times and people say oh that's not a successful mindset well
00:42:55
they can go and get stuffed that's that's not how I am I I like to enjoy it
00:43:00
and okay well done now get over yourself let's go win the next one but I have
00:43:05
that moment yeah it's like what would Ted do Ted you enjoy he's having fun
00:43:11
okay so what does an average day look like you you guys start pretty early he yeah yeah um everyone's got to be there
00:43:17
by 7:45 um we got our first meeting at 7:45 yeah um but they're they're in way
00:43:22
before that I think the players have be there from sort of 6:45 on stretching getting ready for the day
00:43:28
getting physio treatment whatever they got to do us coaches we arrive probably between 5:30 and 6 I'd say yeah so
00:43:35
you're [ __ ] me yeah no early start of the day yeah really yeah that seems unnecessarily early no it's not well
00:43:42
it's like this you got to prepare for the day ahead and what do you mean exactly well we have a coaches meeting
00:43:47
at 7 o' so there's a huge amount of cutting of Clips so you got to probably
00:43:51
work back from the day before if that makes sense so let's say Monday's happen
00:43:55
as a field session so we've gone out and trained and come off uh and we got a
00:44:00
drone that films our whole training and then we cut what the boys did really well what they didn't the boys cut their
00:44:05
own Vision downstairs then we come upstairs and we have have one-on-one video with the players and then the next
00:44:12
day we got to take some of those clips and put them into unit group so backs and forwards attack defense last plays
00:44:20
which is special teams like Stacy Jones is in charge of so there's lots of stuff
00:44:25
we do and you got all that information that you've just you've just um put
00:44:30
together from the day before so what are you going to do with it now so we make sure we're getting we get organized we
00:44:35
know how we're going to do it players are in different teams for training so
00:44:39
yeah there's lots that go into it so I think you're looking from sort of
00:44:43
arriving that time to leaving between sort of 4:30 and 6 o00 that's probably
00:44:48
an average day yeah I think that'll surprise a lot of people yeah I think but which which is
00:44:55
fair enough I think I think people think you turn up um you go out you throw some
00:45:00
cones on the field you train and you leave and you go to the gym a couple of times go to the gym you that's not how
00:45:05
it works no like a player a players got a full full schedule they go home exhausted but
00:45:11
today um and no one trust me they're all grateful for their jobs they're not
00:45:16
feeling sorry for themselves like they've got it good but uh they work hard manate yeah they work really hard
00:45:21
and our coaches work really hard too and so do our like conditioners and so do our phys
00:45:26
and there's so many people in the organization that world long hours how much of um what you've implemented since
00:45:34
you've been here is as like pinth Panther's IP Oregon is definitely part
00:45:38
of it yeah yeah well has it's part of you I couldn't give you a percentage of
00:45:43
it but um I mean I refuse to copy and paste the whole pen program because it doesn't necessarily suit our players but
00:45:53
there's things that I've learned for penth that i' been an absolute idiot not
00:45:56
to not to use the Warriors it's a winning team why not yeah that's it so
00:46:01
there so many things there that we use but I made a mistake a long time ago I I worked at one team had a lot of success
00:46:09
took that same philosophy and that same ideas to another team and it was terrible so you got to make sure it
00:46:15
works for your team there's things that the Panthers there's things that the
00:46:18
Broncos there's things that all these really good teams do that will work at
00:46:23
every single NRL team if you implement them right and you know why you're doing
00:46:27
them and you can coach it properly so you'd be mad not to do those things but
00:46:31
there's also things that just wouldn't suit our boys yeah yeah You' you you've done the work
00:46:36
he like you you've really done the work like if if you look into your your you
00:46:40
your backstory you player coach in the states for a while yeah uh was that your first coaching job yeah yeah yeah yeah
00:46:47
yeah you don't I don't know if there's much of a rugby league culture
00:46:50
in so where were you I was in Connecticut World CS place just outside of man and I think there was 10 teams at
00:46:57
the time and I was 23 I had long hair I got the job did you like a surfy yeah like a surfy but I couldn't surf um and
00:47:06
I was like I'm going to travel with football I'm going to have some fun but
00:47:08
I realized that I'm not going to make it um I'm going to go on have phone I got
00:47:13
got a job as a captain coach he gave me a job uh a house and a car so that was pretty cool and then I went and did that
00:47:19
for six months and then I was like I want to give this a crack so then I moved to England and got an opportunity
00:47:24
over there yeah so so you've done the uh you've done the apprenticeship yep um
00:47:30
and I'm guessing they weren't they weren't big paying jobs or anything
00:47:34
so how long did you give yourself uh I didn't give a number like I have a different stages I'm I'm going
00:47:40
to go after this and do that and I quickly learned that's not the way to do it so um coaching's very patient game
00:47:47
and I hadn't played at an elite level I didn't have a reputation as this great
00:47:52
player that was going to automatically transition as a player and those guys kind of deserve that because they they
00:47:58
played for origin they played for Australia they played for New Zealand they deserve that that faster transition
00:48:03
um so I knew I was going to have to work hard at it but my whole thing was I just
00:48:06
wanted to get paid for something that I love doing and I was like what am I going to do now once I knew I was going
00:48:12
to make I was like I have to coach because I still love rubby League I actually think I really know it I think
00:48:18
I could be good at this so instead of just chasing and doing something I didn't like doesn't mean I didn't have
00:48:23
to do lots of other little jobs I hated to get there but um yeah I was I was going to go after it and didn't matter
00:48:31
how long it took that's amazing um I've heard uh in interviews um the players talk about a
00:48:40
thing called Extreme ownership yep extreme what's that exactly what does that mean is that a Navy SEAL thing yeah
00:48:45
it's not a big piece of our it's not a big piece of our puzzle like it's not a
00:48:50
I think I've read in a few places though yeah yeah no it is so it's it's
00:48:53
something we did we did an exercise one day were I just didn't feel like we were
00:48:57
owning what um we weren't owning our good stuff we weren't owning the bad
00:49:02
stuff so uh if people made a mistake I didn't think there was any there was really any ownership around their
00:49:09
mistake or what was happening I didn't think there was any ownership around their performance so they were getting
00:49:13
everything handed on a platter and they weren't actually going and digging and
00:49:17
watching their own own training sessions their own games um they're basically
00:49:22
expecting everyone else to do it for them so yeah there was a video that I watched online
00:49:28
it was around extreme ownership I thought that's unbelievably relevant to where we are right now and I felt there
00:49:33
was a lot of blame on others rather than themselves thought there was a lot of denial like that didn't happen and I
00:49:40
just wanted to just wanted to sort a few boys out and so some of you guys are this right now in the room and some of
00:49:47
you guys are AR so yeah we just did a little exercise and watched the video and yeah we just just said who who can
00:49:56
start living this a little bit more than than being the other way yeah so you say
00:50:01
that's not a big part of the the puzzle what what are some of the big pieces of
00:50:04
the Warriors puzzle what like what are some of the sort of um like pillars or cornerstones yeah I think I think the
00:50:09
biggest thing is we got to have fun we go home tired every day but we have fun and Fun's not um Fun's not always
00:50:17
laughter so laughing is a huge part of being fun but like if you want to laugh you can laugh that's fine but the best
00:50:23
biggest thing is if you enjoy something I think and you've had a great day and
00:50:27
it's been like I said the word fun and you probably feel a part of it feel like
00:50:31
you've had had a say on what's happened feel like you've got better so you've
00:50:35
grown a little bit feel like you belong at the place so actually Everyone likes you being there and you feel safe to be
00:50:41
yourself and if you're all those things that equals fun and then if you laugh a
00:50:46
little bit more and then we can make it an enjoyable environment then people are
00:50:50
going to like I said come back to work so but they'll go home tired cuz we're
00:50:54
going to work bloody hard if if there was someone that was um like a good laugh and really popular and
00:51:01
fitted into the team really well and wasn't necessarily the best player in that position would you still keep them
00:51:06
around uh yeah for the balance I would so there's a salary cap there's a price
00:51:10
there's money uh if that player fits into that that bracket and we got enough
00:51:16
depth and I feel like he's gonna I feel like you need guys like that they might
00:51:20
not be the best players in the world but they add so much to your culture um you know laughter fun um and they're
00:51:28
really good humans and yeah you want them around who who is it in the the current Warrior Squad like who are the
00:51:33
who are the pranksters or the Jokers or um the prankster is Dylan well he's not
00:51:38
a prankster he's just he's just funny he's Dylan Walker he says it how it is
00:51:41
Bailey serin was certainly that last year he's certainly popular guy and a a
00:51:46
terrific human unfortunately he's left because of Sal C his shoes we would love
00:51:50
to C him but yeah there's a few there's a few like that I mean Dylan's got
00:51:55
amazing um skill where he can be really immature and have fun and and then the moment football comes to be real serious
00:52:03
and switch on because he's super competitive and he wants to win so yeah there's a few like that and toou Harris
00:52:09
your your captain how's his body he seemed to have like every game I watched
00:52:13
last year he had extra bandages on each game yeah no is he Hanging On by a thread no he's fine yeah toys is going
00:52:19
great his body's good he he just he's played for a long time you know he's and
00:52:23
he plays tough he plays 80 minutes most times and um I feel like he just understands his body and he's got little
00:52:30
bits of strapping that help him and there probably probably looks like there's a lot more sure he'd rather get
00:52:36
rid of a bit of it but um yeah he just knows what works for him what he needs to needs to tape up so one I think it's
00:52:42
some of it's precaution and some of it he needs it so but yeah everyone ask me
00:52:47
that all time he's fine yeah and what um what are your thoughts on the the bunker
00:52:52
ref situation CU again as I said before I'm a b won jumper but the games I watched last year it just seems alarming
00:52:59
there does seem to be a definite sort of bias against the Warriors it's like
00:53:03
every single decision sort of gets questioned yeah look I I don't see any bias not at all like I don't say anyone
00:53:12
questioning the Warriors or I don't think any refere no not at all no just I'm not that guy I don't I don't think
00:53:19
there's any excuses if we lose that the referee the bunk has got it wrong I just
00:53:24
don't believe in that so do they make mistakes and frustrate the hell out of
00:53:27
me yes of course they do um have they got some real big ones wrong yes but so have we we've made some big mistakes
00:53:35
this year too so um I'm not saying it's okay but I'm not going to use it as an
00:53:39
excuse and I certainly don't think there's any bias against the Warriors if
00:53:42
anything I think the whole um the whole the rubby League have fall in love with the Warriors so I think they want us to
00:53:49
do well but it doesn't mean they're not going to get things right you you get do
00:53:53
you get fined if a few you speak to the media afterwards and you [ __ ] about yeah what's sort of fine what is it I
00:53:59
don't know I think it's 5 10K oh yeah does the club pay for that or no you pay
00:54:03
for oh yeah I wouldn't be saying anything about the bunker R either no well there safe space here I I I just
00:54:11
wouldn't I just yeah yeah I'll get done eventually but I'm trying my hardest
00:54:16
okay but when when um do you know Jason Paris yeah like person when he he put a tweet out last year do you are you
00:54:23
familiar with this you must be familiar with this yeah of course yeah um I was doing a public speaking thing the next
00:54:28
day and there were all these Marketing Executives there they were like oh yeah it's fine what he said but the Optics
00:54:33
the Optics aren't good let sort of marketing speak but um as coach first of all he just showed how passionate he was
00:54:40
about the Warriors and it wasn't as as one NZ CEO loves loves us you know so
00:54:46
he's frustrated and um yeah just probably the head of the moment I can't
00:54:51
speak for Jason but yeah like he's but as as a coach will you secretly pleased
00:54:55
when he did it like yeah I stayed out of it like you know J Jay you know he's had
00:55:00
his opinion and you I just can't be like that so yeah I I just I love all our
00:55:06
fans and our sponsors how passionate about us are and yeah um and the Heat of the M battle things get said and done
00:55:13
but yeah as the coach I I just got I can't be like that yeah yes speaking of
00:55:17
the fans and I suppose in particular from a like a cultural phenomenon of what what's happened the past year I
00:55:23
mean this afternoon I went to reel sport I thought I'll buy a couple of caps and
00:55:27
get you to sign them no merch available there was like one one supporter singlet
00:55:32
left which was like a 4XL and that was it like I mean the the the support from last season that's going to carry on to
00:55:39
this season it's just it's just massive yeah when did you first hear um up the
00:55:44
was where does that come from do you know anything about that yeah I can remember someone was ask me is it should
00:55:50
it be up the W or should be um going going you know going it's yeah you aware of that one that was of
00:55:57
course I yeah so I was like and I said well I'm hearing up the W is taking over
00:56:03
I think up the W as you walk down the street someone just turns around goes up the W like it's a way of like connecting
00:56:08
quickly and go how good and then I think um I think the other one is more of a chant you know so yeah I when I first
00:56:16
heard it like that and then I just couldn't believe how quickly and then there was a song and then everyone was
00:56:22
like just everywhere he went was up the W I was wedding in Australia and there's
00:56:26
no Warriors fans there and they were they were um cheersing each other after each speech saying up the wi so what for
00:56:34
your being AIT or no no no just up thewi just it just become a thing where if it's good then it's
00:56:41
up so you've got you don't know where it started or the origin I saw some threat
00:56:46
online someone was saying uh it was um created by some new zealanders that live in Australia a few a few years ago and
00:56:53
it it's an acronym it means we are home soon for the Warriors but I don't know
00:56:57
seems apparently but there you go I don't know I I suspect there's probably
00:57:01
a few stories like that yeah but it's it's great though way you you and the
00:57:05
the the team must have felt it and must have felt the love and the support of the nation but also the weight of the
00:57:09
nation yeah the the love was unbelievable the support like I said we so I think we sold out in the stadium 10
00:57:15
times this year which is unbelievable I think it's our best crowds for the whole
00:57:20
season since since 95 which is the first year so um everywhere we went because we played a
00:57:27
few games we played um in napr like I said we played in Wellington I played a trial in Christ Church just the support
00:57:34
it was unbelievable so um humbling it's humbling yeah it's it's humbling felt
00:57:39
like a real responsibility people stop me on the street and say thank you for you're done for our country I mean I'm
00:57:44
an Australian that blows me away so yeah it's it's really cool um we just want to
00:57:49
make sure we can stay consistent and keep them happy yeah and and it was overlapping uh with a rugby World Cup as
00:57:55
well which makes it even more remarkable yeah it was yeah um but how do you how do you cope with the pressure like how
00:58:02
like cu the expectation is you know you go a step further or even two steps further yeah in the next season but it's
00:58:09
like success isn't always linear like that is it no I mean I think the only pressure I I have is the pressure I put
00:58:16
on myself I mean at the end of the day I if I know we can prepare well and we've
00:58:21
worked hard and we've given them every chance the players and the players are
00:58:25
buying in then we're going to give ourselves a chance to win and um it is a nerve-racking 80 minutes but that's
00:58:31
probably the only time I feel the pressure during the game I I don't everyone thinks I'm really calm but I'm
00:58:36
not as calm as people think but um the ladup to games I don't get nervous um I
00:58:41
haven't felt the pressure but let's be honest we the worst we did was lose
00:58:45
three in a row this year so I'm sure there's going to be times in my career
00:58:48
where's that five or six and you're really going to really going to find out
00:58:52
what I'm what I'm like under pressure but right now now I feel comfortable
00:58:55
with it yeah yeah what are you like no one gets to 41 years old without sort of facing um some sort of adversity what
00:59:02
what is it what is it for you like where does your resilience come from what's
00:59:06
some of the I think my adversity has been the fact that it hasn't been easy for me like I
00:59:11
wasn't didn't play NRL I just wasn't one of the best players I had to worked hard
00:59:17
I had to clean rby League football stands I had to you know be security jobs I have to do everything to get here
00:59:23
so um I've had to volunteer so I think my resilience comes from the fact that
00:59:30
um you know it hasn't been my path hasn't been easy and I've had to work
00:59:33
hard to get here and I I don't want to lose it I'm here now I want to be B of
00:59:38
winning cultures for the rest of my coaching Cur so yeah I think that's where it comes from yeah and and so you
00:59:45
were here on a three-year deal and it's been extended well you were here on a
00:59:48
2-year deal and it's been extended for five years three year deal so obviously
00:59:52
done one of them now and now I've got a a three-year extension on top of the two
00:59:57
remaining so 5 years in total from now yeah what's what's the um this is a dumb
01:00:02
question the ultimate goal on that time is to like win a Premiership yeah it's
01:00:06
like sustain success so I'm going to win as many Grand finals as we can I me
01:00:10
people might laugh and say you won't get one of those but I don't care like what
01:00:14
they think I just I want us to go after it and have a real crack at it um but you know have sustain success you know
01:00:21
win win as many games as we can and make fans constantly proud of us so that we're not constantly down the bottom
01:00:29
we're constantly up the top and give ourselves a chance to win oh that's so
01:00:34
good would you would you ultimately like to spend your entire career here yeah I'm happy to yeah I love New Zeal I love
01:00:41
the Warriors I mean the only way I'm going to leave is if one the club thinks
01:00:46
my time's up or I think I can't give any more to the club meaning I feel like
01:00:51
they need someone new so some fresh ideas some fresh ideas is but I I've I think there's two or three coaches in
01:00:58
the game that have really stayed at a club for a long period of time like way benett did at the Broncos for a long
01:01:04
time Craig belly and Trent Robinson's doing at the roosters i't starting to do
01:01:09
it at the Panthers so uh it's definitely possible to do because it's not easy not
01:01:14
many Do It um but if I was good enough um to do that that'd be that'd be great
01:01:19
while ever I'm enjoying it here I don't want to go anywhere so yeah oh we we
01:01:23
love you here I speak on behalf of the whole nation yeah it's phenomenal what's
01:01:28
happened in the past year um it's incredible yeah it's just it's yeah it's
01:01:33
great to have you in New Zealand as a New Zealander yeah cool no thank you it's great to be um one thing I I do
01:01:39
like to ask all my guest is about their um their mental health how's your mental
01:01:42
health because I feel like by asking this question it just sort of normalizes the the conversation your mental health
01:01:48
been good over the years or I've been really lucky I'm lots of U friends and
01:01:53
family have OB struggled with it I mean it's pretty common Now isn't it I think
01:01:57
especially people are more willing to talk about it um and my mental Health's
01:02:02
really good um I don't know I've got a good balance in my life I'm not suggesting
01:02:07
it's going to be like that all the time I'm not arrogant enough to think that
01:02:11
everything's going to be Rosy I've spoken to real strong people that have
01:02:14
gone through had nervous breakdowns had tough times uh and they would have laughed if you ever told them that that
01:02:20
was going to happen to them so I don't think we're all bulletproof um but know
01:02:24
I'm I'm lucky right now I'm good and um the biggest thing is I think it's the
01:02:29
bravest bravest thing you can do if you're struggling with mental health or things aren't going us actually say
01:02:34
something as um I think it used to be you were weak if you said something so it's gone from weak to being brave which
01:02:41
I think's awesome yeah well I had um I don't know if you're familiar with the
01:02:46
uh the old all black coach John Hart yep uh John will yeah I do it I personally oh of course yeah he was connected with
01:02:52
the club so he was on the podcast and he he talked about um he was actually I I was really surprised he talked this way
01:02:59
so he got back from the 1999 Rugby World Cup where the old blacks got excuse me beat him by France and knocked out early
01:03:06
he came back and yeah they were he went to a horse race meet and someone spat on
01:03:10
him in a bathroom and people throwing beer cans at his horse homes DG um and he he said he didn't recognize it at the
01:03:17
time but he was in a like deep depression for two years where couldn't leave the house some days yeah um and he
01:03:23
was like a man he was in his 50s at the time and you know that's very successful
01:03:28
man very successful yeah just knocked him knocked him to his core there you go not been to anyone so yeah do you guys
01:03:34
have um like a team psych sports psychologist or yeah we got um four welfare managers so we' got we got um
01:03:42
that I wouldn't say the word covered is wrong because you never got it covered
01:03:46
you always got to be ready for it D be cross it but um we got four guys that are in that in that line of work that
01:03:52
that's their role to make sure everyone's SP spaces as as good as it possibly can be and if they if they've
01:03:58
got some stuff going on in their lives they can help them with it um and it's
01:04:03
also my responsibility to help with that too so um yeah and we got a we got a really good team of people who care
01:04:09
about these boys so yeah it's awesome yeah brilliant all right hey well weeby
01:04:14
can I call you weeby you can I feel like we're mates now go wh mates oh should we
01:04:18
do a shy together not not yet we're going to win the grand fin have you have
01:04:22
you ever done a shy I'm sure I've done plenty what do what do you mean you sure
01:04:26
you've done plenty yes or no yes I'm I gather I have but what do you mean you
01:04:30
gather you have when I was younger mate I would have U I would have given it a credit how long have sh's been a thing
01:04:35
sh's been a thing for a long time that I know right right yeah I feel like the
01:04:39
origins are rooted in Australia and it's just sort of become International um so
01:04:44
if you win if you win a a grand final you do a shy for sure yeah I'll do out
01:04:49
of sha Johnson's boot if you like all right hey um mate It's been a pleasure
01:04:54
to sit down with you today thank you so much um I've got a lot out of this and I
01:04:58
hope the um the people that listen or watch this um take some learnings from this as well you're an inspirational
01:05:03
inspirational guy no thank you thank you so much having it's a pleasure to be
01:05:06
here and um I hope everyone listen to your podcast man it's a beauty let's go
01:05:10
on let's go on go the wise out the wise out the wise