00:00:00
[Music] Dr Nick Gill welcome to my podcast thanks for having me mate oh mate I'm so
00:00:31
pleased we made this happen um you and I have only only met a couple of times you
00:00:35
you you messaged me out of the blue um maybe two years ago about you know I think you saw on Instagram I had some
00:00:41
knee issues and you messaged me and we had a session together um and uh toong it which was really nice of you yeah no
00:00:49
I thought I might be able to help you a little bit mate and you're a mad Runner
00:00:52
so yeah we got a bit in common yeah as are you as well as being the old Black's
00:00:57
um strength and conditioning coach you you dabble and iron events and Triathlon and yeah devil yeah devil I sort of do
00:01:03
one a year I try to to keep myself honest so yeah I love it yeah so exactly what is um a strength and conditioning
00:01:12
coach yeah well it's changed a bit since I started um when I started it was you know you you help players or
00:01:20
athletes get strong you made sure they were fit um and it was very much writing a program um for each person each player
00:01:28
um now it's obviously evolved the athletes are more professional they they know more they've got more knowledge um
00:01:36
and the expectations as a professional has has gone through the roof so um I'm
00:01:42
sort of I don't know um I'm I'm responsible for ensuring that the players and the team are ready to rock
00:01:49
and roll come Saturday night for a test match so you know that includes you know
00:01:54
I I lead a team of of a nutritionist doctor physios Sports scientists um and as a group we sort of look after all the
00:02:03
details that come into performance so what you eat uh what you don't eat um you know sleep education um how much
00:02:11
you're lifting in the gym how fast you're lifting in the gym how much running you're doing on the field all
00:02:15
that so there's a lot of information there's a lot of things we do in a day
00:02:20
um to lead to a performance and I sort of oversee that stuff so you s like the personal trainer for all the All Blacks
00:02:27
yep yeah [ __ ] it's a big job and you've been doing it for such a long time like
00:02:31
you um I think Colin Mees was kep no you started in um 2008 so there's a 2007
00:02:39
you're at the Chiefs for 5 years yep and then you start in two so this's the 2007
00:02:44
World Cup which um Richie was Captain and uh Graham Henry was coach then you start the year after that yeah who was
00:02:51
the previous strength and conditioning guy uh Graham low he was from the blues um and I actually helped Lo out in 04
00:02:58
with the All Blacks but um yeah he he left and went to one of the America's Cup teams yeah so the position would
00:03:06
became vacant so a few of us threw our names in the head and yeah I was lucky enough to be picked how how have you um
00:03:14
how have you kept the job for so long this be because you think every time there's there's a coaching change the um
00:03:19
the thing would be to stamp your mark and uh get your own sort of team of Key Personnel around you is it just love and
00:03:26
support of the players yeah yeah I'm not sure I'm like a cockroach I suppose I'm
00:03:31
hard to get rid of um but but I'd like to think that um I've kept my job cuz
00:03:37
I'm I'm doing I'm doing a good job um and I think if you know I remember
00:03:42
Graham Henry said to me um after my second year he said um no news is good news and that you know there was no
00:03:49
feedback in a negative um which means you're doing a good job and and I think
00:03:54
the players are the key here like um you know the I I sort of I'm the in between
00:03:59
the coach and the players and and I suppose um you know if the players feel like you're helping them be better then
00:04:06
they want to keep you there um and likewise the coaches I've sort of there has been some transitions of coaches and
00:04:12
um I've been lucky enough to carry on through those those different coaching
00:04:15
groups um and but there's a lot of us that have carried on um to a point and
00:04:21
and so you know we did have a a period of time we were very successful um and so you know tend not
00:04:27
to make too many changes when things are going well yeah if it ain't broke um but so do all
00:04:32
the Super Rugby teams have their own snc 100% so so the the the sort of uh the structure of our staff and the
00:04:41
All Blacks is pretty similar to the structure of a super rugby team so all Super Rugby teams have a couple of
00:04:46
physios a doctor a nutritionist Sports scientists in Tunes um so it's very very
00:04:52
similar across any professional sporting team to be fair um you have a team of people that are responsible for the
00:04:58
physical performance and of the of the athletes yeah so um Scott Robertson's becoming um the old black
00:05:05
coach this year very very successful with the Crusaders um you must have been thinking oh I'm going to get the ass yep
00:05:13
yeah 100% 100% I was actually I actually stopped on on my way home from the tour
00:05:18
at the end of 2022 I stopped off in Chicago to start talking to people over the year to to look at a job in American
00:05:24
sport so it was very much um what do I do do I wait do I not um yeah so a lot of lot of uncertainty
00:05:32
for sure and but you you've signed on you're there for the next we while yep
00:05:37
yep no s so lucky enough to carry on um and and actually uh really excited like really excited really grateful that that
00:05:45
I'm carrying on again um I love the team um love the team love what I do and um
00:05:52
yeah as I said it's sort of um um I seem to be sticking around a bit and um and hopefully I can stick around
00:05:59
for for a bit longer yeah what's your test count what is it 2002 212 yeah yeah yeah what are the biggest
00:06:08
changes between when you started in 2007 and now oh loads of changes yeah there change there there's massive changes
00:06:16
like um Rugby's only been professional since 96 so it's only been 28 years or
00:06:21
something since players first became professional and got paid okay money but also were expected to train and prepare
00:06:28
full-time and and so you know I started in rugby in 2000 uh down in Hamilton down in W and you know everyone had
00:06:36
full-time jobs and You' train morning and night and and and you'd play Club
00:06:40
rugby and it was all sort of very very amateurish um so you know we were still having fish and chips in the change room
00:06:47
after training on a Tuesday night you know it was sort of still very much didn't matter what you ate sort of thing
00:06:53
now days you know athletes are fueling to Perfection they're counting their calories they're counting their their
00:06:58
macros so how much protein they're having in each meal they're making sure
00:07:02
they're going to bed at the right time to get enough quality sleep um and they
00:07:08
love training you know like 200 even back in 2008 like athletes the players weren't necessar loving training um
00:07:18
nowadays you know they love it so much you have to try and pull them back a bit you know from doing too much so it's
00:07:23
lots of changes like players have gone from I think the average size prop for the All Blacks this year might be a
00:07:29
around I don't I know 133 kilos average size prop when I started was 112 kilos so the size of the
00:07:37
players gone through the roof um and they're as fit as fast and stronger so you know the the needs of the of of the
00:07:47
in the game the the physical demands in the game are just just keep changing keep evolving and yeah so there's lots
00:07:53
of lots of change there's there's so much to get into um with you today I'm
00:07:58
so excited about it because um you like you you've seen so much like you've been
00:08:02
around for such a long time but one thing which I I never really um never really considered or
00:08:07
even thought about with you and your job until um I started you know thinking about this chat is um the personal
00:08:14
sacrifice involved yeah you're you're a family man you've got your wife um Mel
00:08:18
and your daughters Olivier and Grace and just the amount of time that you must have to spend away from them yeah it's
00:08:24
um it's definitely probably one of the most challenging parts of the gig um it's time away cuzz you know you you're
00:08:32
winter you spent you spend the time in the hotel with the team um traveling the world with the team and so you're sort
00:08:39
of only home when there's not a game on and so I think this year I think we've
00:08:43
got 14 tests 15 tests and I think I'm home for about 5 weeks out of 5 months
00:08:49
something like that wow um so now it is tough it's very tough to get the balance
00:08:53
um balance between time away time at home when you are home being present when you're away not burning the candle
00:09:00
and doing too much so then when you do get home you're cooked um it's it's not
00:09:04
easy definitely not easy um and and M will always keep trying to pull me into line and and and check me um you know so
00:09:14
yeah it's definitely a challenge always how how old are the girls now girls have
00:09:18
left home now 23 and 19 okay a swe you're it's way it's way different now
00:09:23
that they're not home and it was probably it was harder when they were really young and then it was harder when
00:09:28
they were old um easy being away when they're older but you're you're so tight
00:09:32
that you miss them more cuz you're cuz you're you know your friends you're
00:09:36
you're really close when they're younger it's hard on Mel cuz she's going do
00:09:39
anything by herself so yeah it's um yeah they're not home anymore so M will
00:09:43
travel a bit and then what about the offseason it's like during the Super Rugby when um when all the the All
00:09:50
Blacks are in the Super Rugby teams with their own snc guy yeah what's your role
00:09:54
then so um is that when you're train for your own Iron Man yeah a little bit Yeah it allows me to
00:10:02
do some of that stuff um but I'm still busy still busy like we're planning
00:10:05
campaigns um we're monitoring and tracking players you know I was on I was on zooms yesterday for about 9 hours um
00:10:13
you know with various groups of the old blacks um with staff from from the super
00:10:18
clubs um with players so you're sort of non-stop talking and communicating and
00:10:24
sharing ideas cuz the All Blacks don't just start um 10 days out from from playing England we're sort of we're
00:10:31
going from the time the players start playing in February we're we're tracking
00:10:35
we're having conversations we're watching them play we're watching them
00:10:38
train um you know we're helping the Medical Teams um around decision- making
00:10:43
around injuries and things so it's it's sort of non-stop but it's just not
00:10:46
full-time it's probably 3 days a week four days a week um and you're at home
00:10:50
so I work from home during the offseason so that makes up for all that time being
00:10:54
away and then this might be a dumb question but it's just something I I was thinking about the last few days so do
00:11:00
you um before the before any tour do you have to go away and like inspect the hotels and the environments you're going
00:11:06
to be in or is there someone else that does a Ricky yeah so our manager does a Ricky so um Shand he's he's moved on but
00:11:14
that's what Shand used to do and now moose P mland from denan does that um so
00:11:20
travels to all the new hotels or hotels and Fields we haven't been to before so
00:11:25
um yeah we get all that Intel early um you often need choices to be made which will come down to you know he'll ring me
00:11:32
up to say hey there's this hotel there's this field there's this gym here's a
00:11:36
travel time here's the distances here's the quality so we make decisions that
00:11:41
are based on performance what's going to be the best thing for the performance
00:11:44
and the preparation for the team and and then we make those decisions and we lock
00:11:48
it in so yeah that all that that stuff all happens in you know February March April May cuz it's a lot of gear you
00:11:53
guys need you can't just go to a a Jets can you no but we do yeah % 100% like if
00:12:00
it if it means not getting a bus for 20 minutes to go across a city um you know like we we used to start the Heritage up
00:12:07
on Hobson Street there um and we'd go to the gym across the road which I think
00:12:11
was a Jets um or Anytime Fitness it was a 24-hour gym we' just pop over there it
00:12:16
was easy no bus no trip um so as long as we're not compromising on what we want
00:12:21
to do um if it's the if it's the easiest thing to do and it's really still going
00:12:26
to be effective then we jump at that stuff so yeah it's only been the last maybe seven or eight years that we get
00:12:31
to get go into high performance gyms pretty much where we go um but again so long as it's not a big bus trip away so
00:12:39
when do you like when do you do your own personal training like you're your Iron
00:12:43
Man events do you just sort of try and do them outside of all black season 100% yeah I can't do anything during all
00:12:48
black season I sort of I took it over in all black season just to stay healthy and to sleep well to eat well to look
00:12:55
after my own stress I'll just have my own sort of plan um and I just took it
00:12:59
over in the all black season and then once all black season's finished it's
00:13:02
summertime in New Zealand and get on my bike and go for some runs and do some crazy swimming and yeah you mad about it
00:13:10
eh I love it actually um towards the end I've got some Instagram questions but
00:13:14
someone wanted to wanted me to ask you about the time you had to run backwards around M [ __ ] during a half Iron Man
00:13:20
yeah man met driller e far out um was it a cramp or yeah yeah yeah no I'm a I'm a
00:13:28
I'm a um I'm a horrible cramper um and I'm pretty competitive so that IR that
00:13:34
half Iron Man I wasn't very prepared for and and I had a mate doing it and and I
00:13:39
just went out a bit hard on the swim bit hard on the bike cuz I'm pretty good on
00:13:42
the bike and but my running's my my Archilles heel and um got off the bike and oh legs don't feel too good and
00:13:49
first time around the mount going downhill just quads locked up so I didn't want to stop cuz my mate was
00:13:55
behind me and I didn't want him to beat me and anyway he ended up passing me and
00:13:59
the only way I could get around the mount was walking backwards down the hills so otherwise the quads would lock
00:14:05
up and I couldn't move so I figured out during the run that I could walk backwards down the hills and I wouldn't
00:14:10
crap so then I cramp so then I'd I'd jog the flats and then walked backwards down
00:14:13
the hill so yeah yeah it was a tough old day um do do you have a favorite Stadium
00:14:19
I I was reading an interview with um Aaron Smith and he he says his favorite stadium is um the one in Wales and
00:14:25
that's cuz he had a particularly good game there couple of memorable tries it
00:14:29
was a big win what what about you what's a memorable stadium for you um I I've
00:14:34
probably got three um oh probably four Around the World Eden Park love Eden Park um Eden Park special it's our home
00:14:42
home away from home it's our Fortress um there's always an amazing crowd and
00:14:46
atmosphere love Eden Park like Aaron Smith um the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff is is pretty special the roof
00:14:55
comes in you know 80 90,000 crazy Welshman singing um it's special um and it's just down the road from the hotel
00:15:04
so you sort of you're right in the mix so it's pretty it's pretty cool um
00:15:08
setup um twickingham is is an amazing place to play you know essentially the the home of rugby um and love going up
00:15:18
there because English are are quite uh cocky around their rugby and it's a pretty special place to go and win um
00:15:27
and then the last one would be probably any of the old stadiums in South Africa you know the the old
00:15:35
stadiums that are just these fortresses that where they built with brick the the
00:15:40
stands go vertical and the the South African Crowds Are just nasty like they just love their rugby so much you know
00:15:50
you're driving in on a bus to the ground and there's there's all sorts going on
00:15:54
outside in the in the car parks with the with the barbecues of the BR um and the passion of the South Africans is
00:16:01
just huge so going over there and and trying to win is Pretty Tough so when you do win it's really special oh that's
00:16:09
cool yeah wow what they're just such crazy experiences you've had it's really
00:16:14
cool and and your um I've seen so many photos of you with the um the the water
00:16:18
the water boy vest on is is that your is that your viewing platform for for all the games you've been on all the tests
00:16:25
like just on the sideline yeah it has been um I wasn't sure if that was going
00:16:29
to continue but I'm carrying on in that in that role which is awesome I love
00:16:32
being on the park like I've been to a few games um super rby games in the last
00:16:38
I don't know 10 years or so excuse me and um and watching a game from the stand I enjoy but compared to being on
00:16:45
the sideline it just doesn't compare it's it's pretty exciting being on the
00:16:49
sideline like you you feel like you're involved in the game without being involved you know I'm pretty competitive
00:16:55
so I like us performing I like being part of the performance even though I have a really really small role um so
00:17:01
yeah know I'm always on the side running water and running messages so I sort of
00:17:04
have ear piece on between the coach and the players so sometimes the players will ask me a question to ask the coach
00:17:11
and vice versa um so there's you know message delivery which is pretty pretty
00:17:16
important and it makes you feel really really part of it yeah 100% like what what's sort of messaging what are you
00:17:22
talking about but do you well there's been many messages in my time but um you
00:17:27
know like it could be it could as simple as um um the front pods not marked in a
00:17:33
line out so I might I might deliver that to the to the line out leader and normally the line out leader say yeah
00:17:40
yeah we we've seen that um so there's often a suggestion or or or or something
00:17:46
to communicate and it's of more often not the players already all over it likewise Bowden Barrett might just say
00:17:53
hey Gilly can you check with f um but is um is the Back Field clear you know cuz
00:17:59
maybe he's not seen it quick enough um and so it's it's it's almost like
00:18:04
there's a it's not a dialogue but there's these windows or messages sometimes there's no messages like if
00:18:09
the team are handling everything in front of them um and seeing opportunities and in control there's
00:18:16
nothing there's no messages um other than pets on the back you know but if there's things that aren't quite going
00:18:22
right and there's opportunities elsewhere the coaches might see it and communicate that yeah on the um I was
00:18:29
reading Richie's book yesterday the open side and you get a sentence in the chapter about the 2011 Rugby World Cup
00:18:35
final um the sentence say trainer Nick Gill gives us the call to get back on track keep getting up so is that just is
00:18:42
that just you like ging up the ging up the guys yeah motivating them yeah but of both like um like I'll be screaming
00:18:49
from the sideline so it won't be a message from the coaches but I'll be screaming from the sideline like and a
00:18:54
few of the players asked me to um you know like an AR s or say Gilly keep getting stuck into me and in what way
00:19:01
what do you mean oh like if he's slow to his feet like he's he's made a big
00:19:04
tackle or he's made a good run and he's slow to his feet and he starts walking
00:19:09
if he hears me he it it makes him switch back on and so he'll often ask me to
00:19:15
just get stuck into me if I'm looking a bit slow um Aaron Smith used to be the
00:19:19
same keep encouraging us from the sideline so whilst it sounds silly um and sometimes it feels a little bit like
00:19:26
I'm not achieving much um some of the players enjoy the noise cuz they all they hear from the crowd is the is the
00:19:32
is the yoing they don't necessarily hear anything specific so if they can hear
00:19:35
something specific cuz they close to me then then I think that's useful um also
00:19:40
you you've been around for a while and you know all these guys intimately so
00:19:43
you're not like just a dude in the crowd yelling stuff out yeah yeah yeah yeah
00:19:46
and it's yeah exactly and and I don't I don't yell at everyone like some people
00:19:49
just want to tell me to shut up so so it's more more some players will say hey
00:19:54
can you can you keep yelling at me Gilly or can you keep reminding me the first first steps or something like that so um
00:20:01
and I do that in training too with some of them you know some of them need some help so if it's just me being annoying
00:20:06
annoying noise in the air then that's that's good well I found that interesting like the fact that it gets a
00:20:11
mention in Richie's book like it obviously you the messaging or the timing or whatever it happened to be
00:20:18
obviously meant something to them yeah good yeah that's that's good to know
00:20:21
yeah that was um [ __ ] that was a memorable game like from a just from a fan perspective what was it like what do
00:20:28
you really collections of that whole tournament because you're flicking through Richie's book there's like a
00:20:31
photo of um on the back page of all you guys on stage afterwards and it's like
00:20:35
Aaron crud in there and I'd forgotten about Aaron cruden like at the start of
00:20:38
the tournament he was in the the stand in Wellington drinking beers and then he's called into the team and then
00:20:43
there's Steven Donald and py weeper and Rich's broken foot I know well it sort
00:20:48
of felt like we couldn't catch a break like there a tournament each week something had happened like there'd be a
00:20:54
would there be another injury there'd be another loss of someone or um you I
00:20:58
think we're into our fourth or fifth 10 you know Steven Donal got called in from
00:21:02
White baiting and you know DC went down with with a groin um I remember that day
00:21:07
vividly like we had a meeting straight after training to say what had happened um and it was very much a just you just
00:21:14
got to keep tracking ledge we'll figure it out um and you know I mean I have I
00:21:19
have quite a few memories but the the most significant one for me was um I remember going onto the field it
00:21:26
was 8 was it 87 he it was 87 the scho um and it was like 10 minutes to go and it
00:21:33
was just This ferocious Battle of halfway cuz it was just a penalty kick to decide the game and we had Andy Ellis
00:21:40
Richie mcco Steven Donald um and I want to say was it Kieran Reed I just remember um there was
00:21:52
a stoppage and I ran on and the four of them the four sort of senior players or leaders that were still on the field um
00:22:00
for the last 5 or 6 minutes come together and you could just see in their eyes they were calm there was no Panic I
00:22:07
remember Andy Alis actually Andy was really impressive um just been really calm with the plan what we were going to
00:22:14
do and um I came off from that little huddle thinking we got this you know and and it was sort of you know there was
00:22:21
still 5 minutes it was still so tight it was just one mistake one infringement and um and I just I just thought that
00:22:28
the players making decisions being calm Under Pressure um you know in a pinnacle
00:22:34
moment um and the biggest game of some of their lives and so um that was probably the thing I remember most of
00:22:40
them on the in the game um and then after the game the coolest thing was sitting around on the floor in the Eden
00:22:47
Park changing room and just everyone just sitting around just going wow having a beer and just like wow like
00:22:55
not a lot was being said to be fair it was quiet but it was just just reflective and sort of I don't know
00:23:01
special real special yeah yeah I suppose it's funny in an environment like that
00:23:05
because the players are [ __ ] exhausted cuz they've given everything but you're not exhausted you're just
00:23:10
ready to party but I m I'm emotionally exhausted I tell you what tell and and
00:23:15
and the weeks are tough like um like the week for the staff is is tough cuz it's
00:23:20
we work really hard and so yes we're not out on the test match but um we've put a
00:23:25
whole lot of work into the week and so you do get to the end of the game and you are emotionally naked and you are
00:23:32
like holy okay we're going to do it again tomorrow and then you start again tomorrow you know so it's um yeah we
00:23:38
don't have the physical exhaustion but I think there's also you know we do have
00:23:41
the emotional stress and and and and fatigue that comes with the the whole gig yeah and what was up with Richie's
00:23:48
foot he it was like a broken foot right yeah he had I think he had a fracture of
00:23:51
some bone and Deb Robinson our doctor at the time love Deb she's an awesome doc
00:23:56
um and she was just real calm and her and Richard worked together at the Crusaders a lot so everyone trusted Deb
00:24:03
and Deb was just like look he'll be fine to play but that's it and so hands off
00:24:09
Gilly I want to say I want to say it was like three or four weeks I can't remember how many games or how many
00:24:14
weeks he didn't do a lot of training in um but he did bare minimal to get ready
00:24:18
for the game um and that was just because you know as soon as you put to put put some work into the foot it got
00:24:24
sore so you go into the game with it not being too sore and he was tough enough to play with a bit of pain um yeah
00:24:32
immense effort to be fair but um you know he was that important to the team that everyone was okay with that yeah
00:24:40
that was that a was that a big night after that at the time I was living in um a subb called westm just R the corner
00:24:44
for Marley Williams and uh I saw Zack Guilford rolling out of there about 88 or 9 in the morning yeah no um it was a
00:24:50
big few days I think yeah I wouldn't say a big night it was a big few days probably a probably a solid week to be
00:24:57
fair cuz I think we went on some a tour around New Zealand and I actually remember I got a cool photo of it
00:25:02
actually we were traveling to Christ Church to take the World Cup down to Christ Church and um we landed in Christ
00:25:08
Church I think we landed in Christ Church had to wait like an hour to get on the bus to go to the to parade and um
00:25:15
I've got this photo of Graham Henry asleep cuddled up on the floor in this holding pin like a it was like a tent um
00:25:23
with the World Cup he was just asleep cuddling this world cup you know and um so that was sort of three or four days
00:25:28
after we'd won um so again another memory of a long time ago that's that's
00:25:33
amazing I I you know you just can't imagine the pressure he was under like the fact that he um survived and kept
00:25:39
his job after 20 2007 when the the tradition in the past had been to like you know gas a coach that doesn't win
00:25:47
the World Cup the fact that he survived and then won the World Cup in 2011 it's
00:25:52
remarkable oh it was it's a it's a cool story cuz um he's a great coach I loved
00:25:56
working with with t um and the environment they'd learned a lot on the fouryear soccer before I think
00:26:02
and so he he was definitely that was definitely the right decision and hence we we we won the cup so um yeah know it
00:26:10
was he did well didn't he to survive oh yeah he really did yeah um I there was a
00:26:15
rumor that um Owen and Ben Frank went to the gym like the next day after the World Cup final is is an urban legend or
00:26:21
is that true no no it's true you know it's true well it's it's strange isn't it but
00:26:27
it actually um it it just speaks volumes of what those two are like they they love lifting T they don't necessarily
00:26:34
like partying um you know and and they were like particularly Owen but been as been
00:26:40
as well they were they were a little bit ahead of their time when it came to professionalism um they learned a lot
00:26:46
from Brad Thorn you know Brad Thorn was very professional he'd been a pro for a
00:26:50
long time when he came into the All Blacks and and and Owen and been carried on that professionalism where what you
00:26:57
ate was important you know you know you you go to a team dinner they'd still
00:27:00
take a protein shake you know they they'd carry around their own food and meals and they were very professional
00:27:06
and and their commitment to their bodies was huge um and so they were great role
00:27:11
models but going to the gym the after winning the whe cut final yeah that's something else not quite sure about that
00:27:18
so you weren't there with them no no chance mate no chance um are you bread Thor since you mentioned him so was he
00:27:25
in the O before you started what was I remember a story of about him like say he was he was selected for the All
00:27:30
Blacks and then he he declined initially right didn't he went back to the enl for
00:27:34
yeah no he he was in and out a couple of times um so when I started he was in the
00:27:38
All Blacks in 08 so I I I can't remember if he was in the 2007 World Cup um I
00:27:43
don't think so um but yeah he came and then he went and then he came back um
00:27:48
and so you know and he uh he just he he was so cool like what I loved about Brad was
00:27:58
obviously in Australia as a young pro who'd been doing it for a while he just
00:28:02
was was just so simple in his preparation he lifted exactly the same every single week he even had the same
00:28:09
pre-match meal every week which was so different he to have a banana sandwich that was his pre-match meal you know
00:28:14
like there's all this amazing food and it was a banana sandwich was all he'd
00:28:18
have um and cans of lemonade after the game you know so again lots of players learn a lot from him um and I think
00:28:27
that's what happens now days professionalism is is is growing and and we have more and more people living the
00:28:34
lives of professional athletes than we used to have and so as new younger players come in they they see what's
00:28:40
around them and it's almost like the the the learning is so organic by seeing
00:28:45
what the you know the senior players are doing they understand what's required
00:28:49
now they might not have been doing some of that stuff when they're in their Club
00:28:52
but now that's like all this an expectation all these Le leaders and Senior players are doing it so I'll do
00:28:57
it too yeah and does that become um a problem for you in the respect that you're not
00:29:02
having to put the boot up people or tell them to do their training you're having
00:29:05
to pull people back I'm thinking like um yeah Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant you
00:29:10
if you read their books it's like they they were trying to train three times a
00:29:13
day to get one ahead on yeah is that the same sort of thing yeah absolutely now like there's um there's athletes there's
00:29:19
there's all blacks that um you know will will do so much more than many others in
00:29:26
the squad you know like a TJ panar is a classic example he'll do he'll do an
00:29:30
extra session most days that others won't um and it's just a matter of trying to educate and Coach some of that
00:29:37
intent or energy so um I don't disagree with some of it and and so it's a matter
00:29:42
of working with the athlete right collaborating on okay we we've got to a point where
00:29:47
you're in this condition Aaron Smith you're doing this tread walk every morning cool how does it work how does
00:29:53
it fit into the allback schedule what are we getting out of it do we do it every single week do we pull back later
00:29:58
on in the year so it's very much a coach athlete relationship where we're sort of
00:30:03
collaborating so um yeah that's probably a big shift to having to put my boot up
00:30:09
people's butt um I don't really have to motivate too many people they all black
00:30:12
Jersy motivates everyone so a that's Goosebump stuff yeah the Aaron walk uh the Aon Smith treadmill thing you're
00:30:19
talking about um I bought this up before we came to the podcast room I heard you
00:30:23
on another podcast talking about the see every every morning Aaron Smith would do
00:30:27
put the tread on an incline of 15 and do like a 2 km walk on that which feels like you're walking up a steep hill very
00:30:34
quickly as well like uh 10 minutes per kilometer pace which is a brisk walk what's the um what's the benefit in that
00:30:40
that any one of us can get oh I think um you know we all know what it feels like
00:30:44
to go up a hill okay it's hard work um and in in rugby in particular um we do
00:30:51
enough running um generally speaking if the program's right we we getting enough
00:30:55
running in and and we we have to keep finding ways to keep improving our fitness without improving the risk of in
00:31:02
increasing the risk of injury so something like a treadmill walk will improve your calf and Le strength your
00:31:07
aerobic fitness but there's no impact so good on the joints um great for strength
00:31:14
in the legs so when you think about how that transfers to running on the park um
00:31:19
it means that you're probably going to be more efficient in your running you're
00:31:22
probably going to go longer into the game and there's no extra risk from doing too much
00:31:28
um running so that's the logic we do the same with bikes what bikes we'll jump on
00:31:32
the bikes we'll do some high intensity stuff on bikes to get some more energy
00:31:37
energy system development or metabolic training done without increased risk of soft tiser injury so you know that's the
00:31:43
balancing actors being the fittest team in the world and the healthiest team in the world with no soft tissue injuries
00:31:49
I've heard you talking about what bites a lot another podcast you're a massive
00:31:53
fan of them I love you're in love with them I did one this morning before I came to see you so I sort of I'm I'm on
00:31:59
one most days at the moment um I got a bit of a sore shoulder and sore foot so I'm just looking after myself and trying
00:32:04
to stay fit by by heading the W bike in the garage but no that cool piece what what what do you do what does an average
00:32:11
day look like for you in terms of Fitness I'll try and do an hour or something every day when I'm working um
00:32:17
and then when I'm when I'm in my summer mode I'll be basically preparing for
00:32:21
Iron Man so you know it be 2 to 3 to 5 hours a day depending on sort of the schedule but yeah I'll all Swim Bike Run
00:32:29
um through my week when I'm with the All Blacks just depending on where we are
00:32:32
and what's at the hotel and things so just try and fit into my day do it first
00:32:35
thing don't leave it to the end of the day start my day with it and um yeah just just makes you feel good he
00:32:42
physical activity I I started flicking through your book yesterday you put a book out four or five years ago um
00:32:47
Health yourself um which is a great book by the way but it's um feels like it's
00:32:52
aimed at people that don't do any sort of movement at all which is alarming yeah yeah no definitely makes you feel
00:32:58
good like I think um you know it's if if I'm at all ever feeling tired or flat and energy I know the best thing
00:33:08
for me is to exercise um that's what I've learned and about myself and I dare
00:33:12
say most people um would be the same if they actually tried it um it's not necessarily about threshing yourself but
00:33:20
but doing some exercise off some form you know moving a little bit will make you feel like if if I don't exercise I
00:33:27
get TI um which seems ironic and contradictory but if I exercise I feel like I've got
00:33:33
way more energy to do loads more in my day um and so yeah I think it's massively important yeah I I couldn't
00:33:41
agree anymore and I feel like it's it's just been through like potentially your
00:33:44
career with the old blacks that we've um learned like the mental health benefits
00:33:47
of exercise um as much as the physical you know it's 100% like some some people
00:33:54
like some guys in the old blacks will train I think for their mental health m to deal with the stress and the pressure
00:33:59
of of performance um you know exercise helps them deal with it and so that's
00:34:06
why when I say have to pull people back it's not necessarily all because they're
00:34:08
trying to be the best physical version of them themselves but I think there's a
00:34:12
combination of it it helps with confidence it helps with mood it helps with sleep um likewise things like saers
00:34:19
and Ice baths like um all those things help with mood and and confidence so um it's all a big
00:34:27
part part of that Health performance puzzle um you know we we're sort of rebranding our group at the moment our
00:34:33
health and performance group and you know we sort of we're talking about performance through health is sort of
00:34:39
our Mantra and you know if we think about it all of us are trying to perform in our day-to-day lives um and it's way
00:34:47
easier to perform if you're healthy um and so we tend to We tend to put things
00:34:51
around the wrong way but um you look after your health and and your your mind um through exercise and you're
00:34:58
performing anything you choose to perform in yeah but you you weren't always this way in the beginning of your
00:35:03
book um you talk about going down too and being like a a bit of a fatty 20 kilos were you were you a stocky 20
00:35:10
kilos overweight though or were you yeah probably you know what do they call it nowadays they have the is it the the the
00:35:18
the fresher few or the fresher 15 the fresher 15 something like that and um and and it's definitely there was a case
00:35:25
when I was down there in the '90s it was very much the I went down there as skinny a skinny young man and after a
00:35:32
year I was a I was a chubby young man um so eating poorly drinking too much um not exercising and um how can how can
00:35:40
you not exercise when you're doing like a fitness degree well it's cold it's
00:35:45
dark it's cold and dark and no when I say not exercise I might you know I might have ran twice a week and got on
00:35:51
my bike once a week but but doesn't make up for everything you're eating and
00:35:55
drinking so um the balance is wrong um but I think you know I was actually surprised when I finished my degree and
00:36:02
I knew nothing about training or nutrition and um and so that's why I wrote the book CU I feel like it's
00:36:07
really hard to find the knowledge in a simply an easily digestible form U for most people and yeah it is complicated
00:36:16
when you trying to figure out what you should and shouldn't be eating um likewise what exercise you should and
00:36:20
shouldn't be doing um so yeah it took me a while to learn that about myself you
00:36:25
know and I was trained in that stuff um I reckon I turned the corner when I was about
00:36:30
24 um I realized that if I ate a bit less or a bit cleaner and exercised a bit more consistently I'd one feel
00:36:39
better have more energy and and lose some body fat um you know and I'd been studying for nearly eight years at that
00:36:45
stage um was that when you were in Australia doing your PhD or was this poos I just got home from from Australia
00:36:50
doing my PhD and I was working in in Hamilton teaching so I was actually teaching exercise physiology and um and
00:36:58
I was still exercising daily but eating way too much and so I was just getting tired um cuz I had the balance wrong and
00:37:06
I was still too heavy so once I just sort of figured out my Nutrition a little bit by experimenting a little bit
00:37:12
I I learned so much and and I think that's probably what most people need to
00:37:16
do is experiment a little bit more and find out what works for them yeah CU you're in your late 40s now and as we've
00:37:22
established you do Iron Men so you're in you're in good shape um what are your
00:37:26
your vices though or guil Pleasures your chocolate wine oh yeah all of the above
00:37:33
um no I I I've basically I I had um I had some eggs this morning before I came
00:37:38
here and and I just got off the W bike and my wife said Mel said you want some Poached Eggs I said I love some she said
00:37:43
you want some bread I said no thanks she said that's a bit strange why aren't you
00:37:47
having bread I said cuz I'd rather have chocolate when I go home tonight and so
00:37:50
that's sort of what I've learned is that I'll I'll I'll save my carbs for the
00:37:54
carbs I like um you know whether that's a cold be or or a couple of rows of chocolate um um I'd sort of I've sort of
00:38:02
learned where to spend my calories I suppose um because I think I think it's
00:38:08
important to get a balance of what what makes you happy as well so I enjoy a a beer or a wine or some chocolate don't
00:38:16
necessarily enjoy toast you know I can do without it same as rice like so I've
00:38:20
sort of gone down that track of restricting some of the carbs I don't need and having the ones I like eating
00:38:25
smarter being smarter just more conscious in your decision making that's all yeah um yeah like making some
00:38:31
sacrifices and compromise so I can I can enjoy things are you are you in better shape now than what you were in your
00:38:40
20s um right now no um I've had a year off Iron Man um but probably the last 10
00:38:47
years yeah definitely the bit bit way better shape than I was in my 20s um yeah like um I want to sort of probably
00:38:55
like yourself Dom I want to defy age a little bit I want to keep I want to keep keep being being better physically and
00:39:01
looking after my body you only got one so look after it um I'm definitely spending a bit more time and energy um
00:39:09
you know stretching eating better um not being so strung up on running hard but running
00:39:17
consistently slowly um same as on the bike I don't thresh myself so much on the bike I'll just be on the bike um so
00:39:24
I think um yeah this time next year be in way better shape than I my I was in my 20s yeah have you do you know um the
00:39:32
work of um Peter arer or his book outli yeah yeah it's a bloody great book awesome book oh incredible so it's Bas
00:39:38
for anyone that hasn't read it it's about um basically reverse engineering
00:39:42
your aging so work out what you want to be like when you're 70 or 80 and work
00:39:45
back so for him it's like he wants to be able to you lift a suitcase on an overhead you know compartment and a a
00:39:51
plane or a train absolutely and better walk around train stations and it's like
00:39:55
if you want to do that at 70 or 80 you got doing more than running a a 5k park run when you're 30 100% um yeah it was
00:40:02
just a different way of looking at it and I I found it really really exciting yeah well it's it's not until you start
00:40:07
getting older that those things you don't think about that stuff but you know how how often most of us lift
00:40:14
something above our head most of us don't do it anymore you know unless we're in a job that requires that so
00:40:20
that when you do get older you haven't lifted stuff above your head for 15 20
00:40:24
years of course you can't do it anymore so it's all about function isn't it it's
00:40:27
all about maintaining good function and the things you want to do um yeah g I haven't thought about what I want to do
00:40:33
when I'm 70 or 80 but I'd love to keep doing Iron Man and it might not be
00:40:37
yearly it might be every 3 or four years I do a race but um I don't want to stop
00:40:41
doing it but I do know that as I've got older I I've had to start doing strength
00:40:46
training again you know like um oh did you stop for a while did you oh yeah yeah no I stopped for a bit cuz I just
00:40:52
wanted to swim bike run more um and then I started getting a few niggles you know
00:40:57
started getting a few this sounds very familiar by way started getting a few aches and pains and like struggling to
00:41:02
do things that I used to be able to do when I was younger like lift something above my head so I've realized um
00:41:07
probably the last four or five years that I and I know and gee I know all this stuff right that's what I do his
00:41:13
job and I've done for a long time but but but um practicing What You Preach is
00:41:18
a different story so I've I've actually really had to strip things back and go
00:41:21
actually I need to stretch more I need to get massage more often and I need to do some strength training you know not
00:41:28
daily but but every couple of days I need to be doing something that is increasing or working on my range of
00:41:34
motion and and in ways I don't do in Swim Bike Run and adding resistance um and it's it makes you feel it makes me
00:41:43
feel less old if that makes sense yeah yeah you can completely cuz I'm I'm I'm
00:41:49
probably much the same I think that's how I got a knee injury if I'm being
00:41:51
completely honest with myself um but I've started going to the gym again and
00:41:56
it's um only maybe 2 or 3 weeks of doing it on a regular basis and you start to
00:42:00
you don't start to look good necessarily but you start to feel good you feel
00:42:04
stronger it doesn't take long no it doesn't take long and it's just about
00:42:07
consistency and it's about just just not necessarily woring about how much weight
00:42:11
you're lifting but but but improving your movements um in your function so that when you are older it's all good
00:42:16
but you're actually you like I can I can run for 2 hours no problem and probably
00:42:22
not use my glutes at all and you know if you spend 10 years doing that all of a sudden you start developing knee pain
00:42:30
because you haven't been using your glutes for 10 years and all of a sudden you're you're collapsing your knees are
00:42:34
collapsing inwards and now you've got a cartilage problem and so you know it's
00:42:39
almost like we just need to be doing things to keep the body I don't know um
00:42:45
healthy you know healthy to do whatever is you want to do so uh that's something
00:42:49
that I've learned the last we while just with myself is I got to do do a little
00:42:52
bit more of that yeah should should everybody be doing some weights with some resistant stuff even 100% like the
00:42:57
World Health Organization now like it used to be back in the day 20 30 years ago 20 or 30 minutes of aerobic exercise
00:43:04
you know a week three times that used to be the the World Health organization's
00:43:09
guidelines on being healthy um now it's got some vigorous exercise in there it's
00:43:16
got some aerobic exercise in there it's got resistance training um because gone
00:43:20
on the days of older people not doing weights cuz it's bad for you it's actually the science the literature the
00:43:26
studies are out there that show show you can still be super strong and healthy by
00:43:30
lifting weights as you age and in fact it it reverses the impact of Aging you know by being strong you're
00:43:37
strengthening ligaments um tendons muscles and bones and so you want to stay healthy for longer you got to be
00:43:44
lifting weights and or using resistance through movement okay so doesn't doesn't
00:43:51
mean you go to the gym and you're squatting 200 kilos it means that you're
00:43:54
you're performing a squat movement with some weight that's more than your body
00:43:58
weight through good range I've had um Arch jelly on the podcast twice now he's
00:44:04
um 101 almost 102 he was the coach of like John Walker the 1500 meter runner in the 70s and ' 80s he still does like
00:44:11
100 squats a day there you go just here you go yeah it's um I was reading a cool
00:44:17
book the other day actually called iy guy have you read the book iy guy oh no I've I've got it on um on my
00:44:23
Kindle I haven't really I just finished it the other day and it was it was very
00:44:27
like um you know they they basically spend a lot of time talking to the oldest people in the world and their
00:44:32
secrets to a long and healthy life and couple of things came out of it which doesn't surprise anyone but um you know
00:44:39
move more and eat till you're 70% full it was as simple as that that was some
00:44:46
of their and and eat real food versus crappy processed stuff so um really simple stuff and you know squatting 100
00:44:54
squats a day like that doesn't sound like a lot but you know most people couldn't do that just with body weight
00:44:59
like they wouldn't be a to walk the next day or if they did they'd be average
00:45:03
squats yeah okay so for anyone that's listening to this that doesn't do anything at the moment in terms of
00:45:07
resistance like how could you start like a bunch of press-ups a day some situps some squats yeah I mean I think the big
00:45:15
bang for buck would be um Mobility through your hips so it could be the world's greatest stretch like a yo yoga
00:45:21
pose to open up your hips it would be some squat patterns based on your range of motion um for example most people
00:45:30
couldn't get thighs parallel so I'd lift your heels up on some bits of wood or
00:45:34
something so you can get full range through your hips um so i' be doing squats calf raisers you know especially
00:45:41
for endurance athletes like common injury for endurance athletes as AR kelles and calves um so we get those
00:45:47
strong and keep them strong so just body weight calf raisers in your house you don't need to go to a gym um press-ups
00:45:52
are great but um you know most of us don't need to do more in front of us most of us do plenty of stuff in front
00:45:59
of us we need to do more through our back um so back hips glutes could be as simple as some um banded glute
00:46:07
activations through through sort of um Abduction of the of the leg um so yeah it doesn't have it's not complicated
00:46:14
it's simple stuff um but just mainly switching things on and going through full range and adding resistance as able
00:46:22
that's good stuff it's worth pointing out um you were here before I was I was
00:46:26
next still grabbing your coffee and when I arrived back at my apartment front door you were doing Cal phasers on the
00:46:30
steps yeah well you just always always looking to get little well no well sort of I truth be known I um I was visiting
00:46:40
my nephew on the weekend and um and we're at the house and and he's nearly 3
00:46:46
2 and a half um and I was trying to hide from around the island bench I was on my
00:46:51
hands and knees crawling around the floor trying to hide from him and um I got a bit excited crawled a bit fast and
00:46:57
then I was like oh and um and I've done something to my foot I think I've
00:47:02
strained my plan of faser or something so now all I was do on was I wasn't car
00:47:07
racing I was trying to stretch out my foot to see if it was still sore so it is sore so I'll be on the bike a bit
00:47:12
more the next week or so I think well that's a really embarrassing story but
00:47:15
thanks thanks for your honesty um I I think that's the reason why you want to
00:47:19
keep um keep moving is you get older you want to be able to get down on the floor
00:47:22
and play with kids right you don't want to lose that playfulness 100% like that's um I was a bit I was a bit
00:47:27
embarrassed that I'd hurt myself crawling around the floor so I don't know whether that means I need to
00:47:32
practice crawling a bit more or or be a bit slow when I C but um that's exactly
00:47:36
it like it brought me so much joy you know like so you don't want to not be able to do that so yeah it's a it's a
00:47:43
it's a great example of of staying on top of your function yeah I love that I
00:47:47
thanks for that knowledge I'm sure a lot of people can get a lot out of it um can
00:47:51
we talk about some individual players you can no comment these if you want um but I've heard you talking about rich
00:47:57
here and you've described him as quite weak and slow have I mean he's like he's
00:48:05
remarkable we know he has 148 test matches um arguably the greatest all black of all time he's gone on to do
00:48:12
like insane Adventure races and endurance events um does he find it funny when you refer to him as week week
00:48:18
and slow or have you had an interaction with him about it yeah does he tell you off don't know no he hasn't told me off
00:48:25
yet um I don't know how he feels about it but I don't think he can deny it
00:48:29
either so it is fact what do you mean weak and slow what do you mean well Richie when I met Richie um he hated the
00:48:36
gym I absolutely hated the gym um you know and we talk about things how things have changed like um Richie didn't
00:48:44
believe that JY work improved his performance and when he was younger I probably wouldn't disagree with them
00:48:52
okay um and and this is one of those things where you know you you're learning about you're learning about
00:48:58
athletes you're learning about the game and and how you play and how you respond
00:49:02
to how you play but um he wasn't very strong in the gym he hated the gym and
00:49:07
even even my first year like he would come once a week you know it was sort of like he'd come if you felt like it um
00:49:15
and over time um through my education with him and Steve Hansen's education with him was like well if you want to
00:49:22
get faster you need to get stronger you're actually getting slower as you get older and you play such a physical
00:49:28
game that if you don't go to the gym and get stronger you'll keep getting hurt
00:49:32
and so once Richie bought into the fact that hey this might help me stay the same speed I am or get me faster and it
00:49:39
might make me healthier for longer and play more test matches than he B into it um and so um he wasn't super strong but
00:49:48
he's you know he's like you and I Dom he's a slow he was pretty much a slow
00:49:52
twitch athlete um he he couldn't jump high he couldn't run fast he wasn't slow
00:49:58
but he just wasn't explosive right um but like any like compared to any other
00:50:03
player on the field he never slowed down so his endurance his aerobic ability was
00:50:08
second to none for the size of him and so you know and and how I always explained it to people is that at the
00:50:16
start of the game he might be slower than I don't know um um all of the lucies and all of the backs on the park
00:50:23
he might be the slowest one there maybe um but the end of the game he was running faster than all of them because
00:50:30
he never fatigued you know and so that's what you know that's what you deal with
00:50:34
you deal with what of your strengths his strengths were running faster than El at
00:50:38
the end of the game when it mattered and how many games the All Blacks win in the
00:50:41
last 10 minutes when he was on the park so many how many would he make that decisive tackle or turnover when he was
00:50:48
on the park in the last 10 minutes many test um so he had aerobic strengths but Jim and speed weren't his strengths yeah
00:50:57
poor Richie I've also had um DG Allen and Simone Mayer on the the podcast and
00:51:01
they've done Adventure races with them they both described them as clumsy I think that's we were talking
00:51:08
about doing adventure races where you're like traversing rivers in the middle of
00:51:11
the night and stuff like that but it feels like everyone's having a go Richie
00:51:14
yeah well you know cuz he's pretty perfect is he he was a pretty perfect Skipper so he needs to be brought down a
00:51:19
pig to Poppy syndr maybe but but that's why I just try to qualify those statements is that he had strengths that
00:51:25
no one else had and and so those those comments I make are are tongue and cheek you know and
00:51:32
and it's very much a matter of well you know the number of games he won because
00:51:36
of the strength he had aerobically um were were so many so yeah he he was a little bit like conred Smith conr Smith
00:51:43
was the same not strong not fast but just ran all day um and again he'd be the one running past people at the end
00:51:51
of a game cuz he never got tired um he might not have had the the the speed um as he as he grew into his all black
00:51:59
career but um he had the endurance and that that that set him apart and spw so he turns up to the gym you're like
00:52:08
there's nothing I can do with you you're perfect well no not really because um he
00:52:12
he wasn't that quick over over 10 20 meters either like um he was a a a big lean aerobic athlete as well he was very
00:52:21
fit um but he had he had knee injury knee issues and stuff so we were pretty restricted with him but he was never
00:52:28
extremely fast not when he was in the All Blacks um is that what you needed to do get him faster oh we need to get him
00:52:34
healthy first and then try to work on a bit of explosiveness but um you know he was he was more of a specimen you know
00:52:40
his his skill set was probably being able to stay strong and a tackle and offload and that's what we saw him do
00:52:46
all the time it wasn't him necessarily running around people because of his speed it would be running through people
00:52:52
and then offloading and setting other people up and that's what he did right
00:52:55
um you know so so aerobically very fit um big big and strong but not explosive yeah Dan
00:53:03
car he was strong strong explosive agile fit um yeah probably probably not quite
00:53:11
as quick and fit as B um but very explosive and great feet right and that was you know he would he would use his
00:53:18
feet and dance around people and just amazing skill set so he' dance around one or two people and then put a grubber
00:53:23
and reather and score a try like he just had an amazing mixture that was pretty hard probably for people to defend cuz
00:53:30
he could step you he could run around you he could kick over top or or beside you and um so he would have been hell of
00:53:37
a person to try and defend but physically like a good athlete real good athlete rounded athlete yeah I've heard
00:53:43
you talk about um bow and Barrett quite a bit like in ter in terms of almost being like a freak in some ways yeah
00:53:48
well um um like we do a fitness test called a Bronco which is a shuttle test and
00:53:57
um you know he he's like a explain explain him like he's like a a big 737
00:54:03
like a big jet you know going down the runway he sort of he'll go through the
00:54:06
fitness test and everyone else is slowing down and he's getting faster you know he's like building up his speed
00:54:11
into the test um so he's still got the record for the best time in that test um
00:54:17
equal with Cam royard now um for minutes 12 but um super fit and super quick um especially in open space um obviously
00:54:29
getting older and and prob maybe not as quick as he used to be but um it's still
00:54:33
super fast um but yeah he he was very um yeah he had a sort of a he had an amazing ability to run fast
00:54:43
often and recover recover well so his endurance of his speed was good um but he also could go all day um G the number
00:54:50
of times he'd come on off the bench in the early days of his career and just
00:54:53
run around people and run run from the back field and try to win a game was was massive and he's still doing that oh
00:55:00
yeah I made of mine uh when you saw on Instagram that you were coming in wanted me to ask you about um Fletcher Fletcher
00:55:06
new yeah uh like a squat or a bench press like yeah squat yeah did two I think he might have 280 or something in
00:55:12
January yeah yeah first of all as a strength and conditioning guy like um how do you feel about numbers and
00:55:17
records and things like that is it a distraction that's un unnecessary yeah it it is a little bit for me like when I
00:55:23
was younger like we used to chase numbers we used to we used to Pride like an ego thing in a way well almost like a
00:55:30
h it qualifies that you're doing a good job you're like if if if if your team
00:55:34
your players are strong and they fit and they're lean um and on my way up here I
00:55:39
Was preparing myself for a talk I got to give tomorrow around the stuff but um you know like having big numbers in the
00:55:46
gym and big numbers on paper and and good body weights and good skin folds that doesn't win a game you know like so
00:55:54
that's what I've learned over time is that there is a balance yes we want
00:55:57
everyone to be in great shape and be healthy but actually we need to win right we want to win the whole point of
00:56:02
it is to win and so um you've got to get the balance so I don't chase numbers
00:56:08
anywhere near as much as I used to with the with the team I like setting new standards for the lad so the World Cup
00:56:13
last year we had the last three weeks the quarterfinal semi-final final last year we we probably had 60% of the squad
00:56:23
hit a record in one of the movements Okay so so the guys were peing physically in the last three weeks of
00:56:29
the World Cup and does that mean we win the World Cup now that it put us a good place to win the World Cup yet but you
00:56:36
know like the numbers are a little bit about just constantly looking for those improvements but they don't make you the
00:56:42
best rugby player in the world right okay and that's sort of what I've learn
00:56:45
the likes of Richie have taught me that the likes of Conrad have taught me that you might you might have the best
00:56:50
numbers in the gym as a midfielder doesn't mean you're going to be the best
00:56:53
player on the park on Saturday and so and that and that's that's really clear
00:56:57
over time we we see that the best players don't have the best numbers all the time sometimes the best players
00:57:02
still have the best numbers but not all the time you can be the best player on the park and have average
00:57:08
numbers so so flet and you did he do a massive bench or something massive squat 280 massive 280 kilo squat yeah 280
00:57:17
kilos so how many how many 20 kilo plates is that well 20 Kil bar 20 kilo bar so then you take 260 that's
00:57:25
what plates each side the bars the bars Bend IN you know it's you got guys either side so the the bars Bend IN so
00:57:31
much the plates want to fall off you know like it's it's crazy weight um
00:57:35
there's a few people around New Zealand doing that sort of weight now and um
00:57:38
it's freakish it's scary um I think a Safa M might have benched 220 or something in in the Hurricanes gym
00:57:45
sessions um so there's some freakishly strong people out there now um we've
00:57:50
always had strongish people but um you know years and years of training the gym and starting earlier means that we're
00:57:56
probably getting bigger and stronger um people coming through and um yeah but again it doesn't mean you're the best
00:58:04
prop in the team you know you can have you know you can we we we've I've got
00:58:08
plenty of examples in in the All Blacks over the last couple of years that um the strongest player isn't the best
00:58:14
player on the park um but being stronger could help you be better yeah yep so so
00:58:19
who like who's your boss who do you answer to Is it the coach or is there someone been or was it the team manager
00:58:25
or so yeah razor is probably my my my my point of call um there's sort of a group
00:58:31
of us there's there's four of us that sort of five of us that sort of uh meet
00:58:35
to discuss you know bigger things around the team so I represent my group of Staff like the health and performance
00:58:41
team and there's five of us that meet but but Razer is probably the the big dog back in the last year but the boss
00:58:47
was Fuzzy before that it was Steve Hansen was my boss so um yeah it's razor the razor the one cuz you you seem to a
00:58:56
really good relationship with the players like I've seen some clips on YouTube from the official Channel and
00:59:00
you know you're you're kind of broy with the team I I don't know if it's cuz the
00:59:04
cameras are there but there's a clip and you're giving Dane Kohl's of all
00:59:07
people's shirt and um so I'm guessing I don't know I I'd imagine like
00:59:14
from the coach's perspective it's more of a standoff relationship like a
00:59:16
teacher and student but you're sort of like a conduit in the middle so you'd
00:59:20
see a lot of these guys maybe relate to them on a on a different level to what the coaches do so do do you then go back
00:59:26
and so if you think one of the players is off like you mentally or they've got
00:59:29
some [ __ ] going on do you then you report it to to whoever the coach happens to be or what do you do with
00:59:34
that information that's a good question mate um I think um yes I I like having good
00:59:45
relationships with the players but it's um it's more depends on the player and
00:59:49
depends on The Who and um it's not about I'm not selective and who I become
00:59:55
friends with or anything but but on mates with a few of the boys it's just sort of what happens when you've been
00:59:59
through so much together um like um you know I've worked with lik a semi white
01:00:04
loock for um I want to say 14 years or something so you know like he takes me hunting so it's sort of like it's a
01:00:12
respectful relationship um you know and and when he comes home from Japan and he
01:00:17
and he goes out on the farm I'll probably go see him and grab one of his Lambs out of the freezer you know sort
01:00:22
of so you build that relationship over time um and over that time you build trust and honesty and and if sometimes
01:00:30
I'll be saying things to me and I'll be saying things to them that that don't go
01:00:33
any further than our relationship um and and and likewise there'll be some players in the group that need to kick
01:00:39
up the butt and you got to be stuned with and other players you need to wrap your arm around and be be a bit cuddly
01:00:43
with so you sort of take your time trying to understand that and build relationships and and I think trust is
01:00:50
massive um you know like I feel like if I'm if I've done a good job with
01:00:56
connecting with players um and they trust me then it almost gets to a point of no matter what I say they'll do um I
01:01:05
remember would it be last year leading up to the World Cup we had a test match here and Pete Gallagher the Physio and I
01:01:12
were we at a gym session and it was just going real good like the guys were lifting they were engaged they were
01:01:17
energized everyone was busy everyone's doing exactly what they needed to do and
01:01:21
I said to Pete you know like I felt at that time that we could have told the boys we're going to cancel the gym
01:01:26
session you're going to go jump off the Harbor Bridge for cold water immersion
01:01:30
and and I and I said to them they trust us that much they'd probably go and do
01:01:34
it you know like there'd be no questions and so I think that's the sort of where
01:01:39
you're trying to get to with your with your relationship is is the trust so that then they can come to you as well
01:01:43
to say I don't like this it doesn't make me feel good on Saturday or can we
01:01:48
change this or hey Gil I want to do a bit more you like you sort of you want to be approachable and have trust um so
01:01:54
that's that's where the relationships go but some things go to coaches or doctors
01:02:00
or physios um and some things won't um and I suppose there a fine line there
01:02:04
yeah how how have you found your relationship with the players has changed as you've got older cuz when um
01:02:10
when you first started I'm guessing you were the same age as some of the senior
01:02:13
players now you're old as [ __ ] you're still younger than me but I'm think I've had rexit on the
01:02:22
podcast and he was the media Le AET uh manager when when Jonah Mania blew up um so he was he was old then and he said
01:02:29
Jonah was quite playful with him and would tackle him from behind in the hallway of the hotel and stuff um have
01:02:34
you noticed that like yeah 100% like yeah when I started with Team it was yeah was 31 or something or so I was
01:02:42
younger than Brad Thorne from memory I think I was a year younger than Brad Thorn so it was very different um you're
01:02:47
the same age um you're probably more a brother than a father whereas now I'm
01:02:52
sort of 20 or 30 years older than some of them so it's probably more a father
01:02:57
Mentor type role but um you I think because I've been around for a while there's probably a bit more instant
01:03:04
trust um as in he must know what he's talking about um so I don't have to earn
01:03:09
that as much as I felt like I needed to earn it when I was the same age as them who's this who's this young punk telling
01:03:14
me what to do um and so I think that has changed a bit um you you've got credibility there's no dat yeah yeah I
01:03:21
think so that helps build that trust a bit quicker um and but I doesn't change
01:03:26
your approach your approach is still you know you're an all black um my job is to
01:03:31
help you be a great all black and how can we do that together you know and so that's and it is a together thing it's
01:03:37
um it's not a do as I say which is what I used to be like when I was younger you
01:03:41
know I'm the boss do what I say I don't do that at all it's more hey how are we
01:03:45
going to help you be better and and I think that's a really important part of
01:03:48
the role in the relationship I think as you get older you learn there yeah better ways to communicate and get your
01:03:53
messaging through oh without doubt you sort of you know like um I'm starting to
01:03:59
get gray and I'm starting to lose hair and it's sort of like you get a bit
01:04:03
wiser you know and well I hope it's wiser um yeah it's it's sort of like I
01:04:08
remember talking to a player uh Baron ker remember Baron Kell yeah of course yeah you would yeah he would have been
01:04:14
at the Chiefs when you were there yeah so he was at the Chiefs and and he was leaving and he took me out for a coffee
01:04:18
to give me some wise words cuz he was an older player and being an all black and
01:04:23
you know and I remember him saying that you know he felt as a as a as a as an older player that he didn't get fitter
01:04:30
he just got smarter you know like he felt that he didn't get fitter on the field um but he chose better running
01:04:37
lines and he read the game better and and and I remember him saying that to me and why I'm bringing that up is because
01:04:42
it sort of it it actually makes sense in my role now is it's actually you don't
01:04:48
necessarily get better at what you do but you learn more effective ways of achieving the outcome um through
01:04:55
communication and relationships yeah he um yeah Barron he's he's been in the news a bit lately
01:05:01
he's had some alcohol trouble and some domestic violent stuff um what what's it like when you're in
01:05:08
that um environment and there is some some Scandal like I'm thinking some of
01:05:11
the stuff you went through you would have been there when Steven Donald had a bad game and was getting death
01:05:15
threats uh there was the Mark T stuff in the World Cup last year where he got stood down for a game the Aaron Smith
01:05:22
stuff um you you I mean what's it like when you're in that when these things
01:05:26
happen is it tough you must you must feel the pain a bit yourself yeah know it's tough It's like it's it's tough cuz
01:05:32
you you care right you care for the first of all you care for the the athlete the player the person um so it
01:05:38
is tough and you sort of you sometimes you roll your eye your your eyes and think oh man what the [ __ ] were you
01:05:44
doing what are you up to mate you know and and but but we all make mistakes and I think that's the that's the that's the
01:05:50
thing about the team is it's it is a family and you sort of you you you need to know that there's
01:05:57
some things that are okay and some things that aren't and if you do something that's not okay then you need
01:06:01
to be held accountable for it um like in any family or relationship um be held accountable and then it's really your
01:06:08
actions that follow that will that will help you out of the hole you've dug yourself and so now there's a lot of
01:06:13
care I think um you know because we're we we're all human and we all make
01:06:18
mistakes but the Scandal year like often it's always blowing way out of proportion um not always but often it is
01:06:25
um you know and that's the joy of the media isn't it they need something scandalous
01:06:29
to write about sometimes and um yeah you just feel for the for the heat that comes on sometimes yeah absolutely yeah
01:06:36
um I who who are some of the biggest pranksters on the team um C Reese who was missing last
01:06:43
year because he hit a um ACL um of his knee um but he's a he is a he's a crazy
01:06:51
funny we man um so he he's hilarious um at the moment um who else would be reasonably funny um or Richie mang Anon
01:07:03
L Brown they pretty funny characters um yeah so they'd be the ones at the moment um but there's always you know
01:07:11
like I remember the the M nonos you know I remember I remember him asking me one
01:07:17
day Gilly can you show us how to do a chin up how to do it properly and we're
01:07:21
we're in a we're in a public gym like I would have been I would have been 3 too
01:07:25
I was a I was I was naive I was young I was I wasn't wise enough to be up to it
01:07:30
but I get up on this on this bar and show show him and the boys how to do a proper
01:07:35
CH so I'm hanging up there I'm into about the third rep and then he just
01:07:39
pulls my pants down so so um starkus starkus I don't know how many people saw it but
01:07:48
gee pretty embarrassing moment you you're hanging up with the above and and he just laughed I fell for that um man
01:07:54
used he used to be a big prankster you know like um I remember it might have been my first year on the team we were
01:08:00
sitting at an airport um having some Japanese and there was six of us and he said okay who will eat all that chili
01:08:08
powder for 100 bucks and he's no chance no chance we're about to get on a long
01:08:12
haul flight to South Africa I think again young young family not much money he said 200 bucks I said everyone
01:08:22
else said no no no he said 400 bucks cash whoever wants it to eat that and I said
01:08:29
yep so I just was thinking about the money right not about the 15h hour flight we had to get on so I I had this
01:08:36
and then he just as I said yep he said no water no water so I poured all this chili powder in my mouth and I had to
01:08:45
try and swallow it and I wasn't allowed to drink a glass of water and fair enough toor he gives me $400 cash had
01:08:51
$400 cash in his pocket but yeah um so he was probably the biggest pranks of that I've dealt with amazing God good
01:08:57
memories he good stories cool cool fun I've heard you say there are some players that you just don't go go to um
01:09:03
go near before a game because they're in um fight mode I suppose everyone has like a
01:09:09
different sort of like pre-match I think the context of it you were saying some that are joking around and want a yarn
01:09:15
and others that you just like know just to give them this oh yeah yeah no definitely um yeah like some I think
01:09:21
it's it' be the same in many sports where some athlet um want to really relax and just just be normal and not
01:09:29
build the game up in their head too much um and then they'll have a point in time
01:09:33
in their buildup where they switch in and and everyone's so different um and a
01:09:39
good example would be you know you're you're you're on the bus to the game for
01:09:45
example and some guys will want to chat and relax and some guys will be wanting to listen to death metal you know and be
01:09:52
wanting to just get really aggressive and fight up two hour out from a game and so in time people experiment with
01:10:00
their own preparation and um and so some people like a joke like some people will
01:10:05
come out on the field before the game so I'm out on the field getting the team
01:10:08
ready and some will come out and and crack a joke with me like they're like totally relaxed and they're just there
01:10:15
enjoying the moment laughing um and some will be like frown bed eye eyes and and
01:10:24
not wanting to talk or make ey contact they're just in their zone so you sort
01:10:28
of got to figure out who's where cuz you don't want to make a joke with someone
01:10:31
who's mentally really in the moment um some kickers some kickers will will tell
01:10:38
the guy good delivering the kicking tea when you come out with the kicking tea I
01:10:42
want a joke you need to come out with a joke and so some kickers will be wanting to
01:10:48
relax before they take the big kick versus the feeling the pressure of the kicking te and you must make this kick
01:10:55
so everyone's really different um and again it's like anything it's about
01:10:59
understanding the the nuances between the individuals as to to know how to behave or or how to to help yeah you
01:11:06
must have learned so much about the human psyche we still learning plenty but yeah
01:11:11
it's it's fascinating to watch you know and and be be be part of that you know
01:11:16
some guys are so relaxed they could fall asleep you know like and some are so angry they're just so focused cuz it's
01:11:23
about aggression and um so I I mean I remember Richie way back in the day 2008 I think we metet at ockland airport
01:11:31
early we were flying to Cape Town to play the spring box we' had an average year the year before um and he kicked
01:11:38
all the staff out of this room at the airport and just had the players in there and we had no idea was talking to
01:11:42
them about and anyway he walks out of this meeting to board this you know 24-hour
01:11:48
flight and he walks like he's got big watermelons under his armpits you know
01:11:52
he big and tough walk that he gets going and he he just made no eye contact with
01:11:57
anyone and I remember him being like that the whole week like he hardly spoke he was like from the moment we left um
01:12:04
to go to Cape Town he wanted and was demanding a performance and and and so that was the whole week and so there's
01:12:12
no joking around with that guy you know he was he was on a mission and and whereas a m nonu would would would want
01:12:18
a little bit of a laugh you know like and so yeah so everyone's very different
01:12:22
but but it's something that the players are constantly having to learn you how
01:12:27
do they deal with pressure how do they perform under pressure and so we've had
01:12:31
Gilbert and OA with us for a long long time and and now we've got K Evans with
01:12:34
us and a massive part of it like let's face it um you know I'd Pride the All
01:12:41
Blacks on being the fittest team on the planet like we've always tried to be the
01:12:44
fittest team on the planet and tried to finish over top of teams um so that's
01:12:48
always been something that's important for us but but nowadays teams are so equal in terms of their physical ability
01:12:55
like the the teams are all big they're all strong they're all professional
01:12:58
they're all lean they're all fast um you know often the big moments come down to
01:13:03
that you know and and Performing Under Pressure yeah making the right decision executing your skill set under huge
01:13:10
pressure is is really the difference between good teams and average teams um so so I think the more we develop that
01:13:18
part of the the the mental space the the better we will'll be yeah actually yeah
01:13:23
the Richie story you told us before um don't know where I heard this it was either maybe in Dan's movie or Richie's
01:13:30
movie but I think Dan said he never had a a conversation with Richie while they were playing together in the All Blacks
01:13:35
about anything other than than rugby 100% yeah oh 100% like Richie was so driven and everything was about code oh
01:13:43
100% I mean that's why he was so good right that's why great leader amazing
01:13:48
player like rugby rugby rug I'd be the same I'd probably have very little
01:13:54
conversation with them out side of rugby until his later years when you know he was started like he loved his cycling
01:13:59
loved his running you know that's why he's kicked on with that like he used
01:14:02
to he was one of the players who would have a different program in his bye because he wanted to run up the Port
01:14:07
Hills or he wanted to bike up the Port Hills so it was a different training program you know Andrew Hall wanted to
01:14:13
dock a thousand sheep and Tony Woodcock wanted a um um herd cattle or deer you know so everyone was a bit different
01:14:20
back then so no I would agree with DC on that there wasn't much outside 40 it's
01:14:26
it's amazing cuz I remember there was a story I think maybe in 2010 where Richie
01:14:31
had a partner this is pre gimmer and he broke up with here because he wanted to focus on his rugby and I remember
01:14:35
thinking at the time that was a good excuse to get out of a relationship but the the more you hear about the guy you
01:14:40
think it was probably 100% true I mean that's but but you know you look at you
01:14:46
look at Olympic sports or Endurance Sports like Iron Man or any other sport that requires a high level of commitment
01:14:53
often the very best are very Centric and very single single-minded or or focused
01:15:01
and he was he was that like it was and we still see it in players nowadays probably not as much but but people have
01:15:08
got some some players have got a bit more stuff going outside of rugby um terms of balance um but you know look at
01:15:15
Olympic athletes endurance athletes and nothing else matters but training and Performing and competing um and that's
01:15:21
what makes them special yeah actually on on that year you you worked with um Hamish Bond and Eric Murray for a while
01:15:29
uh yeah double gold medalist how many that God how many races did they have unbeaten oh it was a lot phenomenal like
01:15:35
80 or something it was amazing yeah what was your what was your work with them well I was their strength coach pretty
01:15:40
much so that would come in I was in Hamilton and started off with doing doing stuff with New Zealand Ry back
01:15:45
with the everon Dell twins um back at car Georgia um back in early 2000s and I'd go out to carero Lake and we'd do
01:15:53
stuff out there and then then they started coming into the W Stadium because we had a good gym there
01:15:59
with the w and Chiefs rugby team and so they'd come in so I would have had 15 to
01:16:03
20 rowers coming out to see us um back then um and you know sort of mixed depending
01:16:10
on the coach and the program and the athletes um yeah so I'm still working with Bondi with America's Cup now you
01:16:17
know so um we reached out to him um to get him involved in Team New Zealand and he he he he took it on and so did Dall
01:16:25
and I actually I actually reached out to Conrad Smith and Richie um mcco to trial
01:16:31
for Team New Zealand um because no way imagine Richie being in Team New Zealand because the engines were so big so
01:16:40
unreal yeah and they love cycling right so we we did we did inquire with them early doors to say whether that see if
01:16:45
they would be interested and they both sort of had a little glint in their in the in their eyes and they eventually
01:16:53
sort of shied away from but but they had probably the physiology to give it a good nudge um but DG and hus have have
01:17:01
taken on and they're going through going in Leaps and Bounds with Team New Zealand now so that's great yeah well um
01:17:07
any overall takeaways about what makes the greats great not just in rugby I guess but also you know the other sports
01:17:12
people you've worked with oh gee like like like I said just before like I think um just focus dedication um
01:17:20
commitment like all massively important we all know that like um and and I think
01:17:26
um always trying to I don't want to say Seek Improvement but understand that there's it's not all
01:17:34
physical and and there's a big mental component to Performance um you know and
01:17:39
and every Sport's different but um you know getting that balance right between
01:17:43
mental and physical is massive and and I think something that's massive for me
01:17:47
and we've already touched on domas looking after your body like um the best athletes the ones that
01:17:53
endure um and don't just achieve once but achieve year upon year you know um
01:18:00
and accumulate amazing performances over a long career the other ones that generally look after their body we only
01:18:05
got one and so you know we talked about strength training and and looking after the things that you might think are not
01:18:12
important when you're young become really really important as you get older and you know the the greats in any sport
01:18:18
are generally the ones that are still performing at the top of their sport you know in their 30s you know and and and
01:18:25
if you've if you've managed to be able to do that generally you've looked after
01:18:28
your body and being a professional yeah that's great have have you got like a a
01:18:32
a trophy room at home a souvenir room a man cave anything like that no I um I thought I wanted one I thought I like
01:18:41
I've got loads of photos and jues and special things um but no I've got I've
01:18:47
got on a bookshelf in our spare room so I hardly go into it um has World Cup medals and 100 test sort of
01:18:57
um um plaque and that's sort of it um I think one day I might um but you'd have
01:19:04
to be selective about what you have like you've been around for such a long time
01:19:08
yeah well I think I mean everyone you love been involved in and it would be hard but I think I'd probably give SK a
01:19:13
big photo collage of some sort but yeah at the moment I have nothing done yeah just it's all tucked away or yeah maybe
01:19:19
for a rainy day so so four more years with the All Blacks is that is that it absolutely or you reassess then yeah who
01:19:27
knows mate I um I think for me and my family as long as I keep loving what I'm
01:19:32
doing um me as long as I'm loving it but but just as importantly if not more
01:19:37
importantly as long as I'm still helping the athletes perform on Saturday if if I
01:19:41
feel like I'm still contributing still doing a great job and people want me there then then I'll stay as long as I'm
01:19:49
wanted um cuz I love it I love the team um I don't know much different now it's
01:19:54
been so long so um yeah at the moment I have no plans but um yeah I um yeah as long as I'm still loving it and
01:20:02
contributing then I'll I'll stack stick around yeah has there been anyone ever
01:20:06
that's been in the old black organization as long as what you have yeah we did have like Gilbert Anoka has
01:20:12
who's obviously left last year um I think he had I think he'd been part-time
01:20:17
early doors um early 2000s um and then probably fulltime when when Graham Henry came on board at 2004 so he'd been
01:20:25
around for 20 plus years um Darren Shand had done 20 years um I think our physio
01:20:32
um Pete Gallagher did about 15 or 16 years so uh or might be more than that 17 18 years so there's been a few um and
01:20:41
so I'm I'm sort of the longest standing at the moment um because of all the
01:20:45
changes um so yeah um yeah it's been a while hell of in the things I was just a
01:20:52
b of wrap up then I remember we've got some Instagram question SK through so
01:20:56
we'll just do this quick fire um thoughts on Tik Tok and social media giving people Fitness hacks yeah I I I
01:21:03
think the um it's a it's a dangerous place to to learn from I think um because anyone can post anything so I
01:21:09
think the only thing I'd say is is check the credibility experiences and qualifications of people you listen to
01:21:15
is all I could probably say um I mean my platforms you know rugby ready race ready endurance which is about to pop
01:21:22
out like we're going to have some great stuff on there but we're qualified and
01:21:26
we know what we're doing we got experience behind us so so I think you just got to be be balanced with what
01:21:31
what you're taking for gospel and what you're sort of you know is just out
01:21:34
there is rubbish yeah um how does he deal with the tough loss a tough any losses like I'll always
01:21:42
reflect on my own contribution for the week and um look for any things that we could have done different or better to
01:21:50
help us perform better and not have lost so so you you or loss like as much as what the players do oh 100% like if if
01:21:58
we lose and I've got some guys that have to do some extra running after the game
01:22:03
they I take it out on them yeah like I hate losing so um you know I I try to C it a bit more than I used to I used to
01:22:09
get really dark on it but um yeah I sort of we get to a point where you're dark
01:22:15
for a couple hours the next day you're travel to the next place and you're dark
01:22:19
and you're just like how how did that happen um and so then but come Monday you're you're back on back on board and
01:22:27
you're positive and you're up and you're just trying to get the next one right
01:22:30
yeah you have to draw a line in the sand and move on 100% everyone talks about it
01:22:33
it's it's it's when it means a lot it's hard to it's hard to move on from um
01:22:38
when it means a lot like I still haven't got over the world cup loss you know
01:22:41
like I from last year oh 100% well you lost in the final there was a great it was a great game though in the final
01:22:46
right but we lost mate like so final heard Al though M I have not got over there like like uh like we I was looking
01:22:53
there's a couple of documentaries about to out on Nar Plus on the World Cup and
01:22:57
I had to stop watching it cuz I keep getting tears you know I keep like tearing up it means that much so yeah
01:23:02
it's not easy to move on from A Loss doesn't matter who the loss is against
01:23:05
and there's no oh it's okay we lost the spring box in the World Cup finals it's
01:23:10
not okay we should have won that game so yeah I haven't moved on Jesus on on the Jes it's not not even
01:23:17
your first road to go come on you've won a couple you lost a couple don't worry
01:23:21
about it um on the on the flip side of that the the game in the World Cup last year a few weeks earlier against Ireland
01:23:27
where the All Blacks played out of their skin um yeah you must just be over the moon at a game like that oh that was
01:23:35
special yeah that was special for lots of reasons like um you know I think we' we dropped Mark
01:23:42
tiia um you know that's right CU he he went out with something never sort of
01:23:46
came out what exactly happened but he went out and caught up with some friends y had a late night had a late night got
01:23:50
got dropped from the team so that was a big call um he was he he was one of our best players um so we're going to the
01:23:58
game and and I think that they' given us a tickle up a few times the last few
01:24:02
years so there was a lot of lot of baggage I suppose um and and they were talking it up and they were the best
01:24:09
team in the world and I mean the last s minutes um it's the longest period of
01:24:14
play in history of International Rugby I think it was 7 minutes 50 seconds I think we defended for um and I watched
01:24:21
it the other day and um and wow like so proud like so proud like everyone stuck to the tuck stuck to their game everyone
01:24:28
trusted one another no one was giving away or trying to infringe to to stop them attacking like there just the
01:24:35
confidence was just huge so no massive game and talk about happy like you you see it on all the replays of the footage
01:24:43
like just so much relief and happiness cuz if you lose that game you go home right and and all the players families
01:24:49
have just arrived so you know they turn up to France it's like oh okay um we
01:24:54
going home tomorrow yeah the last thing any of those plant wanted take their kids to
01:24:59
Disneyland in Paris or for two weeks exactly um favorite all black you've worked with oh I can't there's not one
01:25:07
um there's not one like um it's actually really hard to to talk about the
01:25:12
favorites um yeah I I think I think I love working with all of them and it's
01:25:18
it's sort of I've never been asked that question before Tom that's a hard one um
01:25:22
like I enjoy I enjoy um athletes any all black that wants to be a better all black and are proactive
01:25:31
and being better like they the they're the ones I love working with from a professional perspective um you know the
01:25:36
ones that want to learn and be better and and go back to their club and be better at their club and then come back
01:25:41
to us and be better with us and they're the ones that you sort of just love working with because they are open um
01:25:48
they're committed and um they they have a growth mindset you know and that's you
01:25:53
just as a coach that's what you love working with you love working with people that want to be better so so you
01:25:58
you're not annoyed by players that question why they're doing things oh I
01:26:02
love it no way and I love it like people if if an athlete comes up to me if a player comes up to me and says Gilly why
01:26:07
are we doing this and I explain to them and I and and and they still question me
01:26:12
and then I haven't got my explanation right like um so education is massive like educating people is massive because
01:26:19
um at the end of the day it's about winning on Saturday and helping them be the best they can be on Saturday and if
01:26:24
they've questions I love it yeah love it and highest and lowest points of your
01:26:30
career World Cup last year low point no well no it's not it's not no um low low
01:26:38
point will be a couple of low points losing to the lions like drawing the LI series um that sucked
01:26:45
um um losing to Ireland and New Zealand that series was was tough um you know just just yeah they were they were tough
01:26:54
losses um because they were series they weren't just one-offs um and highlights G
01:27:00
highlight easy two 25 World Cup 211 World Cup um and the game um in Johannesburg um
01:27:12
2022 to savan Foster's career wow that game like I've never seen so many tear
01:27:20
like more teers in that game during the game and immediately after then ever seen in an all black Jersey like it was
01:27:27
so powerful like um you know when you the game's not finished and you look over at the bench and you got Aaron
01:27:32
Smith Sammy Kane and they're on the bench they've done their part and they've got tears and the game hasn't
01:27:38
even finished um yeah hugely I get tingly talking about it it was just massive you know and then the leaders
01:27:46
sort of stepping up you know and and sort of saying that he's our coach um yeah pretty powerful moment and Sport
01:27:55
you know and and unless you in there you probably wouldn't have felt that from TV
01:27:59
but yeah hugely emotional game that any performance-enhancing drugs in rugby I think there is in some countries
01:28:08
yeah um and and I think in some levels like I think there's a probably a lot of
01:28:13
performance-enhancing drugs probably the same in in most sport whether that's
01:28:18
Olympic sport or or just weekend warrior sport I think there's a lot more drugs
01:28:23
in the recreational users than the the professionals 100% if it's not being tested because the professionals get
01:28:29
tested all the time so it's pretty hard um um so I mean I when I was in Australia um in the '90s playing Club
01:28:36
rugby and there was loads of drugs in Australian rugby back then um at the low levels Club footy probably the same in
01:28:43
any other country um but in in in rugby and specifically in Internationals um the testing is pretty vigorous um
01:28:53
there's some tell tals someone goes comes onto the scene and they're just
01:28:56
this amazing physique and and they're amazing for 18 months and then they disappear there's some telltale signs
01:29:02
there um likewise if someone disappears for a year with a big injury and then comes back in the shape of their life
01:29:07
well there's some signs there too but um plenty of suspicions but um athletes in
01:29:12
New Zealand just we get tested all the time like every week there's people getting drug tested in the All Blacks um
01:29:19
random um so yeah there's none in rugby in New Zealand that I'm aware of at the
01:29:24
level also it's so so frowned upon here and there's so much shame that's bought
01:29:29
around with u um a negative test I don't know if anyone would even bother with
01:29:33
they like the the rewards um are minimal in you know in comparison to the consequences 100% yeah 100% um okay so
01:29:43
tell us about um race ready endurance this is like your new side hustle as if you need a new side Hustle No I I I sort
01:29:49
of thanks for asking actually Dom because it's I'm pretty I'm pretty
01:29:53
excited about it so um I've been helping lots of endurance athletes for a long time um and around
01:30:01
strength training and and and looking after their body and and I suppose enabling them to improve performance um
01:30:09
and performance through health of their body right so um we've decided Loretta
01:30:14
um down in Tanga myself and Tyler back in Canada we're going to launch the next
01:30:21
month um race ready endurance which is basically Ally a portal for people to get any help
01:30:27
in their strength training whether that's around Rehabilitation sore knees injuries um but also coaching for
01:30:35
whatever event that they might want coaching it could be could be Mom and Dad wanting to get off the couch and run
01:30:40
10K their first 10K we'll be able to help you um could be an Iron Man athlete
01:30:44
wanting to qualify for cona will help you um so yeah we're just going through
01:30:48
the final details of of what it's going to look like but um excited we got heaps
01:30:53
of cool people we've helped in the past that have sort of provided us with plenty of endorsement and support you
01:30:59
know you've mentioned a few of them heish dogall um so we've got plenty of
01:31:04
people that have said hey you know what we do is beneficial um yeah so it's exciting we're going to have plenty
01:31:10
educational material on there to try and dispel some of the myths out there um around strength training and health um
01:31:17
and yeah so looking forward to it so race ready endurance um will be our Instagram handle so yeah get in touch
01:31:23
and we we'll um we'll reach out I'll get i'll get a link in the description here
01:31:26
but yeah I couldn't think of a better thing um for you to be doing like as I
01:31:30
mentioned at the beginning of this like you reached out um to me about my knee um never asked for any sort of like
01:31:36
Financial reward or compensation like you just legitimately could see that I enjoyed running and wanted to help me
01:31:41
get better well I think that's the key right the key is um like as we especially that I want to say that sort
01:31:47
of the 30y old plus like um most of us think we can train like we did when we were 20 and you can't and and I think
01:31:54
that we can we can keep exercising and be healthy for a long long time if we just do the right stuff um and the
01:32:01
biggest thing is is trying to help people I just want to help people um a lot of knowledge and experience I just
01:32:06
want to pass on to people and it doesn't have to cost a lot of money or any money
01:32:10
um and that's the cool thing is that we got enough people enough resources around that um whether that's q&as
01:32:17
whether that's questions on Instagram whether that's just some some free
01:32:20
educational material we'll be throwing lots of stuff out there to help people
01:32:23
of all AG um to try and stay race ready for endurance performance whether that's
01:32:29
Swim Bike Run whether it's kaying um swimming life life saving whatever it is
01:32:35
um we want to help I love that oh you're going to be great all right Dr nickg does everyone call you doctor did
01:32:42
you write do you write when you travel do you write doctor on your departa card no no no cuz I'm I'm not a medical
01:32:48
doctor but um no no I don't use that at all anymore I think when you first get
01:32:52
your doctorate um you use it as often as you can for about 2 years and and then it just disappears I
01:32:59
I don't even put letters after my name anymore it's just Gilly as far as I'm
01:33:01
concerned so no no doctor than if I was you'd be making all the OBS call me Doc thanks yeah all right hey thank you
01:33:10
so much for your time man it's been so awesome to sit down and pick your brains
01:33:14
um what a career and uh still going four more years to go in the current role brilliant thanks for having me Dom
01:33:19
cheers mate oh [Music]