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Mere Baker - Coaching Ruby Tui, Growth of Women’s Rugby, NZ's Drinking Culture & more!

February 11, 202401:28:32
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myy Baker welcome to my podcast oh
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thanks Tom I I I think it's worth
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mentioning at the outset um you mess you
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weren't even on my radar and you
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messaged me out of the blue and said um
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can I can I come on your podcast or
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words to that effect yeah well basically
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I want to have a look at your setup Dom
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so um I wanted to make sure that we're
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looking at to do something quite similar
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but in a different sense so we're going
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to talk about that afterwards so thought
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I'd come to the person who actually does
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podcast
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so yeah so we're looking at to do a
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moldi Pacifica one and we're just trying
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to get funding for it so thought why not
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talk to Dom actually be on his podcast
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and try and get some money at the same
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time I know I um I I really appreciated
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the the courage and since I've been yeah
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courage is the word confidence I don't
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know um but since I've been doing this
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podcast that's happened happened a bit
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where people have asked to come on the
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first couple of times that happened I
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thought oh that person [ __ ] rates
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them and then and then as I've gone I've
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realized um the issue with that is me
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that's like a tall poppy thing and I was
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part of the problem so now when someone
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reaches out to me and says can I come on
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your podcast I'm not always going to say
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yes it's not always going to be a fit oh
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it's not [ __ ] here straight away it's
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not [ __ ] here straight away no no but I
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I I even even if it's not a year I
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applaud people doing it I think it's
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really cool and um yeah I'm trying to
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change my mindset in the way I view the
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those things because it's very unky
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isn't it to put yourself forward like
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that I think it is and that's why like
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things like this I think your podcast
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what I've not what I've liked about it
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is that it's a range of people it's not
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just sport it's not high level not
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always high level people it's people out
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of the blue that have got a really good
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story and and then you you're able to
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draw it out of them so that was one of
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the things why I thought you know what
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this would be great to start off with
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see what it looks like come on have
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maybe have a look at my own story um
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yeah yeah well you're going to have to
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fill in some blanks because I've I
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researched quite a bit and I reached out
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to some um people in the community as
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you and um not a lot of information came
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back from my digging um but I feel like
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if you're willing to put yourself
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forward to come on then you're willing
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to tell the stories as well so who is
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mey Baker uh yeah in a nutshell in a
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nutshell so I was uh bought born and
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bred down in the bottom of the earth so
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basically on a farm that could see
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Stewart Island so that's uh I guess we
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were the only multi farmers in that area
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so my my parents owned a farm when I was
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really young and then right up to I was
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about 16 moved off there in a 10 acre
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block outside of
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inago um but yeah so went to high school
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down there played a lot of hockey field
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hockey played for eight New Zealand age
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groups and then went to St Margaret's
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and Christ Church which is a private
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school not a lot of
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moldies say South iseland is not no
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place for a moldy talk 70s ' 80s uh '
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80s ' 80s yeah ' 80s and '90s so um so
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very much dis attached to my culture
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um yeah so ended up playing hockey there
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we made some New Zealand sides and
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things like that got burnt out um would
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be the word so I was in a New Zealand
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Doo Academy and basically I just
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couldn't do it anymore and what what I
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wanted to talk about is like coming from
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a multi family right down the bottom of
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the earth is around about what happens
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in mul familyes especially when alcohol
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is involved um and then how how that
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Translate into Sport and what happens in
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sports teams and things like that so we
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ended I ended up basically stopping
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playing hockey when I got out of school
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went to University at kenary University
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stopped playing hockey all together
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found started playing rugby the culture
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in rugby is the one of the best cultures
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that you'll ever find I've got best
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friends there and things like that but
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on on the flip side of that there's also
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this drinking binge culture that I um
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gravitated towards and so had a great
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time lots of lots of drinking on the F
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and off the on the flip side there's
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lots of lots of drinking right um so
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played played a lot of rugby played for
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canbury played um sevens as well for Al
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M for 10 years then I went on to play
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rugby league was kiwi firm we won a
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World Cup in 2004 played uh I guess for
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did the first um Queensland versus new
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played for Queensland um then went over
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season played coached overseas for 10
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years and then came back home so since
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I've been
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home um sobriety like you know I stopped
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drinking uh started happening a couple
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years ago where I stopped drinking um at
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what age I started stop completely
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stopped was this year but for the last
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three years I've sort of sort of like
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maybe had a drink or two or things like
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that and haven't touched really any
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alcohol for for this whole year sort of
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thing
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and what that's done and I tell you what
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I think alcohol for one thing sport is
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great you've got your friends right when
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you stop playing sport everyone's doing
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their own thing but your alcohol you
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still can drink and you can still go out
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your mates and whatever when you stop
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playing Sport and you stop drinking
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sobriety is actually [ __ ] hard like
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not
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drinking it's not the fact that you it's
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the alcohol you can stop drinking
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alcohol that's easy but it's actually
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all the emotional things that come with
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alcohol it's like numbing and you don't
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get to feel it cuz you get to go out and
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drink with your mates and have a good
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time yeah you don't been fixed but once
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that stops IT it's actually [ __ ] hard
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yeah yeah well there's um there is a lot
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to unpack um so I appreciate that
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introduction it's like the the condensed
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version of the M Baker story yeah um
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okay we'll go to a recent time then
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we'll go all the way back so um you sort
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of I suppose your phone was popping off
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a couple of years ago when Ruby tu's
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book came out Ruby probably the the
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biggest thing in New Zealand women's
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rugby at the moment um so in the the
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opening chapter of her book um you get a
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mention
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and first of all I want to know like did
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she give you heads up like did she
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message you say hey M I'm going to talk
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about you in the book is this all good
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or is it a complete surprise and you
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just start getting texts from people
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saying oh [ __ ] yeah no she she contacted
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me when I guess the the writer was
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writing the book and said can you like
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sit down and have a discussion with this
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writer um where I'm writing my biography
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basically I was like yeah sweet ass
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whatever you know like [ __ ] you whatever
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yeah like you don't know it you know you
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don't know what you don't know so so she
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rang me up and then and we sort of
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talked about like you know what it was
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what ruby was like and um and we all
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know if you look at Ruby now you you
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know that she's one of the best she's
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inspirational she's an amazing rugby
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player but she's also amazing human so
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those sorts of things came through about
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you know what sort of rugby player she
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was when she was back then but then she
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was like asking digging deep about rugby
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history and so I think you can Google it
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now on sevens and you get the old mold
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sevens you can actually get that now man
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a couple years AG you couldn't get that
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history you couldn't get anything like
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that and so a lot of the history's been
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lost but now it seems to be like little
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bits in here are coming back so paints a
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picture but she actually painted a Hu
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that that writer in Ruby's book painted
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a picture of that history of rugby 7even
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so it was great so I think she did a
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great job yeah AB absolutely um so so
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you met Ruby when she was 18 yeah first
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year of uni and her first time playing
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rugby and sevens yeah and and then she
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tells the story about um well she calls
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you famously
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abrupt I would say that I'm like honest
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like I think I think it's I don't know
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if a I have over the years Cur like you
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know that's when I coached Ruby it was
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my first ever coaching gig so can
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imagine going from transitioning from
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just playing to being a coach and I was
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I'm abrasive like I'm already abrasive
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as it is so um my personality
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transformed into coaching and I kind of
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was was still in the player mentality
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was like [ __ ] just run like just like
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why why why can't you get from there to
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there like what is your problem so it
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took me a long time in the coaching
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space to actually realize oh actually
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you've got to break things down you've
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actually got to coach the technique
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you've actually got to go through all
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this process so Ruby got basically a
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real fresh out of the boat coach but
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also it's I'm still the same personality
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I'll still tell her yeah we she was a
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fresh out of the boat player as well
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fresh player fresh coach um I still tell
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her that what she's got the most ugliest
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pass in women's rugby she I'm not a
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rugby play I why why is it awful I have
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no idea it's been effective well gets
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there how does so being being an Abrupt
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person how does that work in 2023 CU it
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feels like feels like these days like
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the threshold for bullying is very very
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low very low yeah yeah thanks Dom I know
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that you've gone through this
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yourself you've just got to make sure
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that you you tweak a little things yeah
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yeah yeah yeah um have you had to soften
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soften your approach over the years yeah
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I think it comes with a bit bit with
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maturity as well there's a little bit of
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maturity there's there's big part of it
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is like knowing your players knowing who
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you can say what are you up to you know
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really delivering the message you know
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there's so certain players that will
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allow you to deliver it the way that
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it's blunt as and they'll sift through
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it and go yep I get the message but
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there's other players that actually need
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a little bit of a sugar coating on it so
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you you just really got to understand
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the player that you you're dealing with
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otherwise you get you're bullying thing
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going on Dom yeah my my very first boss
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in radio was a guy called Steve row and
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he would drag me into his office so I
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was 17 18 19 at the time and he would
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just tear me a new one he would destroy
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me and had be red in the face and had
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veins popping out of the side of his
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neck and the side of his face and you
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know what I needed it I needed it at the
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time and I responded well to it whereas
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I suppose that's the management style
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with a lot of other people that'd be
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twatting off to HR immediately well this
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like you said if you look at some of the
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players and and it's great to see some
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coaches give summer inspirational summer
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growth some development but there's some
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coaches just like hey here's the
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expectation if you want to be in this
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team you got to meet it and if you can't
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meet it catch you later so the high
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performance space is actually change I
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think it's changing it might not be
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quite there in New Zealand but you look
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at Chelsea football there you know the
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woman coach of she's just like man if
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you don't want to be in Chelsea get the
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[ __ ]
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out like she's just like you know you're
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either a Chelsea player or you're not
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and I I actually think what's going to
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happen is that once that high
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performance program starts moving moving
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really quickly and and gets to where
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everyone is competing for like four to
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five different spots you are going to
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get either you want to be here or you
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can keep on going yeah yeah it's a
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necessity I think with high performance
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sport so um the the story that Ruby
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tells in the opening chapter of who [ __ ]
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um do you want to do you want to retell
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it from your version of
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events well actually can't remember this
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conversation until I read it a few times
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I had to think about it hey hey by the
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way by the way just before you get into
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that I'll just um I've got a quote here
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from that chapter of Ruby's book you did
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do um this year we are coached by medy
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Baker famously abrupt really honest
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never says anything for fluff I'm really
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trying but it seems nothing I do is good
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enough for
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Baker you must have been you must have
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been like so I don't know stoked when
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you read that I'd be honest you reckon
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that's honest well I was just like when
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I when she when I read it it's like what
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the [ __ ] Ruby people are going to think
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I'm crazy cuz there is something else in
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that book where I'm kicking water
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bottles but um I didn't get to that yeah
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good um and I'm just like what what and
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she go yeah but M that's you know this
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is this is a story of some true honesty
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here that you were really honest and I
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you know I valued that and and to this
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day if you ever ask Ruby about feedback
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you can give it to her as as plain as
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what day as you want and she'll take
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that feedback and go away from from from
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everyone or just people she everybody
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everybody I coached her and P and sens
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um in the states cuz she had a sticle
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and I and you know she I was like you
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know how's it going she goes oh you know
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I [ __ ] up a 211 I go yeah you did [ __ ]
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up two on one simple it's so simple with
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her you know what I mean she like
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recognizes it we talk about it move on
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and and like she's easy to coach just
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like yeah you probably should have
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passed that and she's like no I was like
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damn you know and and you can have those
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and you can have that banter with her so
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so she's a player that you can do that
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with and um because she's so
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professional as well she'll go away and
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think about things she's really really
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good in depth indepth thinker and also
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you know she'll give you the kitchen
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sink she'll throw everything into
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anything so she's a player you want on
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on your team because she might not be
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the most skillful player in the world
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but man she just gives 120% and those
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are the people that you want you don't
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necessarily need all the flashy players
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in the world but you need those those
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players that will go past 100% yeah well
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sounds like she wasn't always like that
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so so that's the story she tells in the
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book yeah um loved rugby but hated the
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fitness aspect of it terrible yeah so
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what's what's your recollection of that
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story from your side so so basically we
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we had a bunch of players um KRA was in
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that group aidia Marsh was in that group
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Ana tip lady was in that group Haley tip
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lady like we had a bunch of black Fs in
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that group plus some kiwi FS uh Tisa
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tahu was in that group um and then we
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had a few American players
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in that in that group and all of them
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were like look man the American players
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I tell you what are the fitti
00:14:04
[ __ ] in the world they lift
00:14:07
they run man they can do everything
00:14:09
they're robotic they are just they're
00:14:12
just fit right and so they spend more
00:14:15
time in the gym and running than on
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their skills where were that we were at
00:14:20
that time it's a bit different now the
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other way around where we would just be
00:14:23
able to play play play the ball use our
00:14:26
skills and things like that so in Ruby's
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C she was fighting against people that
00:14:30
were really fit like they were awesome
00:14:32
they're awesome players and she was uh
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she says middle but she was at the
00:14:38
back this is like doing some doing some
00:14:40
Sprints or laps of the field yeah
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basically some I think they were like I
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think they were Broncos or they
00:14:47
were like a 300 meter run around there
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and you had to catch the other group and
00:14:51
things like that so you kind of yeah it
00:14:52
was quite competitive yeah we're just
00:14:54
introducting with bits of Ruby story so
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she the way she tells it um she was at
00:14:59
practice early like practicing her pass
00:15:01
or something I'll tell you the past is
00:15:02
[ __ ] so Ruby can Ruby can practice as
00:15:05
much as she
00:15:06
want she's like you turn up and it's
00:15:08
almost like she she thinks oh oh hope
00:15:11
hopefully you know M notices me passing
00:15:13
and and Praises man were you in a bad
00:15:15
mood that day apparently you just blew
00:15:17
your whistle and to to start running
00:15:18
yeah no no that's normal oh
00:15:21
yeah that was just like like yeah
00:15:25
obviously I'm not like that now but like
00:15:27
you know was just let's get it get into
00:15:29
it I know I don't need to let's don't
00:15:31
puss around let's go and she's just like
00:15:33
oh you didn't say anything to me [ __ ]
00:15:34
I'm CU I'm not get your ass and then run
00:15:36
the Ruby but like again like look Ruby
00:15:41
Ruby was all she needed to be in that
00:15:43
group who was so good that she needed to
00:15:46
see and this is what where mentors are
00:15:48
so [ __ ] good that she needs to see
00:15:50
that if you want to be if you want to be
00:15:52
the best those are the people that you
00:15:54
have to compete against not you you if
00:15:57
you keep on competing against yourself
00:15:58
you're never going to be the best but
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those are people in front of you those
00:16:02
are the people in front of you you've
00:16:03
got to catch them and that's that's as
00:16:05
simple as that there's no black and
00:16:06
white on that one yeah so yes so she was
00:16:08
doing the runs the the shuttles or
00:16:09
Broncos whatever it was it's just
00:16:11
pussing around would be the word okay
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yeah well I think she even sort of
00:16:14
admits that in her book she wasn't even
00:16:15
trying cuz she didn't like it and then
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you start jogging along beh beside her
00:16:19
and have have a chat yeah I was just
00:16:21
like you know everything's in your mind
00:16:24
all of these freaking drills that we do
00:16:26
are actually in your mind your mind your
00:16:28
mind is your biggest barrier not your
00:16:30
physical not not not your body it's your
00:16:33
mind once your mind get once you get
00:16:34
your mind on on
00:16:36
board you'll go and then then basically
00:16:40
she just kind of I don't know what
00:16:41
happened but she just like kind of if we
00:16:43
were in a car she'd be moving like the
00:16:46
gear stick and she just took off and I
00:16:48
was just like you know if you catch
00:16:49
those group you'll be you'll be part of
00:16:51
the the group that are one of the best
00:16:52
players in the world she says you told
00:16:54
her she could be the best sevens player
00:16:56
could be so what year was this
00:16:59
oh
00:17:03
200 gez I couldn't even tell seven yeah
00:17:06
okay CU because in 2019 so like a decade
00:17:09
later she was named world seven player
00:17:11
of the year so you were right yeah oh
00:17:13
yeah I
00:17:16
know so so so you um so you meant did
00:17:19
you did you genuinely mean it like how
00:17:21
did you how did you see that in her as
00:17:23
an 18-year-old playing a first year of
00:17:24
rugby were you just sort of like pumping
00:17:27
up your T no I would never do that
00:17:28
absolutely not it was genuine you
00:17:30
genuinely believed that yeah yeah why so
00:17:33
she was unfit like lazy at running had a
00:17:35
terrible pass yeah why would you say
00:17:37
that it's it's the it's the person
00:17:38
within like I knew that she had because
00:17:41
she has traits of being being the best
00:17:44
like you you can see it in players
00:17:46
before they even you can just see Talent
00:17:49
right so Ruby had what she did have was
00:17:52
she could change speed she was tall she
00:17:55
levers so she could offload if she
00:17:57
needed to um she had the ability to get
00:17:59
strength quite easily and if she put the
00:18:02
work in she'd be freaking fit pretty
00:18:04
quickly and her mindset was pretty good
00:18:07
like you know once she put her mind to
00:18:08
it I thought yeah you you you'll go real
00:18:10
far do you don't think she's going to be
00:18:12
the best in the world well at that time
00:18:15
there was no world
00:18:17
so so
00:18:19
maybe but that must been amazing for you
00:18:22
in 2019 it's like a full circle moment
00:18:24
or did you remember saying that or did
00:18:25
she remind you no I I remember saying
00:18:28
like look I've
00:18:29
coached Stacy fled over in um in Ireland
00:18:35
I've coached several USA players couple
00:18:38
Australians you know and
00:18:41
generally I kind of didn't really think
00:18:43
anything of it because I feel as though
00:18:46
that they just sort of play with each
00:18:47
other and it's just a thing you know
00:18:48
what I mean so I never really think
00:18:50
about you know oh that was me it was
00:18:52
kind of like well you know here here's
00:18:54
here's a piece of of my sort of thing
00:18:57
that I can give you and then you know
00:18:59
put that in your tool Bel see how that
00:19:00
goes sort of thing so never go oh you
00:19:02
know I made rubyy no [ __ ] way did I
00:19:04
make rubyy lots of people made Ruby toi
00:19:06
and Ruby Tu Made ruby Tui yeah yeah oh
00:19:09
but she she credits you with um teaching
00:19:12
her the power of her mind yeah yeah so
00:19:15
yeah maybe that yeah there you claim
00:19:17
that I'll claim that one yeah sure I'll
00:19:18
take that one okay all right so that's
00:19:21
that's enough about rubby it's it's
00:19:22
amazing yeah piss off Ruby that book is
00:19:25
a is like haunting me oh yeah has has it
00:19:29
been an enjoyable experience though like
00:19:31
you're right there at the front of the
00:19:32
book like the very front chapter um has
00:19:35
it been well look yeah it's it's funny
00:19:38
one because like I've had people go like
00:19:42
frequently text me or run into me they
00:19:44
like you know put your hand out and you
00:19:46
introduce yourself they're like oh
00:19:47
you're in Ruby tu's book you're like
00:19:49
yeah like yep on that one that kicks the
00:19:52
water bottles yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm
00:19:55
the one that's famously abrupt yeah yeah
00:19:57
yeah exactly what's the I I missed the
00:19:59
kicking water bottles thing is that in
00:20:00
the book as well yeah so we took them to
00:20:02
Australia and to be honest from a
00:20:05
coaching point of view this is it was
00:20:07
actually my fault because I didn't do s
00:20:09
I didn't do enough um contact within our
00:20:12
drills so that's a simp yeah that's
00:20:14
simplifying it and when we got there we
00:20:18
got ran over by some tongen players like
00:20:20
ran over like I was like [ __ ] I was like
00:20:25
why are we not playing to our plan like
00:20:26
and it's just like because we done
00:20:28
tackling the whole freaking trainings
00:20:30
that we had which was like three or four
00:20:32
so we you know I ran them into the
00:20:34
ground and but I didn't make them tackle
00:20:37
or didn't put a defensive process in so
00:20:39
it's a really good learning point for
00:20:41
myself as a coach but far out I was
00:20:43
kicking those bottles because we were
00:20:44
[ __ ] losing
00:20:46
Tonga
00:20:49
like can I can I just say we've been
00:20:51
chatting for 20 minutes and I think um I
00:20:53
think you've probably got the record now
00:20:55
for the most F bombs in a podcast Maybe
00:20:57
unle Tex who has Tourette syndrome is
00:21:00
just ahead of you but I'm I'm here for
00:21:02
it I'm now that you're sort of in the
00:21:04
corporate world oh yeah I'm surprised
00:21:06
you haven't been told to tone it down or
00:21:08
uh yeah so I mean I love it you don't
00:21:11
want to change the essence of your
00:21:13
personality well I don't swear in
00:21:15
certain aspects so like there like
00:21:17
obviously I do a little bit of sky sky
00:21:19
sport commentary and I haven't sworn
00:21:21
once on that and it's kind of funny
00:21:22
because like I have a potty mouth and I
00:21:24
know I do look apparently isn't that the
00:21:27
wittiest people with with a potty mouth
00:21:29
I'll it yeah yeah right so so the the
00:21:33
other thing is is
00:21:35
that I guess you know you you walk
00:21:40
around and you go right better not swear
00:21:41
better not swear but like it's kind of
00:21:44
my personality and you know I get people
00:21:46
texting me all the time they're like I
00:21:48
can't believe you're on you're doing
00:21:49
commentary and you haven't sworn once
00:21:52
I'm like yeah because I'm not allowed to
00:21:55
it's just you go to as someone that did
00:21:57
radio for years you go into performance
00:21:58
mode and uh you know yeah you just you
00:22:01
just know yeah you can't there is a
00:22:03
filter there if you need it to yeah yeah
00:22:04
yeah yeah you know if you hey if you
00:22:06
want me to turn the filter off I can do
00:22:07
that for you so um born and raised in
00:22:10
Riverton where where's Riverton far
00:22:11
south somewhere near Bluff yeah so it's
00:22:14
it's probably about 40 minutes out of
00:22:16
inago right South yeah what was dolphin
00:22:19
sporting what
00:22:21
else
00:22:23
what what else is there in Riverton um
00:22:25
it's called the sou the Rivier of the
00:22:27
South okay there's cheese rolls oh yeah
00:22:31
it's actually one of the look if you're
00:22:34
ever down the South isand I'll tell you
00:22:36
what it's beautiful down there the
00:22:38
beaches are good they're surfing down
00:22:40
there diving down there Stewart island
00:22:42
is just like an hour away on boat so
00:22:44
there's heaps to do in that sense and
00:22:46
everyone loves a good hunt they love
00:22:49
hunting deer and pigs except me I cannot
00:22:52
stand hunting yeah but everyone else I
00:22:54
know hunts so so it's not great sales
00:22:58
patch for Riverton that's coming from
00:23:00
someone from palas North because I I P
00:23:03
palah
00:23:04
hole say what's good about pal be like
00:23:06
oh it's like two hours away from the
00:23:08
mountain an hour and a half away from
00:23:09
Wellington and it's like you're
00:23:11
encouraging people to leave it well
00:23:13
these heaps like look here's the
00:23:15
property Market down there you know
00:23:16
obviously it's not talking about Orland
00:23:18
prices but hey you Orland has come down
00:23:21
and pick up $300,000 houses not anymore
00:23:23
there are 500 now but but you know you
00:23:26
guys flock there all you see aucklanders
00:23:29
yeah so what so what are your
00:23:30
Recollections about those those years
00:23:32
growing up the early years in in
00:23:33
Riverton how many in your family by the
00:23:34
way so there's four children four of us
00:23:37
where are you in the birth order uh
00:23:39
second second last so second last and
00:23:41
the two older brothers sisters two older
00:23:43
sisters and a younger brother right and
00:23:45
and did they um you play sports with
00:23:47
them is that is that where you got the
00:23:49
tough the tough streak from my father's
00:23:51
Mor just said
00:23:54
help um look so two older sisters who
00:23:58
were very competitive they both played
00:24:01
underage international hockey so my
00:24:04
sister um was named in the New Zealand M
00:24:07
and uh New Zealand MTI team when she was
00:24:09
17 and my older sister was in the under
00:24:12
15s under 18 New Zealand team and then I
00:24:15
just came along um oh yeah I was always
00:24:19
a rat bag I was always that chicky shirt
00:24:22
always that one always getting into
00:24:23
trouble probably because I've got ADHD
00:24:25
and a little bit of Dyslexia going on as
00:24:26
well but I was always the one that was
00:24:29
just not doing what they were supposed
00:24:31
to be doing so I was always in trouble
00:24:33
standard standard kid stuff or like
00:24:35
proper trouble oh not that b no no no no
00:24:38
standard like you know go [ __ ] yourself
00:24:41
yeah what to who like people in
00:24:45
teach that's not overly standard teach
00:24:48
well is it it is it not that seems a
00:24:50
little extreme the ADHD thing was it
00:24:53
diagnosed or is that something you've
00:24:54
had diagnosed like as an adult yeah
00:24:56
we're going through the process right
00:24:58
now so I've had dyslexia right right
00:25:00
through um and when I was at Margaret
00:25:04
they picked that up so but I
00:25:06
never yeah never did the ADH but we're
00:25:09
going through the diagnos right now
00:25:11
diagnosis right now so a lot of things
00:25:13
around ADH has been behavioral like you
00:25:17
know you just you know no no one likes
00:25:19
to hear no especially ADH know
00:25:22
especially when you you've got an Abrupt
00:25:24
personality cuz I I I I'm pretty sure
00:25:28
ADHD I'm a little bit older than you so
00:25:30
it was just not something that was
00:25:31
diagnosed at the time but I I mean
00:25:34
apparently the testing is quite
00:25:35
comprehensive you know you go through it
00:25:36
at the moment but it's like I just
00:25:38
wonder what difference it would make if
00:25:40
I had a diag if I had a label for it
00:25:42
yeah well I always used to think yeah I
00:25:45
always used to think I was ADHD you know
00:25:47
whatever but I also think I've got
00:25:49
little sprinkles of everything I'm just
00:25:50
on the Spectrum yeah like and and I've
00:25:53
kind of I think a lot of us are yeah I I
00:25:55
don't know any normal person okay that
00:25:57
that's that's
00:25:58
and and so I'm just on the Spectrum and
00:26:00
like the problem was with being on the
00:26:02
Spectrum being your neurod Divergent um
00:26:06
I actually spoke at at Targo POA on
00:26:08
superpowers of being dyslexic is that
00:26:12
there's other things that come with it
00:26:13
like there's there's some behavioral
00:26:14
things that come there's some things
00:26:16
that your nervous system is not
00:26:17
regulated as what normal normal which I
00:26:20
never think anyone's normal but it's
00:26:22
just a little bit off we're just a
00:26:24
little bit off we're just a little bit
00:26:26
hinged a little bit and I'm my with that
00:26:28
yeah absolutely it's it's part of who
00:26:30
you are but I suppose like telling
00:26:32
teachers to go [ __ ] yourself maybe
00:26:33
that's where that came from the ADH yeah
00:26:35
I didn't do I honestly did not do it in
00:26:37
St Margaret but definitely did it when I
00:26:38
was um at UPA college but and I was I I
00:26:42
remember B sitting outside uh the vice
00:26:44
principal's office and you know they
00:26:47
like this is a small town we're talking
00:26:48
about we're talking about like I don't
00:26:50
know 1400 people that live there around
00:26:52
their area and so everyone knows
00:26:54
everyone and so when you're there
00:26:56
they're like your M your parents know as
00:26:58
soon as you get home like it's not fun
00:27:01
it's not a fun fun it's not fun when you
00:27:04
know that your parent when you're
00:27:05
sitting there you've been sitting there
00:27:07
since 10:00 and you know your parents
00:27:09
know like what was the um discipline
00:27:12
like in your household was it like like
00:27:14
smacking Yeah well yeah the I think my
00:27:17
father and his you got yeah he's from a
00:27:20
military background as well um farming
00:27:23
background um butcher he was a butcher
00:27:26
so yeah he was he he I would say
00:27:28
heavy-handed but would I yeah that's an
00:27:32
interesting one yeah because it's um
00:27:34
yeah I was from a smacking family and uh
00:27:36
it was never like an abusive household
00:27:39
um but it was always we'd do something
00:27:41
naughty during the day and then mama
00:27:42
would be like wait until your father
00:27:44
gets home hours later like Dad get home
00:27:46
we put over the put over the beard and
00:27:48
get the belt oh is that all you
00:27:50
got oh
00:27:52
yeah so I just so yeah as was always
00:27:54
done I'm guessing guess what I'm saying
00:27:55
is like a it was a control environment
00:27:57
it was never Pleasant and you look back
00:27:59
now and it was like it was um actually
00:28:01
quite traumatic but it was always sort
00:28:03
of controlled I guess I I think like it
00:28:07
wasn't to the extreme that I would be
00:28:09
say that OT needs to come in and take us
00:28:12
out of the home but it would it would be
00:28:15
it would have been a bit more heavier
00:28:17
than it should have been if that that
00:28:19
that explains it um and I think that
00:28:23
from that I really did like you know if
00:28:26
your parents if if your father's saying
00:28:28
to you you know just give someone a
00:28:29
warning and then whack them as part of
00:28:32
your your upbringing what do you think
00:28:35
you that's going to produce do you know
00:28:36
what I mean so I definitely had a lot of
00:28:39
anger when I came out of um that
00:28:41
household like a very much pined up
00:28:43
anger lots of trauma but you know as you
00:28:47
get as you go through life and this is
00:28:49
where sobriety I think does not help
00:28:52
because you actually feel everything you
00:28:54
know you start to those feelings start
00:28:56
opening up and now you're just like holy
00:28:59
crap overwhelmed with all of these
00:29:01
emotions that you never had before
00:29:03
because you've even hit you've hidden it
00:29:05
through anger or you've hidden it
00:29:06
through alcohol and now all of a sudden
00:29:09
you're this ball of
00:29:12
[ __ ] yeah and and then I guess there's
00:29:15
um there's another layer of that with
00:29:17
you where you you didn't have that
00:29:19
connection to your roots yeah or your
00:29:21
culture yeah there's definitely that
00:29:23
there's Southland M I'm a Southland M
00:29:26
but I'm not I [ __ ] up up at Bruno so so
00:29:29
where's that that is in gbon yeah Dad's
00:29:32
dad's from Mahia so you're not even a
00:29:34
South alar so you've got to understand
00:29:36
that context as well so you're not from
00:29:38
n Taho and so when you go into things
00:29:40
you're like you're not Taho you don't
00:29:41
[ __ ] a upet here so you're not even
00:29:43
you're not even welcome there so and the
00:29:46
interesting thing is you don't feel like
00:29:47
you belong you don't belong anywhere
00:29:49
right so so being and and the
00:29:52
interesting facts with with that natio
00:29:54
there's like 990,000 members for natio
00:29:57
only 10,000 live in gbon everyone else
00:30:00
is everywhere else so we're so
00:30:01
disconnected from that anyway so that
00:30:04
that plays a huge part I think yeah and
00:30:07
so then um kbur uni after you left
00:30:10
Riverton and you were really good at
00:30:12
sport right RI teams for rugby sevens
00:30:15
touch and League yeah just anything with
00:30:18
an noal ball you were you were good at I
00:30:21
don't well I actually wasn't that good
00:30:22
to be honest so what I was good what I
00:30:26
what I was kind of like up for anything
00:30:29
cuz all my friends were back in that
00:30:31
time I think that that landscape has
00:30:33
changed a little bit now through
00:30:34
professionalism as well all your mates
00:30:37
are playing so your mates play Touch so
00:30:39
you hang out with them and all of I
00:30:42
gravitated towards all of the people
00:30:44
that were Brown so all of my friends
00:30:46
were either Marty or Pacific except
00:30:48
maybe one or two Pacquiao who could who
00:30:50
could play ball right so we had this
00:30:53
group that just went oh we'll go play
00:30:55
Touch oh now we'll go play rugby oh now
00:30:57
we'll go play rugby league and so it
00:30:59
just went like this round and round and
00:31:01
round and at once I think I did that for
00:31:03
5 to six years and I got to a point
00:31:06
where I was just so bomed out because I
00:31:07
there was no off season it was just like
00:31:09
right we're playing touch now then we're
00:31:11
going to play sevens we're in Hong Kong
00:31:12
playing sevens then we're coming back
00:31:14
and then then we're going into rugby and
00:31:15
then we're doing rugby league then we're
00:31:16
doing Nationals and then just went like
00:31:18
round and round and you'd probably maybe
00:31:20
have 3 weeks off and then you're back
00:31:22
into it again so I was just like I can't
00:31:24
do this anymore I actually need a break
00:31:26
need a break yeah yeah was it around
00:31:27
that time playing in those teams when
00:31:29
you got to kib UNI that you sort of um
00:31:32
you sort of realized that something was
00:31:33
missing with um your links to your
00:31:36
heritage or did you sort of realize it
00:31:38
beforehand no you you said most of your
00:31:40
teammates were were Brown yeah I
00:31:42
gravitated towards them cuz they were
00:31:44
Brown yeah but some of them I'm guessing
00:31:46
like a university environment you got
00:31:48
get people from all around the country
00:31:49
so some of them must have been able to
00:31:51
speak to Rao or not really no no no not
00:31:55
many of my friends it's just the era
00:31:57
look I think that yeah there is there is
00:32:00
statistics showing that there's a big
00:32:02
fat era in there that because of um
00:32:05
obviously policies and governments and
00:32:07
and things like that this the native
00:32:08
School act that that lasted for 100
00:32:10
years Banning terel and and things like
00:32:12
that your dad's probably at that age
00:32:14
where he got like whacked over the
00:32:15
knuckles if he tried to against yeah but
00:32:18
he he could speak he can understand it
00:32:20
but he can't speak it yeah so he yeah so
00:32:23
he's 84 now um so not not many of us
00:32:27
could speak Mari um
00:32:31
and some of us were naho some of us you
00:32:35
know no it wasn't no it wasn't because
00:32:37
of the connection there it was maybe it
00:32:39
was in terms of the fact that we're all
00:32:41
brown and we're all thought we were
00:32:43
funny so sorry so you know you get a you
00:32:48
get a bunch of tribe your community yeah
00:32:50
exactly you get a bunch of brown people
00:32:51
together and they're making you're
00:32:52
making fun of each other to start off
00:32:54
with but the jokes are just going left
00:32:56
right and centered you know like we're
00:32:57
joking about everything so nothing's
00:33:00
like really you know and you're doing
00:33:01
crazy stuff you know but that's the time
00:33:05
where I was probably when I was when I
00:33:06
was doing that five to six years of just
00:33:09
everything I was drinking really heavily
00:33:12
like I was I I was killing it I was
00:33:15
winning I was winning at that so it's
00:33:19
like that's that's a crazy time yeah
00:33:21
well no wonder you were burnt out it
00:33:22
probably wasn't just the sport it was
00:33:24
your whole just the whole lifestyle
00:33:26
burning the C at both ends yeah like you
00:33:28
know I was still working I was you know
00:33:30
just well uni work um
00:33:33
training you know sometimes you're in
00:33:35
Hong Kong for a couple weeks and then
00:33:36
sometimes you were in Paris for a couple
00:33:38
weeks you know you're talking about that
00:33:40
time um at canb Uni I've heard you say
00:33:43
that at the time you were on the road to
00:33:44
jail yeah what does that mean is that
00:33:47
just like an embellishment or no no no
00:33:49
no no not at
00:33:50
all no I'd um so this is like I said
00:33:55
that at this time I was
00:33:57
uh pretty angry very very angry would be
00:34:00
the word and we used to get into fights
00:34:02
all the time like honest honestly like
00:34:04
because of the alcohol because who we
00:34:06
were hanging out with um you it could be
00:34:09
3:00 out coming out of a nightclub and
00:34:12
just I don't know things
00:34:15
[Laughter]
00:34:16
happen I wouldn't want to [ __ ] with you
00:34:19
3:00 outside what were you what was the
00:34:21
anger about just the the upbringing
00:34:24
upbringing um obviously so learning
00:34:27
difficulties as well I gu learning
00:34:28
difficulties yep um little bit of ADHD
00:34:32
going on in there in terms of Behavioral
00:34:33
stuff just regulation in my nervous
00:34:36
system all those sorts of things um lots
00:34:38
of alcohol um I'm just angry you know I
00:34:42
just had this angry at the world just
00:34:43
angry I was just really I had a chip on
00:34:45
my shoulder um you know I was supposed
00:34:48
to go to the Olympics for hockey and I
00:34:50
was just so frecking angry about stuff
00:34:52
that I was self- sabotaging left right
00:34:54
and Center so I was never going to get
00:34:55
there I'm all good with it now but but
00:34:57
I've I've I've made peace with it um and
00:34:59
then I just I just felt as though that
00:35:02
life was really [ __ ] difficult um and
00:35:04
I got throwing were you like a a victim
00:35:07
victim mindset I think so I think so I
00:35:09
think I had a yeah I pretty much had
00:35:12
very much just like it was me against
00:35:14
the world sort of thing and I didn't
00:35:16
really have any sort of Care on whether
00:35:19
I lived or died sort of scenarios like
00:35:22
not that I would a reckless place to be
00:35:24
living it's a very Reckless place to be
00:35:25
living in because you don't have any
00:35:27
care about anybody else you don't even
00:35:28
care about yourself and so so yeah so I
00:35:32
I'll tell you what I
00:35:34
got not many people know this but um I
00:35:37
got into a situation where I had to get
00:35:40
out pretty quickly and if it if it if it
00:35:43
hadn't gone the way that down I would
00:35:44
have been in jail that that's how that's
00:35:46
that's how how bad it got you came to
00:35:48
elaborate or not not
00:35:50
really it just it was it was um as I
00:35:54
would put it it was misidentification
00:35:58
oh my God would be the word yeah so so
00:36:00
basically what did we got into a fight
00:36:04
with people um I might have started it
00:36:07
and I ended up they ended up finger
00:36:11
pointing somebody else cuz i' jumped
00:36:13
into a
00:36:15
taxi oh so some innocent party took the
00:36:17
rap for you some innocent party got
00:36:19
arrested sort of thing yeah and so they
00:36:22
got arrested and they couldn't identify
00:36:24
the actual person who started it which
00:36:26
was me
00:36:27
and so it kind of went away you know
00:36:30
yeah [ __ ] yeah this that was many years
00:36:34
ago this isn't going to get you in
00:36:35
trouble now no like well I'm not I
00:36:37
didn't get arrested so
00:36:39
good but like you know so those sorts of
00:36:42
things happen frequently like they they
00:36:43
were happening for at least probably 5
00:36:45
to six years you know and and you know
00:36:48
one of my best friends um most pleasant
00:36:51
person on Earth we ended up in this
00:36:53
fight I this what I who wants to see
00:36:56
women fighting anyway like no except in
00:36:58
a boxing ring right or the U yeah yeah
00:37:01
who wants to see like and but but but
00:37:04
those days like you you're like hitting
00:37:06
somebody who was
00:37:07
probably you know skinny white lady and
00:37:11
and you end up hitting somebody and
00:37:13
you're you know you're you're bigger
00:37:15
than them anyway so it's not a fair
00:37:18
fight it's it's not something that you
00:37:20
want to be doing and who the hell wants
00:37:22
to see that sort of thing anyway we're
00:37:24
in this this tough I guess scuffle and
00:37:28
my best friend's trying to stop it cuz
00:37:30
Placid plid ass I don't know how we
00:37:32
ended up best friends cuz I'm like that
00:37:34
and she's like that like you know and
00:37:36
she's saved me so many times over we
00:37:39
played we played very much a lot of
00:37:41
rugby rugby rugby league and and she
00:37:43
saved me so many times so we sit there
00:37:47
and [ __ ] hands are going hard and
00:37:50
then she gets a wallop like right on the
00:37:52
on the
00:37:54
eye teacher go to school with this black
00:37:57
eye and she's just like what I I can't
00:38:00
hang out with you anymore like we can't
00:38:03
be friends yeah you are just like out
00:38:05
the freaking gate like you you uh I've
00:38:08
got I've got a profession and and I'm
00:38:11
like yeah and what what you know no care
00:38:13
in the world sort of thing like I didn't
00:38:14
really understand that I do now like
00:38:17
selfish and self-centered at the time in
00:38:19
a way selfish sound yeah and and it
00:38:21
wasn't a great teammate yeah like you
00:38:22
know I got got kicked out of the the
00:38:24
kenary touch team got kicked out of the
00:38:27
the rugby league team I got kicked out
00:38:28
of Al multi7 got us to come back um I
00:38:31
got kicked out of the New Zealand side
00:38:32
because I was really selfish and um
00:38:36
obviously I'm not now but like you know
00:38:38
when I look back in it and I was just
00:38:39
like God damn it you know I had all of
00:38:42
those opportunities in the world and
00:38:44
that's why when you go Google me you
00:38:46
only get it like a small piece of it and
00:38:48
you get some some coaching stuff and get
00:38:50
this and this because I self I self
00:38:52
sabotage right throughout that so so you
00:38:55
you you you could have been exceptional
00:38:57
just being very good yeah well I
00:38:59
wouldn't say I was very good I was
00:39:00
pretty average I don't know about that I
00:39:02
don't know I mean you you um were in the
00:39:04
kense league team that won the World Cup
00:39:05
in 2003 and you scored a try so yeah
00:39:08
lucky it's not no it's not downplay your
00:39:11
achievements I think I fell over the
00:39:12
line on that one that um but we Jesus so
00:39:15
you've done a lot of work you've done a
00:39:17
f ton of work has that just sort of has
00:39:19
that been have you had like counseling
00:39:21
or professional help or have you just
00:39:22
sort of figured it out on your oh
00:39:24
definitely definitely had professional
00:39:25
help yeah but also like just I think
00:39:28
it's reflection on some of your actions
00:39:30
you know and just really like you know
00:39:32
think you know you think about when
00:39:35
you're going through it I feel as though
00:39:37
that I started off at the bottom and had
00:39:41
all of these these traumatic things and
00:39:42
and things that happened to me but
00:39:45
because I started so back I had to come
00:39:47
so far and so it took me so long to
00:39:49
realize that the only person that's
00:39:51
going to save you is you um the only
00:39:53
person that is going to help you or get
00:39:55
you through this or get what you want
00:39:57
out of this is you and so and cuz I was
00:40:01
kind of waiting for someone to save me
00:40:02
and that's and personal relationships is
00:40:04
the same thing oh I'm terrible to date
00:40:06
like I'm terrible I was going to wonder
00:40:09
about that in the University um the
00:40:11
university years so um yeah I had some
00:40:13
mates of mine that loved brawling they
00:40:15
loved going out on the weekend and they
00:40:17
look for fights at at parties and stuff
00:40:18
and I I was never into that but most of
00:40:20
these guys um when they got into a
00:40:22
relationship it was sort of the the
00:40:24
stabilizer that they needed did did you
00:40:26
not have like a a partner that was like
00:40:28
Hey M come on let's not no I I because
00:40:31
I'm so stubborn that I just kind of did
00:40:33
I was just like you can say that but
00:40:35
that doesn't mean I'm going to do it
00:40:36
like thank you thank you for your
00:40:38
input I appreciate the suggestion
00:40:41
but so I've had to really like you know
00:40:44
and and you know um I've I've really had
00:40:47
to dig deep around that the the the
00:40:49
personal relationships and you know
00:40:51
they've hurt you know some of those
00:40:52
relationship breakups they've really
00:40:54
hurt and I've really had to grow from
00:40:56
those those yeah um are you are you into
00:40:58
are you into guys or girls or both girls
00:41:00
girls yeah thanks for asking D is is
00:41:03
that okay yeah I don't know is it yeah
00:41:05
um so again that that that no no well I
00:41:08
just wonder if that was another thing
00:41:10
the [ __ ] storm that you had going on
00:41:12
like you weren't connected with your
00:41:13
culture yeah these these unresolved
00:41:15
anger issues yeah drinking problem maybe
00:41:18
maybe the drinking problem was caused
00:41:19
and and sexuality like how how long were
00:41:22
you in denial for or keeping that um
00:41:25
coming to terms with that yeah well
00:41:27
don't really talk about this much but we
00:41:29
don't have to no no I I don't mind um um
00:41:34
so I'm a bit of a funny one so I was how
00:41:38
do I put this I was out but I wasn't
00:41:40
would be the word so like my friends
00:41:42
knew like rugby players you know soccer
00:41:45
players cricket players we all hang out
00:41:47
so
00:41:49
party
00:41:51
right but like I never I never really
00:41:54
discussed it or anything like that or
00:41:56
never really sort of said hey I'm over
00:41:58
here I'm a lesbian you know come see me
00:42:00
sort of thing I never had those
00:42:01
discussion I never even had a discussion
00:42:03
with my father to this day I've never
00:42:06
said to him hey Dad guess what this is
00:42:08
what I am I had a discussion when I I
00:42:10
came out to my mother when I was about
00:42:14
19
00:42:16
and wasn't great she wasn't great no it
00:42:19
wasn't that she wasn't great she was
00:42:20
just like I love you but it's I'm I'm
00:42:23
sure this is just a
00:42:25
face what were they religious or no
00:42:29
no absolutely not religious you can
00:42:33
understand if it's what they believe in
00:42:34
the Bible or whatever yeah so so not
00:42:37
religious at all and I just think it was
00:42:39
that time right you know and I don't
00:42:41
look I come from the smallest town on
00:42:43
Earth yeah come on you had so much going
00:42:45
against you like um yeah that's what I
00:42:47
mean by starting at the bottom moldy uh
00:42:50
you gay yeah [ __ ] yeah [ __ ] alcoholic
00:42:54
ADHD dyslexia anyone want to carry on
00:42:57
with the list you know so so
00:43:00
so to even go to university I was the
00:43:03
first person in my family to get a
00:43:06
degree so that that's you've got the
00:43:08
context of that when I talk to my other
00:43:10
friends who are not Marty they're like
00:43:13
oh yeah we talked about education right
00:43:15
through our lives I was like my parents
00:43:16
didn't even know they like so what are
00:43:18
you going to do next year I'm like I
00:43:19
don't know like stay home with you
00:43:22
they're like absolutely not my mother
00:43:24
was just like you know what you've got
00:43:26
two options here you either go to
00:43:27
university or I'm sending you to the
00:43:29
Army I was like is this a joke and she's
00:43:31
like no it's not a joke she drove me to
00:43:34
denan to sit there to do the the Army
00:43:37
test and I sat down did the Army test
00:43:39
and I came back in and she goes right
00:43:41
what do you think I said take me to
00:43:42
[ __ ] Christ
00:43:43
St I am not going under the I will not
00:43:47
survive oh I don't know I I feel like in
00:43:49
that environment you would have thrived
00:43:51
maybe maybe not at that time though no I
00:43:52
don't think so I think I would have got
00:43:54
what do they call that military
00:43:56
dispar or I would have kicked out I
00:43:59
would have got kicked out I definitely
00:44:01
would have got Ked out and and who is
00:44:02
who's Peter Joseph oh he's amazing he's
00:44:05
yeah so so he took you overseas on your
00:44:06
first trip right first time out of the
00:44:07
country to Hong Kong first time out of
00:44:09
the country i' never been out of the
00:44:11
country before he took a bunch of M
00:44:14
women who from real um small areas so
00:44:18
some of them are from Bay up in fatano B
00:44:20
had plenty and all around that area um
00:44:23
some orlanders I was the only South
00:44:25
Island at the time and then Tessa came
00:44:27
on
00:44:28
board he took a bunch of moldy women
00:44:32
overseas to Hong Kong and have you been
00:44:34
to Hong Kong yeah yeah I have it's crazy
00:44:38
place it's not Riverton it's not riveron
00:44:40
is it and and like and know there's the
00:44:42
cultural aspects to it and there's
00:44:45
there's people freaking everywhere the
00:44:46
smells are out the gate it's just busy
00:44:49
right and he took us over there and I
00:44:51
was just like man we were like in la la
00:44:54
land I didn't know what the hell was
00:44:55
going on to be hon honest that's crazy
00:44:58
amazing and is is that where you met
00:44:59
Jonah there's a photo I saw in line of
00:45:01
you with Jonah yeah yeah and if you look
00:45:02
at that photo um there's a few famous
00:45:05
people and there's honey hamy in that
00:45:07
there's Amy
00:45:08
um Amy what's her last name she went and
00:45:11
played she went and played for Australia
00:45:15
and and got a Olympic medal for them
00:45:17
like a gold medal from there um yeah
00:45:19
there's a few people in that that photo
00:45:21
they're just awesome people and Jonah
00:45:24
yes so did you have an encounter with
00:45:26
joner or was it just a photo up we had a
00:45:27
photo up and had a we talk to him and
00:45:29
stuff like that but nothing really to be
00:45:31
honest but you didn't pick a fight with
00:45:32
him absolutely not we do you know we did
00:45:34
get on a fight in Hong Kong so there you
00:45:36
go oh my God so that's the sort of place
00:45:39
you can get incarcerated for years well
00:45:42
the yeah so we had a pqu Mii we called
00:45:46
her um so she was definitely not Mii but
00:45:49
man she was a good rugby player
00:45:50
Stephanie Mortimer she's broom hall now
00:45:53
um she won the try of the year in n
00:45:56
19 991 or 2,000 or something like that
00:45:59
she ran through me ran past mega and
00:46:02
stuff like that anyway we were out and
00:46:05
this guy was actually slapping around a
00:46:07
woman in the middle of the street and
00:46:10
Hong Kong's crazy cuz you know and then
00:46:12
we went to stop it and he just started
00:46:13
picking up cheers and started throwing
00:46:16
and and I was like whoa and then it I
00:46:19
went that way and Steph just went and it
00:46:21
just clocked her straight in the head
00:46:22
and split her split her eye open so we
00:46:25
had to put her in the um the ambulance
00:46:28
and she went to the the ambulance and
00:46:30
hospital and they're like oh we need to
00:46:31
stitch you up but you can't take you've
00:46:33
been drinking you can't have any
00:46:35
anesthetic so she got stitched up with
00:46:37
no anesthetic that's badass that's B she
00:46:40
bad like you know so there's some crazy
00:46:43
like there you know it women's rug is so
00:46:45
different from what it used to be like
00:46:48
um in terms of professionalism oh 100%
00:46:51
like I'm so glad it's not like it needed
00:46:53
to change it absolutely did like you
00:46:55
cannot do the stuff the stuff that we
00:46:57
did compared to what you can't do that
00:46:59
now you know you just look and Richard
00:47:01
played for Australia and so did a m
00:47:02
Marsh so if you even know who Enard
00:47:04
Richards is she's bit of a legend and
00:47:06
stuff like that in rugby terms she was
00:47:09
playing for Australia at that Hong Kong
00:47:10
sevens tournament so like like you could
00:47:13
play for anybody
00:47:16
yeah so um I was in 2003 I mentioned
00:47:19
this before that you were playing league
00:47:20
for the Ki you were in the Kiwi fence
00:47:22
for like three years right yeah three to
00:47:23
four years yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah so
00:47:26
you say you're pretty average but those
00:47:28
stats would would disagree I'd say
00:47:30
you're pretty good including winning the
00:47:32
uh the World Cup in 2003 so that was 20
00:47:34
years ago you were still drinking
00:47:36
heavily then y um but you must have
00:47:39
there must have been like a certain
00:47:40
level of discipline or professionalism
00:47:42
going
00:47:43
on I had the ab some sort of like
00:47:46
control or yeah I had the ability
00:47:50
to get up and get going if that makes
00:47:54
sense so so in that time in those five
00:47:56
to six years that I was playing I guess
00:47:58
playing probably at the peak that I that
00:48:00
I ever got to I trained a lot
00:48:04
and I guess I had I had really good
00:48:07
people around me like Tessa tahu who who
00:48:10
is an a crazy trainer she actually won
00:48:13
um just recently she's a little bit
00:48:15
older than I am um just she got sixed at
00:48:18
the world CrossFit Champs Masters wow
00:48:21
yeah that so just think of in in those
00:48:23
terms I was training with her and so
00:48:27
she'd be just like hurry up keep up
00:48:29
could ever keep up with her
00:48:33
like I couldn't even a lift as much as
00:48:35
she could like you know I was just you
00:48:37
know I was poor I'm short and so like
00:48:40
and she's just a ball of muscles and so
00:48:42
I was just like oh I might as well just
00:48:43
train with you so I trained a lot with
00:48:45
her and and I had the ability to just
00:48:48
get up but I also had the ability to
00:48:49
party and then get up and go again so I
00:48:52
I I think at one stage for Hong Kong and
00:48:55
these AR great stories these are not
00:48:57
good stories for anyone at home who ever
00:48:58
wants to to do any sport this is not
00:49:01
good stories by the way I I think that
00:49:03
that great stories just um because of
00:49:05
where you are at now in life and the
00:49:07
fact that you've you've been through
00:49:09
this I don't know a dark period I guess
00:49:11
and and you are through the other side I
00:49:13
think it's kind of
00:49:14
inspirational so we good War Stories
00:49:17
yeah you know I you know I was the
00:49:18
captain of the the canbury 7 side that
00:49:21
won um very long time ago the you know
00:49:24
kind of remember when we won
00:49:26
but before that I'd been out drinking in
00:49:28
the nightclub and someone had to come
00:49:30
and get me out of the nightclub to catch
00:49:31
the flight oh my
00:49:34
God those things happened and then it
00:49:36
happened again when I was going to Hong
00:49:38
Kong like someone again had to come and
00:49:40
get me help me in my car get going I
00:49:44
slept on the flight and then we got off
00:49:45
the flight and we started training so I
00:49:48
had no I had like freaking like maybe I
00:49:51
don't know 30 minutes
00:49:53
sleep how old were we at the time like
00:49:55
early 20s no I was like 25 20 well years
00:49:58
2 sish get to that that demograph
00:50:02
where you don't bounce back and turn a
00:50:04
hang over come on grow up yeah [ __ ]
00:50:08
cop on but I didn't though I didn't cop
00:50:09
on till like man I spent like six years
00:50:12
in Ireland so I I didn't cop on through
00:50:14
there like they are they enhan they were
00:50:17
like we we drank through the week and
00:50:19
you found you you like I found my people
00:50:22
I think I'm Irish I probably am a little
00:50:24
bit Irish but you know like we were just
00:50:27
like man they they can drink those Irish
00:50:29
like those pubs are full and fight as
00:50:31
well they drinking and fighting
00:50:32
apparently yeah I didn't fight when I
00:50:33
was there so the fighting actually
00:50:35
stopped around around about that age
00:50:36
anyway so yeah yeah CU so you started
00:50:40
coaching in 2012 you coached here
00:50:42
Australia Japan Ireland USA um Scotland
00:50:46
Italy Estonia yeah all over the place so
00:50:50
so during this entire coaching period
00:50:53
you were still like a little bit chaotic
00:50:55
very very chaotic yeah very chaotic I
00:50:57
was also I think you must have had under
00:51:00
under WPS to some degree like we we
00:51:03
quite quite stealthy with it no no no no
00:51:06
no how you never sort of called out or
00:51:08
no one pulled you up on it um I think
00:51:11
because I don't look
00:51:14
drunk you just handle your p no I don't
00:51:16
know I just don't I don't I don't my my
00:51:19
moods don't change sort of thing I'm
00:51:21
just so you're not getting extra
00:51:22
aggressive or violent but the time the
00:51:25
end no but you know get to miss to some
00:51:27
point it might happen but I just didn't
00:51:29
it didn't look I didn't look drunk I
00:51:31
looked the same from the start to finish
00:51:33
unless I got really wasted and then
00:51:35
someone's taking me like helping helping
00:51:37
me into a taxi but like you know so I
00:51:40
didn't you know I wasn't a Missy drunk I
00:51:42
wasn't like I wasn't Wast like I didn't
00:51:45
look wasted but I was like I was like
00:51:48
totally wasted like you know what I'm
00:51:50
saying like I was just like like people
00:51:52
were like no you don't even look drunk
00:51:53
and I'm like I am so wasted right now
00:51:55
and and the funny thing about it is that
00:51:58
I'd have one one drink and I could feel
00:52:01
alcohol really quickly so I'd get drunk
00:52:02
really quickly and then just kind of
00:52:05
monotoned it through I don't know I
00:52:07
don't know what to say
00:52:09
so you see at the beginning yeah I'm
00:52:12
just doubling back here so you only sort
00:52:13
of gave up drinking at the start of this
00:52:14
year complely so for the last couple of
00:52:17
years few years you've just been
00:52:18
drinking moderately like a normal
00:52:21
moderately yeah Norm I started what
00:52:23
happened I started getting sick like I
00:52:25
spewing every time like I'd have a
00:52:27
couple drinks and then I'd be in the
00:52:28
toilet spewing and so I was like man
00:52:31
this is there's something wrong here
00:52:32
like and then I just was like Fe and and
00:52:36
like you said the bounce back you know
00:52:38
the hangovers how old are you now 45
00:52:41
yeah it doesn't get easier no it doesn't
00:52:44
and so like the bounce backs I was Moody
00:52:46
and you know just really just and my my
00:52:49
body didn't feel right I didn't my brain
00:52:51
didn't feel right and I was just like I
00:52:53
I can't actually do this anymore I can't
00:52:54
actually function I can actually not
00:52:57
function whereas before I'd be just
00:52:59
getting up and go go go go go yeah and
00:53:02
if you got like
00:53:03
um if you got like some sort of like
00:53:06
underlying like mental health issues or
00:53:08
unresolved stuff yeah um you you can
00:53:10
numb that pain with alcohol but then the
00:53:12
next day it's even worse it's even the
00:53:14
depress yeah they they what what do they
00:53:16
say it's 20 20 minutes of dopamine and
00:53:18
the rest of it
00:53:19
how yeah the depression just exasperates
00:53:22
the problems depress you a conflicted
00:53:25
relationship with alcohol yeah I I know
00:53:28
I drink more than what I should um and
00:53:31
I'm I'm the same as you like friends
00:53:33
princi will said to me I don't think
00:53:34
I've ever seen you drunk um you know but
00:53:37
I I can not back a couple of bottles of
00:53:38
wine and oh
00:53:43
jeez I'm surprised there isn't a bottle
00:53:45
of wine right here now
00:53:47
Tom oh no I've been I've been alcohol
00:53:49
shamed by
00:53:51
m yeah no it's interesting I know it's
00:53:54
not good for me I know need to get a you
00:53:56
know get get a grasp on it but it's um
00:53:58
yeah I I'd
00:54:00
even ask myself potentially if I'm an
00:54:03
alcoholic but Society has told us that
00:54:06
an alcoholic is someone that's sleeping
00:54:07
in their car or sleeping rough or you
00:54:10
know drinking um I don't know vodka out
00:54:13
of a pump bottle or drinking in the
00:54:15
morning and that's not me spping it all
00:54:17
day and you know having your hiding your
00:54:19
bottles in the thing 100% yeah yeah yeah
00:54:22
so that's interesting so yeah so when
00:54:23
did did you did you just reached the
00:54:25
conclusion on your own that you needed
00:54:26
some
00:54:27
help I reached the conclusion that it
00:54:30
wasn't a good drug yeah and um and it
00:54:33
wasn't helping my relationships with
00:54:35
anybody and so and at at the time I
00:54:40
guess my partner was drinking and that
00:54:43
was triggering the [ __ ] out of me
00:54:45
because my father drank and so and then
00:54:47
my grandfather drank and so you know so
00:54:50
I just got to the point where I actually
00:54:53
actually I just don't I want to drink
00:54:56
and um but the but no one tells you when
00:54:59
you stop drinking what what that after
00:55:02
effect every you know you you have to
00:55:03
pay for every little sin afterwards like
00:55:06
you know you're really what do you mean
00:55:08
it's
00:55:09
like for me I don't know what it's like
00:55:12
for anyone else but like your feelings
00:55:14
are Amplified because you've numbed them
00:55:17
for so long or you've disassociated from
00:55:19
them or whatever however you dealt with
00:55:20
it now your feelings are definitely and
00:55:23
you and you figure out oh my God I've
00:55:25
got feelings so when you said pay for
00:55:27
every sin do you mean like current guilt
00:55:30
and shame about current stuff or old
00:55:32
stuff old stuff I wouldn't give a rat
00:55:34
about yeah yeah I don't care about old
00:55:35
stuff it is what it is you know but yeah
00:55:37
it's it's it's that stuff where like now
00:55:40
you you've done something and you're
00:55:42
like probably said something you should
00:55:43
haven't said which happens um and then
00:55:47
forever you're like oh I should have't
00:55:49
said that and do you know and you're
00:55:51
kind of like I think that's normal I
00:55:53
think yeah but like before before before
00:55:56
when you were drinking not a rat's ass
00:55:59
no FKS given I suppose now that you're
00:56:02
not drinking at least when you wake up
00:56:04
in the morning you're not going to be
00:56:05
like [ __ ] what did I say last night what
00:56:07
did I do I never I didn't care no cuz I
00:56:11
was like I was drunk like do you know
00:56:12
what I mean I had I I had that back stop
00:56:14
where I could I could explain my way out
00:56:16
of it oh sorry about that it was a
00:56:17
little bit had too many of the whiskies
00:56:20
and I apologize but now Blame It On the
00:56:23
Alcohol I can Blame It On the Alcohol
00:56:24
but now I've just sorry that's just my
00:56:25
personality I'm sorry I'm an
00:56:28
ass you read Ruby's book I'm famously
00:56:31
imprt yeah yeah I'm I'm I uh before we
00:56:34
get into this conversation I just want
00:56:36
to apologize I'm going to be a total
00:56:37
[ __ ] soon wow so and was there like a
00:56:41
rock bottom like what was the Catalyst
00:56:42
that made you get some like counseling
00:56:44
or therapy
00:56:46
um I think the first time I went to
00:56:50
counseling um I was in Canada
00:56:52
coaching and probably my one of my
00:56:56
relationship fails and um man we drank
00:57:00
heaps we were drinking heaps and I was
00:57:02
just sitting there one night and I was
00:57:03
just like oh [ __ ] I actually I'm not
00:57:06
okay I'm not okay in terms of like I'm
00:57:09
actually drinking more than what I used
00:57:10
to and I'm drinking a lot like lot a lot
00:57:13
a lot and um you know I'm racing over
00:57:17
police cars and running over them and
00:57:20
doing oh my God how old were you been
00:57:23
could have been 35 my God
00:57:25
[Laughter]
00:57:29
like you're one of my mates you know I
00:57:31
told you about my mates that like
00:57:32
fighting one of them was famous for
00:57:33
doing that would walk from Pub Pub to
00:57:35
Pub or Club to club and he'd go run run
00:57:38
over people's cars or whatever did he
00:57:40
did he run over a police car no not a
00:57:42
police car in Canada but also it's kind
00:57:44
of crack up when you're 1920 21 not at
00:57:48
in your 30s right like you know I play I
00:57:51
played like top level rugby right
00:57:53
towards 37 and then I just slowly like
00:57:56
you know had a stopped playing in
00:57:58
Ireland then went to Canada for weever
00:58:00
and I played one game in in
00:58:03
there this is this is not a good story
00:58:06
but um no these stories are great
00:58:07
stories this is not a good story but
00:58:10
like anyway we were short and I said oh
00:58:12
can you jump on I said yeah sure
00:58:14
whatever sat there passed the ball a
00:58:17
couple of times and then because I was
00:58:19
really not interested in playing and I
00:58:21
was hung over so then so
00:58:25
so and then um I don't know what
00:58:28
happened we're in there we're you know
00:58:30
we're we're doing okay um it was hot as
00:58:33
hell cuz it it's in the Canadian um we
00:58:36
were down in Edmonton it's a summer so
00:58:38
it's really hot I'm sweating away I'm
00:58:41
like dying and I just kep on getting hit
00:58:44
by this this this player and I was just
00:58:46
like look if you do that one more time
00:58:49
I'm actually going to I'm going to knock
00:58:51
you out and she's just like cuz she must
00:58:54
have done it three or four times and I I
00:58:56
hate being hit when I I didn't even know
00:58:58
the ball oh okay so so she was playing
00:59:00
dirty yeah and then she just goes and
00:59:03
then she did it again I got up and I
00:59:05
walked towards her and she just put her
00:59:07
arm back and I just went gonk she just
00:59:09
knocked her out like so and did War I
00:59:14
did warn her and then um so anyone
00:59:16
listen to this you do you're not allow
00:59:17
you're actually not allowed to do that
00:59:19
um so I got
00:59:20
recounted um and this is the horrible
00:59:23
thing this is this is why I didn't
00:59:25
really want to talk about it after the
00:59:27
game she came up to me and I said look
00:59:29
I'm really sorry that I hit you I just I
00:59:31
I don't know I thought you were going to
00:59:33
hit me then you know and she goes do you
00:59:35
realize I'm only
00:59:38
18 oh my God oh my [ __ ] God yeah so
00:59:43
how was that not the moment where you
00:59:46
made wholesale changes to your life that
00:59:49
was the start of it
00:59:51
okay
00:59:53
slow and I was a slow like I am so
00:59:56
freaking sorry like you know and and
00:59:59
like far out you can blame whatever you
01:00:01
want at it you can blame all these
01:00:03
things all the trauma all but doing that
01:00:05
to somebody who doesn't deserve that
01:00:07
even if she put her hand like even it
01:00:09
doesn't not matter like you know what I
01:00:10
mean
01:00:12
so I went to the guy um I went to the
01:00:18
guy uh who owned basically the club and
01:00:23
I said to him I need help I'm [ __ ]
01:00:26
drowning in my own [ __ ] basically I'm I
01:00:29
don't know if I'm going to survive this
01:00:31
like I'm I'm too old to be doing this um
01:00:34
I'm not okay like I'm really not okay I
01:00:37
I think I I need help was that hard for
01:00:39
you to say that or oh absolutely like I
01:00:42
you know I I needed help years ago like
01:00:45
but it was the first time IID actually
01:00:47
like I need I needed that we my 20s like
01:00:50
you know to be to be fair and I was now
01:00:53
like what 35
01:00:55
like it's it's it's seems alarming in a
01:00:58
way that it took you to say that you
01:00:59
think someone else would have said
01:01:01
something over the I suppose maybe you a
01:01:02
ready for it it's amazing there wasn't
01:01:05
some sort of an intervention by
01:01:06
teammates or I got away with so much
01:01:07
[ __ ] it's not funny like I got away with
01:01:10
it and that's you know you know
01:01:15
and I got away with it like it's not
01:01:18
like no one and they might have said
01:01:20
something like off cuff and stuff like
01:01:21
that joking around and but no one
01:01:23
actually was just like M what the hell
01:01:25
are you doing like you need to get your
01:01:27
[ __ ] together you need to get your [ __ ]
01:01:28
together like you know you know and and
01:01:30
like I said I'd been kicked off so many
01:01:31
teams but brought back because at some
01:01:34
point in time they kicked me off and
01:01:36
then I just work harder so I had to get
01:01:39
back on the team and I just stand on the
01:01:41
sideline sort of thing going yeah I can
01:01:43
make this team I'll get back on sort of
01:01:45
thing I had that confidence that I could
01:01:46
do it and I don't know where it came
01:01:47
from but so he got me the help um and he
01:01:52
and he paid for it like what was that
01:01:54
like a a therapist got me a psychologist
01:01:57
and we started journaling and and gave
01:02:00
me some techniques around some things
01:02:03
and you know that under that 18year old
01:02:06
even though I'd done that I I had um
01:02:07
been in a boxing ring like i' I'd done
01:02:10
Fight For Life in Ireland so I'd been in
01:02:14
so I don't know if I'm telling the story
01:02:16
very well but to do that to somebody is
01:02:18
out the freaking gate that's it's just
01:02:20
not okay and so it was
01:02:26
yeah and so I I saw her for the rest of
01:02:28
my time in Canada and then when I came
01:02:31
back to like then um you how how often
01:02:33
weekly every couple of weeks yeah every
01:02:35
second day every second day cuz I was at
01:02:37
that point where I needed to I need I
01:02:39
needed I needed more than usual would be
01:02:42
the word and that that's quite
01:02:43
confronting when you start digging
01:02:44
around and you know speaking it's like
01:02:47
pulling it a thread of cotton on a on a
01:02:48
t-shirt unre it what what did you find
01:02:51
what was the main like root of your your
01:02:54
problem s was it the sexuality thing the
01:02:57
the mold being moldy no sexuality thing
01:02:59
i' I'd come to grips with that that was
01:03:01
all good
01:03:02
um um myty I knew who I was so that was
01:03:06
fine and I I didn't need to reconnect
01:03:10
with my people that was something it was
01:03:13
it was round about rejection and
01:03:15
abandonment um so I felt really
01:03:17
abandoned and I was felt really unloved
01:03:20
um and I felt like nobody would would
01:03:22
love me or nobody would want me and so
01:03:24
so those and even now today I'm I'm
01:03:28
working through those sorts of things um
01:03:31
but it was who who who who from like
01:03:33
from your family
01:03:35
or yeah so where did the abandonment
01:03:37
issue stem from because I I was um a
01:03:40
guardian of a nephew for a while there
01:03:41
like family adoption so um uh my wife's
01:03:44
nephew he came to live with us from like
01:03:46
the age of four years and 11 months and
01:03:48
um we had to have a lot of therapy on on
01:03:50
his behalf cuz he's young and you
01:03:53
learned so much you learned about the
01:03:54
80% of the brain development's done in
01:03:56
the first Thousand Days yeah um it also
01:03:58
he had like attachment disorder and
01:03:59
abandonment issues and because of that
01:04:01
the therapist explain to us it's like
01:04:03
whenever he starts getting close to
01:04:05
someone he would push them away so he'd
01:04:07
try and make our lives difficult and
01:04:09
push us away so that when we eventually
01:04:10
give up on him he can be like that's it
01:04:13
I was right another person ditches me
01:04:16
yeah where where was your abandonment is
01:04:18
she's from so and you know everyone has
01:04:21
a traumatic story and whether it's it's
01:04:23
extreme or it's it's it's it's their
01:04:26
story but um also I hate being alone
01:04:30
like I'm I do not like it which I've had
01:04:32
to work really hard I'm a lot better now
01:04:34
I don't I don't mind it now my own
01:04:35
company's great I think I'm funny so so
01:04:39
um you are fny by the way
01:04:41
thanks um I guess from my father who I
01:04:46
thought that didn't really like even now
01:04:49
I I have a difficult relationship with
01:04:50
him we're a lot better we are a lot
01:04:53
better you think that's the
01:04:54
that's just his age and the way he was
01:04:56
bought or the military thing he just
01:04:59
wasn't very good at showing affection or
01:05:01
yeah showing like you know to get him to
01:05:03
say I love you you're like love you dead
01:05:06
you're just like all right yeah but he's
01:05:09
like a New Zealand man born in the born
01:05:10
in the 1940s yeah he's like 83 years old
01:05:13
give him a chance you know um but like
01:05:18
he he's a
01:05:21
very manly man um M so the and he was
01:05:26
brought up in violence as well probably
01:05:27
more than what I was so um and he was
01:05:32
very sort of matter of fact you either
01:05:34
do this or this is going to happen sort
01:05:36
of thing and so very much I didn't I
01:05:39
just didn't feel as though that he loved
01:05:40
me and um I and to this day I struggle
01:05:43
with it and to this day I struggle with
01:05:45
it we like I came back after um after
01:05:48
Ireland I moved back home and I lived
01:05:50
with him for a bit just to get myself
01:05:52
but I had a house in in viago
01:05:54
and I was moving out and getting my
01:05:55
stuff back into the house and getting
01:05:57
myself sorted sort of thing and
01:06:01
he I don't know if I should say this but
01:06:04
something had happened it was just
01:06:05
before Co and something had happened to
01:06:07
him and he just lost his [ __ ] and he was
01:06:11
just like you're [ __ ] dumb you're
01:06:13
useless as tits on a bowl this is this
01:06:15
this is this kind of stuff that we did
01:06:17
this is your dad this is my dad was like
01:06:18
80 years old at this time or late 70s
01:06:20
yeah yeah and your uselessness tits on a
01:06:23
ball this is what we heard when growing
01:06:24
up and
01:06:26
um I turned around and walked towards
01:06:29
him and I was like I I was like there's
01:06:32
only one and he called me stupid as well
01:06:34
which I'm not there's only one stupid
01:06:37
[ __ ] in standing in front of me
01:06:39
who can't even write a letter to
01:06:41
something so don't you dare call me
01:06:43
stupid when I've got a degree and I'm
01:06:45
just about to go off and do Masters so
01:06:47
don't you dare absolutely but there was
01:06:50
some ifw thrown in the
01:06:51
F so and I was walking why did you start
01:06:54
self-editing now yeah well I was like
01:06:56
[ __ ]
01:06:58
you oh man that's a heartbreaking story
01:07:00
and I walked towards him like I was
01:07:02
going to we were going to go Tong to
01:07:04
Tong and I got halfway over the road and
01:07:07
I had this
01:07:08
realization oh my God and I was shaking
01:07:11
and I was like I'm going to hit the one
01:07:16
person that I want love
01:07:20
from and I stopped myself and I was just
01:07:22
like you need to leave
01:07:24
you need to get your stuff you need to
01:07:26
go um and I will try and reconnect
01:07:29
another time but you need to [ __ ]
01:07:33
off and he took
01:07:35
off um I went out there a week later and
01:07:38
he's just like get out of my house I
01:07:39
don't want anything to do with you um
01:07:41
and I said Dad if you kick me out I will
01:07:45
not come back I will I will not
01:07:47
reconnect with you I'm I'm not [ __ ]
01:07:49
around with you and so it took us we
01:07:53
while to to sort that out and we've
01:07:55
slowly but surely I've put some
01:07:57
boundaries in how he speaks to me cuz he
01:07:58
used to just like you know just used
01:08:01
talk to me like a piece of shirt like
01:08:03
yeah which is not cool but you think oh
01:08:06
I'm feeling sad about this story you get
01:08:09
emotional when you tell
01:08:10
it or are you sort of like a bit numb to
01:08:13
it it's a heartbreaking story aw it's
01:08:16
yeah you see a lot lot of guys like um I
01:08:18
think of like yeah my my dad's a similar
01:08:20
AG he since late 70s and my uncles and
01:08:22
stuff and they were all pretty staunch
01:08:23
and but they generally sort of soften as
01:08:25
they get older um but it seems like if
01:08:28
your dad's doing that at 7980 it's like
01:08:31
it's been nicer to change or growth well
01:08:33
they ha but the yeah so he's not as hard
01:08:35
as he used to be and he's not as
01:08:37
explosive as he used to be but something
01:08:40
must have happened that day to really
01:08:41
stress him stress him to out right and
01:08:44
you know if I really stood back and
01:08:46
looked at
01:08:47
it he's bloody 80 years old like he
01:08:51
probably couldn't like write it he
01:08:53
doesn't understand how you know use his
01:08:54
ATM card or his cell phone or something
01:08:56
you know so it's a compassionate way of
01:08:59
looking at it it's yeah so you know um
01:09:02
so with me and him now there's
01:09:05
definitely
01:09:06
boundaries um and it gets overwhelmed
01:09:09
quite easily and I put the boundary in
01:09:11
there if you talk to me like that I'll
01:09:12
leave I'm I'm not putting up with us and
01:09:14
so now we have a better relationship
01:09:17
than we've ever had um which is
01:09:18
something that I've always wanted with
01:09:20
him was is a relationship with him cuz I
01:09:22
never had I had a relationship with my
01:09:24
mother but not him um and so I just I'm
01:09:31
I I guess I'm conscious that he's
01:09:34
83 yeah his time here is limited yeah so
01:09:37
let's just get the best out of this the
01:09:39
best out of the situation you're not
01:09:40
going to change him now to absolutely
01:09:43
not but also like you look at um yeah
01:09:47
when things happen like um the the
01:09:49
incident in Canada where you said to
01:09:51
that girl if you do that one more time
01:09:52
I'm going to knock you out you have
01:09:53
moments of realization where you're like
01:09:55
oh my God I am my father yes yeah so
01:09:59
this and that's half the problem I I
01:10:00
hated him like I I detested him I didn't
01:10:04
speak to him for two years because he
01:10:05
called me fat in front of people and I
01:10:07
was not fat I wasn't I was an
01:10:09
athlete he shamed me out in front of
01:10:11
people call me stupid but don't call me
01:10:13
overweight yeah well you can call me fat
01:10:15
now but like back then I was an actual
01:10:18
athlete I like I was like all of 70
01:10:21
kilos and like had shoulders like and
01:10:24
hamstrings and he's calling me fat in
01:10:26
front of somebody I was like oh
01:10:29
dude and so so we just basically just
01:10:32
didn't talk to each other like we we
01:10:33
were like if he was a high dad you know
01:10:35
and we just never did and and I just
01:10:37
wanted him to love me I just wanted him
01:10:39
to show and I wanted him to say he was
01:10:42
proud of me you know I wanted to say hey
01:10:44
the stuff you I always was yearning for
01:10:47
that you know and I was chasing it that
01:10:49
validation that validation has he seen
01:10:51
it has he seen his proud of you I bet he
01:10:53
has maybe part of them's jealous as well
01:10:55
because it's like you are the Apple
01:10:57
doesn't fall far from the trend you've
01:10:58
done a lot of work to get where you are
01:10:59
and he's never had the I don't know the
01:11:02
courage or the will or whatever to do
01:11:03
that work that probably the opportunity
01:11:05
cuz he had kids quite young okay yeah
01:11:07
yeah um and he had to work like he
01:11:09
didn't he went from he left home at 14
01:11:12
and had to work you know so and then had
01:11:14
kids so yeah that's not a not a therapy
01:11:16
generation and even if it was it's like
01:11:19
300 bucks for a session okay no need
01:11:21
shoes yeah yeah we need you we you he's
01:11:24
a freezing worker so they were ating a
01:11:25
lot of money so yeah so I think for what
01:11:29
I've been told by people when they see
01:11:31
him um but he talks about me in in a
01:11:36
good light and he even calls me by my
01:11:38
name midy otherwise he'll call me Mary
01:11:41
and which I cannot stand being called
01:11:43
the the P version of Mary yeah so so
01:11:46
like basically you go oh this is my
01:11:47
daughter Miry come around M oh my
01:11:49
daughter Mir you're just right
01:11:54
oh she's so good and she does this and
01:11:56
you're just like where did you come from
01:11:59
yeah well I'm sure yeah he is proud of
01:12:01
you maybe he just finds it hard to sort
01:12:02
of articulate but what what about you
01:12:04
are you proud of yourself that's the
01:12:06
most important thing I think yeah I'm
01:12:08
definitely I I think like I look back
01:12:10
and um I've done like I've done some
01:12:13
really crazy stuff some really cool
01:12:15
stuff like I coached the Estonian men's
01:12:16
team for Christ's sake you know sorry um
01:12:19
and they were awesome I was I've done
01:12:22
some really funny stuff like coaching at
01:12:25
Japan was one of my highlights um we won
01:12:28
that tournament coaching and and in the
01:12:31
states where I had an Olympic
01:12:32
Development Group that I really loved
01:12:34
they were really cool people um coaching
01:12:37
in Italy where they're like you know
01:12:39
English was zero and I'm coaching full
01:12:42
sessions in Italian and I can't speak
01:12:45
Italian so I still can't speak Italian
01:12:47
same Japan how does how does that work
01:12:49
you're coaching these foreign countries
01:12:50
like Estonia or Italy like how do you
01:12:52
get around the language barrier so there
01:12:54
was like a trans semi translator so she
01:12:56
would like seei so like it's a long
01:12:59
training It's a Long training yes you
01:13:01
might want you might have a plan
01:13:02
decision for an hour and a half it turns
01:13:04
in to be two hours because you're like
01:13:05
drawing where everything needs to be so
01:13:08
good whiteboard good understanding you
01:13:11
know a little bit of a demonstration
01:13:12
let's get to it and you're like no you
01:13:15
didn't understand that so you know Japan
01:13:18
I really love Japan I had a great time
01:13:20
um Ireland I was there for six years the
01:13:23
the team that I coached that I set up
01:13:25
over there was one of the best teams in
01:13:26
the world now a lot of them are playing
01:13:28
in the Irish Squad um they're playing in
01:13:31
the sevens and they you know text me
01:13:33
every now and then and I just love it
01:13:34
like it's cool like they're they're
01:13:36
awesome people aw awesome Bunches of
01:13:38
people that I worked with so yeah and so
01:13:40
what languages can you speak you must be
01:13:42
able to speak a little bit
01:13:48
none like that's nothing nothing you
01:13:52
speak fluent today no no terrible but
01:13:55
how how connected are you with your
01:13:56
culture now like have you done some work
01:13:58
there or yeah so so I'm doing uh my
01:14:02
masters in um treaty Partnerships and
01:14:05
alignment and doing building a rubic um
01:14:08
and basically you know doing some
01:14:11
research around how to partner with
01:14:13
moldi so that's been really amazing so
01:14:15
I've learned L doing that at the moment
01:14:16
yeah I'm doing that with egg research so
01:14:19
so I work for egg research now your your
01:14:21
dad's very wrong there's nothing St
01:14:23
about you oh I'm not stupid no no a
01:14:25
little bit dyslexic believe me texting
01:14:27
is not my thing do not text me ring me
01:14:30
no I I think that makes it even more um
01:14:33
inspiring because it's like say say most
01:14:35
people that don't have dyslexia say
01:14:37
they're starting on a a zero if you've
01:14:39
got dyslexia it's like you're starting
01:14:40
on a negative two you or negative
01:14:42
whatever you got to work that much
01:14:43
harder yeah but you can like yeah yeah
01:14:47
like just look you you got to play to
01:14:49
your your your your
01:14:52
strings and and texting and writing is
01:14:55
not my string so so I'm pretty lucky
01:14:57
that because I've identified that I've
01:14:59
got dyslexia um part of The Learning
01:15:02
Journey I guess I get a reader writer so
01:15:05
I will gather the
01:15:07
information um get as much together as I
01:15:09
can and then me and the r will sit down
01:15:11
and then we'll basically compose it all
01:15:13
together and then you get an academic
01:15:15
person to help you and so so I have a
01:15:17
lot of help but man does it take a lot
01:15:20
longer than a normal person holy crap
01:15:22
ISO yeah and and are you still high
01:15:24
performance manager at rugby South no no
01:15:27
no no stopped there girl you need to
01:15:29
update your LinkedIn
01:15:30
page um but I mean it's so that is a job
01:15:34
that you've had so you've got these um
01:15:36
you know you've had this amazing varied
01:15:39
career including some sort of like
01:15:41
office jobs I guess like that yeah
01:15:43
office jobs o yeah um so now you're a
01:15:47
commentator for sky sport and moldy TV
01:15:49
yeah so I do do FBC when we've got uh
01:15:53
when they give you the work I guess
01:15:54
because you're you're a contractor and
01:15:56
then for forart we do like super rates
01:16:00
which is all over the place so that's
01:16:03
school boy rugby yeah cool and and your
01:16:06
mental health how's that now has it have
01:16:08
you noticed like a significant
01:16:10
Improvement since you no I I think it's
01:16:12
got worse like I think I feel everything
01:16:16
and like and I'm just like I feel
01:16:18
absolutely everything now like you know
01:16:20
you know um and so I've had to work
01:16:23
really hard and and pull all of those
01:16:26
tools out to go it's just you know
01:16:29
you're just you're just sober it's
01:16:31
pretty much what I put it down to you
01:16:33
just so now so it's like this is what
01:16:36
the this is what the normal world looks
01:16:38
like and for me
01:16:41
like I found like I guess for me I I
01:16:44
love drinking cuz it was fun like I had
01:16:46
great time the dopamine hits were
01:16:48
amazing the fogginess not so much right
01:16:50
that coming down and so now on just like
01:16:53
I feel as though that my life is like
01:16:55
really sort of what I would call
01:16:58
boring but after the after the um chaos
01:17:01
the chaos that you've had is is is is
01:17:04
the boredom or the boring kind of nice
01:17:07
the peacefulness is is is different
01:17:11
um like I'm I'm at peace with a lot of
01:17:13
things um er but I do sometimes I'm just
01:17:19
like o like you know I I'm what can I do
01:17:23
that's kind of a bit fun and and things
01:17:26
like that bit Edy you know I by the way
01:17:28
can I just say how refreshing it is and
01:17:30
how much I love the way you speak about
01:17:31
that because you get a lot of um your
01:17:33
reformed Drinkers and they'll be like oh
01:17:35
you sleep so much better my skin
01:17:36
improved my life's so much better blah
01:17:38
blah blah it's nice hearing you say no I
01:17:40
missed this you know I do I do I miss
01:17:43
the you know I I we went when we were at
01:17:46
over in the states for four weeks
01:17:48
coaching um you know everyone goes out
01:17:50
drinking I was like oh I'm not going to
01:17:51
go out cuz I'm boring but I went out you
01:17:55
know went out and had a good time and
01:17:57
you know stuck on the soda Waters and
01:17:58
things like that and I was just like oh
01:18:00
yeah this is all right but in my head I
01:18:02
was like going [ __ ] this is boring like
01:18:04
this is I am so boring right now there's
01:18:07
people jumping up on the the tables they
01:18:09
look like they're having fun I'm
01:18:10
standing here watching the people
01:18:12
jumping up on the tables and I'm
01:18:14
thinking man that looks fun yeah but the
01:18:17
the the M that I've sat down with for
01:18:19
the last what 80 minutes um that's a fun
01:18:23
[ __ ] person is it yeah I I could see
01:18:26
I could imagine you do you just not have
01:18:27
the desire to jump on tables like when
01:18:29
you cuz I could imagine you jumping on a
01:18:31
table I kind of make no no no no no no
01:18:33
no not
01:18:37
sober well so what's the rest of your
01:18:40
life um going to look like what's what's
01:18:41
next what's coming up are you much of a
01:18:43
planner or goal sitter or you just see
01:18:44
what comes Comes Your Way
01:18:47
um I haven't really I've sort of been a
01:18:50
bit funny with the goal setting normally
01:18:53
I'm like I'm going to do this so when I
01:18:54
was coaching I was like I'm going to go
01:18:56
to America I'm going to go to Japan and
01:18:58
same with playing I'm going to play for
01:19:00
the kiwis do you know what I mean I was
01:19:02
and I F found that once I stopped really
01:19:04
playing high performance I was like who
01:19:06
Am I who who am I I've done all the
01:19:08
sport on my life I can't run anymore
01:19:10
because I got plates all through my
01:19:11
ankles like you know I'm just like so
01:19:14
who am I now who is midy Baker like like
01:19:17
am I a coach am I somebody who works for
01:19:20
egg research am I a friend I a family
01:19:23
member what the hell am I like and it
01:19:26
it's taken me along probably the last
01:19:28
couple years to go actually I am someone
01:19:31
that's going to do I'm going to do this
01:19:33
because I really enjoy it I'm passionate
01:19:35
about rugby do I want to coach forever
01:19:37
probably not do I want to be a part of
01:19:39
rugby yeah but I don't want to be kind
01:19:42
of I don't really want to spend 24/7 in
01:19:47
rugby um do I want my family connection
01:19:50
absolutely of course I do um so you know
01:19:52
but that's nephews nieces all those
01:19:54
sorts of things are really important to
01:19:56
me now um but my my friends are really
01:19:58
important my friends group are really
01:20:00
important as well and so I took a bit of
01:20:02
time out from uh probably January to now
01:20:06
where I just kind of isolated myself a
01:20:08
little bit to actually go Roo what does
01:20:11
Mitty Baker want and Mitty Baker wants
01:20:14
security when she's retired I still want
01:20:17
to have a little bit of fun so I want to
01:20:18
hang out with my friends I want those
01:20:20
that social
01:20:21
connections um and I want my family
01:20:23
around me as much as possible as as that
01:20:26
can happen so so that's what's more
01:20:28
important to me now um
01:20:31
not not going to America and and
01:20:34
coaching in pn7 I had a great time but I
01:20:37
didn't really like it again I kind of
01:20:41
was like a bit flat like I was I loved
01:20:44
it it was fun I didn't love it sorry I
01:20:46
did love it but it was flat like you
01:20:48
know it wasn't this like Yay like it was
01:20:52
just weird I feel like I'm a zombie and
01:20:55
so that's just nothing was sort of
01:20:57
bringing you like The Joy or the
01:20:58
happiness you thought it would maybe joy
01:21:00
joy is the word and so I've had to this
01:21:03
year I've had to really think about you
01:21:05
know I want that lifetime partner I want
01:21:07
that person that's going to be that
01:21:08
special person but I'm also really
01:21:10
[ __ ] scared of it are you in a
01:21:12
relationship at the moment no no so and
01:21:16
well you got to move out of bluff for
01:21:18
starters yeah well there you go I'm
01:21:19
moving to Christ Church in two weeks so
01:21:21
that's the first thing you know
01:21:23
on grinder and Bluff what are you going
01:21:25
to find you think I was gum grinder I
01:21:28
don't
01:21:31
know yeah so like you know um and just
01:21:34
sort of like and I I really did head
01:21:36
away I I I basically took some time I
01:21:39
needed that time it did take me longer
01:21:41
than I expected um and you know I had a
01:21:44
massive relationship breakup in January
01:21:46
and and how long how long were you in a
01:21:49
relationship for three years so not not
01:21:51
not relatively long you know like I no
01:21:53
it is though it's long it's it's it's
01:21:55
enough for it's it's enough for me
01:21:57
believe
01:21:59
me so and and so I just sort of said no
01:22:01
I need to I need to actually sit down
01:22:04
and actually be alone be okay with being
01:22:06
alone um and then you know did I dating
01:22:11
other I dated another person after that
01:22:13
they were really lovely it it just it
01:22:16
just didn't work out like and it's just
01:22:17
one of those things it's not it's not
01:22:19
like it wasn't a breakup like the
01:22:22
explosive breakup that people think you
01:22:24
know it's just just relationships
01:22:26
usually fizzle out a they run their
01:22:28
course yeah they run the course and I
01:22:29
just think on one of those people that
01:22:31
are [ __ ] scared of relationships as well
01:22:33
like [ __ ] scared of being so the last
01:22:36
you think about it from um the age of
01:22:39
was it 31 or something like that I don't
01:22:42
know I've been bouncing across the world
01:22:44
for the last 10 to 12
01:22:46
years no I feel caged in like like like
01:22:50
in a relationship I feel so PED in and
01:22:53
and I feel as though that I'm going to
01:22:55
explode like I have to do the right
01:22:57
thing I have to be the good partner and
01:22:58
I have to do this and I have to act like
01:23:00
a good partner but really what I want to
01:23:02
do is want to come in have a good time
01:23:04
and then kind of go off and do my Moody
01:23:06
stuff somewhere
01:23:08
else like you know and then still do a
01:23:10
bit of rugby and still a bit of this and
01:23:12
then and then I don't have to deal with
01:23:14
that [ __ ] is is this the ADHD do you
01:23:16
think yeah I definitely are you on are
01:23:19
you on um like Rin or consu or no we're
01:23:22
going to the process of what what you're
01:23:24
not on any meds yet no I've never been
01:23:25
on meds and I don't I honestly was like
01:23:28
look I was simply going I am not ADHD
01:23:30
cuz someone was like I think I think you
01:23:32
think it might be ADHD I'm not [ __ ]
01:23:34
ad just stop saying that to me that is
01:23:36
such that's so disrespectful you know
01:23:38
how dare you call me ADHD and then I was
01:23:41
like actually might have a point there
01:23:44
yeah you might have you're a Divergent
01:23:46
at least can we just go from hav we just
01:23:48
go sprinkles yeah sprinkles sprinkles of
01:23:50
crazy well it it's um it's exciting
01:23:52
where you're at and it's exciting that
01:23:54
you're doing you're doing the work and
01:23:56
uh you know that you've got more work to
01:23:57
do I think I think it's cool like like
01:24:00
every day is a chance to reinvent or
01:24:02
improve or tweak yeah tweaking TW you
01:24:05
always kind of you know you talk about
01:24:07
people who they're like oh I want to
01:24:08
heal I actually in my in my head I
01:24:11
actually don't think that you can heal I
01:24:13
think you can just gain tools to
01:24:15
actually mitigate
01:24:18
situations what would your uh what would
01:24:20
your message be to any any like young
01:24:23
person I I don't know like puberty age
01:24:25
teens early even early to late 20s I
01:24:27
guess moldy or otherwise um that's where
01:24:30
you were like like just angry maybe
01:24:33
drinking a bit much yeah mad at the
01:24:35
world yeah what would you what would
01:24:37
your message be to them CU it took took
01:24:39
you a long time and a lot of work
01:24:41
to I'm definitely a better person now I
01:24:44
I and
01:24:45
um yeah definitely a better person uh M
01:24:49
it's more like you're not alive
01:24:53
um there's people out there that it's
01:24:55
going through exactly what you're going
01:24:57
through um and your mind and I guess the
01:25:01
funny thing is you go back to what I
01:25:02
said to Ruby I guess when she was 18
01:25:04
that your mind plays tricks on you like
01:25:06
that they're there your mind is there to
01:25:08
deceive you same thing as like you can
01:25:10
relate it back to being an athlete your
01:25:12
mind is going to tell you you can't do
01:25:14
it but your will will do will get you
01:25:16
through and so I've had to really I and
01:25:18
I guess the message would be is like
01:25:20
don't listen to your [ __ ] head
01:25:24
my it is lying to
01:25:27
you but just just chicken yeah I I
01:25:31
really like that I think that's really
01:25:32
cool and um yeah
01:25:34
hopefully um some someone that needs to
01:25:37
hear this will hear it or someone that
01:25:39
knows someone that needs to hear this
01:25:41
will pass it on to them um but yeah
01:25:44
ultimately I think you have to reach
01:25:46
that point on your own a lot of the time
01:25:47
don't you like you did yeah I I do wish
01:25:50
that when I was younger someone pulled
01:25:51
me aside side someone did actually say
01:25:53
something when I was really younger um
01:25:56
and it was actually uh Tessa's
01:25:58
ex-boyfriend he came out to me and he
01:25:59
was just like do you know you're a
01:26:01
really good rugby player and rugby
01:26:03
league player I said no I'm just you
01:26:05
know cruising cuz I turned up
01:26:07
drunk and I'm just like you know just
01:26:09
caught a couple tries Turing up you know
01:26:11
half C and I was like no I'm not
01:26:13
actually good he goes no you you could
01:26:14
go a long way in the sport you could you
01:26:16
can make the Kiwi F and then you know I
01:26:19
tapped tesser on the shoulder this is
01:26:21
when I didn't even know and I was like
01:26:23
can I come training can I you know
01:26:24
you're the one with the biggest muscles
01:26:26
on the team can I come and train with
01:26:27
you and she's like yep and so I I tuned
01:26:30
up after that and I in the end I did I
01:26:33
did make those teams but you know wasn't
01:26:36
that's very similar to the Ruby story
01:26:37
about you yeah but you planting the seed
01:26:40
in Ruby toy yeah so so someone so I just
01:26:43
someone will some will be that Catalyst
01:26:45
of change somewhere along the line I
01:26:47
just wish someone had done it a little
01:26:49
bit earlier for me so like they and they
01:26:52
called me out on my [ __ ] I wish someone
01:26:54
had actually called me out yeah why why
01:26:56
did you get a free pass for so long I'm
01:27:00
funny I don't know I don't think I like
01:27:04
like even though I was getting kicked
01:27:05
out of team's left right and Center they
01:27:07
would bring me back into the team so
01:27:09
like you know and I just behave a little
01:27:12
bit better you know just turn up a
01:27:13
little bit earlier or so you didn't know
01:27:16
right from wrong and you could help
01:27:18
yourself yeah I suppose yeah surprised
01:27:23
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah this has been a
01:27:27
really enjoyable podcast I wasn't sure
01:27:29
what I was going to get with you like I
01:27:30
had had some done a bit of research had
01:27:32
some notes but um [ __ ] this has been
01:27:34
great this has been fun has it been fun
01:27:35
for you yeah it's been great I've now
01:27:37
that I can um go off and do my own
01:27:38
podcast yeah yeah
01:27:41
cool just using me for my um
01:27:44
intellectual property I hope you can cut
01:27:46
some of this are you going to cut some
01:27:47
of this um only I I extend an invite to
01:27:50
all the guests that if there's anything
01:27:51
they want to cut out like if you if you
01:27:53
go to sleep tonight and you wake up at 4
01:27:54
in the morning and think oh [ __ ] I
01:27:55
shouldn't have said that I'll cut it out
01:27:58
but otherwise no no you look I'm I'm
01:28:00
pretty much sure that most people that
01:28:01
know me that will listen to this will
01:28:03
will know the story anyway and know all
01:28:05
of the Antics that I got up to in the in
01:28:08
the first place and and things like that
01:28:09
so like you know is what it is yeah I'm
01:28:12
not I'm not ashamed and nor should you
01:28:15
be nor should you be yeah I oh M B I'm
01:28:18
I'm so pleased um that when you slid
01:28:19
into my DMs inviting yourself on my
01:28:22
podcast I I said [ __ ] yes I'm pleased
01:28:24
it's been a lot of fun yeah it's been
01:28:26
great thanks for having me yeah you're
01:28:27
awesome and thanks for sharing your
01:28:28
story don't don't cry too much
01:28:30
my

Podspun Insights

In this episode, the conversation takes a deep dive into the life and experiences of Mey Baker, who candidly shares her journey from a chaotic upbringing in Riverton to becoming a prominent figure in the world of rugby. The episode kicks off with a humorous exchange about Mey's unexpected request to join the podcast, setting a light-hearted tone that belies the depth of the topics explored.

Mey opens up about her early life on a farm, her struggles with identity and culture, and the challenges of navigating the world of sports as a Māori woman. The discussion flows into her experiences with alcohol, revealing how it intertwined with her athletic career and personal relationships. Mey's honesty about her past, including moments of anger and self-sabotage, creates an emotional backdrop that resonates throughout the episode.

The conversation shifts to her coaching career, where she reflects on her abrasive style and the lessons learned from mentoring athletes like Ruby Tui. Mey's insights into the evolving culture of sports and the importance of understanding players' needs add a layer of depth to the discussion. As she talks about her journey towards sobriety, listeners are treated to a raw and real account of the struggles and triumphs that come with personal growth.

With humor and heart, Mey Baker's story unfolds, offering a unique perspective on resilience, identity, and the pursuit of connection. This episode is not just about sports; it's about the human experience, making it a compelling listen for anyone navigating their own challenges.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most emotional
  • 90
    Best overall
  • 88
    Most inspiring
  • 88
    Best performance

Episode Highlights

  • M Baker's Journey
    M Baker shares his journey from a multi family background to sports success.
    “I was born and bred down in the bottom of the earth.”
    @ 02m 14s
    February 11, 2024
  • Ruby Tui's Book Mention
    M Baker reflects on being mentioned in Ruby Tui's book, highlighting their coaching relationship.
    “I was just like what the [ __ ] Ruby people are going to think I'm crazy.”
    @ 11m 58s
    February 11, 2024
  • The Power of Influence
    A coach reflects on their impact on players, including Ruby Tui, who credits them with teaching her the power of her mind.
    “She credits you with teaching her the power of her mind.”
    @ 19m 15s
    February 11, 2024
  • A Reckless Phase
    The speaker shares their struggles with anger and self-sabotage during their youth, hinting at a near brush with jail.
    “I was supposed to go to the Olympics for hockey and I was just so freaking angry.”
    @ 34m 50s
    February 11, 2024
  • Self-Sabotage Reflections
    Looking back, I realized I self-sabotaged my opportunities.
    “God damn it, you know I had all of those opportunities.”
    @ 38m 42s
    February 11, 2024
  • Alcohol and Relationships
    Exploring the impact of alcohol on personal relationships and self-awareness.
    “The only person that’s going to save you is you.”
    @ 39m 51s
    February 11, 2024
  • First in Family to Graduate
    Breaking barriers as the first in my family to earn a degree.
    “I was the first person in my family to get a degree.”
    @ 43m 06s
    February 11, 2024
  • Realizations About Alcohol
    Understanding the negative effects of alcohol on my life and relationships.
    “I reached the conclusion that it wasn’t a good drug.”
    @ 54m 30s
    February 11, 2024
  • The Catalyst for Change
    A moment of clarity leads to seeking help after years of struggle.
    “I need help, I'm drowning in my own [ __ ].”
    @ 01h 00m 26s
    February 11, 2024
  • Confronting Family Dynamics
    Navigating a difficult relationship with his father and the struggle for validation.
    “I just wanted him to love me.”
    @ 01h 10m 39s
    February 11, 2024
  • Navigating Life After Sports
    Mitty Baker reflects on her identity beyond rugby and the challenges of finding purpose.
    “Who am I now?”
    @ 01h 19m 06s
    February 11, 2024
  • Facing Relationship Fears
    Mitty opens up about her fears of commitment and the impact of past relationships.
    “I'm scared of relationships.”
    @ 01h 21m 10s
    February 11, 2024

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Mindset Matters16:30
  • Self-Sabotage38:42
  • Personal Growth39:51
  • Alcohol Awareness54:30
  • Desire for Love1:10:39
  • Dyslexia Journey1:14:59
  • Career Reflections1:15:47
  • Podcast Experience1:27:34

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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