What a Lad

Dan Cron- What a Lad

In this episode I catch up with a man very well known for his stories, Hurricanes scrum coach, Dan Cron.
Crono has had a pretty unique pathway through the coaching ranks which has seen him involved with teams including the Black Ferns, Northland, Tonga, Samoa, Kubota in Japan and of course the last 10 years with the Hurricanes. 
Crono is a champion bloke who loves a yarn and he certainly delivers with some classic stories from his career in this episode. He also gives some good insight in to some of the players he's coached and what makes a successful rugby player.
As always, if you enjoy this episode please share it and if you want to ask any of my guests a question or just follow the journey head to the link below
https://www.instagram.com/what_a_lad_podcast/?hl=en
This episode was brought to you 3 fabolous partners and to get involved with a special discount from any of them see below 
Fortune Favours, to purchase any product with a 15% discount head to https://www.fortunefavours.beer/ and put whatalad in the promo code. Delivered to your doorstep anywhere in NZ.
Pure Sport CBD, to try some of this great product head to https://puresportcbd.com/ and enter whatalad20 in the promo code for 20% off. You will not regret it!
Mascaped, to purchase any product from them with a discount
Go to http://manscaped.com/ and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: WHATALAD #manscapedpod
 

Leicester Fainga'anuku- What a Lad

In this episode I catch up with one of the most talented and most exciting young talents coming through the NZ ranks at the moment, Leicester Fainga'anuku. 
Leicester was a school boy superstar, he was just like he is today big, strong and fast! However, all his life wanted to play rugby league, loved it and never saw rugby union as an option. As a 15 year old kid, he had a very difficult decision to make, whether he goes to Australia to take a contract with the Sydney Roosters and live his dream or stay and play Union with his brother Tima with the Tasman Mako. 
Leicester also talks about his time playing against All Blacks at the age of 15, his time with the Crusaders, his selection in the South team and some exciting plans for his future.
Leicester is a great young lad, who could be anything in this game or whatever he pursues so it was awesome to sit down and talk through the journey. If you enjoy this episode or know someone that you think will please share it, it all helps. If you want to ask any of my guests a question or just follow the journey head to the link below
https://www.instagram.com/what_a_lad_podcast/?hl=en
 
This episode as always was brought to you 3 fabolous partners to get involved with a special discount see below
Fortune Favours, to purchase any product with a 15% discount head to https://www.fortunefavours.beer/ and put whatalad in the promo code. Delivered to your doorstep anywhere in NZ.
Pure Sport CBD, to try some of this great product head to https://puresportcbd.com/ and enter whatalad20 in the promo code for 20% off. You will not regret it!
Mascaped, to purchase any product from them with a discount
Go to http://manscaped.com/ and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: WHATALAD #manscapedpod
 

Grayson Hart- What a Lad

With the exciting new partnership What a Lad has formed with Pure Sport CBD, I just had to get on the Co Founder, the self acclaimed journeyman and absolute lad himself, Grayson Hart.
So I first met Grayson as an under19 NZ super star, he was one of the true guns in the side, he even started ahead of Aaron Smith. He played for Auckland and the Blues at a very young age and was air marked the next big thing. Hearing from Grayson of the journey leading up to that and through his time in Auckland was incredibly interesting, as he reflects with real honesty.
Grayson then moved to Aussie for a fresh start with the Waratahs and shares a great yarn of his times with Michael Cheika.
Then he was off to Scotland, with a Scottish passport, where he played for Edinburgh, Glasgow and he even achieved his goal of playing international rugby for Scotland. After struggling with a knee injury and living off pain killers, he decided he needed to do something about it. This is what inspired him to set up his business Pure Sport CBD. This is such an awesome product helping so many people around the world, it was cool to hear what he's been through to get to where it is now and the plans going forward.
Grayson has played the last 3 years in the UK in the Championship and is currently playing for the Bedford Blues.
I hope you find this podcast as interesting as I did, I love hearing players speak with real honesty about there own careers. If you enjoy the episode it'd be much appreciated if you shared it. Also if you're keen to try Pure Sport CBD then head over to the website https://puresportcbd.com/ and enter the promo code whatalad20 for 20% off! Any questions on it message me.
 
Shoutout to fortune favours beer, to purchase any product with a 15% discount head to https://www.fortunefavours.beer/ and put whatalad in the promo code. Delivered to your doorstep anywhere in NZ.
Also shoutout out to Mascaped, Go to http://manscaped.com/ and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: WHATALAD #manscapedpod

John Plumtree- Prank

For this prank we go back a few years to when current All Black assistant coach John Plumtree was coaching the Hurricanes. Plum had just had a back operation mid season from carrying the side, so we got one of the great doctors, Dr Rogan Joshua to call him to see if he could get him to miss his flight with the team. Both myself and Reggie Goodes were a bit nervous of losing our spot pranking the coach so we handed this one to a very good info committee member, @mkainga who does a great job!
 
As you'll hear in the prank Plum is a very loyal man who always puts the team first and he also has a great sense of humour.
As always if you enjoy the prank please share it or if you're just keen to follow the journey head to the link below
https://www.instagram.com/what_a_lad_podcast/?hl=en
 
With 3 partners now on board head to any of the following links to purchase some of these great products at a juicy discount!
Fortune Favours- to purchase any product with a 15% discount head to https://www.fortunefavours.beer/ and put whatalad in the promo code. Delivered to your doorstep anywhere in NZ.
Pure Sport CBD- to purchase any Pure Sport CBD product head to https://puresportcbd.com/ and put in whatalad20 to receive 20% off
Manscaped- Go to http://manscaped.com/ and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: WHATALAD #manscapedpod

Quentin MacDonald- What a Lad

The king of Blenheim joins me for this one, as I sit down and go through the career of Tasman Mako legend Quentin MacDonald. Although Q has only ever played for one Provincial side in Tasman, he certainly has done the rounds with other teams having played for the Crusaders, the Blues, the Chiefs, NZ Maori, Munster and even 100 games for Oyonnax in France.
From a young age you could always tell that he was going to have a very successful career in Rugby and it was awesome to hear about it in more detail, from all the different moves he had to do to all the new enviroments that he went into. Not only was Q a great player but has always been a great lad, he's always smiling, he loves a beer and can do a great creed impression! 
As always if you enjoy this episode as always please share it and if you want to ask any of my guests a question or just follow the journey head to the link below
https://www.instagram.com/what_a_lad_podcast/?hl=en
 
This episode was brought to you by fortune favours, to purchase any product with a 15% discount head to https://www.fortunefavours.beer/ and put whatalad in the promo code. Delivered to your doorstep anywhere in NZ.
 
This episode was also brought to you by Mascaped, to purchase any product from them with a discount
Go to http://manscaped.com/ and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: WHATALAD #manscapedpod

Tim O'Malley- What a Lad

I've said it before but I'll say it again, you can't have a podcast called 'What a Lad' without getting the best lads in the game on! So the lad himself Tim O'Malley was an absolute must! He may not be one of the biggest names I've had on but he certainly is one of the best lads and he has been a massive part of the recent success of the Tasman Mako.
As well as the Tasman Mako, the man they call Bruce has also played for the Utah Warriors in America and the NEC Green Rockets in Japan where he's carved it up for his respective teams. Bruce is also very well known for his off field antics and has a big influence in driving a good team culture. 
As you'll hear from the podcast, Bruce is a great man and it was great to have him come on and share his story and some really valuable life lessons.
 
As always if you enjoy this episode as always please share it and if you want to ask any of my guests a question or just follow the journey head to the link below
https://www.instagram.com/what_a_lad_podcast/?hl=en
This episode was brought to you by fortune favours, to purchase any product with a 15% discount head to https://www.fortunefavours.beer/ and put whatalad in the promo code. Delivered to your doorstep anywhere in NZ.

Kieron Fonotia- What a Lad

The setting was perfect, the backdrop of the famous deck which over looks the sea, the shiny new bike just to my right with the sofa seat attached and a cold fortune favours in hand. Podcast settings don't get much better and to share it with Samoan International, Kieron Fonotia one of the real lads in NZ rugby, was special. 
Big Fonny has had an incredible career having played for the Tasman Mako, the Crusaders, the Ospreys and the Scarlets and he has some absolute classic yarns from his experiences throughout his journey.
I love the honesty that Fonz brings to the podcast, he's a man who is not afraid to say it how it is. I finished this podcast with sore checks from laughing so that's always a good sign.
It's awesome for NZ rugby to have the experienced players come back to the province where it all started for them and it's been awesome to see the influence Fonny has had on this Tasman Mako team. He's a lad!
As always if you enjoy this episode as always please share it and if you want to ask any of my guests a question or just follow the journey head to the link below
https://www.instagram.com/what_a_lad_podcast/?hl=en
 
This episode was brought to you by fortune favours, to purchase any product with a 15% discount head to https://www.fortunefavours.beer/ and put whatalad in the promo code. Delivered to your doorstep anywhere in NZ.
 

Anton Segner- What a Lad

In this episode, I catch up with the one of the most promising players coming through the NZ ranks at the moment, young German sensation Anton Segner! 
Anton who was born and raised in Frankfurt Germany has had a very unique journey! As a big kid, he in love with Rugby the first time he picked up the oval ball. As a young 15 year old, he decided to leave his family and come to NZ as a 6 month exchange student. He made the Nelson College 1st XV and quickly developed into one of NZs best school boys, playing 2 years in the NZ schools team.
Anton in his first year out of school, made his debut for the Tasman Mako last week with an impressive 30mins off the bench. As you'll hear in the podcast he's a great young man who does all the right things and I honestly believe he's going to be a big part of NZ rugby in the years to come!
 
As always if you enjoy this episode as always please share it and if you want to ask any of my guests a question or just follow the journey head to the link below
https://www.instagram.com/what_a_lad_podcast/?hl=en
 
This episode was brought to you by fortune favours, to purchase any product with a 15% discount head to https://www.fortunefavours.beer/ and put whatalad in the promo code. Delivered to your doorstep anywhere in NZ.
 

Isaac Ross - What a Lad

When you've been playing Rugby professionally for the past 15 seasons for teams which include, the Crusaders, the Highlanders, the Chiefs, NZ Maori, NTT Shining Arcs and the All Blacks you're bound to have some stories! It doesn't stop either as our man Isaac Ross is still going strong having recently signed with the Tasman Mako for this seasons Mitre10 Cup. With all those experiences, I was really looking forward to this one and he certainly does not disappoint!
After Isaac made the All Blacks, he left the NZ rugby scene at a young age to head to Japan, where he has spent the last 10 years. Back then it was seen as a big move to not chase the All Black dream but he talks about he reasons behind leaving NZ and also talks about his time in Japan.
It was interesting to hear what it was like for him going into all the new environments he was apart of and he also shares classic yarns about what it was like rooming with some of the greats Richie McCaw and Brad Thorn.
Isaac has only been with Tasman for a short time but has made a big impact and would have to be one of the friendliest team mates I've ever had and the definition of a lad!
 
If you enjoy this episode as always please share it. If you want to ask any of my future guests a question or just follow the journey head to the link below
https://www.instagram.com/what_a_lad_podcast/?hl=en
 
And as always this episode was brought to you by fortune favours, to purchase any product with a 15% discount head to https://www.fortunefavours.beer/ and put whatalad in the promo code. Delivered to your doorstep anywhere in NZ.

Dan Hollinshead -What a Lad

In this episode I catch up with the youngest journeyman in NZ rugby Dan Hollinshead. Dan has played for Bay of Plenty since leaving school and has also had stints with Agen in France, the Coca Cola Red Sparks in Japan as well as being involved with the NZ 7s team, the Chiefs, the Crusaders and the Highlanders. 
Shedsy has had an eventful career to date with lots of new experiences which he openly shares some great stories about in this episode. He also speaks about some of the hard decisions he has had to make throughout his career to try to and progress it.
After having spent a season with Shedsy in Japan, I quickly realised that he's an absolute lad who enjoys a good time and is also very talented rugby player! A man who when gets an opportunity will make a name for himself.