On this episode, it was awesome to chat with Craig Stewart, skills coach at recent Japanese League One winning rugby union side, Kobe Steelers.

This was a fantastic chat, jam packed with insights from an elite coach.

We spoke of many things, including :

• Understanding the people you are working with
• The love of the game and enjoyment
• Traits of elite players
• Keeping clarity with simplicity
• Being a 'player first' coach and allowing the player to be the most important part of the puzzle
• The power of creativity
• Not having to be the cleverest in the room
• Having a growth mindset
• Why you should allow players to experiment
• Frameworks but why it is important to have players self correcting
• What is the most under coached and under valued skill

I really hope you enjoy this chat, let me know what you think

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On this episode of The Coaching Arena, I had the absolute privilege to hear the insights of world renowned rugby coach Damian McGrath.

Damian has been a professional coach since 1990, and has coached at elite levels in both Rugby League and Rugby Union.

Damian has coached at domestic and international sides, including Leicester Tigers and at 7s level, with England, Spain, Manu Samoa, Canada, Germany and Kenya.

In addition he is a leading author and speaker and is an expert on communication and leadership. I found his insights in how to get your message across as being invaluable, jam packed with useful and practical tips.

This was a brilliant chat, speaking on many things including :

• Knowing your people
• Understanding the ABC, audience before content
• Checking for understanding
• Making your players feel valued
• How a message is given across, not just the content
• Culture
• Knowing your purpose, your people, your business and yourself
• What is success?
• Start, stop, continue approach
• Damian's 'Doubt Percentage' concept

I took so much from this chat, and I hope you do too. This chat is full of key take aways that can be easily adapted at any level

Let me know what you think

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On this episode, I had the absolute privilege to speak with Warren Spragg.

Warren is the kicking coach at Prem Rugby Club, Sale. He has played for Italy, Italy 7s, England u21s and England u18s. He has over 20 years experience in elite level rugby as a player and coach.

I am blown away with the coaches and athletes that have given me their time and insights on the Coaching Arena. These chats are gold, and this chat with Warren has completely changed my mindset on coaching and how I thought my son was results driven, when perhaps in hindsight, he isn't.

This was an incredible chat on developing people, players and as coaches.

We spoke of many things, including :

• Common coaching themes from juniors to elite level
• Inside out coaching, Transformational Coaching vs Transactional Coaching
• Understanding people and what motivates them and what players need
• Collaboration
• Superpowers of a player
• Being curious
• Minimum standards and the consistency of practice habits and skill challenges
• Mindset, routine and clarity
• The rewards of sport
• How you know you are making progress
• The importance of feedback loops
• Skill sets, not pigeon holing

I really hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did and thanks very much for listening

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On this episode I had the absolute privilege to hear the insights from International Rugby Coach, Paul Delport.

Paul is currently Head Coach of India Women's 7s, having previously coached South Africa Women's national rugby 7s team.

As a player, Paul played for the Lions and Stormers before focusing on rugby sevens, where he captained the Blitzboks and has won the IRB Sevens World Series. Paul also captained South Africa at u19 and u21 level and has won the IRB World Championships.

This was a brilliant chat, really focusing on the human element of coaching and understanding the why.

Paul has a huge amount of experience and shared his insights into coaching, speaking about :

• Care, Connection, Standards and Challenge
• Understanding the 'why'
• Showing the players you care and having a willingness to connect
• Putting the team first
• Nurturing a player's growth and development
• Outlining standards
• Passing on knowledge
• A coach doesn't need to have all the answers
• A team's immune system

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It was absolutely fantastic to chat with international rugby coach, Alex Laybourne on this episode of The Coaching Arena.

Alex is Head Coach of Sweden Men's rugby team, having previously been Scotland's Women's u20s Head Coach.

This was a brilliant chat, with Alex giving his insights on :

• The importance of a mentor in order for coaches to develop
• Understanding the player
• Connection with players and having open and honest dialogue
• Winning is important but results do not define a good coach
• Coaching in different environments
• Standards not rules
• Metrics to measure progress

I really hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did

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On this episode I had the huge privilege to chat with elite rugby coach, Rod Seib.

Rod's CV speaks for itself. Rod is a former player for the Queensland Reds and Glasgow Warriors. He has also played for Australia in rugby sevens.

In March 2025, Rod signed with Irish side, Connacht Rugby as Senior Assistant Coach with responsibility for team attack. Prior to this, he was Head Coach of the Queensland Reds Academy, assistant coach at ACT Brumbies and in Nov24 coached the Australia XV on their UK tour.

This was an incredibly enlightening chat and I took so much from it. We spoke of many things, including :

• Always learning, learning from both good and bad coaches
• Knowing your audience
• Be it elite or learning, the best coaches are the ones that want to be there
• Facilitating the knowledge to the athletes so they can problem solve
• How to ask questions to get good learning
• Not always needing to have the answers, but you do need the logic to your thoughts
• The importance of body language, not just words
• Focusing on the growth, not the score
• The biggest mistake new coaches make
• A coach can learn from everyone, from u7 player to international athlete

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The willingness of elite athletes and coaches to sit down and share their insights on what makes a great coach has blown me away. I have learnt so much from these chat that that would have otherwise taken me years.

On this episode, I had the absolute privilege and joy to sit down and hear the views of Grand Slam Tennis player and coach, Sofia Shapatava.

This was an incredible chat as we spoke of many things, including :

• Patience
• The trust between a coach and athlete
• Understanding the individual
• How and when to give feedback
• Why the post match car journey home is so important
• Sport does not define the person
• The importance of embracing defeat, not dwelling on it
• Embracing the journey
• Avoiding burnout and maintaining your love of the game
• Quantity vs quality
• Always learning

I really hope you enjoyed this chat as much as I did.

Let me know what one lesson resonated most with you

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On this episode, I had the incredible fortune to sit down and chat with International Rugby Coach and former international player, William Broderick.

An incredibly enlightening chat, full of insights and advice from a highly talented coach.

We spoke of :

• Connecting and adapting to people and the situation
• Understanding your environment
• Engagement players
• Results vs Process
• The types of mistakes
• The how, not just the what - a coach's tone, body language and demeanour
• Treating players as humans, not machines

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