Warning: Kevin Locke speaks very openly about some difficult parts of his life, including childhood sexual abuse, trauma, grief, mental health and addiction. Some of this may be confronting, so please take care while listening.

Kevin Locke is remembered by lots of rugby league fans as one of the most exciting players to pull on a Warriors jersey.

He played 89 games for the Warriors between 2009 and 2014, represented the Kiwis eight times and was the Warriors' fullback during their run to the 2011 NRL Grand Final.

But there was a lot going on behind all of that.

Kevin came in wanting to talk honestly about the parts of his life he’s mostly kept to himself:

Periods of homelessness as a teenager, losing his dad just as his career was taking off, depression, addiction, relationships, regret and the decisions that eventually took him away from rugby league.

There are plenty of great Warriors stories in here too. But this conversation is really about Kevin Locke the person. And the man he’s trying to become now.

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Nathan Wallis grew up around alcoholism, violence, abuse and foster care.

He was homeless at 15, became a father young, went to counselling at 18 and somehow found his way into teaching, counselling and eventually a career helping people understand how our brains develop.

For parents, this episode is jam packed with good useful advice:

We talk about the importance of the first 1,000 days, tantrums, anxiety, daycare, discipline, screens, teenagers, social media, are today’s kids snowflakes, and why asking a kid, “What were you feeling?” can sometimes tell you far more than asking “What were you thinking?” (which, by the way, is the title of his brand-new book)

But this episode also gets into Nathan himself- the man behind the job. We talk about the childhood he survived, the people who saved him, meeting his biological father shortly before he died, and the parts of himself he’s still trying to understand.

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Andrew Webster (aka Webby) is the coach of the One.NZ Warriors.

This podcast first came out in January 2024.

I thought I’d reshare it in case you missed it because the Warriors, under Andrew Webster, have just completed their best season in 15 years.

Since arriving at Mount Smart to coach the Warriors three years ago, this guy has given fans plenty to get excited about.

But I wanted to find out who he is away from the game.

We talk about his wife Emily, becoming a dad, and the years he spent doing whatever work he could to keep chasing a coaching career.

Webby explains why he left Ivan Clary and the Penrith Panthers to coach the Warriors and what he learnt from Ivan, why he’s comfortable telling his players he loves them, the up the Wahs movement which started during his tenure, how long he plans to stay in New Zealand, his reason for making the players walk past his office every day and much more.

This podcast is a pretty good insight into the mind of one of rugby leagues truly great coaches. And beyond sport, just a very nice bloke

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