What a Lad

In this episode I catch up with Tasman Mako and Chiefs legend Alex Nankivell, who takes us through his journey to date. Its hard to believe but Alex has played the past 6 seasons with the Tasman Mako and is now one of the senior players at the age of just 23. He was a crucial part of the sides first ever Premiership victory last season and he talks about what that year was like including the big a...

Anyone who has had the pleasure of playing with or just knowing Otere Black, will know that he is one of the best lads you could meet! One of the greats! So it was awesome to have him come on the podcast and talk about his journey. For someone I thought I knew really well, I learnt so much about Oatsy in this podcast. Immersed in Maori culture his whole life, it was awesome to hear the passion he...

In this episode I catch up with one of the newest All Blacks named in the current squad, Quin Strange. He has been on such a crazy rollercoaster the past few weeks, from being named in the latest All Blacks squad, only to injure his ankle at his first week of training! Quin talks about all sorts of good stuff in this episode, from what it was like to be named in the All Blacks for the first time,...

Here he is, the lad that most of you asked for, the super talented, the very popular, Louie Chapman! Louie has burst onto the NZ rugby scene this season with his impressive cameos off the bench for the Tasman Mako. At the raw age of just 20 Louie makes his podcast debut on 'What a Lad' to share insight into his path to professional rugby. His rugby story is obviously pretty short having just start...

Like I've been saying the past few weeks, pranks are getting really hard now! However, as always, when a new player arrives a new team, they are always vulnerable. So as soon as I heard Isaac Ross was joining the Tasman Mako, I knew that it was a good chance to try and give Jonty another crack. As you'll hear in the prank, Isaac is an absolute lad, a real good man and has been loving the prank sin...

Here's an episode I jumped on last week for one of the Nelson lads, Conner Karena, who is out there doing real good things with his podcast. It's always cool to jump on someone else's podcast, to see how they do things and a good chance to reflect on the journey that I've had. Conner has had some real good guests on his podcast, a couple of my favourite episodes are the ones he did with NRL star B...

For this prank I tried the exact same formula as the Billy Proctor prank but this time with Crusader and Tasman Mako star Leicester Fainga'anuku. Here I call up Leciester as a Dunedin radio host for a live radio interview but as we go live on air I introduce him as his brother Highlander and also Tasman Star Tima Fainga'anuku.  In this situation you've got two options, either run with it as your b...

This prank was inspired by real life events, for anyone who has a brother or someone who looks like them. When I came back to Nelson to see my family, I was always mistaken for my brother Tom and would get caught in conversations with people so far that it was just too awkward to tell them that it was me. I've had some very awkward conversations as Tom and that was what I was wanted to try and rep...

In this episode I catch up David Havili, the most passionate man in NZ rugby. He's an All Black, a Crusader and of course the very inspirational skipper of Tasman Mako. Davie has had a tough run with injuries of late, including a bowel infection which was days away from ending his career! In this episode he also takes us through his rugby journey, which involved not being able to start for the 1st...

For this prank we go back 2 years to when the big Samoan International, Kane Leaupepe, had just joined the Hurricanes halfway through the year. Whenever that happened it always meant there was a good chance for a new prank. So for this prank, I call Kane as Phil Collins the (made up) son of The Hurricanes owner, just to welcome him to the team.  For those who don't know Kane, he is an absolute lad...

In this episode I finally get to catch up with my brother, Tom Marshall, who comes on to make his What a Lad debut! It was good times reminiscing on what life was like for us growing up, the relationship we had and all the weird stuff we use to get up to.  Tom also takes us through his rugby career, from bursting on the the NZ rugby scene through the Tasman Mako and straight into a stacked Crusade...

After having the great Hugh Renton on the podcast on Monday, I thought it was a good time to go back and find the prank I tried on him when he had just arrived to the Hurricanes straight out of school. So for this prank I ring him as someone from the NCEA and they've just found out that his answers were the same as the person next to him. Anyone who knows Hugh or has listened to his podcast will k...

Some players just get no luck during their careers and that pretty much sums up Hugh Rentons career to date. Hugh has had a massive wrap on him as a player since joining the Hurricanes straight out of school on a 3 year deal but unfortunately due to injury he has struggled to string any decent amount of games together. That's hopefully all about to change as he eyes up a big season, after recently...

For this prank I call one of the stand out young players in NZ, Dalton Papali'i to see if he would be interested in becoming the face of the aquarium Kelly Tarltons. Now I don't know Dalton personally but everyone I have spoken to has told me he's an absolute lad and needed to have him feature on the podcast. As always, I offer Dalton a pretty average deal to partner up with them so have a listen...

If there was an award for the best team mate in World Rugby the my guest for this episode, Tevita Koloamatangi would be shortlisted every year. Absolute champion bloke on and off the field! Tevita takes us through his rugby journey which has involved him playing for the Tasman Mako, Chiefs, London Irish, Tonga, to now where he is currently carving up in Japan with the Mazda Blue Zoomers. Tevita ha...

This prank was inspired by the recent naming of the North v South teams and seeing a young Nelson lad Mitchell Hunt named in the North team. So I thought it would be a good idea to see if I could call Mitch as the Media guy for the North team and try to get some audio recordings off him to convince the public that he is a true North Islander. As you'll hear Hunty is a great lad and I'm looking for...

Here is an episode that I jumped on a couple of months ago on the podcast called the Life Livers Academy with Jamie O' Donnell. It's an awesome podcast with lots of cool guests who talk about ways you can live your life to the fullest and get the best out of yourself, I personally really enjoy listening to it so go check it out! In this episode in particular I talk about some of my struggles throu...

Pranks are getting tough, players have switched on so we thought it was time to get a legend, who better than potentially the greatest player to ever play the game Christian Cullen! So, Cully is now a Commercial Sales Consultant with Property Brokers and for this prank our 'What a Lad' prank expert Reggie Goodes calls him as to see if he will sell his Caravan for him.  You find out a lot about peo...

He is back and straight on the What a Lad podcast to tell us all about it. It is one of the biggest names in the game, Julian Savea who joins me after his second week training with the Hurricanes. Julz has had an incredible career where he was the best player on the planet for a while and also has one of the best highlight videos you'll ever see. He takes us through his journey to the top and talk...

For this prank we go back to a time when Simon Hickey had just arrived at the Hurricanes, a time when the keyboard warriors were out in full force targeting whoever was named in the 10 jersey. So I thought it was a good chance to set up a "live" radio interview to get stuck into the lads and see if I can get Hickey to join in. Obviously this is not what I think of both Jackson and Fletcher as they...

We did it, we finally got the best hooker to play the game Dane Coles, to come on and share his stories. Colesy is a completely misunderstood bloke, one of the best guys you'll ever meet off the field but known as an absolute grub on it. We talk at length about his niggle and his thoughts on being voted the biggest grub in NZ. Colesy has had an unreal career which he takes us through with honesty...

In this episode I catch up with one of the real lads of the Hurricanes and Manawatu Turbos, Jamie Booth. Boothy has had an eventful rugby journey to date, playing for plenty of teams as he's sat on the fringe trying to force his way into a side. He's battled with injuries and self confidence and shares some really interesting stories around what he's been through. Fast forward to now where he play...

With this weekend being Mental Wellbeing round of Super Rugby Aotearoa, I thought it'd be a good chance to chat with Ex professional referee Mike Lash. Lashy has had his own mental health journey and has inspired him to build a platform called The Reel Effect to help other men who may be struggling to deal with the pressure of life. Lashy talks very honestly about his struggles with his mental wel...

In this episode I catch up with Hurricanes flyer Kobus van Wyk, as he takes us through his story which has led him to be starring on the wing for the Hurricanes this season. He also talks about his tough decision to leave the Hurricanes at the end of the season to head over to the UK to join the Leicester Tigers. Kobus is a real good man so it was awesome to have him on to give us some insight to...

For this prank I call All Black and Chiefs star Damian Mckenzie to see if I can get him to do a nude calendar for the new food company he's using. Damian is one of the real good lads of NZ rugby and handles the prank like a champion.   If you enjoy this prank please share it and make sure you tag the What a Lad page when you share. Link below   https://www.instagram.com/what_a_lad_podcast/ Hosted...