Coaching Culture with Ben Herring

• Building Team Culture Through People, Not Facilities. A Sunwolves Casestudy with Sam Wykes

  What if the best culture you ever built came after a 90-point loss? That’s not a stunt—it’s the backbone of our Sunwolves story, where people, not facilities, carried an underdog through brutal travel, language barriers, and constant roster churn.We dig into a season that forced clarity. With 13 cultural backgrounds and minimal prep, we taught through images and objects, opened meetings with music, and played noughts-and-crosses to train communication and poise. We asked players to share three personal facts so the room saw humans first, jerseys second. Then we redefined success: not chasing wins we couldn’t control, but tracking meaningful improvement across four-week blocks—smaller losing margins, more tries created, defensive effort counted honestly. After a tough day at Loftus, we sang the team song anyway, then beat the Bulls weeks later in Tokyo. That wasn’t luck; it was a deliberate culture choice.You’ll hear how leadership language shapes buy-in, why “aces in their places” prevents personality overload, and how individualized coaching can turn a senior skeptic into your strongest messenger. We talk coach self-awareness under stress—who runs to novelty, who doubles down on basics—and how blending both keeps a team stable. And we follow Sam’s journey beyond pro rugby into Polynesian youth pathways, where identity and skill development meet. When young players see role models who share their blood and story, their effort deepens and their ceiling rises.If you lead a team in sport, business, or anywhere people perform under pressure, this conversation is a playbook: actions over slogans, rituals that lower stress, success defined by improvement, and connection that outlives the scoreboard. If this resonated, subscribe, share it with a coach or teammate, and leave a review telling us your favorite culture ritual—we’ll feature the best on a future show.Send us a textIf you can SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and SHARE the show and series, you would be doing your bit to grow this show. Very appreciated. BenTo subscribe to the newsletter or to get a copy of the book, jump onto:www.coachingculture.com.au Support the showShare this show with your mates, rugby, coaches, leaders! Dont be shy.

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• Define Culture Or Drift: Why Writing It Down Raises The Bar

  Ever wonder why some teams lift their standards from the inside while others grind for results that never stick? We dig into a simple chain that explains it: vision shapes leadership, leadership shapes culture, culture shapes performance, and performance shapes legacy. The magic happens in the middle. Culture isn’t a side project or a mood; it’s the daily environment that leaders design on purpose.We start by contrasting two visions—a high-performance push to top the table versus a community-first club built on belonging—and show how each vision demands different leadership moves. Hiring, coaching time, facilities, and budget flow from that choice. From there, we reframe culture as a practical lab. Think petri dish: add rituals, language, and standards, then observe what grows. When the inputs are right, the bar rises organically. People show up early, do the small things without being asked, and solve problems together. That’s culture turning into performance.You’ll hear crisp one-line definitions from elite coaches—“the way we do things around here,” “what we do when no one’s watching,” “the values and standards we operate by”—and why writing your own line is the fastest way to make culture real. We share how top teams schedule culture like training, from mini-team competitions to short connection drills, and how those reps turn intentions into habits. The yogurt analogy ties it all together: start with the right culture starter, and the environment transforms into something stronger and more resilient across sport, work, and home.Walk away with a clear mission: write your culture in one sentence, put it on the calendar, and live it loudly enough that it becomes contagious. If the vision is your North Star, this is your compass. If this helped you see your team with fresh eyes, subscribe, share it with a leader who needs it, and leave a quick review—what’s your one-line definition of culture?Send us a textIf you can SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and SHARE the show and series, you would be doing your bit to grow this show. Very appreciated. BenTo subscribe to the newsletter or to get a copy of the book, jump onto:www.coachingculture.com.au Support the showShare this show with your mates, rugby, coaches, leaders! Dont be shy.

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• You cant outcoach the numbers. Heres the data to prove it, Ben Darwin

  Ever notice how the “genius coach” story never mentions the stacked deck? We dig into the Monopoly Effect—a coin-flip advantage that people later mistake for skill—and use it to decode why some teams look unstoppable while others keep rebuilding without getting better. With Ben Darwin of Gain Line Analytics, we map the hidden architecture of performance: feeder systems that quietly lower error rates, stable combinations that turn instincts into shared reflex, and board decisions that either protect or pulverize cohesion.We walk through real examples across rugby, league, and football: why single-feeder clubs dominate, how national sides thrive when selections cluster, and what happens when a decorated coach imposes a new system on a group that hasn’t unlearned the old one. The data is blunt and liberating. Money can buy talent, but instability taxes skill; cohesion compounds for free. Copying champions often fails because you’re importing their adaptation to a weakness you don’t have. Better questions lead to better builds: Which links in our decision chain must stay together? Where do we refine the existing grammar instead of rewriting the playbook? What timeline are we truly managing—this week’s optics or next season’s reflexes?If you lead a team, this conversation gives you a framework to stop overreacting to luck, set-piece swings, and noisy narratives. You’ll learn how to stabilize fast without going static, communicate realistic timelines to anxious boards, and measure progress beyond the scoreboard. The takeaway is simple and hard: sustain combinations, shrink chaos, and let cohesion do what talent alone can’t. If this resonates, share it with a colleague, hit follow, and leave a review to help more coaches and leaders find it.Send us a textIf you can SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and SHARE the show and series, you would be doing your bit to grow this show. Very appreciated. BenTo subscribe to the newsletter or to get a copy of the book, jump onto:www.coachingculture.com.au Support the showShare this show with your mates, rugby, coaches, leaders! Dont be shy.

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• How to reduce the anxiety your players feel

  The fastest way to unlock performance isn’t a new drill or a sharper playbook—it’s lowering the mental noise your athletes carry in with them. We share a simple story from a doctor’s office that proves how precise care changes state without changing a single variable on the whiteboard. That shift in state turns scattered attention into readiness, and readiness into better outcomes.We walk through why care is not a soft extra but a performance lever. When players feel seen beyond the jersey, they take smarter risks at training, tell the truth in review, and compete with freedom on game day. You’ll hear three simple, repeatable actions you can use tonight, whether you coach pros, school teams, or weekend warriors: start with the person, not the plan; name and normalize the pressures in the room; and close the loop within 48 hours so players feel remembered, not managed. These moves don’t cost time; they buy focus.Along the way, we talk about owning the feel of the environment, reading arrivals, and adjusting your session openers to meet real human energy. We highlight why presence is a skill, how good questions are data, and why psychological safety accelerates learning. Nothing flashy—just small, consistent signals that compound into trust. Over time, those signals build resilient people and better teams, even when the drills stay the same. State before outcome becomes the rule, and performance follows.If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with a coach who cares, and leave a quick review telling us which of the three actions you’ll try first. Your feedback helps more coaches find these tools.Send us a textIf you can SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and SHARE the show and series, you would be doing your bit to grow this show. Very appreciated. BenTo subscribe to the newsletter or to get a copy of the book, jump onto:www.coachingculture.com.au Support the showShare this show with your mates, rugby, coaches, leaders! Dont be shy.

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• Talent doesn't always win: Building culture in the Fijian Drua with Glen Jackson

  Glenn Jackson's remarkable rugby journey defies conventional paths. After an impressive playing career with Bay of Plenty, the Chiefs, and Saracens (where he earned Premiership Players Player of the Year), he pivoted to become a professional referee, officiating 32 Test matches before transitioning to coaching. Now head coach of the Fijian Drua, Jackson occupies a rare position of having played, refereed, and coached at elite levels.What makes Jackson's perspective so valuable is his deep understanding of the delicate balance between traditional Fijian culture and professional rugby demands. "There's a huge change or element of speed around traditional culture and professional culture in Fiji," he explains. The Drua, comprised entirely of Fijian players, maintains strong connections to traditional practices like prayer, family bonds, and kava ceremonies while navigating the structured requirements of Super Rugby competition.Jackson's coaching philosophy centers on creating an environment where players can reach their full potential. His initial approach focused on each player becoming "a leader of themselves" before attempting to lead others. This proved especially important given the unique pressures Fijian players face – many young athletes come from villages, have limited travel experience, and suddenly find themselves on billboards across the country.The conversation reveals fascinating insights about team building across cultural contexts. Jackson organized his team culture around TIME: Togetherness, Investment, Memories, and Enthusiasm. The "memories" component highlights that beyond results, rugby creates lasting bonds. His experience as a referee also gives him unique perspective on coach-referee relationships, advocating for mutual understanding rather than antagonism.What shines through most clearly is Jackson's genuine care for his players' development. "If you truly want to help someone and they can feel that, that's where the real power is," he shares. As the Fijian Drua continues evolving in Super Rugby, his approach offers valuable lessons for coaches at all levels about balancing performance expectations with cultural authenticity. Have you considered how cultural understanding impacts your approach to leadership?Send us a textIf you can SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and SHARE the show and series, you would be doing your bit to grow this show. Very appreciated. BenTo subscribe to the newsletter or to get a copy of the book, jump onto:www.coachingculture.com.au Support the showShare this show with your mates, rugby, coaches, leaders! Dont be shy.

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