In March 2010 at Bondi Beach, I was 15 years old, sitting in the lineup at the Boost Mobile Air Show next to Mick Fanning — the world champion at the time. It was a specialty surfing event where every heat was scored only on aerial manoeuvres. The competitors that day included Kelly Slater, Owen Wright, Taj Burrow and Jordy Smith. I was supposed to be in the under-21s. A senior pulled out injured, I got a wildcard spot in the open division, and somehow ended up on the leaderboard with the world's best.
That morning I beat Kelly Slater in a heat. By the afternoon I was in the final. I didn't win — Owen Wright landed a 9.8 air-reverse to take the $25,000 cash prize. But sitting in that lineup with Mick at 15 years old taught me something I now bring into every sporting club workshop I run.
Elite athletes have values. Up-and-coming athletes have ego.
I had ego. A growing one. People at school called me cocky. I was so driven by external validation that one bad heat could send me into a spiral for days. Mick — and surfers like him — had something else: a clear sense of who they were, separate from the result. Surfing was what they did. Not who they were.
I didn't know it at the time, but that distinction would become the heart of everything I now teach to sporting clubs.
In 2015, after losing my major sponsor, I worked with Surfing Australia's lead psychologist Jason Patchel and worked through the question that changed my career: "What are your values?" That conversation gave me the steering wheel for the rollercoaster of pro sport. It's what I now share with junior teams, senior squads, and clubs like the Canberra Raiders.
What I deliver to sporting clubs
It isn't a motivational talk. It's the toolkit elite athletes use, broken down for every level — from under-12s to first grade.
- The Athlete Mindset — the shift from external validation (winning for others) to internal values (performing for yourself).
- Responsibility on and off the field — be the hero, not the victim, of every game and every tough day.
- Connection and Team Culture — listen, don't wait to talk. Get curious, not furious. Critique, don't criticise.
- Mindfulness for Performance — pre-game breathwork and presence drills, the same ones I used on the world stage.
- Daily Habits for Mental Fitness — train your mind like you train your body. Daily, not occasionally.
The athletes who stay calm in the final minute aren't the ones who decided to "lock in" that day. They're the ones who've practised regulating their nervous system for months. Mental fitness is physical fitness.
Whether you're running a junior club or coaching a first-grade squad, the principle's the same. Train the mind like you train the body.