Latest news with #AllBlack
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
L.A.B., Stan Walker team up for outdoor summer gigs in NZ and Gold Coast
Stan Walker on the red carpet of the Aotearoa Music Awards, where he won Best Māori Artist. Photo / New Zealand Herald photography by Sylvie Whinray For Walker, 'heavy prep', like an Olympic athlete or an All Black might do, is a necessity for lead vocalists preparing to tour, as they have nothing to hide behind on stage. 'We are the only ones that can't just pick up the drumsticks and go hard or start playing the bass or whatever.' Psychologically, Walker has also learned to automatically put up 'walls' to protect himself, his family, and his creative process from 'outside noise'. Sometimes this can get in the way of connecting with an audience, Walker says, but performing in the USA and Hawaii last year, the locals' unguarded enthusiasm was so inspiring he felt the walls came down. Raised on gospel music, Walker especially loves connecting with Black fans and friends in the States. 'They're like, 'man, you need to lead us, brother!' So you get like a fire.' Auckland reggae band Corrella will support Stan Walker and L.A.B. at their Tauranga show. Photo / Supplied Hawaiian music fans, he says, aren't held back by 'tall poppyness' like many New Zealanders. 'They're like, 'I love you. You changed my life. I want to follow you for the rest of my days'.' A Kiwi who recognises him is more likely to say something like 'Yeah, my mum is a fan', Walker says. 'It's really backhanded, and I think it's our like, defence mechanism. We don't want to get rejected or whatever. I get it, but at the same time, it's ugly.' L.A.B. singer Joel Shadbolt 'resonates hard' with Walker's insight on this cultural difference – 'Oh, preach, brother. Holy moly… Don't be a second-hand fan, be first-hand.' His band has also played some amazing shows in the States, he says, and American audiences are a lot more encouraging of guitar solos. L.A.B. singer Joel Shadbolt says American audiences are a lot more into guitar solos than Kiwis. Photo / Alex Cairns 'My roots are blues, so it comes from the south, and I know that feeling, I know that music, it's in me. When I play in the States, I feel that, man. Far out, I feel it. It's magic.' Back home in Aotearoa, Shadbolt and Walker agree Christchurch is one place where people really know how to show appreciation. Although he's had 'some very opposite experiences' offstage in the South Island city, Walker says he's always felt recharged by performing there, which he first did at 16. '[Christchurch audiences] show me why I do what I do, if that makes sense. It's electric.' In the lead-up to an L.A.B. show, the members gather to make sure they're 'on the same kind of buzz', Shadbolt says, and sing a karakia and some harmony-driven songs before hitting the stage. 'We all get locked in, you know?' L.A.B will be performing in Tauranga this summer. Photo / Supplied Artists give so much and love doing it, but they also really need to refuel, Shadbolt says. When he starts feeling like he's living 'in a weird alternate reality', the remedy is going home to visit whānau. 'Hanging out with my Nan is all I need for half an hour.' As a touring vocalist, performing shows back to back, you become hyper-aware of how your body feels, Shadbolt says. Sleep, hydration, nutrition and movement are his 'four pillars'. 'You get those right, and then the voice is magic. Any of those fall down, it's like 'Oooh, should have had a feed' or 'Oooh, ate too much'.' For Walker, it's 'buzzy' that alongside R&B singer Aaradhna, the up-and-coming musician Liam Te Wehi (Te Wehi) is supporting his three shows with L.A.B. this summer. R&B singer Aaradhna will support Stan Walker and L.A.B. at all three of their outdoor summer shows. Photo / Stijl, James Ensing-Trussell Although he's been listening to his music and enjoying his TikTok for ages, the two haven't yet met. 'He looks like my dad, bro!' For Shadbolt, it's really special that pioneering hip-hop group Nesian Mystic are supporting the Stan Walker / L.A.B. show at Auckland's Outer Fields festival on January 31. It's his band's first headlining Auckland gig in over four years, and the first time Nesian Mystic have hit the stage there in about 15 years. 'I listened to some of these songs in the car before, and I was like, 'Man, it's gonna be so nostalgic hanging out and playing their stuff live'. 'We're kind of buzzing for the show up there.'
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Ex-Otago coach to join Aust
Tom Donnelly. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Former Otago coach and All Black lock Tom Donnelly will join the Wallabies coaching staff ahead of the 2025 Rugby Championship. Donnelly will replace current assistant coach Geoff Parling, who will return to the UK following the end of the British and Irish Lions Tour. Donnelly played 15 tests for the All Blacks between 2009 and 2010. The 43-year-old spent the Super Rugby Pacific season with the Western Force, having moved to Australia after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant with the Highlanders in Dunedin. He coached Otago from 2020 to 2024 and had three seasons as an assistant before that. — APL
1News
3 days ago
- Sport
- 1News
Former All Black joins Wallabies coaching ranks
Former All Black lock Tom Donnelly has joined the Wallabies coaching staff ahead of the Rugby Championship. Donnelly replaces outgoing assistant coach Geoff Parling, who will return to the UK after next week's third and final Test against the British & Irish Lions. He played 15 Tests for the All Blacks, close to 100 Super Rugby matches, and three seasons in France before he moved into coaching. The 43-year-old was with the Western Force for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season and was previously an assistant coach at the Highlanders. Donnelly said he was honoured to have the opportunity to contribute to the Australian national side. ADVERTISEMENT "Watching from afar, the journey the team is on and the improvement they are making is exciting. I'm looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and doing my part to continue the ongoing growth of the team." Rugby Australia high performance director Peter Horne said Donnelly's expertise around the lineout and set piece would be "highly valuable" for the Wallabies. "He's got a great understanding of the current Super Rugby Pacific landscape as well as experience playing at the highest level which makes him a great fit for the role."
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- General
- NZ Herald
Nearly 20 years on former navy diver Rob Hewitt reflects on 75 hours lost at sea
On the day he went missing he was diving with friends from Manawatū, kitted in his full navy dive gear – including a tether rope used to tie dive partners together – a weight belt, wet suit and fins. 'The skipper of the boat looked at me and said, 'We don't do that sort of stuff [tether together] here',' Hewitt said. 'They were a little bit cowboyish and that challenged my integrity but I thought, 'When in Rome, do what the Romans do', so I put all I had learned as a navy diver aside.' Sea survivor Rob Hewitt is promoting drowning prevention, hoping his experience will save lives. The first dive didn't go well - an early sign, he believes, of what was to come. 'We resurfaced and my dive partner had grabbed about five crayfish and said to me, 'Didn't you get anything?' 'I had a couple of kina. I said, 'I thought you were getting the kai and I was saving your life because there was some dangerous stuff going on in the water'.' Hewitt said that's when he made the cardinal mistake and went down alone. 'I broke the golden rule and wanted to show off and show these fellas what I could do...I had a karakia when I was 8m deep and asked god for some crayfish and kina. I saw a cray and put it in my bag. Rob Hewitt survived 75 hours at sea after "breaking the cardinal rule" and going down for a dive alone 'I went down another couple of metres and spied about 30 crays. I thought I would get the lot and plant the crays over my body, float up to the surface and show these fellas I am the man. 'It was that arrogance and crossing that line of tikanga and broke the rule of my grandfather – you only take enough for a feed.' Hewitt said he moved into an underwater cave and a rip pushed him out the other side. When he resurfaced he was 600m from the boat, which was heading in the other direction picking up the other divers. The time was 4pm. 'I had no issue because this was my workplace. There was no panic,' he said. Rob Hewitt talking water safety. Hewitt started kicking towards the boat but after 15 minutes realised the current meant he was making no headway, and started feeling concerned about expending his energy. He calculated the food he had consumed and the resources he had with him and decided to let the current take him. He spotted a rescue helicopter and realised the dive crew had called a mayday. 'I thought, 'Hey, I'm the navy diver. I should be the one doing the rescuing'.' It was that arrogance and crossing that line of tikanga and broke the rule of my grandfather – you only take enough for a feed Rob Hewitt The mental game As he waited in the ocean, Hewitt feared being judged. 'I could imagine the headline: Former All Black Norm Hewitt's brother, a navy diver, needed rescuing from the sea.' He tried to use the reflection of his face mask to attract the rescue helicopter but it headed back to the airport. 'I thought my life was only worth 48 minutes of searching. I'm 38 years old, had spent 20 years in the navy, and that's what I was worth.' 'About 8pm, I started to worry and thought, 'Who do I know that's survived out at sea floating in the water – no one',' he said. I did what anyone would do. I prayed for all my sins to be forgiven Rob Hewitt 'I did what anyone would do. I prayed for all my sins to be forgiven because sometime during the night I think I'm going to die.' Hewitt said self-pity soon turned to survival. 'I started playing little games, said karakia, recited my whakapapa to keep my mind active ... I connected to my Māoritanga, who I was as a New Zealander, as a Māori, to my wairua.' The sun rose about 5.30am. Hewitt said his face was cutting up and he was being pushed out to Kāpiti Island. He had four kina and spent an hour eating each one, killing four hours. 'I'm from Ngāti Kahungunu and eat the roe and eat the guts, but before I do, I look around to see if anyone is watching. I was worried about being judged.' Hewitt said he always carried an inferiority complex from being in the navy and being the brother of an All Black. He still had a crayfish and ate it in the evening over three hours, crying and aware it could be his final meal. He noticed his tongue starting to swell, and fingernails coming away from his fingers – something he'd seen before while retrieving bodies from people who had drowned. He was being bitten by sea lice. The third night came and Hewitt had all but given up on surviving. The rescue that saved his life Hewitt went missing around 1pm on February 5, 2006 and was rescued at 4.04pm on February 8 – after 75 hours lost at sea. 'I look up and see a little Zodiac and two of the navy divers ... I thought they were a hallucination. They said to me, 'Bro, what are you doing'. 'I said, 'Waiting for you fellas'.' Rob Hewitt teaching young Kiwis about water safety. Hewitt told the Herald his battle with Tangaroa (Māori God of the sea) and survival was never far from his thoughts. He has written two books and a German film crew is working on a documentary. New Zealand recorded 74 drowning fatalities in 2024 – the lowest since 2018. Water Safety New Zealand says while the reduction is encouraging, many fatalities are preventable, involving not wearing life jackets, entering the water alone, and underestimating the conditions. Friday marked world drowning prevention day. In New Zealand 21 people die annually while gathering kai (food) - that's about 26% of all drowning fatalities. They are predominantly male, adult, and of Māori, Pasifika or Asian descent. Joseph Los'e is an award-winning journalist and joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa Māori Editor. Los'e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME worked for urban Māori organisation Whānau Waipareira.
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
NZ Rugby faces tough search for CEO to lead both pro and amateur sides
They will need knowledge of media rights negotiations, an understanding of digital content and its pathway to monetisation, and they will have to be capable of managing relationships with some of the world's largest consumer brands. But this is only part of the job, not all of it. There's another side entirely, which is presiding over the community game – selling rugby to the masses. That's an ambassadorial job – running a never-ending PR campaign to promote the holistic benefits of playing rugby: the resilience it breeds, the networks it forges, the joy it brings. It's also, though, a political tightrope that constantly must be walked, managing provincial unions and other stakeholders to ensure there is harmony in the ecosystem. Departing New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson. Photo / Photosport It's a job that requires someone to be as comfortable in gumboots on a muddy sideline as they are in leather loafers around the board table. The search will likely begin in a few weeks, once a global recruitment agency has been approved to conduct it, and NZR chair David Kirk has given prospective candidates clear guidance that this is a job that will straddle both the professional and amateur worlds of rugby. 'There will be a lot of people who would love to run a global sporting brand – the All Blacks' global sporting brand,' he says. 'But they are not coming just to do that. It is way more than that because you have the community element to it. 'They are coming to run New Zealand community rugby. People with only a professional sporting background coming thinking they are running a professional sport will not be appropriate.' Kirk is cognitive that, arguably, he's one of the few people who has the relevant experience across the variety of disciplines the job will entail, but laughed off any suggestion that as the chair of the board, he's in the wrong role. He's not at the right stage in his life to be a full-time executive – so if not him, is there anyone with a similar breadth of experience that presents as an obvious candidate? There are a few who have potential – people who tick a few but not all the boxes. Former All Black Conrad Smith has a deep understanding of the high-performance landscape, having won two World Cups and working for the International Rugby Players' Association, while he also volunteers as a grassroots referee in Taranaki. As a qualified lawyer, he's bright, engaging and worldly, but he doesn't have experience in the corporate world managing or leading a complex organisation. New Zealand All Blacks centre Conrad Smith in action at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs Former ACC chief executive Scott Pickering was on the shortlist to take the NZR job back in 2019 but lost out to incumbent Mark Robinson. He's an experienced director/executive, but isn't steeped in community rugby, although he is currently on the board of Bowls New Zealand. One New Zealand chief executive Jason Paris has the corporate experience – he was also the chief executive of TV3 – but while he's a self-declared passionate sports and rugby follower, there's a question mark about how attuned he'd be to what is really going on at the community level. Former Sky chief executive Martin Stewart negotiated the current broadcast deal for the pay TV broadcaster and has worked in executive roles for the Football Association in England. But would he want to return to living in New Zealand having left the country in early 2021? And the issue of living in New Zealand, and knowing the country's relationship with rugby and the All Blacks is a critical part of the consideration. The All Blacks are a global sporting brand with a uniquely Kiwi ethos, and the 'gosh, I was just lucky out there' understated charm of Beauden Barrett is a million miles away from the trash-talking, hype-it-up narratives and characters that dominate American sports and indeed football. A non-Kiwi may battle to get their head around the All Blacks culture and hiring a New Zealander who has been working overseas is fraught with challenges, as evidenced by the fact Craig Fenton, who had been in Europe for 20 years, only lasted 11 months in his role as head of New Zealand Rugby Commercial. It is, therefore, going to be an incredibly difficult role to fill, which is why Kirk says that it may be that the board takes a broader view, and that it might look at balancing the impending appointments of the chief executive, chief commercial officer and chief financial officer, This could ensure the executive team has all the required skill-sets and experiences, rather than trying to find a unicorn. 'We will probably go to one search consultant for all three roles, but the CEO will be the leading search,' he says. 'But we will also run the CFO and CCO a bit behind because ideally we will have identified the CEO and they will be in a situation where they will be able to take part in the process for the appointment of the CFO and CCO. 'We are looking to balance the requirements across the three roles and it may not be possible to find one person who can do it all. 'There are not many people who have had that broad experience that is just a fact so we have to make sure we have a balanced senior leadership team that can meet all requirements.' Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand's most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and written several books about sport.
