Coaching Culture with Ben Herring

“Culture” is the most overused word in sport, and we’ve both heard it used as a lazy explanation for everything from blowout losses to surprise championships. So we put the uncomfortable question on the table with Ben Darwin from Game Line Analytics: is culture a load of crap, or is it just misunderstood? What follows is a grounded, data-informed look at what culture actually looks like when you strip away the mystique and focus on behaviors you can see, coach, and repeat.

We dig into normative behaviors and why they’re often mistaken for some special team aura. Ben makes the case that stability and retention create the conditions for cohesion, and cohesion is what removes ambiguity on the field. When people stay, they learn each other’s timing, roles, and cues, and execution gets cleaner under pressure. We also talk about the darker side of the story: teams can win while carrying bad behavior, and those problems often surface later when results slide and the “culture” narrative flips overnight.

From there we get practical: why copying successful teams can backfire, why you should build a progression instead of stealing someone’s endpoint, and how smart leaders use meetings, visuals, and technology to close understanding gaps quickly. Ben also shares coach-ready advice like learning a new sport to remember what it feels like to be a beginner, and deliberately unlearning a skill to appreciate how hard change really is. If you care about team culture, leadership, cohesion, and performance in rugby and beyond, this one will sharpen your thinking. Subscribe, share it with a coach or captain, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.
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Is your school the best in your country? Let me know Ben@coachingculture.com.au
Silverfern Sports
If you need great rugby gear, Silverfern are the best. Innovative high quality rugby kit.
Buy your set of "How to be a great Coach" By Ben Herring books here (amazon worldwide)
https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=ben+herring&crid=1R6QYBT8QVPS1&sprefix=ben+herring%2Caps%2C221&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
Contact Ben direct: Ben@coachingculture.com.au
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You can know the “right” answer as a coach and still miss the point if your environment pushes people in the wrong direction. That’s the thread we pull on with Al Rogers, who spent nine years as an All Blacks analyst during a golden run, then moved into coaching across Super Rugby, international rugby, and Japan. We get honest about what actually changes performance: not a wall of slogans or a spreadsheet of stats, but the daily culture you create and the behaviors you reinforce when things get hard.

We start with a simple coaching habit that most people skip: being open with other coaches. Al shares why post-game conversations with opposition staff can be the best feedback you’ll ever get, even when you’re rivals. From there we define culture as the environment that shapes behavior and talk about how pressure reveals what’s real. Al brings vivid examples from Pacific Island teams where laughter, music, and fun are not “extras” but central tools that keep energy high and anxiety low when it matters.

We also go deep on clarity and curiosity as competitive advantages. Elite coaches simplify the game so athletes can get out of their own way, master the fundamentals, and ignore the noise. On the analytics side, Al explains why data needs context, how stats should start conversations rather than end them, and how simple tools like traffic light self-ratings can expose misalignment quickly while building trust.

If you care about coaching culture, leadership, rugby coaching, high performance, and sports analytics that actually helps people, this one will give you practical frameworks you can use immediately. Subscribe, share this with a coach who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.
Send us Fan Mail
Is your school the best in your country? Let me know Ben@coachingculture.com.au
Silverfern Sports
If you need great rugby gear, Silverfern are the best. Innovative high quality rugby kit.
Buy your set of "How to be a great Coach" By Ben Herring books here (amazon worldwide)
https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=ben+herring&crid=1R6QYBT8QVPS1&sprefix=ben+herring%2Caps%2C221&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
Contact Ben direct: Ben@coachingculture.com.au
Support the show
Subscribe and Share, it makes a massive difference! Appreciation in advance.

The hottest debate in any team sport is selection, and we get why it drives people crazy. From the stands, it looks like a simple list of the most talented players. From the coach’s seat, it’s risk management, culture building, and performance under pressure all rolled into one call. That’s the contrarian idea we’re unpacking: selection isn’t about picking the best players, it’s about picking the best team.

We walk through three practical filters that shape real coaching decisions. First is trust: can we count on you to prepare, do the little things, and stay steady when the moment tightens? Then we dig into influence, because every player shifts the environment, whether they mean to or not. The right presence lifts standards and belief. The wrong presence turns bad habits into “normal” and spreads excuses fast.

Finally, we talk about fit and context. A player can be incredibly talented and still make the group worse if they don’t match the game model or disrupt cohesion. We also share a quick recruiting check for character: ask someone from the player’s current team if they’d be a good fit and listen carefully to the first second of their answer.

If you care about rugby coaching, team culture, leadership, and building a squad that actually performs together, this one will change how you watch selections. Subscribe to the Coaching Culture Podcast, share this with a coach or captain, and leave a review with your take: should selection reward talent or protect the team?
Send us Fan Mail
Is your school the best in your country? Let me know Ben@coachingculture.com.au
Silverfern Sports
If you need great rugby gear, Silverfern are the best. Innovative high quality rugby kit.
Contact Ben direct: Ben@coachingculture.com.au
Support the show
Subscribe and Share, it makes a massive difference! Appreciation in advance.

Pressure doesn’t usually change a coach with one big blow. It changes you slowly, one compromise at a time, until the season ends and you realize you’ve been walking around in fog. Joey Mongalo joins us for a contrarian round of questions on coaching culture and leadership, starting with a deceptively simple one: are holidays just as important as seasons? From tornado-speed weekly cycles to the need for pockets of quiet, we talk rest and recovery as a performance skill, not a reward you earn after you’re already depleted.

From there we get into player development and the uncomfortable truth about control. Coaches can create dependency by owning every decision, every clip, every answer. The alternative is autonomy: shared review and preview, players building their own “program away from the program,” and an “individual first” mindset that actually serves the team. If you only do the generic team session, you might get away with it in a team sport, but you’ll get exposed when the moment is yours.

We also unpack why winning teams stop winning, looking at evolution at the organizational level, leadership transitions and the baton pass, and what happens when selection becomes a given. Then we take on modern leadership myths: can nice leaders win, should leaders show weakness, and what vulnerability looks like when AI can provide endless information but can’t provide trust, psychological safety, or real human connection.

If you care about high performance coaching, authentic leadership, accountability, and building a resilient team culture, this conversation will give you language and practical angles you can use right away. Subscribe, share this with a coach or leader who needs a reset, and leave a review with the biggest idea you’re taking into your week.
Send us Fan Mail
Is your school the best in your country? Let me know Ben@coachingculture.com.au
Silverfern Sports
If you need great rugby gear, Silverfern are the best. Innovative high quality rugby kit.
Buy your set of "How to be a great Coach" By Ben Herring books here (amazon worldwide)
https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=ben+herring&crid=1R6QYBT8QVPS1&sprefix=ben+herring%2Caps%2C221&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
Contact Ben direct: Ben@coachingculture.com.au
Support the show
Subscribe and Share, it makes a massive difference! Appreciation in advance.

A Champions Cup-winning rugby attack coach who never played professional rugby should not make sense and that’s exactly why Noel McNamara’s story matters. We sit with the uncomfortable truth that the “perfect CV” is often overrated, and the real separator is how you think when an opportunity is risky, unglamorous, or confusing to everyone around you.

We dig into what stood out most from Noel’s journey: a very low fear of failure and a willingness to say yes early. One move leads to the next, from New Zealand to South Africa to France, and suddenly the career looks inevitable even though none of the individual steps looked “reasonable” at the time. That launches a bigger reflection on the trap Justin Welsh describes: a chain of sensible choices that builds momentum, makes future decisions automatic, and eventually makes changing direction feel reckless. For coaches chasing a professional coaching career, that chain can quietly pull you away from the work and life you actually want.

We close with three practical takeaways for ambitious coaches in rugby and beyond: back yourself before other people back you, chase learning not status, and choose adventure over comfort. If you’ve been waiting for permission, waiting for the perfect job, or trying to keep everyone else comfortable with your choices, this is your nudge to trust your gut and build your path on purpose. Subscribe, share this with a coach who needs it, and leave a review with the boldest “unreasonable” step you’re considering.
Send us Fan Mail
Is your school the best in your country? Let me know Ben@coachingculture.com.au
Silverfern Sports
If you need great rugby gear, Silverfern are the best. Innovative high quality rugby kit.
Contact Ben direct: Ben@coachingculture.com.au
Support the show
Subscribe and Share, it makes a massive difference! Appreciation in advance.