Ballet dancers. Sumo wrestlers. Cage fighters. Deep Purple blasting in the sheds. This is the world of Mike Cron – the Scrum Doctor who coached 217 Tests with the All Blacks, lifted 3 Rugby World Cups, and is now helping fuel the Wallabies’ revival. For over 40 years, Crono’s been obsessed with one thing: making rugby smarter, safer, and more effective. But instead of just looking inside the game, he’s gone everywhere for answers — ballet studios for balance, netball courts for movement, cage fighting gyms for contact, even the New York Yankees for culture. You’ll hear the raw stories and coaching philosophies that have kept him at the very top of world sport. No clichés. No tired coaching jargon. Just lessons that hit way beyond the rugby field — about leadership, curiosity, resilience, and creating safe environments for players to thrive. Featuring insights from James Slipper, Harry Wilson, and Nic White, this is a rare deep dive with one of rugby’s true masterminds. 02:00 - The feedback Mike asked of Andrew 04:00 - Mike's never-ending birthday celebrations 05:30 - Learning from other sports (sumo, cage fighting, netball, baseball) 08:35 - How biomechanics influence rugby union 12:35 – How Mike integrates netball into rugby 17:35 – Sticking to morals as a coach 20:35 – How to do shorter performance reviews 22:55 – Coaching men vs women 24:35 – Book recommendation 27:35 – Reviewing and giving feedback to athletes 35:35 – How Deep Purple propelled the All Blacks to victory 38:35 – Applying Deep Purple to team training 43:35 – Communication, planning, and preparation 45:20 – “Too old to coach?” 47:35 – Entering Australian rugby with the Wallabies 51:35 – Nudgee College chapter 55:35 – Mike's training philosophies 56:35 – Mike's lessons and influences 1:01:35 – Creating a safe learning environment 1:09:05 – Learnings from coaching & advice for new coaches Learn more about Mike here: https://www.mikecroncoaching.co.nz/ Use Code "PQPODCAST10" to get 10% off your Lumo Coffee order:https://lumocoffee.com/ Interested in sharing your story? Email Producer Shannon at
[email protected] today with your story and contact details. Learn more about Andrew and Performance Intelligence: https://performanceintelligence.com/ Find out more about Andrew's Keynotes : https://performanceintelligence.com/keynotes/ Follow Andrew May : https://www.instagram.com/andrewmay/ Watch the Performance Intelligence Podcast on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@performanceintelligencepodcast If you enjoy the podcast, we would really appreciate you leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps us build our audience and continue to provide high quality guests.
