Keegan and Company

In this episode Kalyn and I discuss the rule change that opened the door, and why his dad and his sister were the biggest reasons he chose the Kiwis. Walking into his first Māori camp in 2019 nervous, because he felt like “the white kid”. What Origin still means to him. Growing up in New Zealand with a dad who is one of 11. What playing for the Kiwis would mean to his old man. And why he wants to learn about where he comes from.
This is part of my second chat with Kalyn Ponga. We recorded it at the start of April 2026, about three weeks after he announced his switch from Australia to New Zealand. Seven months on, he made his Kiwis debut at the Rugby League World Cup, broke his arm in that game, and came back 23 days later to help get New Zealand into their first World Cup final since 2013. We’ve loved watching him this year, so it felt like the right time to put this part of our chat out on its own.
For the full episode:
#174 Kalyn Ponga Returns! What his Mindset Coach Taught Him & Why He Chose the Kiwis: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
For more just like this:
#82 Nathan Cleary: Daily Disciplines, FOPO & Dealing with pressure: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
#32 Jordan Riki: Pain Tolerance, Mates and a Bottle of Wine: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
#7 Patrick Carrigan: Whats changed at the Broncos, Patty vs Harry Grant and Perspective is everything: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
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Zac Perez grew up in Bendigo, where all his best mates happened to be the same age as him. For about five years he and a group of mates have sent each other a short video every Wednesday. A bit over a year ago he became a dad, and a week or two in he felt a little isolated for the first time: he was the only dad left at parents group, and his mates had had their kids at least ten years earlier. He wrote his way through his first 50 days, and that became his book, Becoming Dad. Then, in the middle of winter, he tried to start a dads' walking group and nobody turned up. He posted about it anyway, and the next time about 50 dads came along.
In this episode Zac and I discuss that walk: the first one, when it was two dads and one baby, the video he made when nobody came, and what he noticed about the dads who turned up after it. We talk about staying a good mate when you've got a newborn, the group chat he answered in the middle of the night, and how the Wednesday Waffle works. Then the first year itself: how much of a creature of habit he'd become, the five unfinished jobs around the house, a 3am moment from day 40 of the book, and what changed once he started walking with his son strapped to his chest. We compare notes, since I'm a new dad myself, and get into putting the phone away around his son, saying g'day to every kid in the street, and the one thing he hopes never changes.
Free your team from time-consuming procurement tasks. Discover smart business buying, where unmatched selection meets AI-driven tools to simplify complex processes so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at amazon.com.au/keegan
For more just like this:
#93 Hayley Wilson: Overcoming Doubt, Olympic Pressures and Dark Times: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
Hayley on her parents, and how much they shaped her.
#160 Andy Buchanan: Finding Purpose In Running: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
Another Bendigo boy, on the running family he grew up in.
#207 "The biggest blessing in disguise" Life Update: I Became a Dad Two Weeks Ago: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
The life update Zac brings up, from my first two weeks as a dad.
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Adam Wood was barely recruited out of high school in Utah. He reached out to the coach at BYU anyway, was given a time to run, and spent the summer betting on himself until he walked on to the team and earned a scholarship. These days he races marathons and makes running videos, and his wife, Mica, is a marathoner too. In April a panic attack at home turned his life upside down for a month, and he was diagnosed with panic disorder. We sat down in Chicago three days before the marathon, where he was chasing a time under 2:16 to qualify for the US Olympic Trials. I'm grateful he talked about all of it this openly.
In this episode Adam and I discuss going from not getting recruited to chasing an Olympic Trials qualifier. What he does in a race when it hurts, and what he does when he loses focus. Pacing Mica through her first marathon. The anxiety that came with walking on. The panic attack in April, and getting his life back on track. A voice memo question from his wife Mica. A line he picked up about the two kinds of suffering. And the promise he made himself while he was in the thick of it.
This episode touches on panic attacks, anxiety and mental health. If anything it brings up for you, Lifeline is 13 11 14.
Free your team from time-consuming procurement tasks. Discover smart business buying, where unmatched selection meets AI-driven tools to simplify complex processes so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at amazon.com.au/keegan
If you enjoyed this you will also enjoy these
#184 Alexi Pappas: How to Become Fearless & Why Shortcuts Are Poison: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
An Olympic distance runner on the dip after her Games, and learning what mental health really was.
#50 Tamika Upton: Newcastle Knights, Coping Strategies for Anxiety & Personal Preparation: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
Tamika on the panic attacks she didn't have a name for at first.
#157 The Psychology of Rumination | Why We Get Stuck on Negative Thoughts (& How to Break Free): Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
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Cam Bostock spent his teens inside. He was homeschooled, played video games all day and had social anxiety that followed him into his twenties. At about 19 he decided to change it: he got rid of the computer, started saying yes to invitations, and made himself walk up to strangers, which he says was the most terrifying thing he had ever done. A mate took him on three nights on the Bibbulmun Track and he was hooked. In 2020 COVID took his job and his apartment in Tokyo, so he went all in on filming hikes and didn't make any money for three years. Last year he set the unsupported record on the 1000 kilometre Bibbulmun. A bit over a week before we spoke he went back for the self-supported one, and at midnight on day one, 95 kilometres in, he stacked it five times on Mount Hallowell in the rain. He walked ten kilometres the next morning, then called it.

In this episode Cam and I discuss that morning, the phone call to his wife Karis before he decided, and why a bloke who a couple of years ago would have dogged it out pulled the pin instead. We talk about why he started a podcast when he reckoned he was no good at holding a conversation. Then Dan and Emma, the two hikers he met on day one of the Pacific Crest Trail and walked 139 days with, and what suffering alongside strangers does to a friendship. I get his advice for anyone who has never slept outside,What his wife, Karis says to him on the phone when an attempt is falling apart, and what he leans on when he's out there alone.
Free your team from time-consuming procurement tasks. Discover smart business buying, where unmatched selection meets AI-driven tools to simplify complex processes so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at amazon.com.au/keegan
For more just like this:
#176 Jacqui Bell: Youngest Person to Run an Ultra on Every Continent: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
The mate who introduced Cam and me.
#131 Geoff Wilson: A Life of Adventure: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
Geoff telling the Antarctica storm story himself, which I don't do justice in this episode.
#169 The Psychology of Green & Blue Spaces w/ Dr Megan Lee | Why Nature Changes Your Brain: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
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Four days after our baby was born, I ran my version of the Sydney Marathon. It took me over four hours. Three weeks later I lined up in Berlin to run a sub 3:30. The only difference was how much I cared about the outcome.
In this episode I get into why the effort we're willing to give changes from one race to the next. Jack Brehm and motivational intensity theory. Three weeks away from my family. Oliver Foran on doing it for something bigger than himself. Fear, and proving it to yourself. The shallow end and the deep end of the pool. What happened at 33 kilometres. A mate's line about wanting and paying. And a mountain you might not need to climb to the top of.
Part one, The Wall Is In Your Head, and part two, Lowering the Effort, are both out now.
This podcast is supported by Denza. Thanks to DENZA Gold Coast for getting behind the show.
Start with parts one and two:
Why do we Quit? (Part 1) #209 Psychological Impacts on Physical Performance: The Wall Is In Your Head: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
Why do we Quit? (Part 2) #213 Psychological Impacts on Physical Performance: Lowering the Effort: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
For more just like this:
#189 Oliver Foran: Mount Everest World Record (Sea Level to Summit), Losing his Mum 16 & Finding His Why: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
#165 The Psychology of Finding your Why?: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
#160 Andy Buchanan: Finding Purpose In Running: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
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