The Inside Shoulder

Lance Hohaia is an NRL legend who played almost a decade for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, won a World Cup in 2008 with the New Zealand Kiwis side and won a Super League title in 2014 with St Helens - but for the last few years has been coaching college rugby union in the United States. Lance dives deep into rugby league and rugby union IQ and its importance to the game, we talk video analysis, tackle ID and tackle selection, as well as his infamous big hit on talismanic prop, Petero Civoniceva, written into NRL history as one of the biggest hits of the modern era. If you enjoyed this chat, you will love our two new platforms Rugby League IQ and Contact IQ - two live and constantly expanding resources hosted on the excellent Skool platform. Rugby League IQ comes with a 7 day free trial and houses a mammoth catalogue of analysis, insights and detail you won't find anywhere else covering every aspect of the game: https://www.skool.com/rugbyleagueiq/-/membersIf you're interested in contact, tackles and collisions more generally and want to upskill in those crucial domains, we've just made it completely free to join Contact IQ. Go unlock hours of drills, sessions and other resources here, and if you like what you see - upgrade to unlock everything: https://www.skool.com/contactiq

On this episode of The Inside Shoulder we are joined by incoming London Broncos Assistant Coach and recent Hull KR Treble Winning Assistant Coach, Danny Ward, the man who helped construct the best defence in Super League 2025 - conceding only 8-9 points per game on average, as well as only one try in the Grand Final against Wigan at Old Trafford. We discussed the decades in the making transformation of Hull KR, how a culture and environment of competitiveness and intensity was built, as well as the ingredients that went into the defence which brought Hull KR their first silverware in decades, including their fearsome line speed and kick chase. Danny Ward is now heading back to the revamped London Broncos RL, a club where he previously played and held the role of Head Coach. As a player, Danny played for Leeds Rhinos, Castleford Tigers, Hull KR, and London Broncos (then Harlequins Rugby League). He was also capped for Great Britain.

Coach Terrence Kennel (TK) is the current Director of Applied Football Science and Speed for the University of South Florida Bulls, a Division 1 school that competes in the American Conference. TK has worked at the elite level across numerous sports including rugby, MMA, basketball, baseball, soccer and of course, American football, carving out a path and trajectory that is unique to him - surfing his own wave. In this episode we discuss speed and conditioning extensively, especially what many people - including football coaches - get wrong about conditioning and what their conditioning is missing. We also touch on learnings from moving between rugby and football, the use of military style boot camps for sport and much more! TK is an excellent and insightful follow on social media, where he can be found under the handle @tkennellphysprep on Instagram and @TKPhysPrep on X/Twitter.

Michael Gragg is Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Harding University Bisons Football program, a D2 team with multiple undefeated seasons in recent memory. Michael tells the Inside Shoulder podcast about the culture and recruitment behind the Bisons' formidable record, about his own transition from playing to the coaching staff within the same team, as well as touching on performance from the weight room, to speed and the kind of combative work needed to prepare athletes for contact. The Harding Bisons football program is a Division II member of the Great American Conference, located in Searcy, Arkansas. The Bisons football coaching staff is made up entirely of ex-Bisons players, including the Head Coach. The Bisons were NCAA Division II national champions in 2023 after a perfect season.Michael can be found on Instagram at @mdgragg50 and on X/Twitter at @MichaelGragg - go follow!

Chev Walker is a current Assistant Coach at Super League juggernauts, the Leeds Rhinos, a role he combines with coaching one of the most consistently successful Academy systems in the world and his new role as Transition Coach - taking responsibility for those promising young players and their path into the top tier professional ranks. As a player, Chev had a long and glittering career with the Leeds Rhinos as well as stints with Hull KR and Bradford Bulls. He also represented both Great Britain Lions and England on the international stage. In 2006-7, Chev made the transition to top level rugby union with Bath, and was also selected for the England Saxons representative side. In this episode we discuss aggression and collisions versus control, the different types of defensive systems, nurturing young talent, the difference between generations and much more.

Laurent Frayssinous is the current Head Coach of France and was previously St Helens Assistant Coach when the Saints were crowned World Club Champions, beating the formidable NRL champs the Penrith Panthers on their own turf. In addition to this he was previously Head Coach of the Catalans Dragons in Super League, having been a player for the club in their inaugural season. In this episode we discussed some of the ingredients that made St Helens world champs, their fearsome line speed and defensive intensity - and how they won Super League titles with the most missed tackles. Or in other words, why not all missed tackles are created equal. Most pertinently for his current role, we discussed what leading the French national team entails on a daily basis, what exactly is meant by the oft-cited term "French flair" and why it matters.

Sean O’Loughlin is current Assistant Coach at the Wigan Warriors, the most successful club in the history of British rugby league. As an assistant coach responsible for defence, Sean is the leading architect behind arguably the best defence in the Super League era, having not conceded a single try (!) in back to back Grand Finals. As a player, Sean was also the long-term Captain of Wigan, as well as having had the honour of captaining England at international level. He was also capped for the Great Britain Lions on 11 occasions. We discussed what it is that makes Wigan’s defence so special, aggression, culture, contact, wrestle and building a defensive system. This is a must peak behind the curtain into one of the most successful professional sports organisations in the entire world. You can follow Sean O’Loughlin on Instagram at @seanol13 and his team the Wigan Warriors @wiganwarriorsrl

Scott Leech is the Head Strength & Conditioning coach at the University of Rhode Island, a D1 Football Program. He is a pioneer in the area of “contact prep”, implementing & rigorously planning contact dosing into off and pre-season workouts for his football athletes. Scott has thought long and hard about athletes’ needs in terms of contact, both physically & psychologically, and in this episode he shares some of his ideas & observations on what it takes to prepare human beings for the unique and sometimes crazy demands of contact & collision sports. This is a must listen for both athletes and coaches in any contact & collision based sport, be it rugby league, union or football - or as Scott mentions, the many other sports where contact is part of the game and likely under prepared for!In this regard he has created a number of courses and online resource packages available online to help coaches make informed decisions around contact & conditioning, including “Contact Prep” and the “Gridiron Warrior” packages. Scott can be found on Instagram @sleech72 and on X/Twitter at @ScottLeech72

Andrew D. Ryland is a former D1 College Football and Rugby player at Penn State University, as well as international representative for the USA rugby team. He is a tackling and contact specialist coach who advises multiple teams across both sports at the elite level. In this episode we discussed learning from both football and rugby, as well as a deeper dive into the philosophy of contact and collision sports and their place in modern society. We talked about whether or not aggression should be a dirty word, and what coaches can do to help both teams and individual athletes become more physical, aggressive and comfortable in contact. Andrew can be found on Instagram at @adrcoachdevelopment and Twitter/X at @ADRCoachDev

Steven Babic is a renowned and sought-after wrestle and contact coach in elite level rugby league and rugby union. He is currently employed as the contact and wrestle coach for both the NRL's Wests Tigers and Super Rugby's NSW Waratahs. Prior to this Babic was the long term wrestle coach for the Canberra Raiders, where his ball pilfering technique arguably helped his hometown club to the 2019 NRL Grand Final, although Babic himself had been poached by the Canterbury Bulldogs at the time. Babic has also worked for the ACT Brumbies and the Parramatta Eels. He is the man behind the viral NSW Waratahs wrestle and combat sessions. Babic is on Instagram at: @hhh_defence