TRENT ROBINSON SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Even when I was working with Michael Maguire at the South Sydney Rabbitohs, in 2014, I knew I would one day win a Premiership with the Sydney Roosters, and Trent Robinson and in fact told the boys at Bondi Radio in 2014.
I turned up at Roosters training on 15 December 2017. I waited until after training was finished, approached Trent Robinson, introduced myself and said, “I thought I would just come down and give you some 1%s to win the Grand Final”. Trent replied with “I’d be interested in that”. We went on to speak for 1 hour and 45 minutes, even after all had left the training ground. That day (15/12/17), I gave Trent a signed copy of my book (no. 33 off print run), “The Science of Belief” and wrote it in “To Trent, 2018 Grand Final Winning Champion Coach NRL Belief is Powerful Expect to Win Done Done Done”
Trent suggested he would call me before round 1. He didn’t. The Roosters lost 3 of the first 6 games in the season.
Trent called me after round 6 and asked what we should do next. I suggested he go to the Chairman and tell him he wants to work with me. The next thing I knew, we had just landed in London and we had an email from the Roosters welcoming us to the club with a draft contract. Whilst on holidays, we negotiated the deal, signed the contract and I started working with Trent (opposite time zones and all).
We spoke during the week. I went to numerous training & video sessions as I wrote down and reported on the 1%s. I sat in the Coach’s box with Trent on game day recording 1%s and got to know the players and Assistant Coaches.
After round 19, I was having coffee with Jimmy Smith. He introduced me to Blake Solly, CEO of South Sydney. When asked by Blake, who would win the Grand Final, I told him the Roosters would win the double ie: The Minor Premiership and the Premiership. I also asked him if he wanted me to tell him something that he probably didn’t want to hear. He agreed, so I told him that Souths, despite having only lost 5 games in the 19 rounds to date, would lose 3 of the next 6 games in the regular season. Blake Solly reported these predictions to Paul Kent, reporter from the Daily Telegraph, who went on to write a defamatory article about me, and the predictions, in the paper.
With the end of the season looming, we lost to Melbourne Storm by 1 point and remained 6 points from the top of the ladder. I knew we would still win the Minor Premiership & the Premiership. In the final round of the regular season, for the Roosters to win the Minor Premiership, Penrith who had never beaten Melbourne in Melbourne and last beat them in 2012, had to win AND the Roosters had to beat Parramatta by 27 points. Both these happened, and the Roosters won the 2018 Minor Premiership. In the meantime, South Sydney had in fact lost 3 of their last 6 games in the regular season, as I predicted.
I met with Trent just before the Grand Final and I reminded him of what I wrote in his copy of my book, back in December 2017. He asked me to bring that book to the Grand Final, which I did. The Roosters went on to beat Melbourne in the 2018 Grand Final emphatically 21-6. I celebrated in the dressing rooms with Trent and the boys and then my family and I celebrated after the game on our own – job done!
The Friday after the win, Trent called me, when he was on holidays. He expressed incredible gratitude for my efforts throughout the season. I asked him simply for a signed jersey, and a reference, as all my coaches do this for me. He went on to tell me that he was organising a special surprise for me. After pushing him, he told me it was a Premiership ring. I cried.
We went onto win back to back premierships, defeating Canberra 14-8 in the 2019 Grand Final. I received a signed jersey and 2nd premiership ring from Trent as a thank you for my contribution. We also won back to back World club Challenges for seasons 2018 and 2019.
The mysterious 'coach whisperer' the Roosters don't want you to know about
Two weeks before the first round of the NRL season, Bradley Charles Stubbs knocked on the door of the Roosters offices at Moore Park looking for coach Trent Robinson.