Tuesday 21 April 2026: All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka on returning to the role

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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D'Arcy Waldegrave (0:12)

Welcome on in to the Sports Fix podcast. My name is D'Arcy Waldegrave. It's Tuesday, it's the 21st of April, 2026 Right, I've got lined up for you today. There's a bloke called Gilbert Enoka. He's an absolute legend of mental skills.

An All Black mental skills coach for 23 years, had a bit of a rest and you know what? He's back and he joined us on the podcast. I've got some thoughts around the NRL and what they're doing to mitigate dramas through head knocks, CTE, concussion and the like. And then we'll be joined in the chamber by New Zealand Herald journalist, Alex Powell, as we dance through the weeds of the changes in Formula One. That is our master plan. So like all good master plans, let's hit it in other news. And in sport today, these people said this and I've got proof. General Manager of the Wellington Phoenix, David Doane, is bouncing over the upcoming Women's A-League Second League Semi-Final, set to get going at Porirua Park on May 10th. An extra thousand seats will be made available, all part of the huge effort from the club. Tickets will go on sale to the general public tomorrow. Too good.

SPEAKER_3 (1:25)

They love playing there, we love playing there in the club. We did have to move a few things around for APL, and luckily they agreed that the best venue for us would be at Porirua Park on Mother's Day as well, which is even better, I think, for a women's team. So we're very excited about it, we can't wait.

D'Arcy Waldegrave (1:39)

Warrior Wing, the ridiculously airborne Alafiana Khan-Pereira, isn't a Superman naturally, but training at Mount Smart has given him a license to fly and to try scoring opportunities. He scored twice over the weekend, one of them an acrobatic specky.

Alafiana Khan-Pereira (1:58)

That's something we really work on and, you know, it wasn't really big when I was training at Titans, but, you know, here it's the fundamentals, the details and the boys do it every week, so I get amongst it and, you know, it definitely pays off.

D'Arcy Waldegrave (2:11)

And Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw isn't too jarred by the decision of Riley Higgins to depart for Scottish Shores next year. Amongst the debris of loss, he's found something shiny to treasure.

Gilbert Enoka (2:24)

I think the good thing about Riley's decision is he could have went somewhere else for more money. He had other options. He had an option to stay here, you know.

SPEAKER_3 (2:30)

We genuinely opened him a two-year contract, and we'd love him to stay and keep that strength and debt.

Gilbert Enoka (2:35)

But what I quite like about his decision is he still made it for the rugby reasons.

D'Arcy Waldegrave (2:38)

Good men. And that's Sport Today.

And as a warm welcome now to the Sports Fix podcast to Gilbert Enoka Mental Skills Coach Extraordinaire, who's now back with the All Blacks. G'day, Gilbert.

Gilbert Enoka (2:59)

Hello, D'Arcy. Thank you for the privilege of having a conversation with you.

D'Arcy Waldegrave (3:04)

You're the nicest man. Thanks very much for saying that. I see you're still working your mental skills coach here. Hey, you're back in the saddle again.

Gilbert Enoka (3:12)

You're too hard for that, mate.

D'Arcy Waldegrave (3:15)

Well, you're going back into the saddle again. So plainly, you missed all of that after a couple of years, a cup of tea and a lie down, you're back in black again. I suppose, first up, what drove you to climb back into the breach?

Gilbert Enoka (3:28)

You could question, you know, since I finished with the All Blacks, I've been in a lot of different environments with different teams, with different challenges, but there was something around the pull of the jersey that's always been there with you. I think when you've been involved with the All Blacks for such a long time, it's something that never leaves you. I didn't come back because I felt I had to. I came back because I wanted to.

You know, when Dave came on board and I had contact with my good old mates, Wayne Smith, Steve Hanson, they all encouraged me to get alongside with Dave. So did Joe Smith, by the way, and Ted. So there was a lot of people who were saying that you'd be good in the role. And then there was something about the environment, the people, the standards, meaning of the jersey, that just pulls you back in. And when that call comes, it's pretty hard to ignore.