In this episode I talk to former NRL hard man Ben the boss Cross. Ben has had a distinguished career playing at three NRL clubs, playing in two NRL grand finals and winning one and a state of Origin series with the NSW Blues. Towards the end of his career Ben took up coaching roles whilst playing in the north of England before returning to Australia and working on the development pathway with the Newcastle knights and the NSW Blues Women’s Origin team. Ben was later offered an assistant coaching role with the Brisbane Broncos that didn’t end up going to plan and he discusses the tough times professional coaching can through at you and how he delt with that time in his career. This talk provided some great insight into the intricacies of professional coaching – Ben was able to illustrate some of the traits of his former coaches including the great Craig Bellamy and how he believes developing relationships are vital to being successful as a coach. Ben provided a detailed picture to what he believes went wrong at the Broncos after the Bennet Siebold saga of 2019. After his sacking from the Broncos Ben used the term get better not bitter which personified Ben’s resilience after dealing with a very publicised sacking. He went out and completed leadership and business courses, developed other areas of his life and came back a stronger man following the ordeal. There is plenty to take away from this chat with Ben I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you are enjoying these podcasts please make sure you like it and leave a review and also follow me for updates on the podcast and other coaching matters on Instagram @thecoachdr