GOLD DIGGER: The search for Australian rugby
A podcast that investigates the mysterious decline of Australian rugby union and a fan who made a documentary that took him through a journey into the void to pick up the pieces of Australian rugby to find a path forward to fortune and glory.
Episodes
40 episodes
EPISODE 39: The year we didn’t need to have + Announcements
2023 can probably get in the bin. Okay, it wasn’t all bad. Some of us had a great trip to France and it’s great if you follow 7s rugby, but otherwise, it’s been tough. Joining Matt to have a quick review of the year and where to next for Austra...
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Season 1
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Episode 39
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50:30
EPISODE 38: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Eddie Jones
It was an interview that was months in the making. Then he was sacked but still the opportunity was there. At the time of recording in early January 2023 he was a former Wallaby coach and at the time of publishing he is now the current Wallaby ...
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Season 1
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Episode 38
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1:02:25
EPISODE 37: Since when do we lose to Italy?!
Since when do we lose to Italy? Another historical Wallaby loss surely requires a response and with a little wine in hand, Matt decides to give it a go. Not much here except a good old fashioned cathartic whine about the bleeding obvious. We dw...
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Season 1
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Episode 37
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32:36
EPISODE 36: Q and A with Director and DOP
We made the call and many of you answered! A short but sharp Q and A session with writer/director Matt Durrant and Director of Photography Majdi Slaibi on the newly released feature documentary Gold Digger: The search for Australian Rugby. Some...
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Season 1
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Episode 36
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41:10
EPISODE 35: Aussie film release 15th September 2022!
Finally, the documentary we've been waiting to share with Australian audiences will get a local release this Thursday the 15th September 2022 on the day of the Bledisloe Test Match in Melbourne. The film will be screened on Fox Docos via Foxtel...
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Season 1
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Episode 35
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36:51
EPISODE 34: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Glen Ella
The Ella brothers are synonymous with Australian rugby and especially the era in which the Wallabies and the "running rugby" style took over the rugby world. Glen Ella, the twin of Mark and older brother of Gary, lived and played through it all...
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Season 1
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Episode 34
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1:09:09
EPISODE 33: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Simon Strachan of GAINLINE Analytics
Eddie Jones talks about it, Scott Robertson swears by it and cohesion has certainly been a frequently mentioned topic across all sports lately, but GAINLINE Analytics is a company that has devoted itself to using cohesion to search for that elu...
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Season 1
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Episode 33
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1:14:14
EPISODE 32: Show me the money!
We're back after a bit of a break to pull out our calculators and dig into the financial inner workings of the business of rugby. Following Rugby Australia's announcement of a $4.5M loss in the last financial year, the prospect looks more posit...
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Season 1
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Episode 32
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1:10:21
UPDATE: Some film news!
Not strictly an episode but an update on the latest exciting news that our documentary feature film Gold Digger: The search for Australian rugby is going to be released this coming week in South Africa on Saturday the 16th April 2022 on SABC2!&...
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Season 1
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6:38
EPISODE 31: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Stuart Lancaster
We've talked cohesion in the past and you just can't mention the word without mentioning the most cohesive professional rugby club in the world right now, Leinster Rugby. So who better than Leinster's current senior coach and former England hea...
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Season 1
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Episode 31
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1:15:15
EPISODE 30: The C Word - Part II
We continue to dive down the cohesion mine but instead of a historical interview, this time we get to have another candid interview with Ben Darwin as he travels through London in March 2022! Ben and Matt sit down and discuss the many questions...
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Season 1
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Episode 30
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1:27:48
EPISODE 29: The C Word - Part I
It's a word spoken about in sporting terms by players, coaches and pundits alike but never has "cohesion" been so articulated and detailed by none other than a former Wallaby in Ben Darwin. Along with his business partner, former Wallaby video ...
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Season 1
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Episode 29
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1:09:26
EPISODE 28: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Sir Clive Woodward
Welcome back for 2022 and we're giving a nod to the pending Six Nations series by travelling north and interviewing rugby royalty in the form of Sir Clive Woodward, the former England and British and Irish Lions player and coach...and of course...
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Season 1
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Episode 28
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49:17
EPISODE 27: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Ollie Hoskins
One of the magical stories of the recent Wallaby Spring tour, tighthead prop Ollie Hoskins was playing Dungeons and Dragons one minute and then the next, he was being summoned to the Wallaby training camp to debut against England at Twickenham ...
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Season 1
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Episode 27
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58:49
EPISODE 26: The tale of the Western Force
A historic new expansion that turned into one of Australian rugby’s most bitter civil wars, the Western Force is a franchise that has ridden the rollercoaster of excitement and devastation. This is an episode that looks at how the team came int...
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Season 1
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Episode 26
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1:25:57
EPISODE 25: Wallaby Therapy Session
It's been one of those weeks, hell months, if you're a Wallaby fan. Within hours of that devastating loss in Cardiff to Wales we pour a glass of whiskey, press record and let it all out. The Welsh loss, the TMO, the Spring Tour, the Giteau Law,...
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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1:51:31
EPISODE 24: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Sera Naiqama
Dividing her time between training in the Wallaroos squad, being a STAN Sports pundit, ABC Sports podcaster and public speaker, Sera Naiqama is one of the busier rugby personalities going around. She drops in for a quick chat to dissect Austral...
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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1:15:16
EPISODE 23: Wallabies v Springboks
The Wallabies and Springboks continue to have a decorated rivalry with the men in gold taking the latest chocolates over the reigning World Champions. But when it comes to peaks and troughs, both Australia and South Africa have many parallels i...
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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1:21:40
EPISODE 22: The Wallaby school
Imagine having Toutai Kefu teach you the ins and outs of back row play, or having Elton Flatley give you a personal kicking course, or perhaps a one on one exclusive from George Smith on how to jackal at a ruck? Welcome to Wallaby school and tw...
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1:16:41
EPISODE 21: Rise of the Highlanders
From rugby battlers to reigning Shute Shield Premiers, the Gordon Highlanders have a long history of achievement but a recent one of survival and reinvention. We talk to club stalwart and Gordon rugby life member Peter Sherwood about how the cl...
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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1:10:42
EPISODE 20: Perilous in Penrith
The “grassroots”, the beating heart and soul of our game where rugby is often discovered, life long friendships formed and even future Wallabies are discovered. Well in Western Sydney the grassroots are being dried out and left to be paved over...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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57:24
EPISODE 19: Where are the Waratahs?
It’s the biggest rugby market in Australia, with the most clubs and players yet it’s currently the lowest ranked rugby franchise in Super Rugby AU. Just what has happened to the Waratahs and NSW rugby since the giddy height of that Super Rugby ...
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1:05:24
EPISODE 18: The Golden Geese
The Brumbies and the Reds, two powerhouses of Australian rugby both historically and right now in the wake of the 2021 Super Rugby AU final. But why is that so? What made these two teams so dominant back in the 1990s and what was that correlati...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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48:50
EPISODE 17: The Rugby Royal Rumble
It’s grand final week of Super Rugby AU, and a special podcast episode sees a four way dance between Ando from Pick and Drive Rugby, Mitch from Rugby Fixation, Nelson from Draft Rugby and yours truly. An Australian rugby podcast "Royal Rumble" ...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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1:31:24
EPISODE 16: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Dan Leo
Samoan international test rugby player, welfare advocate and now filmmaker Dan Leo never took any prisoners on the field and isn't afraid to hold back when it comes to speaking out. His debut film "Oceans Apart: Greed, Betrayal and Pacific Isla...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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1:24:14