<h3 id="ec7a7b99-fcc2-45a3-98e1-5ad5b7d256ec" data-toc-id="ec7a7b99-fcc2-45a3-98e1-5ad5b7d256ec"><strong>Growing Up With Two Dreams</strong></h3><p>Growing up, I had two passions. And for a while, it felt like there were only two ways out of my hometown: rugby league and music. So I chased both.</p><p>I played footy from the age of six. By my teens, I was in the Super League system (now that's aging myself), then part of the Newcastle Knights juniors. At the same time, I was singing in school bands, doing School Spectacular (Starstruck in my hood), and writing songs in my bedroom. I didn’t see it as a conflict. It was just who I was.</p><p>At 18, injury ended my football journey. Music stuck around. Since then, my path in the industry has taken me everywhere, from artist to songwriter, studio manager to production school CEO, and now into startups, partnerships, and community. Recently, though, something unexpected has happened.<br></p><h3 id="d8041d71-e687-4e3c-8b45-f5015781ed9f" data-toc-id="d8041d71-e687-4e3c-8b45-f5015781ed9f"><strong>Music Meets Sport</strong></h3><p>Lately, I’ve been noticing something: conversations around rugby league and music keep crossing over in unexpected ways. At first, I couldn’t see how the two really connected. I was racking my brain trying to make the comparison make sense.</p><p>Then it hit me like a hospital pass. They both shape culture. They define identity. They create community. They influence the way we speak, dress, celebrate, and dream. And both are pathways, especially for young people, to feel seen, heard, and be cool.<br></p><h3 id="0ec646bd-4a66-4db4-b658-cca43f0a3814" data-toc-id="0ec646bd-4a66-4db4-b658-cca43f0a3814"><strong>The Discipline Runs Deep</strong></h3><p>I’ve said this one for years. Even in corporate or creative roles, it’s often easy to spot someone with a sporting background; the discipline shows. People with that foundation tend to understand the importance of consistency, repetition, and delayed gratification. They know how to show up, work hard, and stay locked in.</p><p>And while artists can absolutely develop that mindset, maybe part of the truth is that, in Australia, the music system doesn’t embed that discipline in the same way sport does. If you’re not born into structure, you have to build it yourself. Self-driven. Self-funded. Self-reinforcing. In sport, structure comes standard. In music, it’s an enviable luxury.<br></p><h3 id="b618063d-9628-4157-b50d-05401da522e8" data-toc-id="b618063d-9628-4157-b50d-05401da522e8"><strong>Obsession Is a Common Language</strong></h3><p>If you’ve ever been immersed in sport, you know what full commitment looks like. You don’t just play, you analyse, idolise, live it.</p><p>Music is no different. If you’re in, you’re in. You don’t just write songs, you know your favourite producer’s credits, alternate mixes, the live versions from Lollapalooza in 1997. (shout out to Snoop Dogg fans) You follow discographies like playbooks. Real ones go deep.<br></p><h3 id="d9e65321-f6d5-41ed-8a70-e733ac9b8fc0" data-toc-id="d9e65321-f6d5-41ed-8a70-e733ac9b8fc0"><strong>Know Your Role</strong></h3><p>Team sport teaches you to understand your role. To read the game. To support the play, not steal it. That mindset carries over into music. If I’m a backing vocalist, my job is to make the artist shine, not over-sing or pull focus. In a cover band? Same deal. Blend. Support. Keep it tight. (Other singers, please sing the melody so I can harmonise.) Even now, consulting or building partnerships, that thinking guides me: Know your role. Serve the bigger picture.<br></p><h3 id="07b1b7c0-e878-410b-b39f-55dbeeb6862e" data-toc-id="07b1b7c0-e878-410b-b39f-55dbeeb6862e"><strong>How to Win (and Lose) Well</strong></h3><p>Sport taught me how to lose with grace and win without ego. Less performative posturing. More self-awareness. Because no matter the space, how you carry yourself matters.<br></p><h3 id="f59a279b-c18c-45e7-bde7-6d734782459f" data-toc-id="f59a279b-c18c-45e7-bde7-6d734782459f"><strong>The Infrastructure (and Wellness) Gap</strong></h3><p>Here’s where the contrast gets loud.</p><p>NRL players operate in a system built for longevity: Structured development pathways. Government and corporate funding. Career planning. Centres of excellence. Mental and physical wellness programs. In sport, rest isn’t weakness, it’s strategy.</p><p>In music, rest is rarely factored in. Take a break and you risk losing momentum, your audience, your relevance. We’ve built a burnout culture and branded it “the grind.” But is that actually sustainable? And more importantly, who does it benefit?<br></p><h3 id="ecb1ed5c-b8bb-4a8a-9a95-c5c353156e61" data-toc-id="ecb1ed5c-b8bb-4a8a-9a95-c5c353156e61"><strong>What If Music Had a Centre of Excellence?</strong></h3><p>This came up during a conversation with APRA CEO Dean Ormston. What if music had the same national infrastructure as sport?</p><p>Imagine:</p><ul><li><p>Purpose-built creative hubs</p></li><li><p>Large-scale mentorship and business training</p></li><li><p>Regional touring pipelines</p></li><li><p>Mental health and recovery support</p></li><li><p>Career transition pathways</p></li><li><p>And real, long-term investment, not just one-off grants</p></li></ul><p>Would it change how we develop artists, teams, and leaders? Could it shift the conversation from short-term visibility to long-term impact? What would we build if we treated music as essential infrastructure, not just a cultural phenomenon?<br></p><h3 id="ef970f54-417d-4154-a291-d21c777d4f2a" data-toc-id="ef970f54-417d-4154-a291-d21c777d4f2a"><strong>Are We Still a Global Player?</strong></h3><p>The Parramatta Eels recently secured $53 million in funding for their new Centre of Excellence. That’s infrastructure. That’s long-term thinking.</p><p>Meanwhile, Australia just slipped out of the top 10 global music markets for the first time in decades, overtaken by Mexico and Brazil. Is it just about streaming algorithms?&nbsp;Or is it about who’s building systems that actually work?</p><p><strong>Harder question:</strong><span><strong> </strong></span>Are Australians really backing our music industry? Not in the way they back sport.<br></p><h3 id="a7680517-a49f-45b7-a510-6bb3ba2ed2b3" data-toc-id="a7680517-a49f-45b7-a510-6bb3ba2ed2b3"><strong>Participation Isn’t the End Goal</strong></h3><p>One of the great things about music right now is how accessible it’s become. More people are creating, sharing, and participating than ever before. That’s worth celebrating. But just like sport, music has levels: Hobbyist. Emerging. Professional. Elite. And each level needs something different. Maybe it’s time to recognise and resource excellence, not just entry.</p><p>And here’s the wild part: The music industry often turns its nose up at anything that’s been developed or nurtured. We throw around words like ‘manufactured’ or ‘industry plant’ as if being supported by a system is a bad thing.</p><p>Why is being nurtured seen as a negative in music? Could we reframe ‘development’ the way sport does, as a sign of investment, not inauthenticity? Because if we truly want greatness, we need to create conditions that allow it to grow.<br></p><h3 id="e94ec97d-7bf7-4722-b757-60757c48750c" data-toc-id="e94ec97d-7bf7-4722-b757-60757c48750c"><strong>Same Dream. Different System.</strong></h3><p>These aren’t easy problems and I’m far from claiming to have the answers. I love the music industry, and I’ve walked in both worlds. But it makes me wonder: Are we asking the right questions in music? Does the system need an overhaul? Because at the heart of it, both music and sport are dreams. Dreams of escape. Dreams of purpose.&nbsp; Both require talent. Both demand ‘hustle’ but only one has a system built to support the whole journey.</p><p>There’s no immediate answers. But maybe the better question is: what would we build if we believed music deserved the same support as sport?</p>

Conversations around rugby league and music keep crossing over in unexpected ways.  What can we learn from the way Australia supports sport.

Not Just a Game: What Music Can Learn from Rugby League

What If Music Had a Centre of Excellence?

Across multiple different short form content streams, our Founders and Industry Leaders explore their key takeaways from industry events, challenges that creatives face, and everything in-between.

Not Just a Game: What Music Can Learn from Rugby League

Not Just a Game: What Music Can Learn from Rugby League

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