Coach whisperers are on the rise but not everyone agrees with their methods
The ‘positive believer’ brigade is a growing industry in the world of sport and while many teams have jumped on the bandwagon not all are drinking the Kool-Aid, writes Jessica Halloran.
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The scene was the old Azzure cafe underneath Allianz Stadium in August last year.
Bradley Charles Stubbs, the self-styled “coach whisperer” who has somehow infiltrated a cross-section of Australia’s elite professional sporting codes, was playing eyes up football.
Across the opposite side of the busy cafeteria, Souths CEO Blake Solly was preparing for a meeting.
Never one to miss an opportunity, Stubbs promptly fronted Solly with a crystal ball prediction: “You’ll lose four of your last five games, you’ll make the preliminary final but you’ll lose to the Roosters,” Stubbs told Solly. “And the Roosters will win the premiership.”
Stubbs’s next request was just as annoying to Solly as his disappointing prophecy for the Bunnies.
“Can I have a photo with you?”
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For the mysterious coach whisperer, who has no formal sports psychology qualifications, the photo with someone like Solly is important; a visual endorsement which he could post on his website.
“No, I don’t want to have a photo with you,” Solly said.
While “the mentalist” didn’t get the photo, Stubbs’ prediction proved bang on. The Bunnies’ season was derailed while the Roosters powered on and won the premiership.
Stubbs now even has his own NRL premiership ring, gifted to him by the Roosters.
But not everyone is buying it. The way Stubbs conducts his business has annoyed one of the most influential men in the game — Rabbitohs general manager of football Shane Richardson.
“He used to sell Amway; I’m not even sure I would buy Amway off him,” Richardson said. “It’s crazy that he has become a coaching guru.
“His constantly claiming he won us the 2014 NRL title annoys everyone at the club at the end of the day. It’s absolute rubbish. He was there for a few weeks. The players couldn’t stand him.
“He contributed as much as the guys that were putting the Gatorade out, as the people that were marking the lines, the people making the coffee at the club … and they don’t have their own website.”
Richardson then makes this observation.
“Look, everyone is looking for an edge and some people think this could be an edge without drugs …” Richardson said. “But it’s not.”
When this columnist tries to get Stubbs to talk, he says he’s had “18 media outlets” trying to interview him. He says no to an interview — “but for you only I will get [my wife] Cathy to send you the results from people I have worked with. I believe results speak louder than words.”
He signs off the text with “The Coach Whisperer. EXPECT TO WIN. DONE DONE DONE”.
When the email from Cathy emerges, it is a simple word document titled “Bradley Charles Stubbs Sporting Honour Board”. It begins in 1987 and features a host of people aka “winners” he has worked with, starting at helping 16-year-old Nicky Wood win the Bells Beach title (youngest surfer ever). Some of the greatest names in Australian sport follow, including international rugby coach Eddie Jones, Sydney FC’s Graham Arnold, Wallaby coach Michael Cheika, then Souths coach Michael Maguire and Roosters coach Trent Robinson.
Interestingly, when Stubbs walked into their lives, most of these coaches or teams were already on their way to the top of their game. It’s not like he rocked up to the Gold Coast Titans and radically lifted them up to a premiership.
But, whatever, they won, went on amazing winning streaks, he had a hand in it, and here Stubbs is, now on the greatest rugby league stage of all — Origin. Today, Stubbs is attempting to help a talented Maroons side manifest a series victory after last year’s loss with his positive ways.
In a rare interview last year on Fox Sports program Bill and Boz, he explained his philosophy of manifesting success with a change in mindset and attention to detail — right down to language — banning words “hope”, “want” and “maybe”.
It’s not going down well north of the border. The mentalist was causing meltdowns among the Queensland rugby league senior fraternity when his exorbitant fee was revealed. People were perplexed Stubbs had banned words such as “New South Wales” from camp as well as all talk of the opposition.
Even his own supporters describe Stubbs as very unconventional and a bit of a wacky character. “He can part a room,” says one source. But they also say his work can be smart and positive, sparking belief when needed.
His supporters say he can help win you games but he’s just a cog in a machine of 100-odd moving parts it takes to get the “W”.
Notably, Stubbs never addresses the Roosters players and they have never used the tactic that the Maroons are employing this week.
As for Stubbs’ self-promotion? The photos, the website? Well, that’s what most consultants do in highly competitive marketplace; big-name sporting teams get you more work.
Yet among the sports psychology community, self-styled mind gurus are ringing alarms bells. Last year the Australian Psychological Society issued a media release concerned about the rise in people without formal psychological qualifications moving into the high-performance space with major sports under the guise of “wellbeing” or “performance”.
They can cause damage. At the Adelaide Crows, controversy ensued last year when they employed Collective Minds group — a so-called “mind performance company”. They oversaw a pre-season leadership camp which left several senior players mentally distressed. The club severed ties by June last year. The Crows finished 12th, having made the grand final the year before.
“The AFL is always looking for the next guru to provide them with a winning formula, so they are primed for these unqualified and unregistered people,” Jeff Bond, a leading psychologist who has worked with Olympic and major football teams, said at the time. “They show great websites and great testimonials about how good they are, and whose mind they have been able to change to become winners. They get picked up by clubs who are desperate to find the key to winning.”
Time will tell whether Stubbs’ appointment was another good move by the Maroons.
But you imagine for Stubbs there are no maybes, because it’s all about the “science of belief”.
He’s probably thinking Queensland will win. DONE. DONE. DONE.
Originally published as Coach whisperers are on the rise but not everyone agrees with their methods
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