Russell Packer has lived one of the wildest arcs in rugby league - from a teenage prop playing men’s footy in Levin, to 100+ NRL games, prison, the threat of deportation, an MBA from one of the world’s top business schools, and a completely different life after footy.

Russell opens up about the parts of his story most people don’t see - the demons, the damage, the work, and the daily battle to be better for his partner Lara and their kids.

We talk:

•⁠ ⁠Discovering Wim Hof, ice baths and chasing healthy extremes

•⁠ ⁠Growing up in Foxton, playing men’s league at 14 and life lessons from Levin Lions

•⁠ ⁠The Sydney assault: what actually happened, the court case and media narrative

•⁠ ⁠A year in jail, isolation, anger, acceptance and the moment his daughter broke him

•⁠ ⁠Rebuilding his life and career after prison

•⁠ ⁠Nearly being deported from Australia and what that meant for his family

•⁠ ⁠Studying business, getting into AGSM and graduating with an MBA

•⁠ ⁠Moving into business: subdivisions, fencing and learning by failing

•⁠ ⁠Curiosity, reading, and a lifelong thirst for knowledge

•⁠ ⁠Raising an autistic son and becoming more empathetic and less judgmental

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Steve and Seamus are proud to be dressed by Barkers.

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