The Kayo Sports NRL Podcast · Fox Sports Australia

Blake Austin | ‘People will say this is bulls**t’

·30 min·1 clip

People will say this is bullshit, but I wasn't happy.

This episode of the Fox League podcast features host Darcy MacDonald interviewing retired NRL and Super League player Blake Austin. Austin is best known for his four seasons with the Canberra Raiders and his subsequent career in England. The conversation explores his life after retirement, his rugby league journey, and his current work with young athletes. Austin now works full-time as a coach at a sports school on the Central Coast and has launched his own rugby league agency. He expresses frustration with the scouting of very young players, citing the Dylan Brown contract as an example of premature hype. Austin argues that clubs overlook smaller, organizing halves at age 15, creating a shortage of quality number sevens later. He believes facing adversity young, like Cody Walker did, builds resilience for longer careers. He recalls his 2011 NRL debut for Penrith against Canberra, where coach Steve Georgallis asked if he wanted his name in the program. Austin reflects on not being a star in Penrith's junior system, where he was often behind recruits from New Zealand and Queensland. His move to the Wests Tigers in 2014 was his only option, but a breakout season there as a utility player put him on Ricky Stuart's radar. Stuart personally called to offer him the Raiders' number six jersey, succeeding his idol Terry Campese. Austin describes the 2016 Raiders season as a near-miss, losing a preliminary final to Melbourne Storm by two points in Melbourne. He reveals he knocked back a lucrative two-year extension from Canberra after 2018, feeling unhappy and needing a change, despite knowing people would call his reasoning "bullshit." He instead moved to Warrington in the Super League, which he calls the most enjoyable period of his career. He watched the Raiders' 2019 Grand Final loss from a pool bed in Tenerife, feeling his former teammates were "robbed." The most special moment of his career was playing two tests for Great Britain, qualifying through his grandmother, who passed away shortly after the tour. His most challenging period was his final two years in Canberra, struggling to maintain his earlier form. He has no regrets, stating he would have played for free and feels blessed to have been paid for 13 years. The tone is reflective and conversational, with Austin offering candid, sometimes self-critical, insights into his psychology and career decisions. This episode will appeal to NRL fans interested in player perspectives, post-career transitions, and critiques of junior development systems. Listeners seeking only current on-field analysis or game previews might find it less relevant.

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