I have played rugby for most of my life and was lucky enough to have had a career as a professional rugby player. I began my rugby playing days at age 11 in my hometown of Perth in Western Australia. At 21, I traveled to Sydney and played for Eastern Suburbs, one of the toughest Clubs in Australian Rugby, boasting several national team players. While with Easts, I received an offer to play the off-season in Hong Kong, which I readily accepted. After leaving Hong Kong, I accepted a contract with European Champions, Ulster. I spent the next five years in Europe, and in my 30s chose to end my playing days in the U.S. playing for the Santa Monica Rugby Club. My trip to the states turned out to be more than just an opportunity to play rugby in sunny Southern California, while there I also met my future wife and we are looking forward to our first child in the spring.

Like many rugby players I suffered from neck and back injuries throughout my career. In fact, a neck injury early in my career threatened to end my rugby playing days for good. However, after many months of treatment, a long lay off and against medical advice, I went on to play for another ten years. To cope with my neck and other injuries, I needed regular therapy to stay at the top of my game. With the help of a team physical therapists, private acupuncturists, massage therapists, chiropractors and osteopaths, combined with strenuous strength and conditioning training I was able to stay on the pitch and continue playing at a high level.

After spending thousands of dollars on therapy and countless hours on treatment tables, I learned a whole host of things about my body and how different kinds of therapies could be used to alleviate my aches and pains. However, it was not until very recently that I learned about what I needed to do to treat not just the symptoms of my injuries, but to actually overcome them altogether. To my surprise, that therapy did not come at the hands of a professional, but instead required nothing more than a little time, my own body weight and a bunch of balls!

I had been introduced to self-myofascial release (SMR) - the practice of using small balls and rollers to activate various pressure points and release tension, early in my career - but it was never stressed to me how important it was to engage in a regular and sustained practice of SMR until recently. I have my good friend and trainer, Karl List, CEO of List Integrated Systematic Training, to thank for showing me the real benefits of SMR and the ways in which I could really change my body to completely overcome my injuries. My daily SMR practice has helped me make health gains that, to my knowledge, have never been made before. It has been my regular SMR practice, the knowledge I have gained about my own body and my desire to help others with similar problems, that gave birth to the idea for Bula Balls.

Bula Balls provides the first ever integrated system for self-myofascial release, and I truly believe the regular use of Bula Balls can help everyone - from professional athletes to those suffering from everyday aches and pains.

Along with getting the word out about Bula Balls, I am currently an assistant coach for the UCLA Rugby Bruins and donate my time and resources to help further the development of rugby in the U.S.

I am also the U.S. Director of Development for the international charity, Movember. In that position I work to raise money for and awareness of prostate cancer throughout the U.S. rugby community.