Ben’s work with professional athletes, sports teams and business leaders is renowned, having helped in the lives and performances of tennis champions Ash Barty and Andre Agassi, world surfing champion Stefanie Gilmour and more recently with the Australian Cricket Team.

Ben is the ideal final guest, bringing together the common themes of Bounce Back in a compelling mixture of insights and anecdotes that showcase the path to achieving happiness and confidence is underpinned by embracing vulnerability, being genuine and embracing imperfection.

A suicide attempt led to a turning point in Jacqui’s life. After receiving support and getting her life on track, in 2013 Jacqui was elected to be a Tasmanian Senator.  Jacqui struck a chord with thousands of Australians when, in 2015, she told Parliament that her son was addicted to ice. Forced to resign from parliament in the dual citizenship fiasco, Jacqui went on reality TV to finance her re-election campaign and was returned to the Senate in 2019.

A warning that this episode contains conversations about suicide.  If this raises issues of concern for you, please consider calling Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 for immediate support.

Since then, Rosie has become one of the most prominent and successful domestic violence campaigners in Australia’s history.  She created the Luke Batty foundation, advised governments, campaigned in Australian and international media and has been the recipient of many significant accolades including 2015 Australian of the Year.

Content warning, this episode contains references to family violence.
If this discussion raises issues for you, and you’d like to talk to someone, you can call/chat online with:
Beyond Blue 1300 224 636
Lifeline 13 11 14
1800RESPECT 1800 737 732
Men’s Referral Service 1300 766 491

In 2016, Richmond Football Club finished 13^th on the ladder. Some footy fans had doubts about whether Trent Cotchin was cut out to be a leader, including Trent himself, who said: “I felt I was trapped under a black cloud at the end of that season. I got to the end of 2016 and that was probably rock bottom for me”.

One year later, Richmond broke a 37-year premiership drought. They followed up with another grand final victory last year.

Cotchin has won the Brownlow Medal – the AFL’s highest individual honour – and is a three-time Richmond best and fairest winner.

One of the best quotes in sport can be attributed to Bronte: “I am the third fastest swimmer in the world and yet I am the second-fastest swimmer in my family. It is ridiculous. It is not normal.”

Bronte has represented Australia at the London and Rio Olympics. Heading into Rio, Bronte was reigning 100m freestyle world champion and sister Cate was the world record holder. On the first night of the swimming in Rio, Bronte and her relay team (including her sister Cate) won gold in world record time. Expectations were high for the individual race. It’s safe to say that things didn’t go to plan. Bronte finished fourth, Cate came sixth. Then came the media barrage and the subsequent journey to retain their self-belief.

When the results came in on election night, it wasn’t to be. Bill Shorten announced his resignation as Labor leader, acknowledging that as captain of the team, he bore ultimate responsibility for the surprise loss.

It has been over a year since the election and Bill Shorten is now Shadow Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and for Government Services.  In this episode of Bounce Back, Bill Shorten speaks to Dr Andrew Rochford about the lead up to the election and how he coped with the loss – that night and in the days and months following – as well as the importance of his support networks and what now keeps him motivated.

Now, many would consider him to be the NRL’s greatest ever player. He has won an unprecedented four Dally M medals – the highest individual award in the National Rugby League – and three World Golden Boot awards.

Last year, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to rugby league and as a role model, and in 2017 he was awarded the Human Rights Medal.

As Managing Director of the JT Academy, he’s making a difference in the lives of young Indigenous people, through wellbeing, education and employment programs.

Seeing the trauma on the faces of his team, he tried to lighten the mood as he was being carried away on a stretcher, calling out, “You’ll see me at the Paralympics.”

Fast forward four years and Curtis is Australia’s flag bearer at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Rio Paralympics, having won gold in the men’s paracanoe KL2 division.

The journey of Curtis McGrath is an amazing one. This ten-time World Champion has strength, resilience and a will to win – but also knew the importance of reaching out for help when he needed it most.

Michael’s story is one of second chances, turning his life around after being imprisoned for almost three years for conspiracy to import heroin.

Michael speaks to Dr Andrew Rochford about how this experience shaped his life and how he turned his background into an asset, rather than a liability.

Owning his actions, when Michael took over running the state’s courts and jails, he emailed all 40,000 of his staff and told them that as a teenager he used and supplied drugs.

In an at-times controversial coaching transition, Buckley took on the senior coach role at Collingwood in 2012.  While the football world adored Nathan Buckley the player when he was flying high and the team was winning, when the Pies were regularly losing under Buckley the coach, supporters began to question his value and whether being a great player really made him qualified for the coaching role.

Buckley speaks to these moments in his career and how changing his attitude and coaching style resulted in better player relationships, emerging successfully from a coaching review and winning him the respect of footy supporters across the code.

Anna Meares is the only Australian to have won individual medals at four consecutive Olympics.  In 2016 she became Australia’s most decorated Olympic cyclist in history.

But in January 2008, Anna nearly lost her career and almost her life when she broke her neck in a horrific track accident at the World Cup in Los Angeles.

Just ten days after her accident, wearing a neck brace, Anna got back on a stationary bike and pedalled for one minute. That afternoon she pedalled for five minutes.  Seven months later at the Beijing Olympics she won silver in the sprint.