Crippling performance anxiety meant Sharks big man Toby Rudolf would sit in the sheds before a game wishing he was anywhere else. One of the NRL’s most popular players has revealed that impostor syndrome suffocated his thoughts for the first five years of his career. But a chat with coach Craig Fitzgibbon earlier this season changed everything and Rudolf was able to finally overcome the head noise.
Watch the best coverage of the 2024 NRL finals, with expert analysis and every game until the Grand Final LIVE with no ad-breaks during play, on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today > The 28-year-old now plays with the belief he can match it with the best in the game, which he’ll have to do when Cronulla face three-time reigning premiers Penrith on Saturday for a spot in the grand final. “On game day I used to want to rather be digging holes and be anywhere rather than the change room,” a brutally honest Rudolf told foxsports.
com.au. “I used to always think before a game that I’m going to drop 10 balls and miss 80 tackles and I’ll never play first grade again.
“That was my mentality right up until this year. Fitz just sat me down and said ‘have you ever dropped 10 balls? Have you ever missed so many tackles? Have you ever actually let the team down so dramatically in that fashion you keep thinking about?’ “And I was like ‘ahh not really’ then he said ‘well park that, there’s no point thinking about it, you’re just wasting energy, focus on t.