Antonio Shalfoon- What a Lad
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the Waterland Podcast presented to you by Betcha. And here's a little sample of what's about to come in this episode.
I guess I always had in the back of my head that I wanted to be a professional rugby player. At 24, I still didn't actually have a full time. I was on the injury replacement. But when you get to that age and you see your mates building their own careers and getting to your mid to late 20s and everyone's kind of doing this and you're like, shit, am I getting behind or not? Being a rugby player is like, oh, I still don't think of it as work or a job or anything. It's... It's just what I love to do and I genuinely the last kind of three years have been like the best years of my life.
How did Antonio first get diagnosed with myocarditis and what did doctors tell him?
It was after one weekend I just kind of randomly started just getting a bit of chest pain. Woken up and genuinely just drenched in sweat like just completely soaked and my heart is just like beating out of my chest like I've had about 15 Red Bulls. I told her what's going on and she's typed up the symptoms into Google and it basically says oh you're having signs of a stroke. She drove me to the hospital. A doctor comes in and he goes oh yeah you've got myocarditis. I don't know if Might not play footy again.
Well, lad, well, last week I asked you guys who you wanted to hear from next on Water, Lad, and an overwhelming number of requests come from the man that I have with me today. And honestly, I was not surprised. He's a man who's regarded as one of the great lads of our game who didn't have the typical pathway to becoming the Super Rugby starting lock he is today. It was not until the age of 26 before he had his first Super Rugby contract after grinding away in club rugby before an opportunity with Wakato came up. But then it was after his move down to the Tasman market where he really made a name for himself with his work rate and skill set catching the eye. From there, he became a key member of the Crusaders forward pack where he helped them win the 2025 title.
And his form was so good that he earned a New Zealand Maori All Black selection. On top of the footy, he's a legend of a man, part-time grub, but an absolute champion. It is, of course, the great man, Antonio Shelfoon. Welcome, Jared. Cheers, mate. What an intro. One of the greats. One of the greats. Antonio, the name, Shelfoon, unique. Yeah. Talk to me about it.
Yeah, very unique. So, yeah, Shelfoon's Lebanese. I think I did an interview with old Makani on The Crowd Goes Wild. It was the first time someone actually kind of asked me in the public audience Where it come from. But yeah, it's Lebanese. And then I think there's about eight brothers or something that voyaged over here to, I don't know what to do, but anyway, and found some Maori woman. So yeah, the old Maori Lebanese.
So who's the Lebanese in your family?
Greenhead? Yeah, so it's, uh, so my, oh, it's all like my dad's side and, um, like dad's dad, granddad, and then I think great granddad. Oh, true. And then it just filters, filters down there. And your mum's Maori? Nah, she's, she's just a good old New Zealand European. Oh, your dad's part Maori, part English. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. But obviously with Shelford, like that name stays, being on the male side. Yeah, yeah. And then Antonio is Italian, but has no reference to anything. Yeah. You've got no Italian blood. No, this is actually, I'm just remembering this. Um, I think it was last year, Penn, Rob Penny, um, oh, it must've been, we're just in the players lounge and he's just talking when he goes.
Oh, you know, you know, get a good few years over here and then, you know, you could go maybe play at, um, and Zabri or what's the other club in Italy? Treviso. Treviso. Yeah. And he goes, oh, and then, you know, you'll, you'll be straight into the Italy team, mate, playing the six nations, mate, the world cup. I was like, I was like, oh no, I've actually would have to do my five years. He's like, oh no, you're Italian, aren't you? I was like, nah. I was like, yeah, not a drop of Italian, but yeah, cheers, mate.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:38
2
How did Antonio first get diagnosed with myocarditis and what did doctors tell him?
0:38–3:59
3
How did Antonio’s delayed pathway lead to his Super Rugby breakthrough at 26?
3:59–22:32
4
Why is Antonio moving to Japan and what is he expecting from the Shizuoka Blue Revs?
22:32–50:55
5
How did Antonio discover and recover from myocarditis during preseason?
50:55–53:30
6
What was Antonio’s path back to professional rugby after his heart scare?
53:30–56:26
7
How did Antonio earn his Crusaders debut and first full Super Rugby contract at 26?
56:26–1:04:11
8
What funny team stories, pranks and life-after-rugby plans did Antonio share?
1:04:11–1:35:51