“In my role, I ran warm-ups and warm-downs, and was responsible for food selection, energisers, ice-breakers and keeping the boys tight as a unit.
“On game day, I was the time-keeper, passed on communications from the coaches to the players and kept the reserves ready for action.
“I learned and enjoyed the importance — from the moment we all met — of building team culture.
“We talked to the boys about barriers, opportunities and outcomes. As we built our culture we slowly eliminated the boundaries.
“To ‘be you’ was a big theme for us, as was ‘what’s your super-power?’, and ‘what can you add to this campaign?’
“The coaches were all great men. When they were coaching, they switched on, but off the pitch, they were just regular people who love a good yarn and a cuppa.
“We visited the local Valley Club. We trained and had our first dinner there. And we linked up with people from Gisborne before getting a win — that was sweet.
In regard to his business LRB Sports, Bradley said: “I love to connect a person’s skill with opportunity.
“I rediscovered my passion for rugby during my time in Japan and with it, I’ve been able to send Kiwis to Japan on rugby contracts.”
Bradley, 38, is an old boy of Gisborne Boys’ High School with family connections to the Horouta sports club.
His father, Mike Bradley, was famous for his commitment and physical play as a loose forward for Horouta.
Luke did a degree in sport and leisure from 2003 to 2007 at the University of Waikato.
He later trained rugby and basketball teams in Japan and in 2018 was the manager of the Poverty Bay under-16 team.
Since returning to Gisborne in 2018, he has run successful rugby camps and clinics here.
He was the head coach of the Poverty Bay women’s u18s in 2019 and the Bay women’s seven-a-side team in 2020.
In 2020 and ’21, Bradley was trainer for the Ryan Tapsell-coached Gisborne Boys’ High School first 15. From 2021 to 2023 he was again head coach of the Bay u18 men.
“Luke has a passion for rugby and sport in general,” former Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union chief executive and now New Zealand Rugby provincial union partnership manager Josh Willoughby said.
“He’s quick to put his hand up to do whatever’s necessary to develop himself to ensure he’s providing the best possible experience for our young people.
“He is able to provide opportunities for players and coaches to further their own development with experiences that last a lifetime.”
Bradley played rugby as a first five-eighth at Cobham School and Gisborne Intermediate but concentrated on basketball and volleyball while at Boys’ High.
The professional phase of his sporting journey kicked off five years into his time teaching in Japan.
“Living in the countryside with few foreigners about, I picked up the language quickly,” Bradley said.
“As I moved in rugby circles and became fluent in Japanese, I would voluntarily help teams access players and staff.
“One day it occurred to me that I might as well make a business out of doing this, and so here we are today.”
Most recently on the LRB Sports front, Bradley signed former Gisborne BHS first 15 winger Luka Russell to the Townsville-based North Queensland Cowboys in the Australian National Rugby League.
Last year, he placed Russell’s Gisborne Boys’ High teammate Dylan Bronlund with the University of Western Australia from which he made the Western Force under-19s; Ngatapa and Poverty Bay Heartland player Matt Raleigh with the West Harbour Pirates; and another 2022 GBHS first 15 player, Boston Morete, with Randwick.
Morete has since been selected for the Australian u20 side from the Brumbies u19s.
Bronlund, 19, is working in Perth before he moves to Sydney in 2024.
“Luke has always been there for many of the guys my age,” Bronlund said.
“As an agent, he has helped many of us to get to where we are now in our journey to become professionals. His rugby knowledge and the connections he has around the world are incredible.
“He runs a good agency. Many Gisborne players have gone through him. Luke’s well respected.”
In 2021, Bradley placed former Ngati Porou East Coast Kaupoi, Poverty Bay and Heartland 15 flanker Stefan Destounis with Harlequins in Victoria and last year he made his debut for the Melbourne Storm in a pre-season clash with the Kintetsu Liners.
Bradley has exciting work coming up.
“Over November and December I’ll be taking care of a few GBHS leavers and their post-high school rugby careers,” he said.
“I’ll also be taking a few players to Japan to induct them into their university scholarships in January.”
Dillon has a high regard for Bradley’s understanding of rugby, and his appreciation of the pressures on players and coaches.
“That’s why we got him in,” Dillon said.“He brought energy. He’s a clear communicator.
With Luke there’s an awesome balance of enjoyment, learning and performance.
“He added real value to our group.”
