From his early days playing multiple sports to his current role with NOLA Gold, Julian’s journey is a testament to his dedication, adaptability, and passion for the game. In this interview, Julian opens up about his transition to rugby, the challenges of playing at the professional level, and the routines that keep him at the top of his game. He also shares insights into the rugby cultures of Tennessee, his experiences at Life University, and the camaraderie within the NOLA GOLD squad.

Q: When’s the first time you played rugby?
A: I started playing when I was 14. I grew up in Hawaii, but moved to Tennessee and started playing at the club level there.

Q: Did you grow up playing other sports?
A: Yeah, most of my life I played American football. I also played basketball, volleyball, and baseball too…all of those sports tie into coordination and eventually helped me on the rugby field too.

Q: What’s the rugby culture like in Hawaii? How about in Tennessee?
A: It’s growing in Hawaii — they have a big American football culture, but there are a lot more rugby clubs popping up. It’s actually quite prevalent in Tennessee, but what both states are missing is rugby as part of the high school sports system. There are a couple of other Tennessee players in the MLR…Harley Wheeler, to name one.

Q: How well do you think Life University rugby prepared you for the professional level?
A: 100%. Being at Life is like being on a professional team in college. The meetings and preparation are all similar to the MLR…they try to instill those lessons early to prepare you for a professional career.

Q: What have been the hardest parts about adapting to the professional level?
A: The speed of the game, definitely. It’s much faster than when I played in college. The guys are all a lot bigger, too, so the physicality is tougher.

Q: Are there any players on the squad that you’ve really studied this year?
A: Yeah, I’ve been watching Rodney Iona for a while, even before I was drafted. When I got into the team, Jordan Jackson-Hope helped me become a professional with stuff outside of rugby, like being in the gym consistently or doing my recovery work.

Q: Tell me a little bit more about your recovery routines.
A: I give at least thirty minutes to an hour for recovery before training and sometimes after training if I need it. It’s mostly stretching — I haven’t gotten into the whole ice tub thing yet. I just try to get loose before I play so I can be at my best.

Q: We got an impressive result this past week against Chicago. Tell me about the team’s mentality and focus throughout the game.
A: We knew that Chicago brings a lot of line speed and we’d need to take that out of their game. Our mentality was to stick to our game plan and be really physical with them.

Q: There were quite a few penalties in the game against Chicago — was that for any particular reason, or just how the game went?
A: Penalties are a funny thing — some of it you can control, and some of it you can’t. We try to limit our penalty count, but sometimes you can just get unlucky.

Q: Ed Fidow was obviously the MLR’s player of the week, but are there any other GOLD players you want to highlight for their performance against Chicago?
A: Reece Botha played a really good game — he’s been playing really good rugby over the last couple of weeks. Our captain, Moni Tongauiha, has also been killing it, especially on the defensive side.

Q: This week, we host the top team in the league in the Houston Sabercats. Does this game feel different, or is it business as usual?
A: I think this does feel different, at least for me. We know they’re the #1 team. It’s going to be a big game for us and our organization.

Q: What parts of their game do we really need to respect?
A: They’re just really big. They’re a physical side. They’re also strong on set piece play, so limiting how much structured attacking play they get will be important. They like to kick, too, so winning that battle is important.

Q: What’s on the playlist to get you hype for a game?
A: I actually like island music. I don’t usually listen to super hype stuff. Rodney Iona does a good job on aux.

Q: What do you like to do outside of rugby?
A: I like to spend time with my partner and our daughter, and I also like to play video games. I play some Call of Duty with a bunch of the other guys.

Q: Ryan Fitzgerald says you’ve got the best step in rugby. Where’d you get it?
A: I gotta give props to my brother for that one. He taught it to me last year. He’s with Old Glory DC.

Q: Where’d you get the nickname “Swoosh”?
A: They always called my older brother “Nike” so naturally they called me “little Nike” which turned into “Swoosh.”