Braydon Ennor: Crusaders centre ahead of the team's clash against the Highlanders

Sportstalk host and born-and-bred Cantab D'Arcy Waldegrave is finding a lot easier to talk about the Crusaders this season.

The team put the Waratahs away over the weekend, and they're on track to finish at or near the top of the table.

Crusaders centre Braydon Ennor spoke to D'Arcy on Sportstalk.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dunescy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Super Rugby now the returning He's been there for a
couple of weeks now, but man, he looks good. He
looks happy as well. His name is Brayden and he
joins us. Now, Hi, Branden, I'm very well what about yourself?
You guys still pulsing and bumping after what happened last
week against the war Retars. That was convincing. They say
the scorecut actually flattered the Warratars in the end because

(00:36):
it maybe took your foot off the pedal a wee bit.
But all around, a lot to like about that.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Yeah, it's good, good running rugby. Probably. I think we
did pretty well with the heavy, heavier track, but like
you said that for the last twenty minutes, we could
clean up a bit more and really put them away.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
What aspect of that do you think is that I've
been identified by Rob Penny any particular area that he's
more concerned about than the others.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Oh, discipline, the back half of the game has always
been the last couple of weeks been trending, has been
being pretty also obviously cleaning that up and we felt
pretty confident defending in their half, So just getting the
ball down there and making them making them attack out
of their half, tough to score tries from their long range,
so making them work for it a bit more.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Just taking some tears off with the boot and stick
them down in the corner and say good luck.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yep, exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
The discipline areas is this fatigue based? What causes that,
what triggers that for things to fall away in the.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
Last twenty odd Yeah, I think the main one we're
getting done for is not rolling away. So that's just
the detail and our and our tackle tackler second tackler
coming into the double shoulder. First off, you want to
be dominant, you're landing on top, get up and move through.
But when you sort of miss that hit, you end
up behind the ball and you're having to roll away.
So just that quick change of mindset if you haven't

(01:55):
won the hit, then those quick urgent movements to get
get up and out of there before the nine gets
there and milks it.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
And yeah, you don't want in the opposition kind of
leaning all over you because they're not going to do
that any Why are they? Because I'll get pained too.
So you kind of have to be quite instant, doesn't it. Which,
let's face it, Braak has helped the game extraordinarily. It's
got so much more rhythm and flow.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Now, Yeah, exactly more and player as much higher and
hopefully it's a lot more exciting for those watching at home.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
I'm excited and loving what's going on in the back
line with the Crusaders. How comfortable are you in there? Break,
because mate, you've had a dog of a time over
the last couple of years, but you're back and you're playing.
It looks like there's carefree as you've ever been.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah. I guess having a bit of time off the
park or in the last couple of years sort of
gives you time to think and just sort of almost
help me find that love of the game again. Coming
back in and just enjoying every moment while playing with
this team and poison insight out of me. So yeah,
looking forward to it getting some more minutes.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
And apart as far as falling back in love for
the game again, how much of that was self doubt
that you get back to your the self that you
know once you've gone through that injury, did that smear
you were taught it was there a shadow on you.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
I'm not sure if it's self doubt. Obviously in the
early stages, especially after that knee twenty twenty, just for
the World Cup, that was where I sort of fell
out of love with the gamer, but obviously pretty disappointing,
terrible time to have it. So you take, you tend
to take a couple of months just to sort of
well the wallow and self pity, and then then you
start to feel a little bit more like yourself when
your knee start sitting down, you start to run again

(03:21):
and start building that confidence back, and I think coming back,
it's just gaining those little positives every week. You take
a little positive out of the out of each training,
whether it's you had a top speed again, or you're
you're feeling a bit better stepping, or you're nailing a
few more passes and reading the game a bit better,
and you just, yeah, you build those consecutively throughout throughout
your return to when you come back on the park,

(03:43):
you feel rare and you go when.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
I said self doubt more hoping that your body will
hold together and your knee and your limbs have got
the strength. It's kind of doubt in your physicality and
how way of heal, because that won't go away, surely,
not for a while.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
I think I think I'm pretty good at just leaving
it behind. It's almost like a goal social memory. You
just it is what it is. I'm back playing now,
get stuck in, try not to think about it too much,
and because if you start thinking like that, then you're
only going to be scared going in contact, scared going
a full sprint, and that's just no good fear. So

(04:20):
I hope that's it looks like I'm coming back with
a whole lot of confidence and that's what That's how
I feel stone so really looking forward to it.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
With time out of the game and then coming back again,
have you made any major adjustment around what you do
from an observational point of view? Been watching for so long?
Is that lifted what you do? The ability to change
with the times.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
I feel like with being out and watching a lot more,
it's actually helped my sort of vision of the game
and then watching things unfold and heeds up players all
those sorts of things obviously comes with a bit more
experience as well, but compared to my younger years, but
center these days with Russian defenses can leave with a
backfield space or disjointed attack defense line. So reading all

(05:04):
those sorts of players and defensively as well, picking off player,
isn't it.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Mitchell Drummond, he's been around for as long as Noah
one hundred and fifty this weekend, how good?

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah, he's an absolute legend as the Red and Black.
You know, it seems like he's been here as long
as I've been alive, but we're actually just pretty similar
in age. But yeah, I'm looking forward to getting them
out there and playing with them again. One hundred and
fifties there's no easy task. There's only a few men
and super rugby that have ever hit that milestone, So

(05:34):
really looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
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