The Gamesman

 
There was a point during his playing career, when pulling on the iconic black jersey and for the All Blacks, Justin Marshall was given the best piece of advice he ever received, and a mantra he continues to live his life by.
At the time he was going through a difficult stage in his life – not just related to rugby, but his personal life too, in particular with the media.
His coach at the time, Wayne Smith, told Justin to trust his instincts. “He told me I was thinking too much and I needed to trust in myself and my abilities, and to do everything positively and confidently.”
These words of wisdom not only turned his game around, but also his life, helping him to believe in his decisions, have confidence in his actions and trust his gut instinct.
Justin not only implemented this advice throughout his rugby career, but also into his new business venture, The Golden Roast. And his business instinct is proving to be just as successful as his professional sporting career.
 
The Southland boy
Justin is a South Island boy through and through; he grew up and was educated in Gore before settling in Christchurch to focus on his rugby career.
He was a rugby representative of both Southland and Canterbury and it was during his time playing for the Crusaders that he made his big break – being selected for the All Blacks’ 1995 tour of Italy and France. Justin was just 22 when he débuted against France in a 37–12 win.
He made 81 appearances for the All Blacks between 1995 and 2005, including five as the test captain in 1997. After ending his international playing career, he signed on to play for a number of overseas teams including Leeds Tykes in the English Premiership, the Welsh regional side Ospreys and Saracens in London.
While playing for Saracens in the 2009- 2010 season he discovered his talent for commentating, making appearances on the BBC Wales rugby programme. At the end of the season he announced the end of his playing career with a view to moving back to New Zealand to focus on broadcasting.
Today Justin is a Sky Sports commentator in New Zealand for most All Blacks’ games and other provincial level matches. But more recently he has turned his hand to the business world.

 
A golden opportunity
The lifespan of a professional sportsman’s playing career is limited. The tough part for many retired sport professionals is finding a plan B career. Justin says this was always a bit of a conundrum for him. “When you are involved with professional sport you don’t know what path it’s going to lead you down.”
He says like him, about 50 percent of the top level rugby players move overseas to play for United Kingdom and Europe teams after wrapping up their careers in New Zealand. “When you do this you lose touch with New Zealand business, unless you’ve got something up and running before you go, which I didn’t really do.”
A previous foray in hospitality, having owned the well known Christchurch bar the Grumpy Mole, a number of years ago sparked Justin’s enthusiasm for the industry. But while he knew where his other passion lay, he admits he didn’t
have a career plan organised on his return to New Zealand.
It was through a mutual friend that he first learnt about the spit roast catering company The Golden Roast. The business’ Australian owner and operator, Phil Hosking initially got in contact with Justin in regard to doing some promotional and advertising work for the company. The pair meet up for a chat and the conversation quickly
progressed and they become business partners.
He says the business model really struck a cord with him, and his gut told him the catering business could be a real success in New Zealand. “When Phil came to see me about brining his franchise to New Zealand, I had just been looking for someone to cater my 40th birthday at my home in Queenstown.
“I was having a party and wanted a catering company to come in and cook the food fresh in my home. When I searched, not only in Queenstown, I noticed there weren’t many businesses that actually cook the food fresh onsite. So I knew there was a gap in the market, which was certainly appealing and it suited my previous hospitality experience so I jumped on the opportunity.”
 
Killer instinct
Now, as the head franchiser for The Golden Roast New Zealand, Justin is bringing the same drive, enthusiasm and killer instinct for the business as he displayed so fiercely on the field.
It’s clear he is proud to put his name to the business as he enthusiastically explains its services and the role he plays. “The Golden Roast specialises in spit roast catering and is equipped with mobile facilities and professional staff to host functions for all occasions including weddings, birthdays, corporate functions inside or out, and all of the delicious meats are cooked fresh onsite,” he says.
With 30 successful years in Australia under its belt, Justin is excited to bring The Golden Roast to New Zealand. “The first franchise we sold was at The Business Opportunities and Franchise Expo in Auckland. That sale marked the launch of the business in New Zealand.”
And the Auckland franchise is gaining tractionquite nicely. “We are really thrilled with the way Auckland is going just a year into business. The product that we are offering and delivering is appealing and has been well received.”
He has now turned his sights to the rest of the country. “Now it is time to start franchising across New Zealand; we’ve got another 18 more franchises to sell nationwide.” He says he is extremely keen to get the South Island onboard too and he’s actively searching the Canterbury region for potential new business partners.
“When you buy a franchise the business owner Phil Hosking comes over from Australia and spends time with the new franchisee to help with set-up. Phil is extremely experienced when it comes to teaching new franchisees the ropes.”
 
From the field to the boardroom
With his attention fully focussed on creating an excellent team with The Golden Roast New Zealand franchise, the skills and attributes that were so central to his rugby career are coming into play.
A core focus on teamwork is one of the main attributes that he is bringing from the field to the boardroom. “Teamwork is a key for any business, particularly this business when we are looking to grow it throughout the country, because if one franchise arm lets down the team, everybody suffers. And it’s just like that in rugby if one of your teammates slackens and drops their work ethic it has an effect on the whole team.
“I also found with rugby that honesty is vital; you just don’t keep things in because it festers. The good thing about rugby is if you have a problem with a teammate or a coach, you voiced your opinion. You’d say ‘I don’t agree with this’, ‘I’m not comfortable with this’ or ‘I don’t understand this; can we talk about it?’”
And he says he wants to bring that same open, proactive approach into business. “If you’ve got a problem or if something is bugging you, then our franchisees can talk to us – there will always be a resolution and a way forward.”
 
More than meets the eye
When people think of Justin Marshall they tend to think of an extremely competitive, aggressive rugby player and, yes, while that is apart of who he is, there is more to him than meets the eye.
“People who don’t know me have a view of who I am because of the way I played the game. I like to think that I am a different person than the real competitive never say die player that I was on the rugby field.”
But despite being a different person off the field, he still has that same drive that gave him the edge to achieve an impressive 80 percent winning ratio with his fellow All Blacks. “I still have that drive no doubt about it – I only got to where I am because I have the drive. Whether it’s sports or business orientated, I’m competitive and I want to be the best at whatever I do. That is always going to be in my blood.”
 
The World Cup is coming
The rugby world is again gearing up for the biggest show in town – the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In pool play New Zealand faces Argentina, Tonga, Georgia and Namibia. With all due respect to Argentina, it’s a draw that’s raised speculation about whether the All Blacks might be a tad underdone heading into the business end of the competition.
While Justin says it’s not ideal preparation, he thinks our team is up to the challenge. “I think the All Blacks are very well coached and they’ll be aware they won’t see a lot of hard rugby game time before they hit the quarter finals. I think we are going to be nervous enough about a quarter final outside of New Zealand after 2007 to let a lack of hard games in the pool affect us.”
He suspects Argentina will be a reasonable challenge, but we’ll likely beat the other three teams by more than 50 points. Despite the pool play, he says our boys in black are quick learners and are very good at preparing themselves for the physical side of the game. “They’ll be firing on all cylinders come quarter final time.”
 
Unstoppable
Since the moment Wayne Smith gave Justin the confidence and self belief to trust in himself and to act on his instincts, he has been unstoppable. He dominated the rugby pitch for more than a decade and now he is using that same winning attitude to tackle the challenges of the business world head on.
The mission that he has set out to achieve is “make The Golden Roast the best that it can be” and there’s no doubt that he won’t meet this goal. So expect to see a Golden Roast franchise spit roasting delicious meats at a town near you in the not too distant future.

If you are interested in franchise opportunities in South Island visit:
www.goldenroast.co.nz, or call 0800 28 29 30
By Laura Baker