'I'm saying this for the first time': AB's manager's road to the top

Newly appointed All Blacks commercial manager Megan Compain admits to having been quite dismissive of rugby during her playing days as a professional basketballer. But through a mixture of fate, luck, astute relationship management and a hustler’s mentality, Compain has nevertheless scaled the ranks of sports marketing and management to this year land one of the most important jobs in rugby, having long since discarded her previous indifference to the code.

In a sometimes heartfelt, sometimes hilarious and sometimes hair-raising interview on the latest Between Two Beers podcast out this week, Megan Compain reflected on a life journey that was already quite remarkable well before taking up her latest post.

The 48-year-old enjoyed a compelling sports career that includes being the only Kiwi woman to have so far played in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the US, three professional basketball seasons in Europe, and having represented New Zealand for 10 years and played at two Olympic Games.

She has since also worked globally for Adidas, done three World Cups as an All Black staffer, become a board member for Basketball New Zealand and a Sky Sport commentator.

But having originally gone to the US as a 16-year-old in search of basketball glory, and now boasting an impressive catalogue of anecdotes on her brushes with the likes of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, it was arresting that one of the things Compain elected to get off her chest during a podcast otherwise brimming with optimism, was a grooming incident she’d never previously addressed.

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