My guest today is Rod Kafer—or simply Kafe—a legendary figure in Australian Rugby and an inspiring role model for anyone living with type 1 diabetes.
Kafe represented Australia during the golden era of Rugby in the late ’90s, playing 53 games for the ACT Brumbies in the Super 12 and donning the iconic Wallabies jersey 12 times. On his Wallabies debut in 1999, he helped secure the Bledisloe Cup in a historic win that handed the All Blacks their largest-ever defeat.
He’s a Rugby World Cup champion, a Super Rugby champion, and a European Cup champion—becoming the first player in history to achieve the Treble across all three major titles.
But what makes his story truly extraordinary is that Kafe accomplished all of this after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 15. Instead of holding him back, the diagnosis became a driving force that pushed him to the top of his game.
My guest today is Rod Kafer—or simply Kafe—a legendary figure in Australian Rugby and an inspiring role model for anyone living with type 1 diabetes.
Kafe represented Australia during the golden era of Rugby in the late ’90s, playing 53 games for the ACT Brumbies in the Super 12 and donning the iconic Wallabies jersey 12 times. On his Wallabies debut in 1999, he helped secure the Bledisloe Cup in a historic win that handed the All Blacks their largest-ever defeat.
He’s a Rugby World Cup champion, a Super Rugby champion, and a European Cup champion—becoming the first player in history to achieve the Treble across all three major titles.
But what makes his story truly extraordinary is that Kafe accomplished all of this after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 15. Instead of holding him back, the diagnosis became a driving force that pushed him to the top of his game.
In this episode, we dive into:
- Kafe’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis and early challenges
- The mental strength it took to thrive as a professional athlete with diabetes
- The evolution of diabetes management and tech over the past four decades
- The mindset that made Kafe a tactician on and off the field
- His transition to a successful media career with Fox Sports
- Some hilarious behind-the-scenes stories from his playing days
- And a powerful debut of our segment “Dear Diabetes”—you won’t want to miss his answer.
This episode is part of my What’s on Your Plate series, where I sit down with guests over a shared meal and candid conversation about life with diabetes. For this one, I served Kafe a vibrant plant-based rainbow bowl.
Head over to my YouTube channel to see how we dosed for the meal and managed our blood glucose in real time.
Thanks for tuning in—and welcome to Episode 1!
You can get in touch with Rod through Breakthrough T1D (Formerly JDRF) by clicking the button below
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