Is Athletics Australia Corrupt and is Nic Bideau the leader?

*should be updated without weird formatting

On the topic of who is / isn't still in MTC on the men's side from the early days, anyone know an update on each of the below? Will be interesting to see who pulls the pin completely on running or moves on to a different squad in 2026. PBs are taken from world athletics site as easiest to find in one spot, but naturally not fully correct eg Gregson has run a more recent Marathon PB etc:

- Ryan Gregson: last pb listed Feb 2017, 1500 indoor. 35 years old
- Brett Robinson: last pb listed Dec 2022, Marathon. 34 years old
- Stewie McSweyn: last pb listed May 2024, 5k outdoor. 30 years old
- Jack Rayner: last pb listed Feb 2025, 5k indoor. 30 years old
- Matt Ramsden: last pb listed July 2021, 3000. 28 years old

Are there any other last 20s - mid 30s guys with MTC? Eg Pat Tiernan, Dave McNeill, Andy Buchanan? Gets a bit confusing on who is with MTC or just managed by Nic for races etc
I know MTC get the occasional bit of hate here and on some podcasts, but for anyone who was running early 2010s in Australia, it would be hard to have not supported at least one or more of these guys over the years since (I certainly have and still do).

Rayner & Robinson are still at MTC and are based in Melbourne. I believe Brett is now uncontracted. Ramsden is also a member of MTC, but he lives in Perth so doesn't train with the crew. Stewy recently has moved on. Grego lives in Brisbane and is close to moving on from running now I believe. Andy is and always has been coached by Scott Wescott. Pat Tiernan is based in the U.S. as part of the Puma group. Dave McNeill retired recently but still runs.

I'm a fan of these guys too. While MTC deservedly cops a lot of flack, these guys started from the bottom of the food chain and have achieved some unbelieveable results. For example, Stewy (and NB) but at 18 Stewy's best PB was 14.57 in the 5k. By 26, he was close to getting a medal at the Olympics. It's an unbelievable rise, and Stewy and NB deserve praise for that. Cheers

Thanks very much, great to know. Apologies for the confusion re Andy, Pat and Dave M - I just quickly checked who MTD and Nic follow on instagram and made some assumptions in the absence of a clear online list!

I haven't seen Ramsden do anything for a few years. He's still on the right side of 30 but assume this is a make or break year for him if he is still running. Agree re: what that group have done for aussie running has been huge. I still remember Gregson breaking Mottram's junior 3k record in 2007 and then going lower in again in 2009 I think before the famous 3:31 in Monaco in 2010 - then followed each of the new guys as they came after him.

So has Stewy moved onto another coach or group, or has he moved on to retirement?

Running is such an amateur sport. There is a shroud of mystery over the club someone runs for, their sponsorship and where they train etc. Imagine if you visited the Collingwood Magpies website and couldn't find out who is on their playing roster for the upcoming season?!

8 in a year?! Is that honestly physically possible?

New group & coach

Which group / brand has Stewy moved to? On?

He and Sam Tanner are moving to OAC under Mottram. So Stewy will basically be doing the exact same training.

Although Sam Tanner is now using ON shoes, I'm pretty confident he's staying with Craig Kirkwood as his coach alongside Sam Ruthe.

So who is Stewy going to train with at OAC? It's not like they have lots of 5/10k runners.

Has Stitt relocated to Melbourne to train with Mottram?

I think Rambo is done - missing Tokyo in a race that was set up specifically for him felt like a nail in the coffin, and then got into trouble in Eugene punching a teammate.

Greggo needs to retire. His legs have clearly gone and he’s now getting beaten by the top women. So unless he pivots to pace Gen, hard to see what keeps him going.

Brett to me is the great “what if”. Clearly naturally gifted, and such a smooth mover. I think hes stagnated under Nic - whether that’s his own apathy/lack of ambition of the fact that MTC training hasn’t changed in decades. Wish he had opted for an altitude based group and really given it a crack, as his marathon PB should be much faster than it is.

Jack feels like a big fish in a small pond. Chops/changes events constantly, meaning he is literally a Jack of all trades master of none. Wins a lot of big races domestically (Zato/Melbourne Marathon) but isn’t remotely competitive in Europe.

As others have said - MTC used to be the only place Aussies wanted to go. I think it’s telling that the vast majority of National distance records are now held by athletes not coached by Nic.

This is news to me, what happened?

I heard MR punched BB in the face, heavily alluded to in IRP podcast also without mentioning names but if you dig deep in the forums you’ll find more info.

Brett mentioning on FTK that Seth blocked him on Instagram after Boxhill

Any whispers why?

Sounded like there was some back and forth pre race about pacing; Seth wanted 13:15, Brett wanted 13:30 and said no one was going to run faster than that (won in 13:28) - possibly the cause or more MTC related drama?

Bit of a painful listen on there with either Joel falling off a rock whilst fishing and missing days of his return to run attempt 35, or Greggo battling on to run another very mid time on the Fall Guys. The episode with Jack post-Barca was good at least.

The entire pod is rinse-repeat. You've got a bunch of 30+ year olds acting like they're 19-20, who do the same training each week and act like being a pro (or sub-elite for Joel) is hard work.