I appointed John as Head of Mind Management at the Bulldogs in 2011. He held this position until October 2016. He directly reported to me during his time.

He has proven to be a loyal and trustworthy person who displays a consistently positive and empathetic attitude to all his colleagues and the players alike. John’s high work ethic and willingness to go beyond the ‘call of duty’ is second to none.

I strongly recommend John for any related position in sports organisations, the wellbeing sector, counselling and mind management / mind coaching spheres within sport and business.

John Novak is an integral part to my coaching success stories. He is an outstanding communicator and role model. His calmness provides security and his knowledge creates confidence. John’s sessions enlighten, educate and inspire my students to be the best they can be. Most importantly his inspiration creates a motivation that lasts long after their session has finished. The simple process John follows provides my students with an easy to understand way to become a more competitive athlete, and in turn a more complete human. I have not met another person more passionate and more giving of his time in the effort to get the best out of every person he works with”

I have known John for 1 year. He was the mindset coach for
Sydney FC during the 2022-2023 A-League Men season.
His tenure coincided with a run that took us to within one
game of the Grand Final.

In this time, John worked with our leadership group, had numerous 1 on 1 meetings with players and presented to our squad. John also worked extensively with the coaching staff and had several meetings with me personally, both in person and on the phone.
His experience both as an elite athlete and mindset coach make him uniquely placed to understand with the various physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual demands of success in elite sport. He has shown his methods to be successful in all manner of
both team and individual sports.

More than simply presenting his methods, John in the living embodiment of them. He is, without exception, positive, open, empathetic and genuine at all times. I have no doubt that John would be a significant asset in any organization that seeks to develop a successful and holistic work environment.

John Novak is a principled man that has the unique talent to connect with athletes of any level. His ability to empower his clients to fulfil their full potential by developing emotional and mental capabilities sets him apart from his peers. If I was coaching professionally in Australia, John would be the first person I would call to be on my staff.

It is with pleasure that I furnish this letter of support for John Novak.

I have known John professionally for over 5 years in my capacity as General Manager, Football Operations. John was employed as Head of Mind Management at the Bulldogs where his primary responsibility was to prepare NRL players mentally for matches by working with them as a team and individually.

John’s attention to detail and focus on performance improvement was a contributor to the success of the Bulldogs, with consistent semi-final appearances and 2 Grand Finals achieved during the term of his employment.

John also worked with the younger squads instilling his Boomerang Effect positive psychology program. Coaches have commented to me the effect this program has had on players as a whole with improved mental wellbeing, new problem solving skills and the implementation of positive and good habits. These sessions were mostly conducted outside of normal work hours and were well received by the participants. Though the focus was on better performance his program was essentially targeting the betterment of a person’s life, including resilience and flourishing concepts.