34 years after coaching Kerrye at the Seoul 1988 Olympics when judo was a demonstration sport, who has also become a judo coach, Robert is in the living room in his Sydney home with judo still fully on his mind.

“Josh and I will be at home and he’ll be on the couch and I’ll say ‘what are you doing?’” Nathan said.

“He’s looking at some judo fight from 1980.”

It’s not to relive fond memories.

He was one of Australia’s best judo athletes on the national team for most of his career, but if you were to ask him today what his greatest success has come in – it would be coaching.

Robert has always had a role in helping Nathan and Josh learn, compete, coach and enjoy judo.

Just like with fashion, sometimes you need to look deep into the past to find the ways of the future. So if there’s a competitive edge in 2022 to be found from how judo looked in the 80s, you can be sure Robert will find it.

“Still to this day I don’t know anyone that’s as passionate and invested as him. All the time he’s on his laptop," Nathan said.

“He’s always trying to look for new stuff and that’s massively rubbed off on me."

Josh was also effusive with praise for what his old man does.

“Dad wants to help people, not just Nathan and I, to achieve more than he ever did as an athlete,” Josh said.

“A lot of coaches want athletes to do really well, but not better than they were as an athlete.

“Even though dad hasn’t travelled overseas with us regularly for quite a few years now, before every single competition he will send us a massive document of strategies to fight every single person we might be up against.

“He’ll be on the phone talking to us the night before and the morning of. He stays up all night with the international time difference when we’re in Europe. At 2am in the morning he’ll be writing notes on the people we are going to fight. He more than makes up for not being there in person.”

With two kids that have gone on to represent Australia in judo, it’s easy to assume their childhood had a heavy judo focus.

“People think the perception is with my mum being an Olympian and my dad being a coach that we got pushed really hard because we were quite successful when we were young,” Nathan said.

“It was funny that was the public perception because it was really the opposite. They weren’t pushy at all.

“Dad’s big rule at home was that mum and dad would only do extra judo sessions if Josh and I asked for them.”

Josh, two years younger than Nathan, got to see judo up close before he was old enough to give it a try.

“The earliest memories I have of judo are mucking around with dad on the side of the mat – whether that was before his sessions start or after his sessions finished – just wrestling and play fighting with him on the side,” Josh said.

“Not really judo at all, just messing around and having fun.”

That was at Budokan Judo Club in Castle Hill in Sydney’s west, a club Robert and Kerrye have run for nearly 25 years.

When the time did come where Nathan and Josh wanted to be the best they could be in judo, they knew they had special parents to help chase down their dreams.

Standing at about 157cm Robert’s presence has never been the tallest or loudest in the room, but it is the biggest as his ‘less is more’ approach with words means everyone hangs on everything he says.

“If we heard him say something about judo we treated it as gospel,” Nathan said.

“We always have had full trust in his knowledge of judo – as a dad and a judo coach equally. There’s very little separation between dad and judo coach. I think he performs both roles all the time.”

For a trio that up to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic had never spent much time apart, but would still learn from others, it was just the three of them practicing together in 2020-21 with the Tokyo Olympics on the horizon.

In many ways it was a throwback to when they would do an extra session at home.

“Some really fond early memories would have been us at 8 or 9 doing judo on a Sunday afternoon with my dad in like a 3x3m space in our garage, just playing with little techniques and stuff we still do to this day,” Nathan said.

At no point have Nathan or Josh thought they’d need their dad to sometimes keep judo separate from being a father.

“We never really created the dad-coach boundary, I think we’ve always blended it into one,” Josh said.

“The positive is that we are on a fairly open level of communication. We’ve never thought dad has talked down to us or thought we were like soldiers.”

The brothers recognise how fortunate they are to have a dad who invests so much into his kids, knowing that earning his respect wasn’t contingent on their results.

“That’s one of the big things, I felt like he has put so much into us to try and help us be our best, that at a minimum we have to do our best. Any less than that is disappointing because he’s given everything for us,” Nathan said.

“Now he was never going to be let down by me losing, he really didn’t care about the result. But you never wanted to lose when he was coaching you.

“The best coaches in the world have athletes who want to fight for their coach and make their coach proud.”

In April 2016 Nathan and Josh had one final opportunity at qualifying for an Olympic debut. They were competing at the Oceania Championships in Canberra and it was a simple equation.

“If we both won gold we would pretty much qualify directly for Rio. If we didn’t then we almost definitely wouldn’t have made the Olympics,” Nathan said.

It was a full family affair and for the brothers it’s a memory that will forever hold a special place in their hearts.

“Mum was there that day and dad was coaching us in the chair, which is unique at international events now because he’s not our main coach at a national level.

“Obviously we both won that day and came off and hugged him. I think that moment out the back when Josh had already won, and then I won, it wasn’t so much anything dad or mum said. We all sort of knew what we had achieved together.

“It was a family dream achieved because mum and dad had to give up a lot, especially when we were younger.

“But our goal wasn’t ended at becoming Olympians.”

On the way to those bigger goals both Nathan and Josh have been through some soul-searching moments.

First it was Josh, who went from the joy of becoming an Olympian four years earlier than he anticipated and Australia’s youngest ever male judoka Olympian, to dealing with missing out on selection for Tokyo 2020.

From afar due to the pandemic, Robert and Kerrye were always adamant that they were still proud which is exactly what Josh needed.

“They weren’t able to travel with us at all in 2021. It was a very testing year for us,” Josh said.

“They recognised how much that took a toll on us and they really reminded us they were behind us all the way and proud regardless of the result.”

Originally Nathan also missed out on being selected for Tokyo 2020, but gained a spot via a continental roll down quota.

“I had started the process of dealing with missing out on selection. Dad and I had a few conversations, it was very difficult after I missed out on qualifying because there was a lot emotions and disappointment,” Nathan said.

“He’s not a very emotional guy, he’s very firm and supportive. He said that he was super proud of my effort and that he would be in all the way if we want to go all the way again (for Paris 2024).”

Nathan also faced injury setbacks before the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and required knee surgery six weeks out from the competition.

With a totally disrupted preparation for the Games there was no assurance he would be able to compete, let alone be near peak physical condition.

“I lost my quarter-final and I was not feeling very up for the rest of the day.

“I almost checked out a bit because I was so disappointed. When I was standing in the marshalling area getting ready to walk out for my repechage and bronze medal matches – dad, mum and my girlfriend were in the second row, I just sort of looked at them and I was like ‘you can’t go out and lose and put on a bad performance while they’re there.’ You almost grow a leg.”

That family presence at international competition is something Nathan and Josh, up until then, had been without for six years.

Josh made it to the semi-finals and very narrowly lost, which meant Josh and Nathan would compete in bronze medal matches on the same day in the 60kg and 66kg categories respectively.

The youngest was up first and much to the family’s delight, Josh beat Zambia’s Simon Zulu to the bronze medal.

“When Josh had won his bronze, I just felt massively boosted,” Nathan said.

“It felt like it’s my time to deliver for the family.”

Deliver he did, earning bronze after taking down India's Jasleen Singh Saini.

“At the end of the day in Birmingham we were so relived and happy to have the whole day together,” Josh said.

“Dad was crying, mum was crying, I was almost crying, it was ridiculous.”

Nathan felt relieved and jubilant.

“Nothing rivals the feeling of walking onto an Olympic mat, but I don’t think any moment will ever top having mum and dad out in the media zone with Josh and I in Birmingham.,” Nathan said.

“That was unbelievable.”

From Birmingham it didn’t take long for the boys to return to where it all began with their father at Budokan, taking part in coaching the next generation of judo athletes.

“Our first session for both of us (Josh and I) ever, where we learnt to tie a belt, was at Budokan in Castle Hill. So that’s really special for us, coming full circle.”

The day prior to Nathan and Josh being interviewed for this story, they coached the U8s, U10s and showed the kids their Commonwealth Games medals.

“A lot of my coaching style massive comes from dad and mum,” Nathan said.

“A lot of the little tendencies I’ve picked up, sometimes I notice when I’m running a session, I’ll say something and I catch myself because I know that’s what my dad would say. Little things he used to do and still does now I think have come through with us. 

“It’s quite fun when that happens and you just pick it up on the fly. It might even be something that used to drive me insane when I was 16 and it’s the same stuff I’m doing now.

“The biggest thing I learnt from dad about coaching, is it’s more important to people how much you care rather than how much you know. Every person my dad has influenced on a judo mat has understood how much he cares.”

The brothers are very much looking forward and have Paris 2024 in their sights, which is less than two years to go.

“We are both fully invested in trying to qualify for Paris. Especially that moment we shared after the Commonwealth Games really enforced that we’re not done yet,” Josh said.

“After that I could go four more years if I really want to. For the time being we are 100% focused on qualifying for Paris and having that moment together again.”

Nathan also has Olympic medal aspirations.

“Paris would be my third Olympics which would be really special. I think I’m equally chasing an Olympic medal which I don’t have yet. They are probably as significant to me as each other,” Nathan said.

“Having a moment with family in Paris, provided we’ve fought to get to our true potential and whether it involves a medal or not, would be equally as special.

“Getting older, growing up and maturing I’ve understood those memories are as special as gold, silver or bronze. The medal from Birmingham was great, but I care much less about the medal and the box that it is in than that moment we had as a family.”

Nathan and Josh both train in Victoria now at the Albert Park Combat Australia National Performance Centre, an official Olympic Training Centre, but that doesn’t mean the Sydney-based Robert and Kerrye are any less involved.

“I’m on FaceTime to him nearly every day. After just about every hard sparring session we’ll call dad and mum on the way home,” Josh said.

Robert might be a 1,000km or more away now, but ingrained in everything Nathan and Josh do is still a conscious effort to give their old man many more reasons to be proud.

From Birmingham it didn’t take long for the boys to return to where it all began with their father at Budokan, taking part in coaching the next generation of judo athletes.

“Our first session for both of us (Josh and I) ever, where we learnt to tie a belt, was at Budokan in Castle Hill. So that’s really special for us, coming full circle.”

The day prior to Nathan and Josh being interviewed for this story, they coached the U8s, U10s and showed the kids their Commonwealth Games medals.

“A lot of my coaching style comes from dad and mum,” Nathan said.

“A lot of the little tendencies I’ve picked up, sometimes I notice when I’m running a session, I’ll say something and I catch myself because I know that’s what my dad would say. Little things he used to do and still does now I think have come through with us.

“It’s quite fun when that happens and you just pick it up on the fly. It might even be something that used to drive me insane when I was 16 and it’s the same stuff I’m doing now.

“The biggest thing I learnt from dad about coaching, is it’s more important to people how much you care rather than how much you know. Every person my dad has influenced on a judo mat has understood how much he cares.”

The brothers are very much looking forward and have Paris 2024 in their sights, which is less than two years away.

“We are both fully invested in trying to qualify for Paris. Especially that moment we shared after the Commonwealth Games really enforced that we’re not done yet,” Josh said.

“After that I could go four more years if I really want to. For the time being we are 100% focused on qualifying for Paris and having that moment together again.”

Nathan also has Olympic medal aspirations.

“Paris would be my third Olympics which would be really special. I think I’m equally chasing an Olympic medal which I don’t have yet. They are probably as significant to me as each other,” Nathan said.

“Having a moment with family in Paris, provided we’ve fought to get to our true potential and whether it involves a medal or not, would be equally as special.

“Getting older, growing up and maturing I’ve understood those memories are as special as gold, silver or bronze. The medal from Birmingham was great, but I care much less about the medal and the box that it is in than that moment we had as a family.”

Nathan and Josh both train in Victoria now at the Albert Park Combat Australia National Performance Centre, an official Olympic Training Centre, but that doesn’t mean the Sydney-based Robert and Kerrye are any less involved.

“I’m on FaceTime to him nearly every day. After just about every hard sparring session we’ll call dad and mum on the way home,” Josh said.

Robert might be a 1,000km or more away now, but ingrained in everything Nathan and Josh do is still a conscious effort to give their old man many more reasons to be proud.