{"id":646301,"date":"2026-05-03T05:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T05:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/646301\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T05:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T05:06:23","slug":"naitanuis-post-afl-venture-altr-soda-brand-takes-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/646301\/","title":{"rendered":"Naitanui\u2019s post-AFL venture: ALTR soda brand takes off"},"content":{"rendered":"

With 15 seasons with the West Coast Eagles under his belt, and having just been inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame this year, it\u2019s no surprise Nic Naitanui <\/a>is widely regarded as one of the AFL\u2019s greatest ruckmen. <\/p>\n

But since retiring from the game in 2023, Naitanui has hardly taken a moment to rest, co-founding ALTR, an Australian-made functional, sugar-free, and natural soda brand, alongside former teammate Jack Redden and Darcy Wilkosz.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a career pivot even Naitanui says he didn\u2019t predict, but with the functional soda and non-alcoholic drinks market growing at an exponential rate in Australia, the Eagles legend says he quickly developed a passion for perfecting a range of good-for-you sodas that could be enjoyed by everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing that the decline in alcohol is real, and this Gen Z crew, they\u2019re happily partying and stuff without alcohol,\u201d Naitanui tells today\u2019s Body+Soul.<\/a><\/p>\n

But aside from cracking open a crisp can of his very own soda to get him through the 3 PM slump, Naitanui has a few go-to wellness habits that keep him feeling his best, most of which he picked up during his time in the AFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been pretty privileged to have full-time physios, doctors and ice baths, recovery centres and wellness places for a good part of 15 to 20 years,\u201d he says, adding that his recent transition into a coaching role within the club means his access to such state-of-the-art facilities has also been restored.<\/p>\n

With his coaching role with the Eagles demanding a fair amount of travel, navigating the dreaded West Coast to East Coast time difference (and the sleep schedule of two toddlers) has Naitanui prioritising good quality sleep when he can. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got two young kids now, and trying to navigate their sleep and my own sleep is a task in itself,\u201d he says. \u201cI think there are a hundred different little things that people try, but I think sleep is probably the one that I\u2019d hold in the highest regard. If you nail that and get that right, it just sets you up well for the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naitanui\u2019s advice for navigating life after footy<\/p>\n

Whether purely down to his talent and determination, or also a touch of luck, Naitanui has enjoyed a long and fruitful career in the AFL, playing 15 seasons on the field, and now stepping back into the game to coach West Coast\u2019s ruckmen. <\/p>\n

And while the AFL legend has no shortage of on-field tips and game advice for emerging players, with the average career of today\u2019s players spanning only three to four years, Naitanui says diversifying skills and having a balance away from sport is essential.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pretty privileged with my early days and my coach, John Worsfold. He was a pharmacist by profession and obviously was the captain at West Coast back in the day, and a very successful coach and player, but every couple of Wednesdays, you had to come in and check off a list showing him what you\u2019re doing outside of football,\u201d recalls Naitanui.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always spoke about Plan B.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy advice is to always have a balance away from sport,\u201d reiterates Naitanui. \u201cYou\u2019d find some of the better players have a hobby outside, whether it\u2019s surfing, working, or having a trade.\u201d <\/p>\n

Having witnessed fellow players struggle to transition beyond playing professionally, the Hall-of-Fame player says it\u2019s imperative to find something that challenges you outside of your comfort zone. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s sort of why the drink space sort of appealed to me because it\u2019s not natural, and most past players go and start a clothing line or do something along those lines, and I just wanted to be a part of something that I had no idea about, and I wanted to sort of learn and challenge myself,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

Having inspired a generation of young players, making his mark (literally) in the AFL history books, Naitanui says he himself still looks up to the sports legends that inspired him growing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at a lot of the guys that played sport, not just football, cricketers and basketballers that played in the early 90s and didn\u2019t have the sort of resources that we had or what the current generation has.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at how they maintain their body, how they go about their everyday life, whether they\u2019re doing some sort of movement or Pilates and surfing in the afternoon,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just eating and drinking healthy food and exercise, it is also the mental stuff too that I think plays a big role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more in today\u2019s Body+Soul.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With 15 seasons with the West Coast Eagles under his belt, and having just been inducted into the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,312678,300152,25297,101486,10989,312676,161461,312686,312687,2105,312690,22886,312679,69666,7198,312689,47870,312680,677,312675,312685,312681,312691,672,312682,312684,85,312688,312683,187510,312677,7067,114229,19121],"class_list":["post-646301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-bodysoul","tag-clothing-line","tag-coaching-role","tag-comfort-zone","tag-darcy-moore","tag-drink-space","tag-exponential-rate","tag-functional-soda","tag-game-advice","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-go-to-wellness-habits","tag-history-books","tag-jack-redden","tag-john-worsfold","tag-michael-willson","tag-natural-soda-brand","tag-nic-naitanui","tag-non-alcoholic-drinks-market","tag-oceania","tag-people-try","tag-post-football-life","tag-quality-sleep","tag-recovery-centres","tag-richmond-tigers","tag-sleep-schedule","tag-soda-brand","tag-sports","tag-sports-legends","tag-tiger-king","tag-time-difference","tag-wellness-places","tag-west-coast-eagles","tag-young-children","tag-young-players"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}