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November 5, 2024 59 mins

Fan favourite Matty Johns returns to celebrate our last show and cause more chaos with Macca. Kiwis Legend Mark Graham also joins the show to reflect on the golden days of league and rugby, as well as the new movie about his life created by his son ’Sharko’.

About The Show:

Ric Salizzo, Marc Ellis and Leigh Hart catch up to (uniquely) discuss sporting issues of the day, create havoc, welcome in special guests; and find time to look back with insight, and lay blame for moments from the popular Sports Cafe TV show.

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Ric Salizzo 

Marc Ellis 

LeighHart 

Sportscafe 

iHeartRadio NZ 

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Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is an iHeart Radio New Zealand podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Oh last song. We have to fucking here.

Speaker 3 (00:17):
Yeah, he's getting rid of the couch? Are getting rid
of these touches?

Speaker 4 (00:22):
Good question?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah read them out mate. I had a fucking great
idea today, right. You know, the's got the guys who
are coming up with the car and they're begging for money.
Why wouldn't you call yourself the rubbish man and just
have a big sack on your fronts and everyone can
put the ship out of the car in there and
then you give I'll give you two.

Speaker 5 (00:39):
Bucks and they have like a little ben and you
put the idea.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Right one of your own rubbish. You've got like twelve children.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
How much would you give someone if they came to
your rubbish way?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
A couple of bucks?

Speaker 6 (00:55):
Thanks?

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Three plus what you're getting elsewhere.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
I'm just asking because the show is about to finish,
so I just need something to do over the summer, all.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Right, you want to get this over and done with
really quickly? I reckon because you know, yeah, they've started
in about an hour.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
Yeah, the last show. We've had the wrap party by
the show, so it's.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
The last show. You're going to cut loose but you haven't.
You haven't been cutting loose for the last twenty weeks.
This is the last show, yea, yea. And before we
get into it, I just want to thank the t
A B. Because the T A B backed us again.
They backed us at the beginning when we first started
the show, and they backed us again this time. And
there is no show without the TV. So thanks for

(01:43):
believing in us.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Yeah, And I think if we go to a more
granular level, we've got to think that you know, the
gambles out there investors, ye, well yeah, the year those
people who back there in our knowledge, Yeah, you know,
back that hunch, yeah, and get involved and without them, there's.

Speaker 6 (02:00):
No b Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
So thank you for your support as well, yeah, which
is basically every time you put on the number two
dog with the blue and white hope paying between five
and ten bucks, there's your tip, right. Welcome Lana.

Speaker 4 (02:10):
You doing the show soon?

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, it's great, Thank you.

Speaker 7 (02:13):
It's really always informed, informative and interesting and engaging.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
And I can't believe you, actually, I can't.

Speaker 7 (02:20):
I can't believe that I am. And furthermore, it's blackmail.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
I must say that's probably the most fun and half
of your week. It must be coming on here.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Really, I'm sure.

Speaker 7 (02:31):
I'm pretty sure I can tell you a few other
fun things I've done thats nothing to do with this.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, let me assure you. Hour and a half was
one of those time period.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
And also, like, I've planned a lot of clips in
here that have been pretty embarrassing a little bit for you,
mainly for you. So I thought i'd find one that
was a little bit embarrassing for me, and this was
We did three when we did the three hundredth show,
it was actually the two hundred and ninety seventh, but
we did it the Saint James Theater. We had about
three thousand people there, and for some reason I decided

(03:01):
to do this record tangle.

Speaker 8 (03:08):
Are you doing the standard?

Speaker 2 (03:09):
At the beginning?

Speaker 9 (03:11):
If only they listened to me in the studio, WHOA,
this could have been so much better show. Sitting around
my little red sofa which saw the rhymes.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
With the band, I can't remember this?

Speaker 2 (03:31):
What kind of remember?

Speaker 4 (03:33):
To keep changing and to keep changing keys.

Speaker 9 (03:35):
Because looking back, there's also far to go home, Lion
Red and the sports camp there together we could have something.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
No, I don't know why.

Speaker 9 (03:51):
We just found ourselves nude and that guy asked the
all black captain.

Speaker 8 (03:57):
Where you do poos?

Speaker 4 (04:01):
This could have been TV great.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Oh yeah, they are actually people there because nobody's laughing.

Speaker 3 (04:08):
You're not laughing. To see the people not laughing, that's clear.
It was just like in rehearsals, three thousand people stunned.

Speaker 9 (04:20):
Look to me in the studio, yourself.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Read the.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
I couldn't remember them one, two three.

Speaker 4 (04:35):
The dancing girls.

Speaker 5 (04:38):
Oh yeah, dancing girls say it, really, wouldn't you look?

Speaker 2 (04:44):
You look kind of like a prank rocket you like
you're angry.

Speaker 4 (04:48):
I should have started off like this, didn't need the
elogy at the beginning.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
You would have been you know it's taking, but you're
in the middle of it, but just gonna commit.

Speaker 4 (04:59):
You can't stop beulse committed.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Say along, Oh ladies, can.

Speaker 8 (05:10):
We don't know the bands.

Speaker 4 (05:16):
It's you're a part of it. You're part of this
monstrosity that's.

Speaker 8 (05:27):
Very own co crap.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
They see that there is an audience now the applause there.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
Wait is it? I didn't know you were.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Up?

Speaker 4 (05:42):
It gets when when were you?

Speaker 2 (05:53):
You can't play this light? This seriously my ship show
I've ever seen.

Speaker 4 (05:58):
But I think the band's quite good chance ends quite time.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
We were thinking to really say, production meetings really were.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
Something.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
Drumming was good.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Thought drumming drumming better than him.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
But you could probably just eat it all out and
just have the drumming for any of the rest of it.

Speaker 4 (06:20):
I've forgotten.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
Well, up, it was a big event.

Speaker 4 (06:25):
I think you must have been working night shifts and
metamore or something.

Speaker 6 (06:28):
You were just late.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
There was a good show though after that?

Speaker 4 (06:32):
Who would know?

Speaker 2 (06:34):
I can't remember that.

Speaker 4 (06:35):
Who was still listening? Who was still watching.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
After That's still watching?

Speaker 4 (06:39):
Now?

Speaker 3 (06:40):
I'll give you here's a little bit from the show.
This is when the show got it back on Trick.

Speaker 7 (06:45):
We've all got like PTSD and it's there's some sort
of serious mental condition that we've liked.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
Okay, Well, I was just talking about the rest of
us on that story, PTSD.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
Can we have a look at the some moments from
the three hundred show just so we can clear a
memory of the previous.

Speaker 8 (07:08):
Very much?

Speaker 3 (07:09):
Well, you know, I don't see a big fan of
the show.

Speaker 6 (07:12):
What's that, Rick?

Speaker 4 (07:15):
What do you think?

Speaker 6 (07:16):
What do you think of the show?

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (07:18):
I think it's been going for three hundred times. It's
getting better.

Speaker 4 (07:25):
There any chance to answer my question here or what.

Speaker 6 (07:29):
Much as too often?

Speaker 4 (07:32):
You know, it's just like.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
I must have attention?

Speaker 4 (07:37):
What was question?

Speaker 8 (07:38):
Love?

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Does he call himself an Aussie?

Speaker 8 (07:40):
Or excuse me?

Speaker 4 (07:40):
Can you take your hand from.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
Married with five kids?

Speaker 4 (07:54):
Kids?

Speaker 2 (08:09):
You have to do?

Speaker 4 (08:17):
It's here live on Wednesday. Last time we met, you
actually threw up the nipple at me.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
At my head boast.

Speaker 5 (08:38):
You see what.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Actually? In correction, I throw a nipple that you didn't care,
which then was.

Speaker 5 (08:46):
With your heat.

Speaker 8 (08:47):
I suppose it's the difference.

Speaker 4 (08:48):
But enough about me. I mean, we've you've been here
longer than I have. I mean, can I hang on?
I wouldn't go as fast to say that, but I
certainly certainly say, canch hang on? Where'd you get them?
Often you have those customers.

Speaker 10 (09:16):
I do want to go home.

Speaker 7 (09:17):
Sometimes well I'll say, ye, it was done, and then
you guys stage jumping into the reverse.

Speaker 4 (09:22):
Yeah okay, you remember that?

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah, vaguely, only because Mark said that.

Speaker 3 (09:35):
He ran, I ran as I ran, I read we
were terrifying.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
I was gone.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
Yeah, we thought you were going to get really angry
and like punch one of us.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Why would you think that you've got to really part
of my nature a little bit of a bit of
a flaming on occasion.

Speaker 3 (09:50):
Really we bring it down on you maybe, Yeah, we
got out of there. You weren't supposed to go, and
it was supposed to be the cannon ball, and you didn't.
You didn't let go.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Yeah, it was quite team boarding. We meant to actually
keep him above.

Speaker 3 (10:01):
The water, were we?

Speaker 2 (10:02):
It was a trust.

Speaker 3 (10:04):
You said to me, we're going to let so he
palls into the puddle.

Speaker 4 (10:06):
Yeah, well no you did then the lessons life is
not fair?

Speaker 3 (10:10):
Did you get the strip a lot when you were had?

Speaker 2 (10:11):
I had so many wooden spoons break over my ass
bile the mother that was you know that they would
lined up, they would have started a fire with them.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, the spell surprise, but.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
It didn't do you anyhow.

Speaker 3 (10:23):
What about school? Did you get the strap?

Speaker 4 (10:24):
Much?

Speaker 2 (10:25):
Never got the strap at school? Manage out of that?

Speaker 5 (10:27):
The cany record, you had the caning record forty six
strokes in one turn, unheard of caning.

Speaker 4 (10:34):
Then they stopped it.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
So I've still got the recording himself.

Speaker 5 (10:36):
You've got You've got the top debut tray record. I've
got the top candy record.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
They used to they used to make your stand with
your head in the in the fire half yes, yeah,
your hand whack and if you lift did your head up,
you copped on the back of the head.

Speaker 5 (10:50):
I mean, such widow teachers. When this guy a science teacher,
you would have to go and put your.

Speaker 4 (10:54):
Head out of the gas by the yeah gas bottles.
You put your head there and you can't.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, it's like getting picked in the head by a bird.
So many things there, science and science teachers with the
sick ones. We had a guy he was he was
a hell of a nice guy, but he had this
leather strap called oscar and it was like basically like
that bottle but a hunk of leather and you just
walk along and smash it on the desk right by
people's hands, like it hit your fingers that would break

(11:20):
them and people would like freak out. And he had
the class just sitting there doing I think I think
he might have whacked a couple of kids on this phone.

Speaker 4 (11:30):
Controversial, but I think it's still in for it.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
Mate. You know, the world but soft, isn't it?

Speaker 11 (11:36):
You know?

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Well, on that on that, on that theme, the world's changed.
There's an amazing movie out. I've seen it. You haven't
because I'm special called Sharky about the life of Kiwi
great key legion Mark Graham. It's made by his son
Luke and it's incredible. Here's here's a taste of it.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Dad.

Speaker 10 (11:59):
Do you know why I'm making this film about you?

Speaker 8 (12:02):
I don't know too many people even know of them anymore.
It's in a lot of years since I've been playing footy.
But good luck with it.

Speaker 9 (12:12):
Mark Mark when he walked onto the football field, had
an aura about him, very fired up.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
Six or four fifteen and a half stone.

Speaker 8 (12:21):
He was the guy fairness.

Speaker 4 (12:22):
He had a reputation of being extremely hard.

Speaker 3 (12:24):
To beat, inductive to Australia's call of fame.

Speaker 10 (12:28):
My dad is my idol, but he was never around
and I wanted to learn more about him and his
father so I can be a better dad for my son. Dad,
Why did you choose rugby league?

Speaker 8 (12:41):
Always wanted to be respected and it's a true test
of your happiness.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
He had a history Australia, being in New Zealand and
the test.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
Is underway what they call it World War three.

Speaker 12 (12:52):
It was considered a thug's game, but Mark always walked
the road less traveled.

Speaker 10 (12:57):
He was a tough, fire broken elly road on his body.

Speaker 8 (13:01):
The boy child had a lot to do with me
with surviving.

Speaker 10 (13:04):
Always do things, gaining father's approval. How did you feel
about always being away from your family?

Speaker 8 (13:12):
Everything comes at a price.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
Champions are champions because up here they're smart and in
here they've got ticker.

Speaker 12 (13:25):
I don't think any of us knew what he was
going through behind closed doors?

Speaker 8 (13:29):
Who was a terrible pick?

Speaker 10 (13:33):
Do you know why he's called sharko?

Speaker 6 (13:35):
Well, are your taxed people?

Speaker 8 (13:37):
I'll call him a lot of other names. The sacrifices
that you make those around your supper, particularly your family, it'd.

Speaker 10 (13:47):
Be truly great. Is it worth the cost.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
What a bloody bring at angle to take on it?

Speaker 1 (13:56):
So does that make you feel watching that he's pretty
good at me?

Speaker 2 (14:01):
How does that make you feel?

Speaker 1 (14:02):
Known that your son's made a movie about your life?

Speaker 8 (14:06):
Yeah, we've got someone else. Had to come and ask
me to do it? Old said, no, exactly what a.

Speaker 4 (14:09):
Pressure approach to have a family member for a change.

Speaker 5 (14:13):
Should do it as opposed to a fan or a
statistic whatever, just a real thing.

Speaker 2 (14:19):
It was really really cool. I mean I was expecting
to see, you know the stuff that I grew up
watching when you were my hero mate, and it was
that was back when the league was just you know animals,
you know, with a club actually you know, and they
sorted it out on the on the field and we
had some cracking you know, we you had some cracking
tests against these and we grew up watching it just

(14:43):
I was expecting to see that this would have been
a bit cliche. But the angle that your son has
taken wonderful.

Speaker 8 (14:50):
What he does.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
I'm even more included watching it. I could have watched
eighty minutes you smashing people exactly.

Speaker 5 (14:55):
So we were looking forward to watching it, right, But
I'm Bejamin the questions ahead, But how did you feel
watching it back?

Speaker 4 (15:03):
Was that how you remembered it?

Speaker 8 (15:04):
Well? Ye, look, I had I sat in the shed
for eight hours the first four hours it rained. So
he asked me to come back the next day and
he asked questions and that's all input I had. Everything
else was done by Luke and he's form crew. So
when he sat down and when he gave me the
when he gave it to me there looking he was.

Speaker 4 (15:21):
Impartial, you know, it was what's and all He didn't
sort of go or Dad wouldn't like this.

Speaker 8 (15:26):
He's got me dropping footballs and all, and he's loving it. Yeah,
I dropped. I dropped football once in my life. And
and he's got on camera.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
It's beautiful that it's through his eyes. You know, it's
his story and you must make your hell to see proud.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
I'm not going to I'm not gonna spoil it because
you're you're going to go and watch it. But but
then it made me cry. And and because I grew
up watching you like light Meka and on mate, we
did not you.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
Yeah, yeah, you're not there, You're not that year older.

Speaker 3 (15:56):
Yeah, but I was watching him and when I was older,
when I was watching him, yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yeah, pews, when you're eight mates, So what do you.

Speaker 4 (16:01):
Mean growing growing up you had already you were shaming
you peers.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
Yeah. And when they make my big them eating the
military cream, you know, don't leave it on for more
than seven minutes and burns.

Speaker 8 (16:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:15):
Answer.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
So I used to go to Carloor Park and watch
you know, I used I used to go and watch
the club League, you know, Memorial and Group Rooster and
all those sortstuff brilliant like you play rugby on the
sound and going watch you guys smack each other around.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
On that Sunday, who was Who's the hardest man you
ever played against?

Speaker 8 (16:35):
I really try to avoid those questions. They're all hard man.
Yeah Broadhurst, I've played with him and I was very pleased.
I've played with him obviously, but there was like everyone
was hard.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
It was the softest skull you played against.

Speaker 8 (16:47):
The Yeah, just they just didn't.

Speaker 4 (16:51):
You can't hide Kenya on the league field.

Speaker 8 (16:53):
It's just it's a hard thing. We played the game
against Mencaw. We're going to play Sydney sidon the next weekend,
so where everybody happened. We jumping out in the park
and we kicked off and Gary Prime I was the
first counting the ball up and at the end of
the game they had eleven on the park and we
had people the stretcher bearers were just now full time

(17:15):
running out and keep hitting people.

Speaker 4 (17:16):
It was how's your metal detector situation going on?

Speaker 2 (17:19):
If you?

Speaker 5 (17:22):
Because I remember as a kid saying, like the newspapers
somehow like a photo of you and just basically hair
injuries and ship there's something.

Speaker 8 (17:32):
I'm not sure you remember the picture. But now I've
had the operations, so now I've got titanium.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
I remember you might be the only guy on the
couch his head, your nose breaking more times than wrecks
done by people who hate him. At least you did
it in combat.

Speaker 8 (17:49):
An the parks and yours are straight.

Speaker 4 (17:54):
That's funny.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
I remember going to the movies when I was telling it,
and it was an afternoon matinee and you walked in
with Martin Beller and uh, and then he walked out
and then he came back with a crate, put it
in the in the in the aisleway, and you guys
just sort of knocked off a crate while you're watching
the movie.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
Those are the days.

Speaker 4 (18:13):
Yeah, I'm going to do that. Well this movie.

Speaker 2 (18:15):
Do you remember the Bruiser Hanson? Oh? Mate? The Hanson
brothers were like Leadhouns.

Speaker 4 (18:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
I went to a doctor Hot concert, you know, similar
thing happened. They came in and if the all was
one hundred meters along, they walked three hundred meters. They
will weave, weaving like snakes. But the story that I
really love about them, which one can you tell? They
used to had the train tracks used to go past
their house and the saw a bullet which was the
between Welling and Walkland train was on the minute, you know,

(18:46):
and so they would just get nude and hang out
of the tree, you know, with one arm and just
eat a banana, you know when the train went past.
Just shot and girls, Oh you gotta love it.

Speaker 3 (18:57):
Yeah, I reckon, we need to sort of maybe bring
a bit more serious conversation and so just yeah.

Speaker 8 (19:06):
We used to have nicknames for mates. For where Blake
was named Boff and his name was because that was
that was the sound people made when they hit the
floor after you posted.

Speaker 3 (19:21):
Well, let's let's bring someone young and new age on
the show, you know, just balance things out. Maddie John's there,
he is no problem.

Speaker 2 (19:31):
Ye, thank you, that's you're cute of fucking.

Speaker 6 (19:35):
Rehearsing.

Speaker 2 (19:36):
Jesus, thank Christ. You're a good looking fellow, because there's
not much.

Speaker 6 (19:41):
Back again, it runs in the family.

Speaker 3 (19:45):
Did you get the jersey from first?

Speaker 6 (19:47):
I swapped this with Henry Paul.

Speaker 11 (19:50):
It was a World Cup semi final and us where
we beat you Blake some extra time. Ridgie actually could
have won the game on full time. He had a
shot from the sideline to win the game and hit
the post, and so we went extra time and as
we do, we beat you Blake's apologies about that, mate,
It's an honor to actually be on the show with

(20:12):
Mark there on the couch and early eighties I was
a North Sydney fan with hey guys like Mitchell Cox
in the side. He had a terrific so I remember
one year Mark he was making the semi finals, might
have been in eighty two. And also, mate, which Mark
would be too humble to talk about, was I had
a conversation last year with Wally Lewis and while he
actually credits Mark with saving his life they playing in

(20:34):
the Bridsbane competition early eighties. Mark with Norse Devils and
Wally's were valleys and whially got hit in the throat
and undernoiced everybody else. He was laying on the ground
choking and then Mark Hume to his rescue and saved
his life.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
Do you remember that?

Speaker 8 (20:50):
Yeah, it was actually Wally good thanks Manny, well said mate.
But it turns out that I was blak aheadhim in
the throat, so.

Speaker 3 (21:01):
Hisn upside on the downside, give us and take it away.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
We played again the South Africans when withrow target and
that was their test side and John Leslie used to
get quite intense before the game is very, very excited.
In the first ruck, we go to ground and he's
on the bottom of the ruck with your span, thevest
house and the half back and he just throttled them
and grabbed them in the throat and he came back

(21:28):
to second five and then he's lying in the game.
I've been choked. I've been choked. And he came back
he said, fuck, I've got a bit excited mate. You know,
he couldn't actually understand what he had done, but he
just you know, the adrenaline sometimes. Yeah, wow, doesn't not
not the same, But there's been an evolution.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
You can't get away with anything now because.

Speaker 2 (21:48):
Of the bottom of the ruck. He could do a
lot of bad things out there.

Speaker 8 (21:52):
What do you think about that, mart I mean the
game has changed, it has, yeah, and most really for
the better because a lot of people that I played
with and against that aren't well because of what's happened.
It's a terrible nigh stuff. Yeah, but you know that's
the way the game was played. Jimmy cole was I
think madey clem in and cleaned it up in the
early eighties.

Speaker 11 (22:09):
Yeah, gentlemen, Jim Coms, he didn't the first big suspension.
I think mark was Bobby Cooper hits along with an
elbow which back in those days, probably six months before,
would have been play on. I think Bobby got fifteen
months suspensions.

Speaker 4 (22:23):
Everything he did hard.

Speaker 8 (22:25):
He break his palate, he hit him that head. It's
like a characters with the power.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yeah, wow, it was.

Speaker 8 (22:31):
It was, but it was just like part of the course.

Speaker 2 (22:33):
Well, if they say Richie mccaugh you know when he
was playing an All Black Test, when it was clean
by comparison to what you went through. They reckon his
impact or you know, structural you know, issues with the
equivalent of having a moderate to serious car crash every
game he played. What the fuck was it like with
you so big hit by a truck every time you played?

Speaker 8 (22:55):
Oh yeah, it's what you expected in that like and
I got my fish of injuries like everybody did in
my day. But you'd be handing it out to you
went't like the stand over there getting to be honest,
right to say, my old man, he's thank you. He
played rugby league and quite the high level whatever he
used to look in that era at rugby as soft

(23:16):
he how did you feel about rugby?

Speaker 4 (23:18):
And that said, did you go okay, it's great. They're
called the All Blacks, but it's soft compared to what
we're doing. Oh no, you be honest.

Speaker 8 (23:25):
In the bottom of the ruck of fun, I'll give
you the tip.

Speaker 4 (23:27):
You know, in fact, that thing wasn't there. There was it.

Speaker 8 (23:31):
It's different, you know, like.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
There was more.

Speaker 8 (23:34):
Everyone that played in Sydney at about in the early
eighties to the mid eighties are a little bit mad,
and you get a lot of little bit mad people together,
you're going to get a far results. So it was
just how it was, you know.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
Yeah, can you surf? Because it's a sort of a
similar mentality. I reckon the big wave surfers. You're blooding
front rowers, you fords.

Speaker 8 (23:53):
The older brother was a mad teen surfer and I
went out on the drink with him and the surfing
mates one day and they were mader than the footy
players and you got the drink.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah. Yeah, they're not not too dissimilar, you know.

Speaker 8 (24:03):
Very crazy.

Speaker 2 (24:04):
Yeah, can you can you serve?

Speaker 3 (24:05):
Maddy?

Speaker 11 (24:06):
I used to be able to till my knees become
bone on bone, but I go out the front a
little bit of paddle board now, but I get back
that up.

Speaker 3 (24:14):
Some of the surfaces.

Speaker 6 (24:14):
Some of my mates whose surfers, Oh yeah, they go hard.

Speaker 11 (24:19):
I mean, look when you go for a drink with
a few of them, it's not a twenty twenty game.
It's a test match with the white sode mate.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
What's the hardest part about paddle boarding? This is a joke.
That's the hardest part about pedal boarding.

Speaker 11 (24:34):
Well, i'll tell you what make I was out there
paddling one day and there was a white point of
shark out there. So it's one of those things when
there's a shark beneath you. I mean, paddle board is
pretty simple. It's a bit like you know, you walk along.
You can walk a plank, you know, which sits a
foot from the ground without a worry. But if you
put it sixty meters in the air, suddenly you start

(24:54):
to getting nervous. Its a bit like with the paddle boarding.
I was paddling and suddenly looked down and sort of
white point of shark. Suddenly paddle boarding, my wasn't so easy.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
Did you lie here? Did you lie on the board
just to get a bit more stability?

Speaker 6 (25:07):
Or I went I went down on my knees.

Speaker 5 (25:10):
Yeah, and if a great white to tax you. Apparently
you just gently squeeze his testicles and it will take
the bite off, and then you rub it and send
him on his way.

Speaker 4 (25:21):
Yeah apparently. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
I mean it's it's like that, like if a dog
bites and.

Speaker 4 (25:32):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
He came up with that that might work, but good luck.

Speaker 11 (25:37):
I think it was I think it was John Hope.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yeah, it's some guys poking the dogs ass and got button.
Yeah that's what that's that's how you get him off.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
Well, he was poking the dogs ass and he didn't
get bett, and he goes, well do it now and
stop budding you.

Speaker 2 (25:53):
Either way. The guy poked the dogs Assay.

Speaker 4 (25:56):
We're going to edit all this out.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
Yeah, we cut that.

Speaker 3 (25:58):
That's the only we'll leave again.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yeah, the last shows too.

Speaker 8 (26:02):
But it's like, maybe what was it like the wristle
of the shark a piece.

Speaker 6 (26:06):
Of cake, piece of cake, just mixing showed his hand.

Speaker 8 (26:09):
Oh yeah, good, yeah, excellent.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
How big was it?

Speaker 5 (26:12):
Was? It? Like?

Speaker 2 (26:13):
How many meters?

Speaker 8 (26:15):
It doesn't matter?

Speaker 11 (26:15):
Well, I think, well, I don't know, Marke. I didn't
say I didn't really ask for his measurements.

Speaker 6 (26:20):
I just got got away.

Speaker 4 (26:23):
You to take measure.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
Unfortunately, we went out to see an island that's called
off Cape Town there and we went out to see
an island and we were chumming the water and that
the Great Watch were coming up to the to the
boat and the guy was like they were coming out
of the water to buy the chum sack. He's grabbing
it by the nose and it was quite an amazing
A cage did you get in the case? Well, no,

(26:48):
there was too much current running. So I think we
filmed something.

Speaker 3 (26:52):
Yeah, we're on the cage in the cake. I wouldn't
ironically your nickname where that come from? I don't tell
them because that's.

Speaker 8 (27:02):
It's it's a it's a key nickname. Maybe where I
went I got I got another nick obviously. So look
at the Beers, North Sydney. I was co work because
that's how because you say Kiwi. So everywhere went I've
got a different I've got.

Speaker 11 (27:17):
A story about one of Mark's old teammates, Mitchell Cox.

Speaker 6 (27:21):
Mark you now, I think Mitchell Cox.

Speaker 2 (27:24):
I think he.

Speaker 11 (27:25):
I think he came across the rugby league from rugby union.
Do you play for the Wallabies he did?

Speaker 8 (27:30):
Yeah, I think he toured.

Speaker 11 (27:33):
And you know he played at North Sydney then when
he crossed the Manly Right. So I'm I'm at the
pub one night at the at the Stain. I haven't
got a drinking problem. I swear were at the Stain
and I'm with a made of mine, right, and a
few people. And my mate is the biggest Manly fan
in the world. So we're sitting there and I said
to him, Peggy, who do you reckon is your most
favorite manly player of all time? And he replied, mate,

(27:57):
without a doubt Cliffe Lions.

Speaker 10 (27:58):
And I know that's interesting.

Speaker 11 (28:00):
I said, who do you think is the worst manly
player of all time? And he said Mitchell Cox? And
I hear this sorry voice of someone my name. I said,
I don't know who are you? He said Mitchell Cox
and I said, oh, yeah, we were. I just asked
the mate, who's the best man who played of all time?

Speaker 6 (28:14):
And he said you.

Speaker 11 (28:15):
He said, boys, she's not going to buy another drink
for the rest of your night.

Speaker 8 (28:18):
It's on me.

Speaker 4 (28:21):
It was a good player.

Speaker 8 (28:22):
Thought it was very good player.

Speaker 11 (28:24):
Yeah, he was a good player. Just something on the
kywee jersey too. I had a I thought of him
and I was looking for my All Blakes jersey. There,
the late great Jerry Collins. Right, Jerry Collins was going
to knock my head off on the shoulders one night.

Speaker 6 (28:39):
You said, just been beaten.

Speaker 11 (28:41):
It was a two thousand and three World Cup in Australia,
the one that Johnny Wilkinson World done.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
He was that one.

Speaker 11 (28:47):
Anyway, you bla got knocked out in the semi finals.
And I'm at a bar and a lot of the
All Blakes players are there and I look over it
Jerry and for whatever reason, because he doesn't look anything
like him, I went up and introduced myself and I said,
I said, you're all Mula and he said, he said,
you having to go with me?

Speaker 6 (29:08):
I said, no, no I'm not.

Speaker 11 (29:09):
He goes you're a funk with He said, do you
want to go out the front?

Speaker 6 (29:11):
Sell it? I said, honestly, I apologize. And it was
the great. It was the great Jerry Collins.

Speaker 4 (29:16):
He would have made a good league play.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
You reckon him in a brilliant league player, very very
good league plan.

Speaker 6 (29:24):
As you said before, made a lot of the blokes
come across.

Speaker 11 (29:27):
Sn't people forget over this side of the ditch, like
Tana and Nugat. He was at the Newcastle Knights originally
Tanner and he got home sick and he wanted to
return and I think our coach said, he's never going
to make it anyway, let him go.

Speaker 3 (29:40):
He was a junior.

Speaker 4 (29:44):
Boy, wasn't He's out on the wing and then he
moved in.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
And I don't even know, but Mark Graham's cousin is JK.
John Coowen.

Speaker 2 (29:52):
There's a similarity.

Speaker 8 (29:53):
He's he's a black sheep of the family obviously.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
Yeah, you just don't talk about them.

Speaker 4 (29:58):
He's the nine achiever.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
Yeah, did you when you were playing?

Speaker 2 (30:02):
Did you? I would have loved to see Jerry Collins
more you.

Speaker 11 (30:05):
That would have been, Ah, don't worry about the white
quarter or the great white Jerry would have been a lone.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
He got that that the slack face, you know, and
if you've got the slack face, you're in it mate. Yeah. Yeah,
and there's no warning it's coming.

Speaker 8 (30:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (30:22):
Certain people who wouldn't that.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
Oh no, you got to say.

Speaker 11 (30:25):
Gordon tell Us a great mate, sim Gordon Tallis were
great mates that for a time, so you know how
they do.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
The fight for life. That would have been a beauty,
wouldn't it tell us first.

Speaker 4 (30:33):
You know who did that?

Speaker 3 (30:34):
You know who did the first fight for life? Mark? Yeah, yes,
Buck Shelf?

Speaker 2 (30:39):
Yeah yeah you beat Buck too, didn't you? Did you
not beat me?

Speaker 12 (30:42):
Did he?

Speaker 4 (30:43):
It was close?

Speaker 5 (30:44):
I remember that because the first one. Yeah, and that
was the same one. Didn't rush your fight rush gloves?

Speaker 4 (30:53):
What was that?

Speaker 2 (30:53):
What was that?

Speaker 3 (30:54):
What was that experience like? Because I mean you use
boxing and training and league and stuff like that, but
actually be in the ring.

Speaker 8 (31:00):
It was like I was forty yeah, forty something anyway,
and I lost his son to suicide. Say, it was
what if you can do to raise money? So obviously
it was. It wasn't a bit of boxing. It was
a bit raising money. It wasn't winning or losing. It
was a bit doing the right thing by young young
boys or young people that are going to a hard time.
So it was a very privileged to be part of it.

(31:20):
So I was happy, and there was a really big
fundraiser that worked out really well and people.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
The wonderful thing they have that League versus Rugby. Yeah,
it's the thing I loved having, you know, I had
a little play with both. Is that the league boys
are just such solid good fellows like you know, they're
they're not not the most well, not the most.

Speaker 3 (31:42):
You've got two league guys, but in a nice way,
not not.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
The most, not the most complicated. You know, you know,
they're simple, solid, there's solid, good buggets.

Speaker 4 (31:52):
But I think the balls as well though. To get
into the boxing ring, you know, because.

Speaker 5 (31:56):
It's an ego thing, rugby league whatever, but also it's
just you and him, this guy, you know, and if
you knew you're going to win, of course you do it.

Speaker 4 (32:03):
There's a chance you're not going to win.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
But Steve mcdom was like one of the toughest guys
in the All Blacks and we're just going, mate. He
was a black belt jiu jitsu and I'm going, mate,
he's going to des Troy. I don't know who he
is fighting, but I'm just going.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
Many of you ever been in the boxing ring for
one of those charity box and things.

Speaker 6 (32:21):
No, boys, I'm a pacifist. I don't get involved in
that stuff.

Speaker 11 (32:25):
Actually, you know, if you go, if you look through
the DNA of our family, we're not renowned for our fighting.
You might remember a State of Origin game in nine
to ninety six where Jamie Gotta just pulverized. My brother
Andrew was carrying on in that game like a pork chop,
and God gave him a serving, gave him a few
right hands, knocked Andrew waver. And then Andrew, not the

(32:47):
brightest spark as you talk about rugby leuelays he's probably
the best example of that.

Speaker 4 (32:50):
Scarfee.

Speaker 11 (32:51):
He chased went after him and then he just sought
Joey out again. Hell ended up Joey had thirty one
stitches in his mouth and he's such a vein bastard, right.
They took him into the dressing room while the game's
on to get him stitched up. And as he was
getting stitched up, he used the doctor's phone and gave
me a call. So I'm watching the game and he
rings me and he goes, do look bad? And I said, mate,

(33:14):
they'll be showing that that highlight for as long as
rugby league has played, and so every time they shot.

Speaker 6 (33:22):
So you can do anything.

Speaker 11 (33:23):
You could be the greatest player of all time anything,
but mate, you get knocked out once.

Speaker 4 (33:29):
It's unforgiving a one punch, it's all over.

Speaker 2 (33:31):
I remember playing playing and I think we're playing at
Huddersfield and I took the ball out as fall back
and I slipped over and this prop just went back
and think and just dropped his knee right into the
old conk and I felt from a nose and it
was gone, and I caught it about here. And this
is just before halftime. And so I come into the
changing room at halftime and Frank Ndercott's given the speech

(33:53):
and I'm in the mirror just going on fucked, you know,
and Frank said, get ore maca. You've got a nose
like me.

Speaker 4 (33:59):
Now.

Speaker 2 (33:59):
I said, that doesn't fucking help me, Frank, But I
stayed on. They kicked the ball to me on the sixth.
I kicked it big on the.

Speaker 8 (34:06):
Fucking first.

Speaker 10 (34:08):
Seen that in the league history, you know.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
And then I get I go to the doctor after
the game. I said, mate, sort this ship out right.
I'm got to get into London. This is the right
time of my life to be here, you know. And
I've got a conic out here. And I go to
the dock and he said, we've got to wait six
weeks for it to struct, you to heal, and then
we can break it. And I said, oh fuck that.

Speaker 4 (34:29):
He'll then break it, you know.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
So I went back and I heard you straighten your
own conk. I went back and drank the entire mini
bar and sort of banged it back in and got
it sort of semi straight. Well, yeah, none was straight
by the end of it.

Speaker 6 (34:48):
I've had one victory in my whole life.

Speaker 7 (34:50):
Right.

Speaker 11 (34:50):
So late nineties, we're having a training session at Newcastle.
It's the last training session before we break.

Speaker 6 (34:56):
Up for Christmas.

Speaker 11 (34:57):
And my brother was in one of his moods, right,
and he's firing balls at forward zamples and abuse them
when they're dropping it, and so on and so forth.
So we're having a big dinner with all the fre
Emily's that night, and the boys come up and say, mate, listen,
is there any chance of making sure your brother's not there?

Speaker 6 (35:11):
I said, not a dramon in the world. So I
went up and I told Joey.

Speaker 11 (35:14):
I said, listen, many they've canceled for whatever reason. He said,
oh yeah, I didn't really want to go anyway. So
we're all sitting having this beautiful dinner at this Vietnamese
restaurant Newcastle.

Speaker 6 (35:25):
All of a sudden, I hear this banging. I turn
around and Andrews.

Speaker 11 (35:28):
Walked past with all his moro On mates and he's
spotted us in there and realized the double crossed him.
So he's punching the glass at the front of the
restaurant and everyone's horrified. Anyway, he takes off down the
road and I'm sitting my wife, Trisha's called me every
name under the sun, and of course I know he
can't fight, I thought, okay, So I walked wandered down

(35:48):
to the pub to our local cricketer's arms and Tricia's in,
so she says.

Speaker 6 (35:51):
Don't do anything stupid.

Speaker 11 (35:53):
No, So I walk into the pub and he's there
with all his more on mates birds of a Feather
and he goes, oh, here she comes. I said, right,
and you outside, So I'm waiting out the front. Anyway,
it surprises me he's come out and he's that drunk,
and I just give him a couple of right hands,
bang bang bang and drop him and then walk away
a little. And Trish actually hit him on the head

(36:15):
with a handbag on the way out, so he was
out of sorts anyway. But anyway, I get a call
from a REGULARUE journalist, the great Phil Rothfield Buzz and
he said, mate, listen, I'm hearing a bit of a story.
That Hugh and your brother got into a stick in
the outside of a pub in Newcastle. I said, Buzz,
I don't know where you heard that, didn't have He said, mate, listen,

(36:37):
I got a lot.

Speaker 6 (36:38):
Of people in Newcasts. I know very very well mate,
it happened.

Speaker 11 (36:42):
And I said, Buzz, I'm telling you now it didn't happen.
And he said, mate, I don't like people who lie.
And I said, right, I, Buzz, you tell me what
your mate told you. He said, mate, he reckons you
gave him a flogging.

Speaker 6 (36:54):
And I said, you know what, Buzz, you got me.
It did happen.

Speaker 3 (37:00):
Not that we want to glorified finding and stuff, but
the one the Timothy Dowling fight was like, you know,
I was on the field, they both got seen off,
then they started scrapping on the sideline. I mean, you know,
what was it like to be sort of part of
that sort of.

Speaker 8 (37:15):
Well, I didn't know anything about it because I've been earlier.
So I was actually because there.

Speaker 4 (37:21):
Was a dust up on the field first, right, and
then it ended up.

Speaker 8 (37:23):
Yeah, I got I got wapped up about twenty minutes
and then I lasted little about half time and then
I came out up for the second half, so they
tell me and they kicked off and I was still
standing there after after I was still standing in the
same Graham Low and it happened just just over there
as I walk it off. But the next day I
caught it all on video and it was like a proper,
proper street fight and how they worked boxing.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
And then they got the left and gave them the
elbow that was bloody.

Speaker 4 (37:50):
That was almost like they made up.

Speaker 8 (37:51):
But actually in the movie that that that's that happens
in there. Seeing the movie, it's got mixed. And then
and then I'll tell you what in that fight.

Speaker 6 (38:00):
Sorry, sorry, Mark, apologies.

Speaker 8 (38:01):
I'm just going to say maybe in the next game
and the second test, Downing waits for Kevin h at
the Great Rudway Green stand on Carlo Park and they
shake hands with and giving each other hagging off the game.

Speaker 6 (38:14):
Then that's if you don't have a look at that fight.

Speaker 11 (38:18):
If you watching the fight as they're head bututting each other,
there's a young kid in the background who's standing looking
at starry eyed. It's actually the ex Astrain cricket captain
Mark Taylor. He's sitting there as a kid watching the fight.

Speaker 6 (38:33):
So he's in the background there. And also Kard Walters
is a kid there. You see all these people in
the background, a.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
Trainspotterer.

Speaker 6 (38:42):
Oh yeah, don't tell me anything you don't want to.
I don't want here to remember.

Speaker 2 (38:47):
Good, good good. Though I love useless trivia.

Speaker 4 (38:49):
As kiwis, we will remember that.

Speaker 5 (38:51):
But I got to say, a real Kiwi legend as
someone that or Oddie legend, is someone who's respecting on
both sides of the ditch, you know.

Speaker 4 (39:00):
I mean as opposed.

Speaker 5 (39:01):
I'm a fan of him because he's an AUSSI he's
a kivy, you know, Mark in this case, you know,
Ozzie's respecting just as much as we did.

Speaker 4 (39:08):
I mean, that's that's what I imagined.

Speaker 3 (39:11):
Is Mak you're in the Ossie Hall of Fame, don't
you in? In the NRL. I mean, that's pretty incredible.

Speaker 8 (39:17):
I was actually I was lucky that first overseas player,
Yeah put in so that was Yeah, they had the
first hundred Mark and I was one hundred and one.

Speaker 6 (39:28):
Incredible. Mark, Like the respect of Mark's got over here is.

Speaker 11 (39:33):
He's there's people as respected, but no one more respected
than Mark.

Speaker 6 (39:37):
And I'll tell the other about Mark too, mate? Is
that Mark was hell of hell of a coach. We
played Mark.

Speaker 11 (39:44):
I remember we played you blokes when you coached the
Warriors in nineteen ninety nine and we're on a run.
I think we won about six or seven in a
row and you beat us forty two nil at home.

Speaker 8 (39:55):
You just think you would think I would remember that many,
but I can't.

Speaker 3 (40:00):
Did you enjoy the coaching?

Speaker 6 (40:01):
I was actually talking to the art of the game.
You're commiserating with me.

Speaker 8 (40:04):
Yeah, I was lucky enough to I had seven years
as an apprentice coach under Graham Low Bobby fought and
to machines and uh he was what was his name? No,
not for no anyway, it was a really good coach anyway.

(40:25):
So I had seven years doing that, and then I
took to the y sorry, the Warrior's job. And then
after that I went to coach for Abu Union in
Auckland here, and then I lived in Japan for a
couple of years. And before I did the Japan thing,
I went to help JK up in Six Nations. So
I was I love coaching. I was like I saw
Stacy Jones today and on coach Stacey and he's the

(40:46):
keywy coach now And I was saying, how do you feel?
He said, oh, kind of nervous, you know.

Speaker 4 (40:50):
So yeah, it was to bring it back to because
I just need to you.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
I'm going to because I'm going to apologize during what
was a really important story. I don't know if you
can hear that, but there was sort of like a
loudest stream of you Ryan, Yeah from Australia. Yeah, and
you could hear it in Australia. He had to shut
the door when you go to the bathroom.

Speaker 8 (41:13):
It's a small apartment, right, I mean you know it's
might make it noisy if it's a long travels a
long way.

Speaker 4 (41:19):
Yeah, well last week I had laundry.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
Next time I just put it in the water shoulder.

Speaker 3 (41:35):
That's probably a good.

Speaker 4 (41:38):
I just want to say one more thing with Mark.
So your son never really played league or anything like that.
He different path altogether my boys.

Speaker 8 (41:46):
Yeah yeah, you know, actually pretty good at foot yeah yeah,
but with the movie basketball and tennis player yeah yeah,
really really good and a very good cricketer. And he
just looked like he was gonna go and play in
New seth Wales cricket for sometimes it's a really good spinner. Yeah,
so he was. He was a very good athlete, and
Paul was. He played a he got selected for the

(42:08):
bell main it was the President's Cup or something like that,
and then he wasn't taking it too seriously so they
gave him the house and ended uplaying rugby union. So
it's a very tough player, very tough.

Speaker 2 (42:18):
Just a random comment, But how cool is it to
meet your hero and for them to be cooler than
you thought. I'm just loving being in your company.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
Well, change your perception of Mark because one of the
things that he's pretty passionate about is obviously passionate about
rugby and rugby league, but he's also really passionate about
a new sport, something that's gonna you think is going
to take the nation by storm. And you've been running
a training camp.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
Here, Madda, you're going to love this mate. That if
these tricks in New Zealand, they're not up for it.
But and Ossie, this will be huge. Imagine it in
town halls.

Speaker 3 (42:57):
All right, don't give me anything away. This is this
is the training camp that you ran recently.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
Well it certainly brings a smile to the face, doesn't it?
Selling him behind us a little person on a little
horse and he's practicing his jousting. You've got I mean,
I'll tell you your accuracy is not bad at all.
The only challenge we've got is as horse control and speed, right,

(43:25):
and potentially your ability to sell yourself, because, to be fair,
your sales pitched at the beginning, you know, wasn't that
compelling the moment? Considered it just an investment. I'm gonna
be honest, I'm not sure about either selling or the
horse at the moment. You know, if we're gonna put
on a world class show, that's it, mate. Good speed,
good speed, good control, brilliant, brilliant. What are you going

(43:48):
to call yourself? You got a half control that sean? Yeah,
fair enough?

Speaker 4 (43:55):
Why mights that good? Let's start?

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Why do you think is it good lucks time?

Speaker 8 (44:00):
Personality?

Speaker 2 (44:01):
I think it's just a natural natural is it natural charisma?
And uh and and and I like coordination? You've got
that in space?

Speaker 8 (44:08):
Mate?

Speaker 2 (44:08):
Can we take it back a bit further? Sorry, yeah,
that's brilliant. Go down, he goes right. Oh god, how

(44:30):
you feeling? You're quickly happy with your first first time
on a horse. I think the hand eye coordination is
pretty damn good, no doubt about that. It's whether or
not you can take a stick at about thirty k
right in the chest. Well, mate, i'll tell you what.
If we can get you winning a joust and competition,
it's going to be about the equivalent of walking on
the moon. Yeah, you're not wrong, man. This is the

(44:54):
only guy who's going to get this right. Like I've
sold this to you.

Speaker 1 (44:58):
You haven't sold it to anyone.

Speaker 7 (44:59):
We sit here every week and Mark talks to us
about wolves, wolves.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
And like tour.

Speaker 4 (45:07):
I'm fann to say it because once you get two
of them each other.

Speaker 2 (45:11):
So imagine imagine town halls across Australia, right, and we've
got these two midgets on miniature ponies and there, and
they get up and they say, yeah, get a Jimmy.
Then I'm gonna be wearing wet tonight, you know, and
I'm playing three bucks fifty you know. And then you've
got like midgets dwarves. Fuck, you can't say that, dwarves

(45:34):
walking around saying yeah, he wants a bet on Jimmy.
He wants a bet on Jimmy. And then you've got
bucks and serving winches and a big banquet with they're putting.
They're putting the Yeah, that's the juxtaposed to the dwarves.
And then they put pints down on the table with
meat and hall men. You're betting on the little guys
and they're selling themselves. And then they charge across the

(45:56):
stage and they joust. Yeah, and you win money on it,
and you have a compare, you know, And maybe you
can have running of the dwarves, like where we put
a strip down the middle of the room, you know,
and we send sheep after them. You know, it's a
half time.

Speaker 4 (46:14):
Maybe get two hundred warves that run down at.

Speaker 2 (46:17):
Whither they do, but they've got sheep chasing that. Okay,
the balls he's running over the dolls and things. You
can and goats one one or two goats with fu
made and as you make it go off and fucking
go off.

Speaker 6 (46:29):
I can sell tickeness to this.

Speaker 8 (46:31):
I squeared.

Speaker 2 (46:32):
I'm coming over. We need to have a beer and anetta.

Speaker 3 (46:35):
The only the only other person in the world that
thinks this is a good idea is many Johns.

Speaker 2 (46:40):
That's why I'm coming over.

Speaker 4 (46:41):
I'm fifteen fifty yeah, yeah, well fifty one fifty one now.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
Okay, you're on the side. You can come on on
the trip. We need to discuss this and.

Speaker 3 (46:49):
And it's part of the idea of using little people
because that means you can put them in smaller venues.

Speaker 4 (46:56):
You just go to town halls.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
Mate, you know that's the brilliance off. You don't need
to hire fucking the opera, you just do a fucking
school hall market.

Speaker 3 (47:03):
And there's the voice of reason here.

Speaker 7 (47:05):
No, no, Mark's talking. Don't have to stack them on
the plane so I didn't have to buy two seats.

Speaker 4 (47:10):
Good point that was.

Speaker 1 (47:10):
That was his logic last week.

Speaker 4 (47:12):
A maxi taxi sixteen people, you've got twenty four and there.

Speaker 2 (47:16):
Sorry Mark, sorry, mate, this is not good. I'm getting excited.

Speaker 4 (47:22):
Then yeah, look what said you got him?

Speaker 3 (47:28):
I reckond you to.

Speaker 6 (47:32):
Oh that's the best.

Speaker 5 (47:34):
Let's bring back to Les a minute if I could.
Unless it's quite personal. My family was a league family
or man played West Coast un cause a Kiwi.

Speaker 4 (47:45):
Sixty two six.

Speaker 6 (47:50):
Ja, this shows making me laugh.

Speaker 4 (47:57):
He's on the camera to that year. That year I
had eight Kiwi's from West Coast in the kiwis right?

Speaker 2 (48:03):
Sorry, that's okay.

Speaker 5 (48:04):
Eight that's pretty amazing because they were coal miners and
working whatever. So how much has I suppose, I don't know.
Times have changed and you know it's it's sporadic, you know,
so says two Auckland is then and.

Speaker 4 (48:16):
The couple again whatever. You know, how do you see
the sad league and is yelling by that way? And
in the provincial sense.

Speaker 8 (48:22):
I think leg's going all right. I think the professional
scenes most like when you consider I suppose I maybe
it's most really verified this is that out of the
top thirty players for every seventeen clubs in the NRL,
most probably fifty percent of them we have kV passports. Yeah,
so you know, maybe leagu's not down so good in
the outer suburbs or in provincial areas and they pack
them up young and pick them up young and getting

(48:43):
the over there and it's massive on the West coast thing.
I think the first or one of the first tests
I played to play at Carlo Park against the Pomis.
In the third test, they've beatn US in the first two.
I joined the team that injury, and I've watched the
first two tests and they were given it to us
so early on I got hold of one of them
and did the wrong thing. I suppose. Anyway, later when

(49:06):
I carried the ball, they'd pinned my arms and a
black round passed and hid by the man and split
me pretty good. A well, it felt like it was
a split. Was singing in the referee, but if you
can't do that for you kicking it? And I was saying, Butch,
call famous, but call Tony Cole, who was a real
hard man and who since passed away. My god, missus Saul. Anyway,
I said that, Butch, how bears we are? Any way?

(49:27):
Which one?

Speaker 2 (49:28):
I went?

Speaker 8 (49:29):
As, you know we played on half time? Came, there's
somebody there half time, I'm going to have a team talk.
I said, I'm just kind of jumping for a loop.
Before I came from the team to I went in
and there's a mirror and I looked up and there's
a fucking big hole on me head. And I walked
back and said that fucking well man. But he was, yeah,
very hard men. Then with tour and then, and I

(49:49):
would say with tour together, you know, went on several tours.
And there's the diy'd have if you had needed stitches
after a game, If you're a coaster that needed stitches
after a game, you would that she had beers for
the other Coasters because they didn't cop getting his cut,
you know. But Butch after a test match one day
at Bradford, we won the game. Well his big bath
as I do on pomp Land and he's he's had

(50:11):
he been kicked on that face and his mouth had
come out through his cheek and he pushed it back
and played obviously and had this champagne this game. What's just.

Speaker 2 (50:24):
It's one thing I've noticed while you were saying that
story is you've still got beautiful ears, you know which
which rugby the rugby equivalent don't have to do that.
They've got the big cauliflower likes.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
What were you when you played your first game for
the kiwis uh twenty.

Speaker 8 (50:42):
Something like that?

Speaker 2 (50:42):
What was your mental approach? Did you ever go in
mentally overwared? You know, when you're playing against these Aussies
and guys who were in the in the side for
a long time and the palms.

Speaker 4 (50:52):
And were stronger back then as well. Weren't they in
a way England was here for they.

Speaker 8 (50:58):
Were mean and nasty, yeah, good with their elbows and
mind putting the slipper in and then these.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
And stuff like that they weren't afraid to grab the grapes.

Speaker 8 (51:06):
And anyway, I'm playing the same and this gives me
one right And the rifferee standing right there and I said,
what about that? As I'm standing up to by the ball,
he said, he said, I'm not here to referee at
five he said, He said, I'm just here to reffree
of the rules of the game. And I said, well,
that's certainly not the rules of the game. Another terms, obviously,
he said, made I just keep score fair enough so

(51:27):
that my opportunity came. And I cracked up, cracked someone
and he goes, you're square. Who was keeping count? So
if they got if you've got too far in front
of them, penaliser.

Speaker 2 (51:35):
It was one of the weird things. And it's coming
from rugby league. If if you win into the half
time change and the coach would say they had seven penalies,
we were had too, so we're going to get a
few on the second half, which I always thought was odd.
I thought, like a penalty was given out for an infringement.
But you know in league, they the ref obviously comes
in a half time goes out. Fuck, it's even two
to give the other guys.

Speaker 8 (51:54):
If you remind him in case I get judged to
be would remind him on the way out way Wayne,
half time, all the way out. You know, the coaches
told me the penalty count such and such. Make there's
two teams.

Speaker 2 (52:05):
Yea there this on the movie.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
Does your movie hit New Zealand and Australia at the
same time.

Speaker 8 (52:13):
I've got no idea. I think it's on the seventh
of November. Yeah, it's not my movie, it's my son's.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
Yet I think it's going to go gangbusters and both
in New Zealand.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
Because so the movie is going to go game busters, Yes,
I do believe so.

Speaker 2 (52:26):
In New Zealand, I think I think it's a and
your son will talk to them later, but it was
just delightful the angle that's been taken. New Zealand will
love it because we love you, and Australia will love
it because they admire you and respect you. But I
think in Australia it will go massively.

Speaker 4 (52:41):
I think it's a story as well of an error.
Then we aspired to that. We look back.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
Yeah, we were lucky.

Speaker 4 (52:50):
You're the same major as Maca.

Speaker 5 (52:51):
I respect them whatever, but we look up to our
heroes and this is an era that it's not by gone,
but it's it's certainly an era that we's.

Speaker 8 (53:03):
She was talking to look about. There's one of the
clips here and that came up on it short where
I get k you know, a couple of shots around
I get knocked out. There was a test missis second
test and in eighty five and the commentator having watched
the game back because I couldn't remember the game, so
I watched the game the next day and the commentator said, O,
Grahams dropped the ball. I didn't say, I didn't say, wow,
he's just taking a but that was just how that was.

Speaker 2 (53:26):
He hold on.

Speaker 3 (53:28):
So just a reminder to people. So if you want
to watch this, it's in movie theaters and it's going.

Speaker 2 (53:33):
To be out next week in seventh November.

Speaker 3 (53:35):
Yeah, from the seventh and then a little bit later
in Australia, so you'll be able to see it. Maddie
and yeah, yeah, yeah, So like seriously get along and
see this, Like, yeah.

Speaker 4 (53:48):
I don't want to take it too far, but are
there any sex scenes in it?

Speaker 6 (53:52):
Sex scenes?

Speaker 2 (53:52):
No?

Speaker 4 (53:53):
No, would you like something?

Speaker 3 (53:55):
I'll still go, you know, just a couple of things
just to tell our viewers because like the last show
and the viewers and listeners, I mean, we've got some merch,
Like Will have been asking us for merch. I want
you to shut up when I'm doing this, because I
know what you're like. So we've got a trucker's cap,
we've got a T shirt and like that, and we've

(54:16):
got a hoodie as well.

Speaker 4 (54:18):
Just one we just know.

Speaker 3 (54:21):
Yeah, you can buys mews you want. So the way
to do it.

Speaker 2 (54:25):
The only thing that makes it relevant is that there's
now a hoodie like there wasn't a hoodie twenty years ago.

Speaker 3 (54:30):
Yeah, so sup to dot com issu P.

Speaker 4 (54:32):
You've just put a hood on the there.

Speaker 3 (54:36):
I knew this was going to be tough, so we'll
put it out on social media so they can't talk,
so you can so you can get them for Christmas.

Speaker 2 (54:44):
Try the hair. You won't fit that on, mate, I
haven't got but you've got a fucking huge look at it.

Speaker 4 (54:51):
That's cool.

Speaker 2 (54:52):
I'll tell you what you look like. Some with a hat.

Speaker 3 (55:00):
And if we can, this being our last show, our
last show.

Speaker 4 (55:04):
So I organized some door that shoe put that out
to you.

Speaker 3 (55:08):
Yeah, we can just bring this out. I've got this
from door Dash, mate, I've brought us a cake. I've
brought us a cake from door dash because you can
do everything there to celebrate our last show.

Speaker 5 (55:25):
Have you have you eaten?

Speaker 2 (55:26):
You've eaten a piece. There's a cutout of.

Speaker 4 (55:28):
The great cake. Where have you got stuff on your jeans?

Speaker 3 (55:30):
Like I know we were trying to we were trying
to save it.

Speaker 4 (55:38):
Yourself.

Speaker 3 (55:40):
It's a caramel cake to celebrate our last show. And
just had a little request from me. When we turn
the cameras off, can you smash the ship out of him?
I just can we reenact some of those times from
the nineties and eighties people? Can you just run in

(56:01):
and get an elbow into his throat?

Speaker 2 (56:03):
Don't be like that, mate. What you need to do is, actually,
you know, emansipate yourself from mental slavery. But none but
ourselves can free our mind.

Speaker 3 (56:14):
All right, Maddie, I'm sitting him over to you.

Speaker 6 (56:16):
I think I think it'll go good together.

Speaker 3 (56:18):
I reckon he belongs with you.

Speaker 2 (56:19):
Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 6 (56:21):
I think we're related.

Speaker 2 (56:22):
Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 3 (56:23):
It's good that you've got the mustache because it sort
of separates you now, so we can tell the difference
is that my thing.

Speaker 12 (56:29):
I'm just trying to No, it's just fashion obviously, just
like you know the other day, I've got a crucial
face around the next I run into a priest and
he said, oh, it's good to know you're religious.

Speaker 6 (56:42):
I said, no, this is not religious. This is fashion.

Speaker 4 (56:47):
Fashion really, when you think about it, no fashion world fashion.

Speaker 3 (56:53):
That I think, seriously, there's a word that jumps to
mind when I think of you many. It's probably not fashion.

Speaker 8 (57:00):
Yeah, what's the word.

Speaker 3 (57:03):
Yeah, we'll wait till the cameras off. Yeah, thanks so
much for joining us. I think it's a good time
to finish this. I mean, we've done twenty shows. Most
of them have been a disaster. This one has probably
been the biggest disaster of all.

Speaker 2 (57:19):
But we've had seriously, the greatest guess it's the most
potential mate.

Speaker 8 (57:24):
Thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
What a pleasure to meet you.

Speaker 4 (57:27):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, and.

Speaker 2 (57:31):
Even cooler than you thought he would be. Yeah, amazing.

Speaker 4 (57:33):
Everyone everyone hears my hero. I mean, so it's amazing.

Speaker 3 (57:38):
I think I think the only appropriate way to end
the show is to just look back at how we
ended the show last time. Thank you. But that's it.
This is the official end of the Human Sports Cafe
for the last hold on.

Speaker 2 (58:00):
That's a mustache made right there. Your what point? Let's
see what the what s.

Speaker 13 (58:12):
It's the official name of the Human Sports that say.
It's a very emotional. Good times and some bad times.
We work with some officials and some true agents.

Speaker 2 (58:31):
Like German. We'd like to go on to like what
the next moment, the same day.

Speaker 4 (58:42):
I.

Speaker 2 (58:44):
U no, I would reckon, he wish he would be.

Speaker 4 (58:55):
I mind that man? What is that? O?

Speaker 10 (59:08):
Let us stop journalist.

Speaker 2 (59:13):
I don't know, I don't
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