August 13, 2026 • 9 mins
We celebrate 100 years of Newstalk ZB with a veteran sports broadcaster who has been a key part of that history for decades.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a great song. It's called go West. Reminds
me of my wonderful geography teacher at Saint Peter's College,
the late Mark Feeby, to talk about go West, young man,
another man who was a teacher in a past life
as an ex guest yours, Murray, Murray Deeker, did you
remember that famous saying was that the was that the
(00:21):
Chinese was that Malse Tong saying go west, young man.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I don't know the age that I was. It was
go north, and we all went north because the jobs
were there, the money was there. I left aneed Inn
end of nineteen sixty nine and have never gone back.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Well, you've been a jaff for ever since, Murray. Let's
be honest about right, I have you?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
This was the little end of opportunity, you know. I
heard the other day somebody say that, you know there
was negativity around Auckland. I've never been negative about this place.
It's been fantastic to me. Well, that's good love, the
energy of it, I just the whole place.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Well that's because you made so much money up here,
Murray and your radio show selling biomags and ad libs.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I don't live in a great, big brick house, Mary Hillmaker.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well you what have if you'd stayed and toned. And
now the reason I've got you on the show today
is we're blowing out one. I'm looking forward to catching
up with you tonight. One hundred years for news talks
there'd be And I'm thinking, who's been around the longest
that I know? I know Murray Deaker And I did
hear you talking to Piney last weekend. It was just
great to hear that those dulcet tones again, Murray.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I really enjoyed it and I enjoyed talking to him too,
because he asked the kind of questions that I did expect.
I made one very bad blue. He asked me what
was happening in sport today that I didn't like? And
sadly I don't know why, I just did not come
(01:55):
out with a correct answer. And it's this. I'm so
so dis pointed where rugby's gone. It used to be
a match which was played between two teams. Now the
significant person in rugby is not even on the field.
He's called the TMO. He stuffs up every game that
(02:15):
takes place. The referee can't even make a decision on
his own. He stands there looking at the television with
two guys beside him, and then this jacker called TMO,
who we never see, he makes the call. Now, rugby
used to be decided as a team game between two teams,
and the dreadful amount of pedantic refereeing that I've watched
(02:38):
in the last ten years has made me watch more
league now than I watch rugby.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Well, that's the danger for rugby in this country is
that the Warriors are now the biggest or the hottest
ticket in town, and there's more action in a league
game than a rugby game. I'm a bit like you,
so you're a great, a former great Otago lockforward games,
wasn't it? Murray was two games? But I know well
because I know a lot of people who knew and
(03:06):
knew you and played with you in Dneed, and you
were a bit of a knuckleman before you went up
to Auckland for the money. But rugby was a simpler game,
and I think I reckon honestly about the mid nineteen nineties.
I'm showing my age here. When I first met you,
Murray and the likes of John Hart and Lorrie Mains
had an all black teams and I think of that
(03:26):
All Black side of nineteen ninety six, so that's thirty
years ago, and I think that was rugby at its prime,
because you know why the Fords stayed in rucks. You
might have had Josh Cromfelt hanging off. Other than that,
it was seven on seven in the backs and it
was a better spectacle.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
It was an outstanding spectacle. And you are right to
highlight the nineteen ninety sixteen. I think Laurie did a
lot of the work towards that though, in getting the
All Blacks to the condition that he got the moon,
and there was absolutely no doubt. It should be highlight that,
you know, the All Blacks were poisoned before the final
of the Rugby World Cup. I was there doing the
(04:07):
comments for Graham Moody and I was watching people like
Jeff Wilson spewing on the sideline. Now, Laurie probably made
a mistake when he spoke about Suzi the waitress. I
don't know if there was a Suzi or not, but
what I do know is they were poisoned. The ninety
five team was a great team because of course it
had Jonah and that was something that we will never forget.
(04:30):
He's not reviewed as much in New Zealand and revered,
I mean as he is overseas. I was away recently
in France, in southern France, and I went into a
cafe cafe pub thing they do a lot of that,
and there on the wall was one of the biggest
(04:53):
murals I've ever seen, and it was Jonah and the
French just loved them. He was something else. I think
there's a movie coming out with him on it, picturing
him a docco and I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Hey, Murray Deeker. For people who haven't got long memories,
how do you go from a school teacher in Dunedin
to running a very very successful nationwide radio sports show.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Well there's a gap in there too, because I formed
and ran the Foundation for Alcohol and Drug Education. I
did that from the end of the nineteen eighties to
in the beginning of the nineteen nineties. I went and
I told one man that I had had enough of
(05:41):
doing it because it's very tiring working in that field.
And this one guy had bought a pie factory. He
looked down as he was packing pies one day and
he saw the sign saying scoreboard presenter required. And he
thought Deeps would do well at that, so he rang me.
(06:03):
I ran Bill for answers. He said, oh, Diex, I
thought you were dedicated to the alcohol and drug education
and therefore I didn't approach you. He had appointed another guy,
and from memory, the guy's name was Bill McCarthy and
he was from Wellington, and they were negotiating his salary,
(06:24):
and in the end the salary was so pathetic that
Bill turned it down. I had sat in a chair
filling in for an hour and a half one day
of the six hours that I used to do, and
after an hour and a half, I thought, of this
guy Gil, what Wellington comes, I'll kill him. I knew
it was me. I loved doing it. And you know
(06:48):
I've said this when I was talking to Piney and
it's time it was set again. I was lucky. I
had the best sports producer this country's ever seen, and
he's the guy who should have run radio sport. But
they didn't put them in there because they felt that
z B was more important. But Greg Billains made that show.
You were it bloody hard, but more than anything else,
(07:10):
what Greg had was flair and he wanted the thing
to do well. And I knew it had to do
well because at that stage, Jamie, you may remember I
was widowed. I had three kids. To put the food
on the table. I was selling bio mags. I was
doing all sorts of things to keep the bread coming
(07:30):
in for the three kids. And I needed that job
that I needed to succeed, and fortunately it did well.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
It's not only biomegs you sold, Murray, you had lots
of eatside hustles going. And I always remember about because
in my mind so I can talk, I'm driving and
I Suzu Mux seven seater. But you had the the
the holden from some outfit and north Shore see they
got good mile of Jaddier.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Schofield Holden and narrow Newmarket.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Oh sorry, apologies, wrong side of the brooch.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Now they don't have them anymore. But Schofield were a
wonderful supporter for me, and you know they've supported a
lot of people since. Aleicha Hoskin, who I did a
podcast with this year. She is driving a Skoda. The
gil Trapp family are fantastic beneficiaries of New Zealand sport
and New Zealand people. I was with Mike Hendrey playing
(08:24):
golf yesterday I tried to get ahold of you to
take you up to TII, but you didn't answer the
phone because you were scering it. And Beaten and Mike
is sponsored by them as well. They've done a lot
of good work for a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Well, I want the late column Gil trappittters now. Of course, Murray,
he's been a wonderful, benevolent benefactor. I probably shouldn't have
run those two words together for the IHC, and I'm
involved obviously with the IHC carf and Rural scheme, and
he never wanted any fuss at all made about it,
but he was a huge contributor, a great New Zealander.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I'll give you this too, is something just to bear
in mind about the way that company works. I introduced
Alisha Hoskin to them. She became an ambassadors of them
just before Christmas this year. Richard Giltrap went ahead and
I opened up my emails and here's a note from him, Murray,
(09:22):
thank you so much for introducing us to Alisha. She's
an outstanding young woman and we are pleased to be
helping her and we will continue to do so. Well,
you know, people used to do those things. Everybody used
to do things like that. What gill traps are successful
for us because they have kept old fashioned values.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Going, Murray, you've still got it, Murray yours great? The chat,
I'll see it on a height. There we go, Murray Deeker,
a legend of news talks. They'd be blowing out one
hundred candles tonight
This is a great song. It's called go West. Reminds
me of my wonderful geography teacher at Saint Peter's College,
the late Mark Feeby, to talk about go West, young man,
another man who was a teacher in a past life
as an ex guest yours, Murray, Murray Deeker, did you
remember that famous saying was that the was that the
(00:21):
Chinese was that Malse Tong saying go west, young man.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I don't know the age that I was. It was
go north, and we all went north because the jobs
were there, the money was there. I left aneed Inn
end of nineteen sixty nine and have never gone back.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Well, you've been a jaff for ever since, Murray. Let's
be honest about right, I have you?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
This was the little end of opportunity, you know. I
heard the other day somebody say that, you know there
was negativity around Auckland. I've never been negative about this place.
It's been fantastic to me. Well, that's good love, the
energy of it, I just the whole place.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Well that's because you made so much money up here,
Murray and your radio show selling biomags and ad libs.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I don't live in a great, big brick house, Mary Hillmaker.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well you what have if you'd stayed and toned. And
now the reason I've got you on the show today
is we're blowing out one. I'm looking forward to catching
up with you tonight. One hundred years for news talks
there'd be And I'm thinking, who's been around the longest
that I know? I know Murray Deaker And I did
hear you talking to Piney last weekend. It was just
great to hear that those dulcet tones again, Murray.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I really enjoyed it and I enjoyed talking to him too,
because he asked the kind of questions that I did expect.
I made one very bad blue. He asked me what
was happening in sport today that I didn't like? And
sadly I don't know why, I just did not come
(01:55):
out with a correct answer. And it's this. I'm so
so dis pointed where rugby's gone. It used to be
a match which was played between two teams. Now the
significant person in rugby is not even on the field.
He's called the TMO. He stuffs up every game that
(02:15):
takes place. The referee can't even make a decision on
his own. He stands there looking at the television with
two guys beside him, and then this jacker called TMO,
who we never see, he makes the call. Now, rugby
used to be decided as a team game between two teams,
and the dreadful amount of pedantic refereeing that I've watched
(02:38):
in the last ten years has made me watch more
league now than I watch rugby.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Well, that's the danger for rugby in this country is
that the Warriors are now the biggest or the hottest
ticket in town, and there's more action in a league
game than a rugby game. I'm a bit like you,
so you're a great, a former great Otago lockforward games,
wasn't it? Murray was two games? But I know well
because I know a lot of people who knew and
(03:06):
knew you and played with you in Dneed, and you
were a bit of a knuckleman before you went up
to Auckland for the money. But rugby was a simpler game,
and I think I reckon honestly about the mid nineteen nineties.
I'm showing my age here. When I first met you,
Murray and the likes of John Hart and Lorrie Mains
had an all black teams and I think of that
(03:26):
All Black side of nineteen ninety six, so that's thirty
years ago, and I think that was rugby at its prime,
because you know why the Fords stayed in rucks. You
might have had Josh Cromfelt hanging off. Other than that,
it was seven on seven in the backs and it
was a better spectacle.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
It was an outstanding spectacle. And you are right to
highlight the nineteen ninety sixteen. I think Laurie did a
lot of the work towards that though, in getting the
All Blacks to the condition that he got the moon,
and there was absolutely no doubt. It should be highlight that,
you know, the All Blacks were poisoned before the final
of the Rugby World Cup. I was there doing the
(04:07):
comments for Graham Moody and I was watching people like
Jeff Wilson spewing on the sideline. Now, Laurie probably made
a mistake when he spoke about Suzi the waitress. I
don't know if there was a Suzi or not, but
what I do know is they were poisoned. The ninety
five team was a great team because of course it
had Jonah and that was something that we will never forget.
(04:30):
He's not reviewed as much in New Zealand and revered,
I mean as he is overseas. I was away recently
in France, in southern France, and I went into a
cafe cafe pub thing they do a lot of that,
and there on the wall was one of the biggest
(04:53):
murals I've ever seen, and it was Jonah and the
French just loved them. He was something else. I think
there's a movie coming out with him on it, picturing
him a docco and I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Hey, Murray Deeker. For people who haven't got long memories,
how do you go from a school teacher in Dunedin
to running a very very successful nationwide radio sports show.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Well there's a gap in there too, because I formed
and ran the Foundation for Alcohol and Drug Education. I
did that from the end of the nineteen eighties to
in the beginning of the nineteen nineties. I went and
I told one man that I had had enough of
(05:41):
doing it because it's very tiring working in that field.
And this one guy had bought a pie factory. He
looked down as he was packing pies one day and
he saw the sign saying scoreboard presenter required. And he
thought Deeps would do well at that, so he rang me.
(06:03):
I ran Bill for answers. He said, oh, Diex, I
thought you were dedicated to the alcohol and drug education
and therefore I didn't approach you. He had appointed another guy,
and from memory, the guy's name was Bill McCarthy and
he was from Wellington, and they were negotiating his salary,
(06:24):
and in the end the salary was so pathetic that
Bill turned it down. I had sat in a chair
filling in for an hour and a half one day
of the six hours that I used to do, and
after an hour and a half, I thought, of this
guy Gil, what Wellington comes, I'll kill him. I knew
it was me. I loved doing it. And you know
(06:48):
I've said this when I was talking to Piney and
it's time it was set again. I was lucky. I
had the best sports producer this country's ever seen, and
he's the guy who should have run radio sport. But
they didn't put them in there because they felt that
z B was more important. But Greg Billains made that show.
You were it bloody hard, but more than anything else,
(07:10):
what Greg had was flair and he wanted the thing
to do well. And I knew it had to do
well because at that stage, Jamie, you may remember I
was widowed. I had three kids. To put the food
on the table. I was selling bio mags. I was
doing all sorts of things to keep the bread coming
(07:30):
in for the three kids. And I needed that job
that I needed to succeed, and fortunately it did well.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
It's not only biomegs you sold, Murray, you had lots
of eatside hustles going. And I always remember about because
in my mind so I can talk, I'm driving and
I Suzu Mux seven seater. But you had the the
the holden from some outfit and north Shore see they
got good mile of Jaddier.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Schofield Holden and narrow Newmarket.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Oh sorry, apologies, wrong side of the brooch.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Now they don't have them anymore. But Schofield were a
wonderful supporter for me, and you know they've supported a
lot of people since. Aleicha Hoskin, who I did a
podcast with this year. She is driving a Skoda. The
gil Trapp family are fantastic beneficiaries of New Zealand sport
and New Zealand people. I was with Mike Hendrey playing
(08:24):
golf yesterday I tried to get ahold of you to
take you up to TII, but you didn't answer the
phone because you were scering it. And Beaten and Mike
is sponsored by them as well. They've done a lot
of good work for a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Well, I want the late column Gil trappittters now. Of course, Murray,
he's been a wonderful, benevolent benefactor. I probably shouldn't have
run those two words together for the IHC, and I'm
involved obviously with the IHC carf and Rural scheme, and
he never wanted any fuss at all made about it,
but he was a huge contributor, a great New Zealander.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I'll give you this too, is something just to bear
in mind about the way that company works. I introduced
Alisha Hoskin to them. She became an ambassadors of them
just before Christmas this year. Richard Giltrap went ahead and
I opened up my emails and here's a note from him, Murray,
(09:22):
thank you so much for introducing us to Alisha. She's
an outstanding young woman and we are pleased to be
helping her and we will continue to do so. Well,
you know, people used to do those things. Everybody used
to do things like that. What gill traps are successful
for us because they have kept old fashioned values.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Going, Murray, you've still got it, Murray yours great? The chat,
I'll see it on a height. There we go, Murray Deeker,
a legend of news talks. They'd be blowing out one
hundred candles tonight
Popular Podcasts
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.