August 31, 2025 • 41 mins
Legendary broadcaster Ray Hadley joins the boys for stories of footy feuds, radio wars and wild moments. From nipple clamps to marathon commentary boxes, nothing is off-limits.
Ray opens up on clashes with Buzz, Bulldog, Gus and More.
Plus raw reflections on the Lindt Café tragedy, family battles & Cathy Freeman’s golden run.
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00:00-Gus Gould v Chammas
1:00-Sterlo & Fatty
2:30-Original Footy Show
9:00-Drama & Brekky Radio
13:00-Lindt Cafe Tragedy
17:00-Bondi Junction Tragedy
20:00-After Effects
21:30-Family Battles
24:30-Ray ‘Rabs’ Warren
35:00-Best Event
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Nothing like a rugby league blue. And I've been, in fact,
I've been at the forefront of many of this. Let's
dive into a fuel right now. Well, the most important
one I've lived through. Well, there's now Guss and Buzz,
and Webster's joined the cause now as well, since retiring
from the Sydney Morning Herald. So it's Gus, Webster and
(00:21):
Buzz like a triumvirate of Blues. There was, of course
Chippy and Warren. Now poor old Chippy's gone, but I
think Warren still harbors a grudge against him. Roy Masters
had battles with various people, including myself, and now I
get on quite well with Roy. He's a good man. Roy. Look,
he's one of sing his best mates, and Singer I said,
(00:42):
you've got to drop off Roy. He's a good black.
And I did eventually drop off Roy. But he is
a good Black Royal and enjoy his company and things
like that. But you know, Buzz does that thing every
year about he leaves himself out of it.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I remember one day with a continuous call He's had
Buzz on just going.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Through all these feuds over the years. They were fucking priceless,
Like Buzz thrives on him.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
He loves it.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
When most people go on the foodle, he thrives on him.
Tell me the night you and Buzz God a physical confrontation.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well look there are two versions. There's the truth in
his version. So I Nathan Gibbs, who I think is
a champion black. He was the new South Wales team doctor.
Now this is back in my early days of calling Origin.
So my first Origin was in eighty seven, so i'd
probably be eighty eight or eighty nine. I was probably
(01:30):
three years into it and I'd flown to Brisbane with
a stomach bug. I was crook. So we're at the
Park Royal and that's where the team was staying. So
I sought Nathan out, who I knew through Bezo and
he's been a mate Nathan for years. And so I said,
mate on Crook, I don't know if I can do
this game tonight. He said, well, what's wrong? I told him.
(01:50):
He said, well, needily up and you'll be fine. He said,
but as soon as you finished, get back Aaron gave
a bit, you know, because it's going to wear off.
So I got through the game all right, you know, Noogle,
that didn't vomit or need to go to the bathroom.
And so I got back to my room at the Park.
Roy We'll probably you get out at lang Park and
it's probably eleven o'clock, eleven thirty, and everyone would go.
(02:10):
The players all go to Roses, you know, wouldn't matter
if they plane the next week, and they get drink
the nightclub, which I don't know if it even exists anymore,
and the media would gather at the park roll and
get on the drink there after they had filed. So
Buzz and I, you know, were and we're still mates
even though I bag him and so he bags me.
But anyway, he rings me in the room and he says,
(02:35):
get down and have a drink. Come on your wake bloody.
And at the Stag, I'd sort of stopped drinking to
a certain extent of getting up very early in the
morning to do sport breakfast sport. And so I said, no, no,
I'm crook, mat leave me alone. Come on, you mang
I get out here. And he's given it to me,
and I said, Buzz, piss off and leave me alone.
I'm tired, on crook. I've got leedleed out by Nathan.
He said not to go out. So then he rings
(02:56):
about three or four times. Right. So, at the time,
I had a harsh or plate. I had two teeth there,
and I used to take him out at night and
put him in the stereodo anyway, say, next thing, there's
bang on the door, So get out me underpants and
sing in care of the door. And he is buzz
shaping up. He said, you have hang up. I made
for the last time. I'm putting mone on your chin.
(03:17):
So I said, Buzz, piss off and leave me and
I close the door. Say bang bang, bang on the
door again. So I opened the door, and I give
him a little love tap, just a short sharp one,
and so slammed the door. Next thing, the phone rings again.
Right here, you and me in the car park down here,
I said, Buzz. I'm glad there wasn't social media about
this stage. I said, Buzz, I'm crooked leaving you. So
(03:40):
it's become legendary in my mind and his mind. He
reckons I assaulted him without provocation.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Did he write that in an article?
Speaker 1 (03:49):
No, he just report. Now he's a king of podcasts.
He's doing podcasts every day. Buzz. Yeah, And so if
he if he tells the story. It's it's a modified
version of what he was told. I said, there are
two versions, the truth and buzz.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Yeah you look at you look at these days, right,
you got that, Like you said, you've got Webster Buzz
and Gus feud. You've got even the more recent one
like Michael Chamas going at Gus called Michael Tamas going
at Gordy Talus about the cultural that.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Was a strange one when they all worked at Channel nine.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, that's with one thing about Gus. You reckon Ray
can hold a grudge, will mate, the Guss is the
best in the business. And when Chamis goes on the
show now, Gus won't even look at and fair play
to Chamis, like Chamis holds his duke's up. He asked
you once about lockye Galvin? He said, mate, you know Galvin,
is he going to play this week?
Speaker 3 (04:37):
You're going to be Karen?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
And Gus would even look at I don't know, I'm
not a doctor, am I? And he goes and Chammas
fair play goes well, like you got tob sext what
about fat and Stirlow? Because you play still fine now?
But mate, there are a lot of play.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Golf with Peter every Monday. Yeah. Uh, and Peter's daughter
worked for me for a number of years, one of.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
My sts living up the Central Coast, down.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
From call It to Castle Hill. When we haven't played
from up because of the rain, but he drives down.
I'd say Peter and I are pretty close now and
that was probably. I don't know whether Hannah had anything
to do with it, because I have a great regard
for her and she's a fantastic young woman. But Peter
and I have great fun. The Fatty is a bit
of a casually because he's best mates Gibbs. Yeah, gotcha. Okay,
(05:21):
so they're pretty close, and I understand that I still
talk to Paul and you know, not that I see
much anymore. He's based in Queensland. But what happened was
the footy show. I mean I got punted, as I've
described earlier because of Super League arl coming together, and
then Blocker got the punt and I stoock up. I
(05:42):
stuck up for Blocker over the incidents which I won't
go into, but it was a funny night. I just
know that there were people hiding under disk in the
Channel lined cottage and the rest of it, so I
stuck up for him, and I didn't think other people
stuck up for Blocker as they should have at the time,
and so there was a falling out. I mean, Paul
(06:05):
and I had done Lay's commercials for years together and
we're still civil to each other, but I don't know
that we're you know, it could be closer, but Peter
and I certainly, you know, any animosity between us is
long gone. And you know, I'm seventy and Peter's not
there yet, but he'll get there, and you know, it's
just sort of we laugh about it now, you about
the blues and stinks.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Taking us back to the Footy Show the early days,
were you one of the originals on the panel.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Well, let me tell you who the original were. It
was obviously Paul and Peter, but Singer and Bob Fulton.
The first Footy show with Bob.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Fulton and Chief Chief as well. Chief didn't say word the.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Whole one of his spect shows. I love the Chief anyway.
So Singo sacked himself. He said, it's not for me.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I remember seeing those words.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
He said, fuck that, He's just like playing touch football
one hundred and fifty people.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah, and then Bese sacked himself as well, and so
it ended up Peter, Paul Blocker.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
And me and was that the first year would have
been nineteen ninety four.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
I think you'd probably be right. Sort of before super League.
I think we had a crack at it before super
League inter Bean, and then it became and the footy
show became an ar real vehicle. And then, strangely enough,
when super League actually formed the competition, Channel nine got
the rights to super League. So Rabbits was calling super
(07:38):
League on the night and a roll on Friday Night
sort of thing.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
How big a show was it back then?
Speaker 1 (07:43):
It was look, Paul was the star. There's no doubt
Paul was the star. But they had a brilliant Blake
who I've run into recently, Glenn Pallister as the producer.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
And I was with the Palaser the other night.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Great Blake exactly know he got a fruit juice bar.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Rabbit ed Alon, Yes, yeah, he's always trying to get
me up there. Well he goes, but he's got the
Fruituce Base said, tell me, went's a perfect time. He said,
we'll make it a fair afternoon photo. I said, run mate, what's.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
In it for me? Always looking for a quid anyway,
I went there safe and I went to dinner at
a restaurant just down there. We caught the ferry from
Wagstaff where we now live, across to ed Along and
I said, I reckon, that's fruitures. But because he texted
me when I was in Paris doing the Olympic Class
year Palister and I love Palister. So I rang him
and I said where are you and he said, oh, mate,
(08:31):
I do sundays down here on producing the project. That
was about a week before I got the past. So
I texted him and said, jeez, you picked the right
wonder back here fifteen years on air. You've been there
a minute and it's getting the pump anyway. He said,
didn't think that was very funny, but he said you've
got to come and catch up with me and his
(08:52):
wife up there at there and look, Pallister, there was
a black call. Rory Callahana was in dev producer and
he he was sort of, you know, the blake that
made things happen the way they should happen, but the
really creative any stuff the anti ads was Palliser's idea.
He remember that you remember Dougie the pizza boy, the
blake pizzas the young blake he's a boomer or I think,
(09:15):
well they had me in a matelli and crazy nest,
laying on the bed with gold chained dray Brown the neck.
You couldn't do it now, couldn't do it now? And
he come of the cover, come in, bring your pizza
with you.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I love the one where once they got their palace
and sells the story where he said, hey, listen, boys,
why don't we get there. We'll do a bit of
a shower and you just all do a song as
the village people. And they said, who are going to
get and they said, well get so so we need
one more person, and he goes, we'll give Rabs a call.
So they ring Rabs and they said listen and he goes,
maybe like you to do you know, what do you think?
(09:52):
And he goes, yeah, well you know, yeah, okay, as long.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
As I'm not one of the gay ones.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
That's the exact quote. Look, I'd say this Cooper about
the Footy Show. You couldn't do the Footy Show in
twenty twenty five. How we did it in the nineteen nineties.
You had Mahatt mccaid. I'll tell you a funny story.
Remember the Gundapa brothers, Yeah, the Gondappas. Yeah, so what happened?
Greg Ritchie mahatma Coat. He is a great blake and
a great talent. He used to fly down from Brisbane, right,
So we get to the airport to come to Channel
(10:20):
nine and he'd be picked up by a cab driver
with a cab charge driver. One of them was a
Gundharpa brother, the Indian Black. So anyway, they take you know,
Matt McCAT Greg Richie, and they realized it's Mahat mccaid
and they said, oh, mister Richie, you're a very funny man.
He said you need the music or accompaniment, and they
played the sitars. So the Gundarpa brothers offer their services
(10:45):
for free. They'd pick him up in the cab, bring
their sitars with him and then he gets his makeup
on as Mahat McCAT. And they'd played the sitars. They
would yeah, they were sue cab drivers pay they's played
the sitar and you wouldn't believe it. I lived in
northwestern Sydney until recently, and I'm having a cup of
coffee and there's a very biggustraighted Indian population in that area.
And two blakes come up and he said, Ray, great
(11:07):
to see you again, and I said, good to see
you boys. Where we met Weather Gundapa brothers And that
was like thirty years later. And Greg Ritchie, I mean,
mister Boton, mister Boughton, you couldn't do the stuff he
did now it just would be socially and unacceptable. But
at the time, in that time frame, it was a
very very funny segment.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
It's funny now how many people are still like they're
wanting that old footy show back, They're wanting that old
humor back. I mean, obviously there's a there's a large
percentage you couldn't do it again.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
You go and you do it, and then all of
a sudden, if you did, look Kirby, you can't remember
because you're too young, but if you did some of
the things, I mean, you just can't do it anymore.
And we understand that. But you know, in defending what
happened back then, you know, we lived in a different
We are talking about thirty five years ago, that's right,
So we lived in a different world, right, just for
(12:01):
a set we're talking you know about the fun stuff
when you did the Morning show nine to twelve to
GB and.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
May you covered some big, big tomics and went after
some people, some of them powerful. You know, as far
as people going after you, you must have got a
lot of death threats and things like that.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Had I had the public order rights squad camped out
my joint at Jura for about a month. It was
really funny and wrap that were part of that. I'd
taken on some bikeies about their behavior and there were
cameras out in the front of my place. I lived
on the acreage, and they came out and saw some
(12:40):
drive bys my front gate and it was nominees from
the bikes right and I won't name the officer. He
came out and viewed the material and they put the
police commission to put cars out in the front of
my place because they thought there might have been an
attempt to drive by something. But I was hundred and
eighty meters up the road with a hose was you
(13:00):
know anyway, And they'd be there until I left for
work in the morning, say at four o'clock, and you know,
they'd follow me to at the M two and then
let me go. And that went on for about a
month and It obviously made my family very nervous, but
I was not that worried about it. But then this Blake,
I'll never forget. He's about six foot seven, a copper
who's now retired. And he came to the front door
(13:22):
and knocked on the door and I answered it and
he said, good mate, hair go and he said, look
at that footage. He said, yeah, okay, he looked at it.
He said, yeah, they're only nominees, mate, They're not bikis.
They're just nominees. He said. They're wanting to be bikeies,
he said. And he said, one thing about the bike
is they hate getting involved with the media. They want
to fly under the radar. They don't want to be
causing drama with the media. So he said, I'll have
(13:45):
a talk to a couple of people, I guess the
sergeant at arms. And not only did the Blakes never
appear again, they were not no longer welcome because they
transgressed a line by threatening the media in a subtle
way by doing a drive by pass my place. There's
a funny story. I look. Both the Blakes are to
(14:06):
ceased now. But Bruce Galer was a colorful, colorful character
personally his son personally owned a golden slipper with the
called Eskamey Prince and the Gillier family were involved in
nightclubs and a whole range of other behavior. And Clive Galier,
(14:26):
who had been previously a solicitor and then spent some
time inside for I think this appropriation of money, ended
up as the man on the hill in Rugby League
Week and other places. And so anyway, I had a
shot at him in the normal course of events about
something he'd written or something like that. You know, probably
a bit personal, i'd imagine, and apparently his brother Bruce
(14:49):
took exception to it. And Bruce was pretty well connected.
So I was doing auctions for Jack Gibson for schizophrenia,
because that's what I used to do charity. Anyway, Jack
rang me up and he'd say, hey boy, you've got
a problem. I said, what's my problem? Jack? He said,
(15:10):
You've upset Bruce's little brother, and Bruce is not happy
with you. I said, oh yeah, and he said this
is about nineteen ninety three or four. He said, just
step away, He said, course, any problem for yourself. Okay.
I got a bit worried about this. You know. It
was pretty heavy, Blake and JACK'SAI advising me to drop off.
(15:33):
So I had an auction coming up. It'schizophony about a
month's time. So I got worried and I rang Judy,
Jack's wife. I said, it's Jack around here. I said, Jack,
I'm really unnerved by this, you know, I said, Am
I an any danger? He said, Son? He said, look, kid, kid,
He said, I'll keep you safe till the auction, but
(15:56):
after the auction you're on a fucking am And I said, Jack,
is that a jake? He said, yes, kid, He said yes, sweet?
What about Ray?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
What about I mean the tragedy of the Link Cafe?
That lunatic mon monis he was coming at you Blake's
fair bit?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Do you have it? Was? He threatened?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Was he one of the guys that was threatening you?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Nah? I mean he was obviously a raving lunatic. But
that was the worst day of my life. That whole episode.
I was on air from nine o'clock to about six o'clock.
I stayed on air the whole day because what happened
the whole day, what happened through the course of the
events he had me on in the Link Cafe, and
(16:42):
it came to pass that the late Sandy Dawson, who
was senior counseling, a great mate of mine and Blake
I loved early. His sister, Katrina was one of the
casualties inside. She was also a lawyer. Katrina and Sandy
had contacted me through the course of the morning and said,
I think Katrina's in there. She'd gone down for coffee
with her pregnant girlfriend. So what happened was the other
(17:04):
young Blake, the manager had phoned the program and Monus
wanted him to go on air with me for the
Senate demands. So I came out of the studio and
I took the call and said, look, I'll have to
take advice. I don't know what to do here. You know,
we're in an uncharted territory. I don't put anyone's lass
at risk. So I rang both the Premier and Andrew
(17:28):
skipiated the police commissioner and asked what I should do,
and they said, don't put them the wear under any circumstances.
Under any he said, we'll get a police negotiator in
there to pretend he's you. So I stayed on air
past midday and I made an executive decision myself I
said to management, I'm staying here. I'm got to see
this through. I said, that's a very delicate situation. We've
(17:50):
got to you know, really, I can't let anyone near
the microphone that might just think it's going to be
important to get someone on air from inside the cafe
like a news hound. We can't do that. We're going
to be resple This is uncharted territory. So I stayed
on air and he kept ringing. Then eventually the the
coy shadow came in and pretended to be me. He
take the call off air, obviously, and we had life
(18:13):
coverage coming in from seven to nine and ten on
the scene and all the rest of it, and you're
describing what was going on, and then it became apparent
through that he had a package on him when they
believed to be a bomb. It didn't turn out to
be a bomb, but the police at the time thought
it was a bomb, so they couldn't take him out
for fear of blowing up the whole cafe and killing
him inside. They had a line of sight on him
at various stages to take him out, but he had
(18:36):
in his possession what appeared to be a bomb, and
he also told them he put he put a bomb
down the opera house at the time, you know. And
this is a blake who was given ba by a
district court judge and two magistrates on some very serious criminal.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Charges before this.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Ah, he should never have been out in light a day. Anyway,
I stayed on till six. I went home. I couldn't.
I spoke into Andy a number of times about the
fact that his sister, beautiful Katrina was still in there.
And by the next morning, at about two o'clock, it
came to a conclusion they took control of Lint Cafe.
Two people finished dead, Katrina one of them, and the
(19:14):
other young coffee manager. And I went back into work.
About three o'clock. Michael McLaren was on air, and he's
a young blake and I think he was struggling a
bit with an enormity of that. So I went on
with him and got through to breakfast when Ben Ben
was doing breakfast. Then I don't know who was doing breakfast,
but anyway, it was just a terrible day, a terrible day.
(19:37):
And then I got a call from Sandy mid morning
to say that he was desperate to find out, you know,
because they were sort of keeping at clothes shop the
police about what had happened, and his poor mum and
dad and his brother were concerned that their sister was deceased,
and eventually it was determined she was deceased friendly fire apparently.
(19:57):
And you know, there were judgments about the police at
subsequent inquests about what should have done and watched and
all the armchair experts, but really strangely, none of the
inquest revealed the deeds of the district court judge and
the two magistrates to allow this black bail. They never
were identified or I know who they are, but they
(20:18):
were never identified as the people that you'd locked the
bastard up in the first place. So that's perhaps, you know,
the worst broadcasting day we've ever had.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Y what about personally? And I don't know whether you
want to talk.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
About I just thought there, you know, the situation where
you were and seeing bloke who's done so much for you,
I mean, the terrible tragedy with his daughter, and were
you he rang you?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Yeah, Well, after what happened at Bondi, we had all
these poor people deceased. The assailant also deceased at the
hands of a very brave police officer, and I started
getting calls from John about the fact that Downey was
(21:03):
there inside, and this was a subject of much investigation
by authorities. What do you do when your mate thinks
his daughter may have been murdered? What do you do?
You know? I wasn't on here, by the way, this
was all private, so it was on the weekend, and anyway,
(21:24):
John Ringman said, mate, can you find out please? Someone
must know whether you know. They wouldn't identify the victims
obviously until positive identifications had taken place. So I rang
Karen web the police commissioner, who I had a personal
relationship with a professional personal rationally by mat and I
explained her with the circumstances. I said, look, I've got
(21:45):
a father who's my mate. I wanted to know whether
his daughter is one of the victims. And she said
what's her name? And I told her and she said, well,
you wouldn't be wrong. She didn't say you wouldn't be wrong,
and you know, she said you wouldn't be wrong in
assuming that, So you know, there were investigations later about
(22:06):
whether she denied she told me that, but I know
what she said. I mean, how do I then ring
John and say mate, Dawn's one of the victims, and
I was on the Gold case. It's one of the
toughest calls of about to make to a mate, and
there was all the drama about, you know, I hadlee
revealed the I didn't reveal the details to anyone. I
told the father. I told my mate that I had
(22:27):
confirmed his daughter was deceased. I didn't. I didn't go
on air. I didn't irresponsibly broadcast the name of a victim.
I told the father who wanted to know whether his
daughter was deceased, and he was inconsolable, as was her mum.
And the thing on saying everyone else. But I mean,
given the same circumstances, I did the same thing again.
(22:47):
You know, if her father wrang me, people were making
a big deal of it. Some people thought I was
gone on air and I didn't do anything on it.
I wasn't on air. I was on a leave. Actually
I was away, and all I did was confirmed with
John that his daughter was deceased. You know. By the
next day, you know, John obviously told Juglie, his former
wife and other people that it was Dawn, and you know,
(23:08):
the grief they dealt with was beyond my comprehension. So
I'm going to make a judgments on John, how do you.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
Just does you speak about that incident, the Bondo incident
and the link cafe obviously the lint one you're actually
on air for it, and then you've got to, you know,
continue the rest of your work week after How how
much of an effect does that have on.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
That still impacts me because since the death of Katrina,
Sandy's died of a brain shammer. He was a great mate,
came from a wealthy family, Eastern suburb, brilliant lawyer, brilliant
would have been a judge of the Supreme Court and
probably the High Court eventually, as was Katrina headed that way.
(23:48):
Wonderful mom and daddy. His father, Sandy Senior, was the
first and only Australian captain of the Royal and ancient
s Andrews. I mean, and they come from the Arnott family,
the one's biscuit family, so they are very and so
we were poles apart. I was a housing a mission product,
dealing with this blake who went to Cranbrook and was
a fantastic blake. And so I mean, I can't believe
(24:10):
the grief that's visited upon that family, the Dawson family.
They have a daughter deceased and now their beautiful boy
it's gone as well. You know, So that impacted me.
And I suppose when the well run dry and December
last year, those things all. You know, I'm not decrying
the fact that I was the one suffering, but you know,
(24:31):
it has an impact on you. And so when I
decided to go, I thought it was about time I went.
I mean, you know, and to a certain extent after
what's happened with the granddaughter, Laala with lacemia diagnosed on
the sixth of January, and she's got a two year
battle in front of the turns four on the thirty
first of August, and I can't believe the courage my
daughter Laura, and my son and lawd Brad is showing,
(24:53):
and other members of my family who were pitching in
Laura's mummy and Marie has been colossal. She's there at
every opportunity to help our daughter and our granddaughter. And
you know, but as I've said many times, Cooper on
one of eighty seven, I'm a member of eighty seven
families every month where the children are diagnosed with some
life threatening illness lakemia, cancer or the like, and Lola's
(25:16):
one of them. And look, the one thing I'll say
about her on many things I would say about her,
she's the bravest little kid I've ever seen. I mean,
she's had this week lumber punctures, she's had seven of
those bone marrow biopsies. They stick her, they pray, but
as they must to save a life, and she just
turns up smiling a couple of days later and goes
(25:38):
through it all again, and I marvel at her courage.
And I mean, I've seen a lot of courageous people
in my life do a lot of courageous things, but
I've never seen anyone as courageous as my little granddaughter.
She's just unbelievable. And we won't know for two years
whether she beats it. People think, oh, yeah, you get lakemia,
(25:58):
you'r a cover. But it's a two year journey, full
of treatment, full of chemo, full of pain, you know,
for a little girl. And I sit in the sideline
scratching my head, saying, how come it's our family. But
we're just one of many families facing it. And that
leads me to the conclusion that I'm probably better off
(26:20):
not working full time that you know, I do a
little bit to keep me going on Sky and You's
and the Telly and having a chat with you boys,
and doing some stuff for Steve Caley at Fox Sports.
But I mean, if I had to stump up every
day to halp us three, I don't think I could
do it. I don't have to say to Tom Malane
or the boys at GB Look, I can't go on.
I just can't. My mind's elsewhere. I mean, I spend
(26:42):
a lot of days dwelling on my little granddaughter. And
you know, I'm carried by the strength of my daughter
and my son in law and that little girl and
her siblings. She's got an older and younger sister, you know,
and that impacts the entire family. And it's really good.
I'm doing this today. But next Sunday we all got
other for the first time in probably nine months, to
(27:02):
celebrate her fourth birthday. But you know, if anyone gets
a cold, they can't come. You know, many times I've
rung Laura and said, I say, it's not feeling too well. Well, Dad,
I'm sorry you can't come because you might have the
same problem, you know, and immunity systems collapse when you've
got lakemia. Therefore, you know infections, they're a month stay
(27:23):
in hospital or even worse. So anyway, it is what
it is, and we'll fight our way through. And I
have to, you know, be telling everyone in about a
month's time that she's perfect.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Yeah, yep, we'll say prayer for her.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Please do please do. I mean to people listening, if
you believe in prayer, say a prayer enough, and say
if you don't believe, say a prayer anyway.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Can't hurt you said you said the phrase for my
great mate Ray Warren Rabs.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Well, look, I've got to tell you something about the
great rabbers. We've been mates since way back in the
nineteen eighties and I remember talking to him one day
and I said, Brad, I want to be a football
caller and a race caller. He said, listen, son, drop
my cast set on the compater raid North Meet. I'll
listened to it. We're still trying to find the cat.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
He said, you're dropping into seventheen, not fifteen. That's not
my forty wimbossile.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
And we used to get on the punt together at
a tab and North Mead and the bottle shop next
door used to cash checks. Grace used to cast the
checks for us. And if I got there before him
and cash a check, he'd say, I've been in to
see Gracie. There's no money left on the sae If.
Speaker 5 (28:39):
I've told you before, the bottle shop is my domain.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
And this is back in the eighties. You know so.
And there's a great story. There's many great stories about him.
But he said to me one day early in our association,
back in about I suppose probably eighty six eighty seven,
probably Classic the Ladies six. He was calling races for Club,
Superstation and on course and he's doing Newcastle. So ring
(29:06):
me one day he said, listen, He said, what are
you doing tomorrow? I said nothing. He said, come to Newcastle,
will be call a few races. He said, pick me
up at half as nine. We'll make our way up.
He made away and he said a bit of experience,
bring you monoclars with you and I said, okay, rap.
So I picked him up. I was the schaeffer. Basically
we got there. He said, look, he said, you're a
(29:26):
young race caller. He said, I want to give you
some experience. He said, you call races one, two and three.
I'll come up and do the remainder of the card.
I call races one, two, three, four, five and six.
And he's getting the money. I'm not getting paid. So
Ray Warren to the broadcast box, Ploysmith a Ray Warren
(29:48):
red face. Do he arise on the broadcast box? What's wrong?
I said, I've called six races. That's the problem with
your young blokes.
Speaker 5 (29:55):
You don't experience the sort of joys and tribulations and
broadcasting like I.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Unappreciative. Shit, Get back in there. You're doing a good job. Done.
Stuff up the next couple. So he comes up before
the last race. He said, you bring a check book
with you and I said yeah, And I was getting
three hundred a week at this stage. He said, write
a check out of Dominic burn for three thousand, will you?
And I said three thousand. He said, yes, we've had
a little bit of a loss here. I said, we've
(30:22):
had a little bit of a loss. I've had a bit.
I'm made out of the broadcast box. So we write
the check out. So he don't worry about it. I've
got to make manager called Tiles, the COMAF bank at
North Paramount of Tiles will sort this out. He said,
all those things called benk cards. Get a couple of them,
that'll sort it out. So anyway, we go back to
see tiles the following day, going to the bank at
(30:42):
North Paramatta, the Comma Bank. Let me see Brian Tyler
place tiles. Tell him Bray Warren like to see. I'm sorry, missus.
Teller's on leave. Here's his replacement on mister Smith. But
we'll say mister Smith. So when we go, he said
to my colleague and I he said, we're thinking about it,
buying a carron each of East Ocean Beach and your minor.
(31:03):
Like I said, oh yeah. He said, what do you know?
You said, well, he said ten thousand should cover it.
He's five five five him. He said okay, he said
what rose it in? He said, what do you mean
what raw? He said, well, I've got one up there
and Ray b through. I mon't come back when Tarles
(31:24):
was on deck, So off we go, like you know,
make it up. So we come back when Tails is
on deck and we get this bloody bank card and
I think it was a thousand buck limit or something.
So the maximum limit you can get at one time
one hundred cash. So rabs are on the Q ten
times getting a thousand needs. So then I rushed down
to my bank manager at the bank in New South
(31:44):
Wales rest Riant to put the two thousand in and
then I have the light we were about getting the
other thousand and Rabs to this day denies my version
of the events, but I said I was the one
that I got in a Peter Cook, my back manager,
and begging to give you another thousand bucks over. Yesperate,
he was a desperate I mean what happened? Gary Harley
plays it rather than this? He rang me one day, RABS.
(32:05):
He says, your mates with Harley? I said, yes, your
mate with him? He said, yeah, I know, he said,
but he said, get Chris Lee's phone number for me,
will you? So I said, yeah, okay, So rang Harley,
give me Chris Lee's phone number. What four? I said,
don't worry about what for, just give it to me.
So give it now, give it the rabs. So I
interviewed Chris Lee's on my radio show like a few
(32:25):
years back now and he said, I've been waiting to
talk to you. I said, well, he said, what did
you give Bray Warre on my phone number? He says,
I don't find him getting the tip, but he said
he wrings up there. He says, look, that's jockey. He
had one out in three back. He said, the horse
is going to be on the pace. He's going to
be outside the leader. He said. Not only was he
getting tips off, he's telling me how me jockey should ride. Advice.
(32:46):
I'll give advice. But I think that now Chris and
Rabs are together as one.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
Yeah, how's Rabs going in retirement?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Well, it's funny thing. He retired from golf about five
or six year ago. He Sterling replaced him. He used
to play with us on Monday with a couple of mates, Toney,
the big South Australian and the world's richest communist Kevin Kalis.
And he is already to copy with him this morning
on the way here. So anyway, and then he just
said one day I don't want to play anymore. We
said what And we used to have the best fun
(33:19):
with Rabs, you know. And then like we invited him
out for dinner and he's reluctant to go too far
from home, you know. And so we have a feed
at a place at Rouse Hill called Barbara's and it's
a lovely restaurant there but he just Chris Warren sums
at our best. I said, where's your father, Chris, a
good young black. He said he's retired from life. And
(33:41):
I still hear from him. Will text me about Lola
or text me about different things. And I text him.
The other day I interviewed Cliffy Lyones and I wanted
to know who the caller was at a Grand Final
when Cliffy was playing for gunder Guy and I said,
here would have been calling on too left young and
Rab said straight away it would have been this black Cliff.
He said, yeah, that's him. He said, what else do
(34:01):
you want to? Said nothing? So later look he I
think when you judge the great commentators in Australia, he's
a top the list. Not only could he call races,
he called Melbourne cups on Channel ten. He was an
accomplished race caller. He was about he as a rugby
league caller. He could turn his hand to anything. Swimming
(34:23):
means tennis. Is a good tennis player. For young Blake,
I could sit alongside him and I did in London
Olympics and I did the swimming on radio and he
did it on TV. And you know, you make judgment
calls on how you called it, they're not here. Rabs back,
and I'm not in these classes, Blake. He's just a
(34:44):
bit better than everyone else. And you know, I think
that it's unfortunate that the modern day commentators on Channel
nine are compared to Rabs, because it's like comparing a
batsman to Brandon.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
I mean, he's the best there ever was, I think,
and I value his friendship. I love him dearly. But
he's enigmatic, you know, he's if you've got something, he
wants it. And I'm talking about a disease. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
I had diabeticulitis, about a couple of bad cases of it.
So I ring him. He said, what are you doing?
They tell me in norwe's private. I so I got
(35:16):
diabeticular what's that? I said, information on the bow? Never
had that? I said, do you want it? Because it's
not very nice? And then we had He tells a
funny story which I believe to be true. But we
had the same doctor doing colonoscopies, doctor Dev, you know,
and so we go alternatively to see him. So doctor
(35:39):
Dev does me every three years and Rabs every three years.
So although I don't think he does Rabs anymore, because
once you get past a certain age seventy five, that
won't do colonoscopies anymore. You know. They think it's a
waste of resources because you're going to die anything.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
How's your coal on?
Speaker 1 (35:53):
This? Is it good? I'm due ful one in December,
so hopefully everything will be fine with it. But they
follow polyps and to Blake's listening forty plus particularly, you've
got a history of bowel cancer, go and see your
doctor about a kolonoscopy, you know, and get a bowel check,
because it can be really fatal or it can be
really easy fixed by your doctor by having a colonoscopy. Anyway,
(36:14):
so Rabs goes to doctor Dev and you've got to
get in that crouch position for an examination with the digit,
you know. So Rabs reckons he's got his knees tucked
up under his chest, which I can't believe that he
would do that. But anyway, doctor Dev's examining him, and
the nurse walks in and says says, Rabs white ass,
(36:39):
And doctor Dev says, you wouldn't believe her this is.
Speaker 5 (36:46):
And Rab said, yes, have a guess, and she says, well,
I haven't seen him at this angle before, but I
think it's Ray Hadley.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
There's another one. We're going to Newcastle rabs it of
all football, right, So we're going together. He's doing TV,
I'm doing radio. So we get to the Twins surveys
heading north. So he says, I'm going and get a
cap of coffee. I said, okay, waiting the case. I'm
waiting the car. He gets and you want to cup
a copy? Yeah? So he gets battled up by a
(37:18):
black on the way in. So then this girl comes
out a bit later and needs a bit of consternation,
so he gets the cap. What happens are you wouldn't
fuck I believe it. It's happened again. I said what
he said? Well, the blake pulled me up, he said,
I'm walking, He says, God struck me, pink. I didn't
think i'd see you here. He said, My daughter loves you.
Could you just wait here so I'll get a photo
(37:38):
with you. Wraps the look. I'm with a bit of
a hurries of a colleagues waiting in the car. But
if she's enamored with me, on more than happy. He
got the photograph, Shacon. So any way, a sure that
comes out of it Macus. He says, look, Darland, look
I got for you. She said, that's not Ray Hadley. Ah,
that's good, right.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
If I asked you one more question, because I love
your brain, I love listening to talk. In all of
your broadcasting history, what's the one game that stands out
to you?
Speaker 1 (38:08):
Ninety four State of origin Queensland in the northeastern corner,
Mark Coin, try calling that. Yeah, I was calling that.
They grab And the funny thing about that, Cooper is
a blake called John Lyons, who is now an ABC reporter.
At the time was working with the Sydney Morning Herald
(38:29):
and he and a colleague who was the big boss
of Sydney Morning Herald left and they left with five
of the goal and they put me on the radio
and I got a call from one of them the
next morning to say, we can't believe we left that
game five minutes early. It went through nearly every Queensland
set of hands from one end to the other, and
(38:52):
Coin finished it off in the corner. Melmourn ing was
instrumental as well, but that one stands out in general broadcasting.
I did the limb last year and the swimming was
fantastic by the girls. But there's one thing you know,
when you do a job or you play football, like
you two BLACKSAP with three BLACKSAP, and you think, well,
you know, I can't do any better than that. And
(39:14):
the best thing I've ever done was Kathy Freeman's four
hundred in Sydney in the year two thousand. You got
one hundred thousand people in the stadium. She's a favorite
to win Marie Perrex withdrawing the French girls. She didn't come.
She'd won the gold at Landa. When Kathy got the silver,
she got the weight to the world on her shoulders.
And so I thought about it and thought about it
and thought about it, and thought, I can't stuff this
up field of eighth staggered start in front of your
(39:36):
other four hundred, and you're in an open broadcast area.
You're not in a box. You're in an open area
with all the crowd down the back. She goes, and
of course she explodes away. I think I said, here's
her date with destiny. Kathy Freeman wins and self examination.
I got home that night and I thought, well, could
I have done it better? And every time you do
a broadcast you think you can do better, and I thought, no,
(39:56):
that's I won't ever do a better call than that
Freeman's four hundred. So later that year they had the
thing called the Acres the RA Awards. So I'm nominated
best Sports Coverage Kathy Freeman's four hundred win. So I'm
seated there nominees AFL Grand Final, rex Hunt. So I'm
sitting in the chair. I won thirty five of these eventually,
(40:18):
and I think he's another one coming my way. Best
call of it, but done, so you know, you lift
out of your chair reach of notes and.
Speaker 5 (40:25):
The winner best sporting event in the year two thousand,
Rex Hunting the AFL Grand Final.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
I thought, fuck me, as kind of black as he is.
And then I thought later, you know, I one sum
I shouldn't have won. In the thirty five I won,
but I should have won that one. But anyway, that
that and Ian Thorpe's four one hundred win against Gary
Hall Junior the week before was great as well. But
that that's that's my best sporting moment Kathy from in
year two thousand, followed by Mark Coin and thirty five
(40:53):
Grand finals Cooper, every one of them. You know, I
can barely remember the early ones, but every one of
them are really treasured memory.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah, thank you very much, mate, Thanks for your time today.
I really appreciate you know what.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
I love being here with you, Jack Cooper and you
Maddie and we look we have been mates for a
long long time. And you know, like I said earlier,
I still got people. Yet he's not at the Girls
and Gage anymore. All the rest of the Trish won't
let him go down with the card table. But Jesus,
we've had some fun through the years, great fun. Yes,
thanks for talking to me.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Thanks mate,
Nothing like a rugby league blue. And I've been, in fact,
I've been at the forefront of many of this. Let's
dive into a fuel right now. Well, the most important
one I've lived through. Well, there's now Guss and Buzz,
and Webster's joined the cause now as well, since retiring
from the Sydney Morning Herald. So it's Gus, Webster and
(00:21):
Buzz like a triumvirate of Blues. There was, of course
Chippy and Warren. Now poor old Chippy's gone, but I
think Warren still harbors a grudge against him. Roy Masters
had battles with various people, including myself, and now I
get on quite well with Roy. He's a good man. Roy. Look,
he's one of sing his best mates, and Singer I said,
(00:42):
you've got to drop off Roy. He's a good black.
And I did eventually drop off Roy. But he is
a good Black Royal and enjoy his company and things
like that. But you know, Buzz does that thing every
year about he leaves himself out of it.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I remember one day with a continuous call He's had
Buzz on just going.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Through all these feuds over the years. They were fucking priceless,
Like Buzz thrives on him.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
He loves it.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
When most people go on the foodle, he thrives on him.
Tell me the night you and Buzz God a physical confrontation.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well look there are two versions. There's the truth in
his version. So I Nathan Gibbs, who I think is
a champion black. He was the new South Wales team doctor.
Now this is back in my early days of calling Origin.
So my first Origin was in eighty seven, so i'd
probably be eighty eight or eighty nine. I was probably
(01:30):
three years into it and I'd flown to Brisbane with
a stomach bug. I was crook. So we're at the
Park Royal and that's where the team was staying. So
I sought Nathan out, who I knew through Bezo and
he's been a mate Nathan for years. And so I said,
mate on Crook, I don't know if I can do
this game tonight. He said, well, what's wrong? I told him.
(01:50):
He said, well, needily up and you'll be fine. He said,
but as soon as you finished, get back Aaron gave
a bit, you know, because it's going to wear off.
So I got through the game all right, you know, Noogle,
that didn't vomit or need to go to the bathroom.
And so I got back to my room at the Park.
Roy We'll probably you get out at lang Park and
it's probably eleven o'clock, eleven thirty, and everyone would go.
(02:10):
The players all go to Roses, you know, wouldn't matter
if they plane the next week, and they get drink
the nightclub, which I don't know if it even exists anymore,
and the media would gather at the park roll and
get on the drink there after they had filed. So
Buzz and I, you know, were and we're still mates
even though I bag him and so he bags me.
But anyway, he rings me in the room and he says,
(02:35):
get down and have a drink. Come on your wake bloody.
And at the Stag, I'd sort of stopped drinking to
a certain extent of getting up very early in the
morning to do sport breakfast sport. And so I said, no, no,
I'm crook, mat leave me alone. Come on, you mang
I get out here. And he's given it to me,
and I said, Buzz, piss off and leave me alone.
I'm tired, on crook. I've got leedleed out by Nathan.
He said not to go out. So then he rings
(02:56):
about three or four times. Right. So, at the time,
I had a harsh or plate. I had two teeth there,
and I used to take him out at night and
put him in the stereodo anyway, say, next thing, there's
bang on the door, So get out me underpants and
sing in care of the door. And he is buzz
shaping up. He said, you have hang up. I made
for the last time. I'm putting mone on your chin.
(03:17):
So I said, Buzz, piss off and leave me and
I close the door. Say bang bang, bang on the
door again. So I opened the door, and I give
him a little love tap, just a short sharp one,
and so slammed the door. Next thing, the phone rings again.
Right here, you and me in the car park down here,
I said, Buzz. I'm glad there wasn't social media about
this stage. I said, Buzz, I'm crooked leaving you. So
(03:40):
it's become legendary in my mind and his mind. He
reckons I assaulted him without provocation.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Did he write that in an article?
Speaker 1 (03:49):
No, he just report. Now he's a king of podcasts.
He's doing podcasts every day. Buzz. Yeah, And so if
he if he tells the story. It's it's a modified
version of what he was told. I said, there are
two versions, the truth and buzz.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Yeah you look at you look at these days, right,
you got that, Like you said, you've got Webster Buzz
and Gus feud. You've got even the more recent one
like Michael Chamas going at Gus called Michael Tamas going
at Gordy Talus about the cultural that.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Was a strange one when they all worked at Channel nine.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, that's with one thing about Gus. You reckon Ray
can hold a grudge, will mate, the Guss is the
best in the business. And when Chamis goes on the
show now, Gus won't even look at and fair play
to Chamis, like Chamis holds his duke's up. He asked
you once about lockye Galvin? He said, mate, you know Galvin,
is he going to play this week?
Speaker 3 (04:37):
You're going to be Karen?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
And Gus would even look at I don't know, I'm
not a doctor, am I? And he goes and Chammas
fair play goes well, like you got tob sext what
about fat and Stirlow? Because you play still fine now?
But mate, there are a lot of play.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Golf with Peter every Monday. Yeah. Uh, and Peter's daughter
worked for me for a number of years, one of.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
My sts living up the Central Coast, down.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
From call It to Castle Hill. When we haven't played
from up because of the rain, but he drives down.
I'd say Peter and I are pretty close now and
that was probably. I don't know whether Hannah had anything
to do with it, because I have a great regard
for her and she's a fantastic young woman. But Peter
and I have great fun. The Fatty is a bit
of a casually because he's best mates Gibbs. Yeah, gotcha. Okay,
(05:21):
so they're pretty close, and I understand that I still
talk to Paul and you know, not that I see
much anymore. He's based in Queensland. But what happened was
the footy show. I mean I got punted, as I've
described earlier because of Super League arl coming together, and
then Blocker got the punt and I stoock up. I
(05:42):
stuck up for Blocker over the incidents which I won't
go into, but it was a funny night. I just
know that there were people hiding under disk in the
Channel lined cottage and the rest of it, so I
stuck up for him, and I didn't think other people
stuck up for Blocker as they should have at the time,
and so there was a falling out. I mean, Paul
(06:05):
and I had done Lay's commercials for years together and
we're still civil to each other, but I don't know
that we're you know, it could be closer, but Peter
and I certainly, you know, any animosity between us is
long gone. And you know, I'm seventy and Peter's not
there yet, but he'll get there, and you know, it's
just sort of we laugh about it now, you about
the blues and stinks.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Taking us back to the Footy Show the early days,
were you one of the originals on the panel.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Well, let me tell you who the original were. It
was obviously Paul and Peter, but Singer and Bob Fulton.
The first Footy show with Bob.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Fulton and Chief Chief as well. Chief didn't say word the.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Whole one of his spect shows. I love the Chief anyway.
So Singo sacked himself. He said, it's not for me.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I remember seeing those words.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
He said, fuck that, He's just like playing touch football
one hundred and fifty people.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah, and then Bese sacked himself as well, and so
it ended up Peter, Paul Blocker.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
And me and was that the first year would have
been nineteen ninety four.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
I think you'd probably be right. Sort of before super League.
I think we had a crack at it before super
League inter Bean, and then it became and the footy
show became an ar real vehicle. And then, strangely enough,
when super League actually formed the competition, Channel nine got
the rights to super League. So Rabbits was calling super
(07:38):
League on the night and a roll on Friday Night
sort of thing.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
How big a show was it back then?
Speaker 1 (07:43):
It was look, Paul was the star. There's no doubt
Paul was the star. But they had a brilliant Blake
who I've run into recently, Glenn Pallister as the producer.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
And I was with the Palaser the other night.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Great Blake exactly know he got a fruit juice bar.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Rabbit ed Alon, Yes, yeah, he's always trying to get
me up there. Well he goes, but he's got the
Fruituce Base said, tell me, went's a perfect time. He said,
we'll make it a fair afternoon photo. I said, run mate, what's.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
In it for me? Always looking for a quid anyway,
I went there safe and I went to dinner at
a restaurant just down there. We caught the ferry from
Wagstaff where we now live, across to ed Along and
I said, I reckon, that's fruitures. But because he texted
me when I was in Paris doing the Olympic Class
year Palister and I love Palister. So I rang him
and I said where are you and he said, oh, mate,
(08:31):
I do sundays down here on producing the project. That
was about a week before I got the past. So
I texted him and said, jeez, you picked the right
wonder back here fifteen years on air. You've been there
a minute and it's getting the pump anyway. He said,
didn't think that was very funny, but he said you've
got to come and catch up with me and his
(08:52):
wife up there at there and look, Pallister, there was
a black call. Rory Callahana was in dev producer and
he he was sort of, you know, the blake that
made things happen the way they should happen, but the
really creative any stuff the anti ads was Palliser's idea.
He remember that you remember Dougie the pizza boy, the
blake pizzas the young blake he's a boomer or I think,
(09:15):
well they had me in a matelli and crazy nest,
laying on the bed with gold chained dray Brown the neck.
You couldn't do it now, couldn't do it now? And
he come of the cover, come in, bring your pizza
with you.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I love the one where once they got their palace
and sells the story where he said, hey, listen, boys,
why don't we get there. We'll do a bit of
a shower and you just all do a song as
the village people. And they said, who are going to
get and they said, well get so so we need
one more person, and he goes, we'll give Rabs a call.
So they ring Rabs and they said listen and he goes,
maybe like you to do you know, what do you think?
(09:52):
And he goes, yeah, well you know, yeah, okay, as long.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
As I'm not one of the gay ones.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
That's the exact quote. Look, I'd say this Cooper about
the Footy Show. You couldn't do the Footy Show in
twenty twenty five. How we did it in the nineteen nineties.
You had Mahatt mccaid. I'll tell you a funny story.
Remember the Gundapa brothers, Yeah, the Gondappas. Yeah, so what happened?
Greg Ritchie mahatma Coat. He is a great blake and
a great talent. He used to fly down from Brisbane, right,
So we get to the airport to come to Channel
(10:20):
nine and he'd be picked up by a cab driver
with a cab charge driver. One of them was a
Gundharpa brother, the Indian Black. So anyway, they take you know,
Matt McCAT Greg Richie, and they realized it's Mahat mccaid
and they said, oh, mister Richie, you're a very funny man.
He said you need the music or accompaniment, and they
played the sitars. So the Gundarpa brothers offer their services
(10:45):
for free. They'd pick him up in the cab, bring
their sitars with him and then he gets his makeup
on as Mahat McCAT. And they'd played the sitars. They
would yeah, they were sue cab drivers pay they's played
the sitar and you wouldn't believe it. I lived in
northwestern Sydney until recently, and I'm having a cup of
coffee and there's a very biggustraighted Indian population in that area.
And two blakes come up and he said, Ray, great
(11:07):
to see you again, and I said, good to see
you boys. Where we met Weather Gundapa brothers And that
was like thirty years later. And Greg Ritchie, I mean,
mister Boton, mister Boughton, you couldn't do the stuff he
did now it just would be socially and unacceptable. But
at the time, in that time frame, it was a
very very funny segment.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
It's funny now how many people are still like they're
wanting that old footy show back, They're wanting that old
humor back. I mean, obviously there's a there's a large
percentage you couldn't do it again.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
You go and you do it, and then all of
a sudden, if you did, look Kirby, you can't remember
because you're too young, but if you did some of
the things, I mean, you just can't do it anymore.
And we understand that. But you know, in defending what
happened back then, you know, we lived in a different
We are talking about thirty five years ago, that's right,
So we lived in a different world, right, just for
(12:01):
a set we're talking you know about the fun stuff
when you did the Morning show nine to twelve to
GB and.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
May you covered some big, big tomics and went after
some people, some of them powerful. You know, as far
as people going after you, you must have got a
lot of death threats and things like that.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Had I had the public order rights squad camped out
my joint at Jura for about a month. It was
really funny and wrap that were part of that. I'd
taken on some bikeies about their behavior and there were
cameras out in the front of my place. I lived
on the acreage, and they came out and saw some
(12:40):
drive bys my front gate and it was nominees from
the bikes right and I won't name the officer. He
came out and viewed the material and they put the
police commission to put cars out in the front of
my place because they thought there might have been an
attempt to drive by something. But I was hundred and
eighty meters up the road with a hose was you
(13:00):
know anyway, And they'd be there until I left for
work in the morning, say at four o'clock, and you know,
they'd follow me to at the M two and then
let me go. And that went on for about a
month and It obviously made my family very nervous, but
I was not that worried about it. But then this Blake,
I'll never forget. He's about six foot seven, a copper
who's now retired. And he came to the front door
(13:22):
and knocked on the door and I answered it and
he said, good mate, hair go and he said, look
at that footage. He said, yeah, okay, he looked at it.
He said, yeah, they're only nominees, mate, They're not bikis.
They're just nominees. He said. They're wanting to be bikeies,
he said. And he said, one thing about the bike
is they hate getting involved with the media. They want
to fly under the radar. They don't want to be
causing drama with the media. So he said, I'll have
(13:45):
a talk to a couple of people, I guess the
sergeant at arms. And not only did the Blakes never
appear again, they were not no longer welcome because they
transgressed a line by threatening the media in a subtle
way by doing a drive by pass my place. There's
a funny story. I look. Both the Blakes are to
(14:06):
ceased now. But Bruce Galer was a colorful, colorful character
personally his son personally owned a golden slipper with the
called Eskamey Prince and the Gillier family were involved in
nightclubs and a whole range of other behavior. And Clive Galier,
(14:26):
who had been previously a solicitor and then spent some
time inside for I think this appropriation of money, ended
up as the man on the hill in Rugby League
Week and other places. And so anyway, I had a
shot at him in the normal course of events about
something he'd written or something like that. You know, probably
a bit personal, i'd imagine, and apparently his brother Bruce
(14:49):
took exception to it. And Bruce was pretty well connected.
So I was doing auctions for Jack Gibson for schizophrenia,
because that's what I used to do charity. Anyway, Jack
rang me up and he'd say, hey boy, you've got
a problem. I said, what's my problem? Jack? He said,
(15:10):
You've upset Bruce's little brother, and Bruce is not happy
with you. I said, oh yeah, and he said this
is about nineteen ninety three or four. He said, just
step away, He said, course, any problem for yourself. Okay.
I got a bit worried about this. You know. It
was pretty heavy, Blake and JACK'SAI advising me to drop off.
(15:33):
So I had an auction coming up. It'schizophony about a
month's time. So I got worried and I rang Judy,
Jack's wife. I said, it's Jack around here. I said, Jack,
I'm really unnerved by this, you know, I said, Am
I an any danger? He said, Son? He said, look, kid, kid,
He said, I'll keep you safe till the auction, but
(15:56):
after the auction you're on a fucking am And I said, Jack,
is that a jake? He said, yes, kid, He said yes, sweet?
What about Ray?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
What about I mean the tragedy of the Link Cafe?
That lunatic mon monis he was coming at you Blake's
fair bit?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Do you have it? Was? He threatened?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Was he one of the guys that was threatening you?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Nah? I mean he was obviously a raving lunatic. But
that was the worst day of my life. That whole episode.
I was on air from nine o'clock to about six o'clock.
I stayed on air the whole day because what happened
the whole day, what happened through the course of the
events he had me on in the Link Cafe, and
(16:42):
it came to pass that the late Sandy Dawson, who
was senior counseling, a great mate of mine and Blake
I loved early. His sister, Katrina was one of the
casualties inside. She was also a lawyer. Katrina and Sandy
had contacted me through the course of the morning and said,
I think Katrina's in there. She'd gone down for coffee
with her pregnant girlfriend. So what happened was the other
(17:04):
young Blake, the manager had phoned the program and Monus
wanted him to go on air with me for the
Senate demands. So I came out of the studio and
I took the call and said, look, I'll have to
take advice. I don't know what to do here. You know,
we're in an uncharted territory. I don't put anyone's lass
at risk. So I rang both the Premier and Andrew
(17:28):
skipiated the police commissioner and asked what I should do,
and they said, don't put them the wear under any circumstances.
Under any he said, we'll get a police negotiator in
there to pretend he's you. So I stayed on air
past midday and I made an executive decision myself I
said to management, I'm staying here. I'm got to see
this through. I said, that's a very delicate situation. We've
(17:50):
got to you know, really, I can't let anyone near
the microphone that might just think it's going to be
important to get someone on air from inside the cafe
like a news hound. We can't do that. We're going
to be resple This is uncharted territory. So I stayed
on air and he kept ringing. Then eventually the the
coy shadow came in and pretended to be me. He
take the call off air, obviously, and we had life
(18:13):
coverage coming in from seven to nine and ten on
the scene and all the rest of it, and you're
describing what was going on, and then it became apparent
through that he had a package on him when they
believed to be a bomb. It didn't turn out to
be a bomb, but the police at the time thought
it was a bomb, so they couldn't take him out
for fear of blowing up the whole cafe and killing
him inside. They had a line of sight on him
at various stages to take him out, but he had
(18:36):
in his possession what appeared to be a bomb, and
he also told them he put he put a bomb
down the opera house at the time, you know. And
this is a blake who was given ba by a
district court judge and two magistrates on some very serious criminal.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Charges before this.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Ah, he should never have been out in light a day. Anyway,
I stayed on till six. I went home. I couldn't.
I spoke into Andy a number of times about the
fact that his sister, beautiful Katrina was still in there.
And by the next morning, at about two o'clock, it
came to a conclusion they took control of Lint Cafe.
Two people finished dead, Katrina one of them, and the
(19:14):
other young coffee manager. And I went back into work.
About three o'clock. Michael McLaren was on air, and he's
a young blake and I think he was struggling a
bit with an enormity of that. So I went on
with him and got through to breakfast when Ben Ben
was doing breakfast. Then I don't know who was doing breakfast,
but anyway, it was just a terrible day, a terrible day.
(19:37):
And then I got a call from Sandy mid morning
to say that he was desperate to find out, you know,
because they were sort of keeping at clothes shop the
police about what had happened, and his poor mum and
dad and his brother were concerned that their sister was deceased,
and eventually it was determined she was deceased friendly fire apparently.
(19:57):
And you know, there were judgments about the police at
subsequent inquests about what should have done and watched and
all the armchair experts, but really strangely, none of the
inquest revealed the deeds of the district court judge and
the two magistrates to allow this black bail. They never
were identified or I know who they are, but they
(20:18):
were never identified as the people that you'd locked the
bastard up in the first place. So that's perhaps, you know,
the worst broadcasting day we've ever had.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Y what about personally? And I don't know whether you
want to talk.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
About I just thought there, you know, the situation where
you were and seeing bloke who's done so much for you,
I mean, the terrible tragedy with his daughter, and were
you he rang you?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Yeah, Well, after what happened at Bondi, we had all
these poor people deceased. The assailant also deceased at the
hands of a very brave police officer, and I started
getting calls from John about the fact that Downey was
(21:03):
there inside, and this was a subject of much investigation
by authorities. What do you do when your mate thinks
his daughter may have been murdered? What do you do?
You know? I wasn't on here, by the way, this
was all private, so it was on the weekend, and anyway,
(21:24):
John Ringman said, mate, can you find out please? Someone
must know whether you know. They wouldn't identify the victims
obviously until positive identifications had taken place. So I rang
Karen web the police commissioner, who I had a personal
relationship with a professional personal rationally by mat and I
explained her with the circumstances. I said, look, I've got
(21:45):
a father who's my mate. I wanted to know whether
his daughter is one of the victims. And she said
what's her name? And I told her and she said, well,
you wouldn't be wrong. She didn't say you wouldn't be wrong,
and you know, she said you wouldn't be wrong in
assuming that, So you know, there were investigations later about
(22:06):
whether she denied she told me that, but I know
what she said. I mean, how do I then ring
John and say mate, Dawn's one of the victims, and
I was on the Gold case. It's one of the
toughest calls of about to make to a mate, and
there was all the drama about, you know, I hadlee
revealed the I didn't reveal the details to anyone. I
told the father. I told my mate that I had
(22:27):
confirmed his daughter was deceased. I didn't. I didn't go
on air. I didn't irresponsibly broadcast the name of a victim.
I told the father who wanted to know whether his
daughter was deceased, and he was inconsolable, as was her mum.
And the thing on saying everyone else. But I mean,
given the same circumstances, I did the same thing again.
(22:47):
You know, if her father wrang me, people were making
a big deal of it. Some people thought I was
gone on air and I didn't do anything on it.
I wasn't on air. I was on a leave. Actually
I was away, and all I did was confirmed with
John that his daughter was deceased. You know. By the
next day, you know, John obviously told Juglie, his former
wife and other people that it was Dawn, and you know,
(23:08):
the grief they dealt with was beyond my comprehension. So
I'm going to make a judgments on John, how do you.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
Just does you speak about that incident, the Bondo incident
and the link cafe obviously the lint one you're actually
on air for it, and then you've got to, you know,
continue the rest of your work week after How how
much of an effect does that have on.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
That still impacts me because since the death of Katrina,
Sandy's died of a brain shammer. He was a great mate,
came from a wealthy family, Eastern suburb, brilliant lawyer, brilliant
would have been a judge of the Supreme Court and
probably the High Court eventually, as was Katrina headed that way.
(23:48):
Wonderful mom and daddy. His father, Sandy Senior, was the
first and only Australian captain of the Royal and ancient
s Andrews. I mean, and they come from the Arnott family,
the one's biscuit family, so they are very and so
we were poles apart. I was a housing a mission product,
dealing with this blake who went to Cranbrook and was
a fantastic blake. And so I mean, I can't believe
(24:10):
the grief that's visited upon that family, the Dawson family.
They have a daughter deceased and now their beautiful boy
it's gone as well. You know, So that impacted me.
And I suppose when the well run dry and December
last year, those things all. You know, I'm not decrying
the fact that I was the one suffering, but you know,
(24:31):
it has an impact on you. And so when I
decided to go, I thought it was about time I went.
I mean, you know, and to a certain extent after
what's happened with the granddaughter, Laala with lacemia diagnosed on
the sixth of January, and she's got a two year
battle in front of the turns four on the thirty
first of August, and I can't believe the courage my
daughter Laura, and my son and lawd Brad is showing,
(24:53):
and other members of my family who were pitching in
Laura's mummy and Marie has been colossal. She's there at
every opportunity to help our daughter and our granddaughter. And
you know, but as I've said many times, Cooper on
one of eighty seven, I'm a member of eighty seven
families every month where the children are diagnosed with some
life threatening illness lakemia, cancer or the like, and Lola's
(25:16):
one of them. And look, the one thing I'll say
about her on many things I would say about her,
she's the bravest little kid I've ever seen. I mean,
she's had this week lumber punctures, she's had seven of
those bone marrow biopsies. They stick her, they pray, but
as they must to save a life, and she just
turns up smiling a couple of days later and goes
(25:38):
through it all again, and I marvel at her courage.
And I mean, I've seen a lot of courageous people
in my life do a lot of courageous things, but
I've never seen anyone as courageous as my little granddaughter.
She's just unbelievable. And we won't know for two years
whether she beats it. People think, oh, yeah, you get lakemia,
(25:58):
you'r a cover. But it's a two year journey, full
of treatment, full of chemo, full of pain, you know,
for a little girl. And I sit in the sideline
scratching my head, saying, how come it's our family. But
we're just one of many families facing it. And that
leads me to the conclusion that I'm probably better off
(26:20):
not working full time that you know, I do a
little bit to keep me going on Sky and You's
and the Telly and having a chat with you boys,
and doing some stuff for Steve Caley at Fox Sports.
But I mean, if I had to stump up every
day to halp us three, I don't think I could
do it. I don't have to say to Tom Malane
or the boys at GB Look, I can't go on.
I just can't. My mind's elsewhere. I mean, I spend
(26:42):
a lot of days dwelling on my little granddaughter. And
you know, I'm carried by the strength of my daughter
and my son in law and that little girl and
her siblings. She's got an older and younger sister, you know,
and that impacts the entire family. And it's really good.
I'm doing this today. But next Sunday we all got
other for the first time in probably nine months, to
(27:02):
celebrate her fourth birthday. But you know, if anyone gets
a cold, they can't come. You know, many times I've
rung Laura and said, I say, it's not feeling too well. Well, Dad,
I'm sorry you can't come because you might have the
same problem, you know, and immunity systems collapse when you've
got lakemia. Therefore, you know infections, they're a month stay
(27:23):
in hospital or even worse. So anyway, it is what
it is, and we'll fight our way through. And I
have to, you know, be telling everyone in about a
month's time that she's perfect.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Yeah, yep, we'll say prayer for her.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Please do please do. I mean to people listening, if
you believe in prayer, say a prayer enough, and say
if you don't believe, say a prayer anyway.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Can't hurt you said you said the phrase for my
great mate Ray Warren Rabs.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Well, look, I've got to tell you something about the
great rabbers. We've been mates since way back in the
nineteen eighties and I remember talking to him one day
and I said, Brad, I want to be a football
caller and a race caller. He said, listen, son, drop
my cast set on the compater raid North Meet. I'll
listened to it. We're still trying to find the cat.
Speaker 5 (28:16):
He said, you're dropping into seventheen, not fifteen. That's not
my forty wimbossile.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
And we used to get on the punt together at
a tab and North Mead and the bottle shop next
door used to cash checks. Grace used to cast the
checks for us. And if I got there before him
and cash a check, he'd say, I've been in to
see Gracie. There's no money left on the sae If.
Speaker 5 (28:39):
I've told you before, the bottle shop is my domain.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
And this is back in the eighties. You know so.
And there's a great story. There's many great stories about him.
But he said to me one day early in our association,
back in about I suppose probably eighty six eighty seven,
probably Classic the Ladies six. He was calling races for Club,
Superstation and on course and he's doing Newcastle. So ring
(29:06):
me one day he said, listen, He said, what are
you doing tomorrow? I said nothing. He said, come to Newcastle,
will be call a few races. He said, pick me
up at half as nine. We'll make our way up.
He made away and he said a bit of experience,
bring you monoclars with you and I said, okay, rap.
So I picked him up. I was the schaeffer. Basically
we got there. He said, look, he said, you're a
(29:26):
young race caller. He said, I want to give you
some experience. He said, you call races one, two and three.
I'll come up and do the remainder of the card.
I call races one, two, three, four, five and six.
And he's getting the money. I'm not getting paid. So
Ray Warren to the broadcast box, Ploysmith a Ray Warren
(29:48):
red face. Do he arise on the broadcast box? What's wrong?
I said, I've called six races. That's the problem with
your young blokes.
Speaker 5 (29:55):
You don't experience the sort of joys and tribulations and
broadcasting like I.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Unappreciative. Shit, Get back in there. You're doing a good job. Done.
Stuff up the next couple. So he comes up before
the last race. He said, you bring a check book
with you and I said yeah, And I was getting
three hundred a week at this stage. He said, write
a check out of Dominic burn for three thousand, will you?
And I said three thousand. He said, yes, we've had
a little bit of a loss here. I said, we've
(30:22):
had a little bit of a loss. I've had a bit.
I'm made out of the broadcast box. So we write
the check out. So he don't worry about it. I've
got to make manager called Tiles, the COMAF bank at
North Paramount of Tiles will sort this out. He said,
all those things called benk cards. Get a couple of them,
that'll sort it out. So anyway, we go back to
see tiles the following day, going to the bank at
(30:42):
North Paramatta, the Comma Bank. Let me see Brian Tyler
place tiles. Tell him Bray Warren like to see. I'm sorry, missus.
Teller's on leave. Here's his replacement on mister Smith. But
we'll say mister Smith. So when we go, he said
to my colleague and I he said, we're thinking about it,
buying a carron each of East Ocean Beach and your minor.
(31:03):
Like I said, oh yeah. He said, what do you know?
You said, well, he said ten thousand should cover it.
He's five five five him. He said okay, he said
what rose it in? He said, what do you mean
what raw? He said, well, I've got one up there
and Ray b through. I mon't come back when Tarles
(31:24):
was on deck, So off we go, like you know,
make it up. So we come back when Tails is
on deck and we get this bloody bank card and
I think it was a thousand buck limit or something.
So the maximum limit you can get at one time
one hundred cash. So rabs are on the Q ten
times getting a thousand needs. So then I rushed down
to my bank manager at the bank in New South
(31:44):
Wales rest Riant to put the two thousand in and
then I have the light we were about getting the
other thousand and Rabs to this day denies my version
of the events, but I said I was the one
that I got in a Peter Cook, my back manager,
and begging to give you another thousand bucks over. Yesperate,
he was a desperate I mean what happened? Gary Harley
plays it rather than this? He rang me one day, RABS.
(32:05):
He says, your mates with Harley? I said, yes, your
mate with him? He said, yeah, I know, he said,
but he said, get Chris Lee's phone number for me,
will you? So I said, yeah, okay, So rang Harley,
give me Chris Lee's phone number. What four? I said,
don't worry about what for, just give it to me.
So give it now, give it the rabs. So I
interviewed Chris Lee's on my radio show like a few
(32:25):
years back now and he said, I've been waiting to
talk to you. I said, well, he said, what did
you give Bray Warre on my phone number? He says,
I don't find him getting the tip, but he said
he wrings up there. He says, look, that's jockey. He
had one out in three back. He said, the horse
is going to be on the pace. He's going to
be outside the leader. He said. Not only was he
getting tips off, he's telling me how me jockey should ride. Advice.
(32:46):
I'll give advice. But I think that now Chris and
Rabs are together as one.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
Yeah, how's Rabs going in retirement?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Well, it's funny thing. He retired from golf about five
or six year ago. He Sterling replaced him. He used
to play with us on Monday with a couple of mates, Toney,
the big South Australian and the world's richest communist Kevin Kalis.
And he is already to copy with him this morning
on the way here. So anyway, and then he just
said one day I don't want to play anymore. We
said what And we used to have the best fun
(33:19):
with Rabs, you know. And then like we invited him
out for dinner and he's reluctant to go too far
from home, you know. And so we have a feed
at a place at Rouse Hill called Barbara's and it's
a lovely restaurant there but he just Chris Warren sums
at our best. I said, where's your father, Chris, a
good young black. He said he's retired from life. And
(33:41):
I still hear from him. Will text me about Lola
or text me about different things. And I text him.
The other day I interviewed Cliffy Lyones and I wanted
to know who the caller was at a Grand Final
when Cliffy was playing for gunder Guy and I said,
here would have been calling on too left young and
Rab said straight away it would have been this black Cliff.
He said, yeah, that's him. He said, what else do
(34:01):
you want to? Said nothing? So later look he I
think when you judge the great commentators in Australia, he's
a top the list. Not only could he call races,
he called Melbourne cups on Channel ten. He was an
accomplished race caller. He was about he as a rugby
league caller. He could turn his hand to anything. Swimming
(34:23):
means tennis. Is a good tennis player. For young Blake,
I could sit alongside him and I did in London
Olympics and I did the swimming on radio and he
did it on TV. And you know, you make judgment
calls on how you called it, they're not here. Rabs back,
and I'm not in these classes, Blake. He's just a
(34:44):
bit better than everyone else. And you know, I think
that it's unfortunate that the modern day commentators on Channel
nine are compared to Rabs, because it's like comparing a
batsman to Brandon.
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
I mean, he's the best there ever was, I think,
and I value his friendship. I love him dearly. But
he's enigmatic, you know, he's if you've got something, he
wants it. And I'm talking about a disease. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
I had diabeticulitis, about a couple of bad cases of it.
So I ring him. He said, what are you doing?
They tell me in norwe's private. I so I got
(35:16):
diabeticular what's that? I said, information on the bow? Never
had that? I said, do you want it? Because it's
not very nice? And then we had He tells a
funny story which I believe to be true. But we
had the same doctor doing colonoscopies, doctor Dev, you know,
and so we go alternatively to see him. So doctor
(35:39):
Dev does me every three years and Rabs every three years.
So although I don't think he does Rabs anymore, because
once you get past a certain age seventy five, that
won't do colonoscopies anymore. You know. They think it's a
waste of resources because you're going to die anything.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
How's your coal on?
Speaker 1 (35:53):
This? Is it good? I'm due ful one in December,
so hopefully everything will be fine with it. But they
follow polyps and to Blake's listening forty plus particularly, you've
got a history of bowel cancer, go and see your
doctor about a kolonoscopy, you know, and get a bowel check,
because it can be really fatal or it can be
really easy fixed by your doctor by having a colonoscopy. Anyway,
(36:14):
so Rabs goes to doctor Dev and you've got to
get in that crouch position for an examination with the digit,
you know. So Rabs reckons he's got his knees tucked
up under his chest, which I can't believe that he
would do that. But anyway, doctor Dev's examining him, and
the nurse walks in and says says, Rabs white ass,
(36:39):
And doctor Dev says, you wouldn't believe her this is.
Speaker 5 (36:46):
And Rab said, yes, have a guess, and she says, well,
I haven't seen him at this angle before, but I
think it's Ray Hadley.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
There's another one. We're going to Newcastle rabs it of
all football, right, So we're going together. He's doing TV,
I'm doing radio. So we get to the Twins surveys
heading north. So he says, I'm going and get a
cap of coffee. I said, okay, waiting the case. I'm
waiting the car. He gets and you want to cup
a copy? Yeah? So he gets battled up by a
(37:18):
black on the way in. So then this girl comes
out a bit later and needs a bit of consternation,
so he gets the cap. What happens are you wouldn't
fuck I believe it. It's happened again. I said what
he said? Well, the blake pulled me up, he said,
I'm walking, He says, God struck me, pink. I didn't
think i'd see you here. He said, My daughter loves you.
Could you just wait here so I'll get a photo
(37:38):
with you. Wraps the look. I'm with a bit of
a hurries of a colleagues waiting in the car. But
if she's enamored with me, on more than happy. He
got the photograph, Shacon. So any way, a sure that
comes out of it Macus. He says, look, Darland, look
I got for you. She said, that's not Ray Hadley. Ah,
that's good, right.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
If I asked you one more question, because I love
your brain, I love listening to talk. In all of
your broadcasting history, what's the one game that stands out
to you?
Speaker 1 (38:08):
Ninety four State of origin Queensland in the northeastern corner,
Mark Coin, try calling that. Yeah, I was calling that.
They grab And the funny thing about that, Cooper is
a blake called John Lyons, who is now an ABC reporter.
At the time was working with the Sydney Morning Herald
(38:29):
and he and a colleague who was the big boss
of Sydney Morning Herald left and they left with five
of the goal and they put me on the radio
and I got a call from one of them the
next morning to say, we can't believe we left that
game five minutes early. It went through nearly every Queensland
set of hands from one end to the other, and
(38:52):
Coin finished it off in the corner. Melmourn ing was
instrumental as well, but that one stands out in general broadcasting.
I did the limb last year and the swimming was
fantastic by the girls. But there's one thing you know,
when you do a job or you play football, like
you two BLACKSAP with three BLACKSAP, and you think, well,
you know, I can't do any better than that. And
(39:14):
the best thing I've ever done was Kathy Freeman's four
hundred in Sydney in the year two thousand. You got
one hundred thousand people in the stadium. She's a favorite
to win Marie Perrex withdrawing the French girls. She didn't come.
She'd won the gold at Landa. When Kathy got the silver,
she got the weight to the world on her shoulders.
And so I thought about it and thought about it
and thought about it, and thought, I can't stuff this
up field of eighth staggered start in front of your
(39:36):
other four hundred, and you're in an open broadcast area.
You're not in a box. You're in an open area
with all the crowd down the back. She goes, and
of course she explodes away. I think I said, here's
her date with destiny. Kathy Freeman wins and self examination.
I got home that night and I thought, well, could
I have done it better? And every time you do
a broadcast you think you can do better, and I thought, no,
(39:56):
that's I won't ever do a better call than that
Freeman's four hundred. So later that year they had the
thing called the Acres the RA Awards. So I'm nominated
best Sports Coverage Kathy Freeman's four hundred win. So I'm
seated there nominees AFL Grand Final, rex Hunt. So I'm
sitting in the chair. I won thirty five of these eventually,
(40:18):
and I think he's another one coming my way. Best
call of it, but done, so you know, you lift
out of your chair reach of notes and.
Speaker 5 (40:25):
The winner best sporting event in the year two thousand,
Rex Hunting the AFL Grand Final.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
I thought, fuck me, as kind of black as he is.
And then I thought later, you know, I one sum
I shouldn't have won. In the thirty five I won,
but I should have won that one. But anyway, that
that and Ian Thorpe's four one hundred win against Gary
Hall Junior the week before was great as well. But
that that's that's my best sporting moment Kathy from in
year two thousand, followed by Mark Coin and thirty five
(40:53):
Grand finals Cooper, every one of them. You know, I
can barely remember the early ones, but every one of
them are really treasured memory.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah, thank you very much, mate, Thanks for your time today.
I really appreciate you know what.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
I love being here with you, Jack Cooper and you
Maddie and we look we have been mates for a
long long time. And you know, like I said earlier,
I still got people. Yet he's not at the Girls
and Gage anymore. All the rest of the Trish won't
let him go down with the card table. But Jesus,
we've had some fun through the years, great fun. Yes,
thanks for talking to me.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Thanks mate,
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