Chiming In - Steve Gillis, Player Manager

Dave Trodden runs one of Australian sport's biggest and least understood organisations — the New South Wales Rugby League turns over more than $50 million a year, oversees 126,000 players across 700 clubs, and controls every competition in the state bar the NRL and NRLW.

Trodden takes us inside the business of Origin: why Matt King was the right call to succeed Laurie Daley, whether Ivan Cleary has put his hand up for a future crack at the job, and why he expects Origin player payments to eventually double. He also opens up on protecting referees after a wave of public controversy, why bush footy is in far better shape than people think, and the extraordinary economic value the game's 40,000 volunteers add each year.

It's not all boardroom talk, either — Trodden shares the story of falling in love with rugby league at Balmain's famous 1969 grand final upset, how he ended up on the Wests Tigers board almost by accident during the fractious merger years, and becoming chairman in time for the club's fairytale premiership win in 2005.

In this episode of Chiming In, Dave Trodden gives a rare inside look at how the game is really run, from grassroots to Origin.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
01:25 - Welcome: NSWRL CEO Dave Trodden joins Chiming In
02:14 - What people get wrong about the NSWRL
02:54 - The Blues as one of Australia's biggest sporting brands
03:48 - Matt King's appointment as Origin coach
05:01 - Did Ivan Cleary put his hand up?
10:41 - Why a club coach can't also coach Origin
11:57 - Will Origin players push for a bigger pay packet?
13:39 - A Monday morning inside NSWRL headquarters
19:51 - Protecting referees, and the Tamworth suspension controversy
21:01 - Is bush footy really dying?
23:28 - Visiting Junee with Laurie Daley
24:12 - Getting retired players back into country footy
25:44 - The economic value of 40,000 volunteers
28:08 - How Magic Round in Tamworth came about
39:20 - Falling in love with rugby league at the 1969 grand final
41:38 - Joining the Wests Tigers board almost by accident
44:02 - Becoming chairman during the merger fallout
45:21 - The fairytale run to the 2005 premiership
53:43 - Origin scheduling, PNG games and jersey tweaks
55:33 - Could City vs Country ever come back?
56:31 - Does the job ever feel appreciated?
58:29 - Wrap-up
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Darryl Brohman OAM is back on Chiming In just over a year since his last appearance — and in that time he's fought off non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, his second cancer battle after prostate cancer a few years earlier.

The Queensland Origin forward turned radio institution talks candidly about six rounds of chemo, losing his hair "everywhere," and the perspective he found sitting in a ward full of people going through the same thing — all delivered with the self-deprecating humour that's made him one of the game's most loved characters for the best part of 50 years.

Brohman also looks back on winning the 1984 grand final with Canterbury after a move from Penrith, coaching reserve grade for Phil Gould at the Bulldogs, receiving his OAM for services to rugby league, and the racehorse syndicate he ran with Laurie Daley and Ricky Stuart that paid off in Melbourne on Oaks Day.

In this episode of Chiming In, the Big Marn opens up on health, humour, and half a century in the game he loves — proving why he's still one of the best gets in the business.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
01:32 - Welcome back: Darryl Brohman returns to Chiming In
01:45 - Health update: beating cancer for a second time
03:25 - How the diagnosis came about
04:50 - Chemo, and finding perspective in the ward
06:22 - Does a football career prepare you for something like this?
09:54 - The line between commentator, expert and comic
12:02 - Was he always the funny kid?
13:06 - Prostate cancer, sleep apnea, and losing his sense of taste
17:26 - Meeting Bev, and coaching reserve grade for Gus at the Bulldogs
28:31 - Punting, and the racehorse he owned with Laurie Daley and Ricky Stuart
31:14 - Winning the 1984 grand final with the Bulldogs
35:04 - Receiving his OAM for services to rugby league
36:08 - Giving back through the Starlight Foundation
39:17 - Copping a spray from Tim Sheens, and getting dropped
42:00 - Backing Laurie Daley through the Origin scrutiny
1:00:15 - Life after footy: the media career and finances
1:01:20 - Wrap-up
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Dean "Bulldog" Ritchie has covered rugby league for the Daily Telegraph for 37 years, breaking some of the game's biggest stories along the way — from a teenage cadet's first back-page scoop to the Bulldogs' secretly-photographed meeting with Jonathan Thurston.

Ritchie takes us through how a chance work-experience placement turned into a career, the mentors who shaped him — including the legendary Peter "Chippy" Frilingos, whose sudden death at work in 2004 Ritchie still finds hard to talk about — and 37 years' worth of scoops, near-misses and colourful nights out, including the taxi door that put him in hospital.

He also opens up on his 37-year friendship with Laurie Daley, the on-air Origin III prediction that turned out to be spot on, and life inside NRL 360 alongside some of the game's biggest personalities.

In this episode of Chiming In, Bulldog shares stories from a career spent chasing the game he's loved since he was a kid waving a Roosters flag from the outer.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Start
01:27 - Welcome: Dean "Bulldog" Ritchie joins Chiming In
02:11 - His schoolboy footy days and a near-miss at a Wallabies jumper
06:00 - Breaking into journalism through Bill Mordy
08:18 - Cutting his teeth at the Cumberland papers
09:40 - Landing the Daily Telegraph job on 1989 Grand Final day
11:06 - His mentors: "Chippy" Frilingos and "Buzz" Rothfield
15:38 - Chippy's sudden death, and being a pallbearer
18:25 - His first scoop: "Saints Sack Craig Young"
22:09 - The Bulldogs-Thurston scoop, and other big stories
24:23 - Friends and foes in rugby league
25:53 - Building a 37-year friendship with Laurie Daley
36:52 - The night a taxi door put him in hospital
38:41 - Covering rugby league around the world
39:52 - The Perth Bears trip that cost Mal Meninga $20K
45:38 - Backing Laurie Daley, and the Origin III prediction that came true
47:58 - Inside NRL 360, and copping a spray on air
48:33 - Sunday mornings on the Big Sports Breakfast
53:28 - 37 years at the Daily Telegraph
54:51 - Social media, and whether the nastiness is new
57:49 - Expansion: Christchurch vs Brisbane for team 20
59:56 - Should the NRL buy English Super League?
01:01:18 - Wrap-up
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Peter Sharp is one of rugby league's most respected and longest-serving coaching minds — over 40 years in the game, and the man widely credited with discovering and shaping a young Andrew and Matthew Johns at the Newcastle Knights.

From playing days at Maitland in the 1970s and a colourful path through Central Charlestown, England and Newcastle's junior system, Sharp went on to become an NRL head coach at Manly, an assistant to Craig Bellamy at Melbourne, and later took Hull FC on a 13-game winning streak in England before switching codes entirely to coach Ulster in rugby union.

These days he's back in the NRL working alongside Phil Gould at the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Sharp opens up on discovering a teenage Joey Johns, the night out that nearly cost the Jersey Flegg side a game, getting sacked and picked straight back up by Craig Bellamy, and the toughest and funniest moments from four decades on the sideline — plus a candid word on mental health and the Black Dog Institute.

In this episode of Chiming In, Peter shares stories from a career that's taken him from suburban rugby league grounds to Belfast, and reflects on what's changed in the game he's given his life to.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Start
01:01 - Rugby league royalty: introducing Peter Sharp
01:35 - Phil Gould's tribute and the Gus friendship
07:29 - The Brian Smith interview and the "beef and pickle sandwich" job
08:35 - Growing up in Maitland, playing on the weight
13:11 - The 1977 grand final and a 30,000-strong crowd
14:06 - Injury, and backpacking to England
17:15 - Meeting Andrew and Matthew Johns at Newcastle
19:28 - The infamous night out before a Balmain game
21:21 - Rising to reserve grade and a premiership
23:39 - Becoming Manly head coach after Bob Fulton's shock resignation
26:22 - The Northern Eagles "messy flop"
28:13 - Forgetting his wife at Gosford
29:03 - Learning under Craig Bellamy at Melbourne
30:34 - Hull FC and a 13-game winning streak in England
31:51 - Switching codes: coaching Ulster rugby union in Belfast
41:19 - Greatest coach debate and rugby league heroes
45:00 - Media scrutiny then vs now
49:40 - Mental health advocacy and the Black Dog Institute
51:02 - Wrap-up: 32 years in rugby league
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Craig Salvatori was a mainstay of the Sydney Roosters front row through the late '80s and early '90s, racking up around 140 first grade games between the Roosters and a final season at South Sydney, three State of Origin appearances for the Blues alongside Laurie Daley, and a Roosters life membership this year that came with the club's Indigenous Round honour.

He was also at the centre of one of Australian sport's most confronting personal stories: in October 2002, Salvatori lost his wife Kathy in the Bali bombings, and became an unlikely go-between for the Australian government's response on the ground, speaking daily with radio host Alan Jones and eventually meeting with then-Prime Minister John Howard. More than two decades on, he talks openly about grief, acceptance, and raising his daughters through it.

It's not all heavy going, though — Salvatori also revisits the infamous headbutt that cost him a five-week suspension, a near-miss at a premiership in 1987, and a colonoscopy story that nearly blew up his marriage. And after 45 years as a builder, he's about to set off on "Salvo's Aussie Pub Crawl" — a year-long lap of the country's pubs with his wife and dog in tow.

In this episode of Chiming In, Craig shares stories from a life that's been as tough as it has been full, and explains why he's chosen to talk about the hardest parts of it rather than look away.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
01:21 - Welcome: Craig Salvatori joins Chiming In
01:47 - Breaking news: retiring after 45 years as a builder
02:32 - The plan: Salvo's Aussie Pub Crawl
05:20 - The colonoscopy story that nearly got him busted
09:02 - Naming the tour and sorting sleeping arrangements
14:35 - Opening up about the Bali bombings and losing Kathy
16:33 - How the group ended up split between the Sari Club and babysitting
18:06 - The night of the bombing and the search for answers
21:34 - Getting the Prime Minister involved
24:25 - Has he been back to Bali since
25:29 - Roosters and Rabbitohs career, and getting signed for $2,000
29:50 - The 1987 preliminary final classic against Canberra
31:12 - Backing Laurie Daley against his critics
32:40 - Falling out with Phil Gould and leaving the Roosters
35:24 - Retiring at 30, and getting two new knees at 53
37:36 - Roosters life member and Indigenous Round honour
41:28 - The hardest front rowers he played against
42:20 - The famous headbutt and five-week suspension
46:15 - Calling games on radio with 2GB
47:16 - Life on the road calling Cowboys games in Townsville
53:01 - Wrap-up and best wishes for the trip
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