S1: Hi everyone. Welcome to Mark my words. Yes our Monday edition.
S1: We are back. It's public holiday. So you're listening to us.
S1: How good this is going to be a little bit
S1: different to what you're used to. This is story time,
S1: your questions and everything else. So, gentlemen, Piggy Riddell is here.
S1: Mark your boy's big weekend of public holiday rugby league,
S1: of course, Monday with the Bulldogs and Parramatta. Yeah, but
S1: there's a lot of injuries at the moment. Right. And
S1: you guys have been around the game for a long,
S1: long time. And I thought we would have a look
S1: at some of the weirdest, wackiest and uh, out there
S1: injuries that you've seen or experienced yourselves on the football
S1: field any spring to mind?
S2: Wow. Well, one straight off the top is origin. Mick
S2: de Vere. When doctor Doctor John Orchard had the stapler
S2: out on the field. Ding ding ding ding ding just
S2: nailing him.
S3: That was the last time that ever happened as well.
S2: Last time. Yeah. And they they never did that again
S2: did they.
S3: I was graphic oh yeah. Oh my goodness.
S2: Who would imagine that these days?
S3: No, they wouldn't let you wouldn't be allowed to like
S3: a lot of things in the game. I, um, I
S3: played with a guy called in 1988 when Ron Willey
S3: came to Penrith. He brought along a couple of hombres
S3: from Bulldogs Peter Kelly, Chris Mortimer, plus another, you know,
S3: other bunch of players who kind of taught us how
S3: us mountain men, how to be tough and how to
S3: train and stuff. And um, Brad Fittler was on the
S3: peripheral of making his first grade semi-final debut in 1989.
S3: Um but Chris Mortimer didn't. We were playing the Tigers,
S3: who were the meanest, toughest team in the competition back
S3: then with Cyril and Blocker.
S2: Yeah, they were in the grand final the year before
S2: and obviously ended up making. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
S3: Um, so we're playing our first final I think was
S3: elimination final at Sydney Footy Stadium. But the week leading
S3: up to it, Louis Mortimer had broken his thumb about
S3: four weeks ago and was six weeks ago was out.
S3: So he still had another two weeks to go with
S3: his broken thumb and was sitting in the dressing room
S3: before training one day and Louis said, fuck this, he said.
S3: I said, what do you mean? He goes, I've got
S3: two weeks to go. I said, yeah. He said, I'm
S3: going to take this off. I'm taking this out. I said,
S3: you can't take that. It's broken. He had like one
S3: of them.
S2: Wire.
S3: Velcro.
S2: Oh yeah.
S3: With cast iron. So he took the cast off. He
S3: went to his truck. He was a carpenter or.
S1: Oh, no. We're not saying what we're going to say.
S3: We are. He came back to the sheds. He got
S3: these pliers, had a pin inserted in his thumb. He
S3: pulled his the the the pin out of his thumb.
S3: And there was Ben Alexander, Steve Carter, Brad Fittler, they
S3: almost all fainted. They couldn't believe he did it. And
S3: we all go, what are you doing, Louis? What are
S3: you doing? He said, fuck it, I'm playing. The irony is,
S3: the irony is he got picked on the bench that
S3: Brad Fittler started anyway because he was trying to protect Freddy. Yeah.
S3: You know he's he's this one of the best blokes
S3: you'll ever meet in the game. Yeah. But the most
S3: gruesome thing I've ever seen in person was him pulling
S3: out this pin.
S2: And what happened like it was fine.
S3: But then you watch the game. He came on as
S3: a replacement. He's kind of holding it in, protecting it.
S3: But he was just that's the toughest thing I've ever
S3: seen in my life and one of the most gruesome
S3: things I've ever seen.
S1: And here we got the Broncos whingeing about training, too. Yeah.
S1: Come on.
S2: See that scar? That's. Yeah. I don't know what it's called,
S2: but that I got a plate and nine screws still
S2: in that now, I came back in three weeks from
S2: that operation.
S3: What did you say your pin out.
S2: No I wasn't, I didn't have it in I healed,
S2: I still remember it. I was at Parramatta. Right. I smacked.
S3: It. That's a really common isn't it. Yeah.
S2: Because you're going like that. And I smacked it on
S2: someone's elbow. I think it was like carrying the ball
S2: and obviously hit it there, broke it. And I had
S2: it operated on the next day and then I came
S2: back in three weeks. But what I did, I don't
S2: think I should tell this, but what I did right.
S2: You know, when the um, the, uh, refs come in,
S2: the linesmen and they check your boots and they check
S2: your pads and everything. So I had to have it strapped.
S2: I had it strapped. I'm pretty sure just with strap
S2: and tight. And I had a guard made one of
S2: those big plastic or fiberglass? Yeah, fiberglass. And it was
S2: molded around there, then molded right across here and around
S2: my wrist. And then so when they'd come and check
S2: and they'd go, oh yeah, that's all good. And then
S2: see you boys and go bang, whack, put it on.
S3: Well, there was, there was, there was rumor in the 80s,
S3: mid 80s that the Bulldogs wore these.
S2: Shoulder.
S3: Pads.
S2: Shoulder pads. Yeah I heard.
S3: And then they they get checked. And then as soon
S3: as the refs walk out the door they put their
S3: shoulder pads on.
S2: I think there's a few stories about a lot of
S2: players that have done those sorts of things. They let
S2: the refs.
S3: Now with these.
S2: The arm guards and I think someone had bicep ones
S2: one time and they did the same thing. They'd wait
S2: for the refs to come in and then just.
S1: Can I tell you a funny story? Because as you know,
S1: I used to referee, right? Yeah. When I was a
S1: bit younger and bit fitter, obviously a lot fitter. I
S1: went in one day to do that. I was the
S1: touch judge for an A grade game. And when I
S1: was in the Saint George comp, I won't name the
S1: team because people will put two and two together and say, no, no, no,
S1: no no no no. Earlwood Saints. Um, so I went in,
S1: I went into the sheds because you had to check
S1: the nails and the boots.
S3: Boots?
S1: Yep. And I'll never forget there was one bloke that
S1: played for Earlwood and he was a cheeky bugger. In fact,
S1: I don't think he's around anymore. They called him Davo. Right.
S1: Davo had a Prince Albert. So I'm going around checking for. Because, like,
S1: if they had earrings, you had to take it out. Nails,
S1: boots and everything else. Davo has dropped. He's he's geed
S1: up all his team mates. So I've walked in and
S1: he's just pulled his pants down and showed the Prince
S1: Albert and I had to go back to the referee's
S1: boss and say, I don't know how to deal with this.
S1: He said, do not walk back in there.
S3: Well, it is hidden. It is hidden, I suppose.
S1: But I mean, you couldn't play rugby league with that,
S1: could you?
S2: Yeah. Why not?
S3: Piggy.
S1: Piggy has.
S2: Mate. I actually should I tell this?
S1: Yeah. Go on.
S2: Should I tell.
S1: Yes.
S2: Go on.
S3: What's the barometer? Five or.
S2: It's not rude. It's not rude. No, it's. I just
S2: don't know if I really want this out there.
S1: Um, well, you've committed now.
S2: When I, when I was playing in the lower grades
S2: at the Roosters, I was a bit left of center.
S3: You still are, mate. You know.
S2: That. I went and got my nipple pierced. This nipple
S2: right here?
S1: Yes.
S2: With a ball, a, uh, you know, like the U
S2: shaped bull rings with the two balls on the end.
S2: Swear to God. So I was playing each week. Why
S2: am I telling this?
S3: Well, you're playing with it in.
S2: Yeah. So what do I do? Right. The trainer would get,
S2: you know, the foam sticky pad.
S3: Yeah, yeah.
S2: The yellow. Cut it out. Strip it off. And they'd
S2: cut a hole in the middle. And they'd put that
S2: over it a couple of times. And then they'd put
S2: the protection over it with no hole, and then they'd
S2: strap me around.
S3: Well, for a for, for.
S2: And then for a nipple ring. Yes. Because I couldn't
S2: take it out. And then I'm going deeper.
S3: Here you are.
S2: Right. And then I was leaving the roosters. Roosters had
S2: to let me go because they obviously.
S3: Couldn't afford you.
S2: Know.
S3: They had.
S2: Good players in front of me, you know. So I
S2: was going to the Dragons and before I signed at
S2: the Dragons I I'll get my manager ringing me saying, mate,
S2: there's a chance the deal's not going to go through.
S2: I'm like, why? And he's like, someone's told him, you
S2: got a nipple ring. He goes, I told him it
S2: was bullshit, like you don't have a nipple ring. And
S2: I'm like, no, I don't have a nipple ring. No.
S2: No way. My dad came out to the garage, took
S2: me out there. Boom. Oh no, I didn't rip it.
S3: But like.
S2: Boom, popped the thing, took it out, and that was
S2: the end of it. No. Wow. No more nipple rings.
S1: Story time.
S2: I still don't mind the.
S3: 253 channels.
S1: What the hell's happened to this? Do we have to hit, like,
S1: an explicit button for this podcast? Wow.
S2: I only went to radio.
S1: So like, that's a pretty what was the sort of
S1: worst injury that you suffered?
S3: Um, oh, it was after footy when I, um, I
S3: broke both my tib fib playing up at uh, a
S3: charity footy game at Coffs Harbour. Oh did you. Yeah.
S3: And uh the um barbarians were playing like a, a
S3: nines tournament and I was like five years, five years retired.
S3: So I was 37 in the first game on Sunday
S3: after we all hung over playing. I've gone up for
S3: hit the ball up and a bloke has tackled me
S3: around the legs and as I went to offload, the
S3: blokes pushed me over the back of this bloke.
S2: Ah.
S3: And my tib fib spiral spiral fracture. Yeah. Like, um
S3: the manly player just recently um who had had it done. Um.
S3: All right. So bad, bad. Yeah. And we're about an
S3: hour from an ambo. All I'm doing is pumping VB
S3: into me.
S1: Are you serious?
S3: I'm serious. The ambos come.
S2: No green whistle. Just the green.
S3: VB how's it going, mate? It was like a funnel.
S3: I'm going. Oh. And then the ambos come. They said,
S3: what have you had? I said, VB what? My foot's
S3: on that on the side. And the one of the
S3: ambulance drivers was a lady. She goes, take this. They said,
S3: we'll see you in two days. I woke up two
S3: days later in hospital, my legs up.
S2: All done.
S3: And my wife sitting next to me. I said, what the.
S3: What's going on? She goes, I come up yesterday. You've
S3: been asleep for two days. Really? Yeah.
S2: Wow. That's a bad one.
S3: And then that was that was shocking. But I didn't
S3: like through touch with through my career. I didn't have like,
S3: no knees, no shoulders. I had a groin in 1990
S3: that was kept me out for about eight weeks. Um,
S3: that was probably the biggest pain in the arse because you,
S3: you can't really treat groins. No.
S2: Like I've had the similar operated on groins.
S3: Yeah. Neil Halpern same.
S1: I remember taking you remember video easy. What did you
S1: what happened then.
S2: Let's move on.
S1: You remember video easy. This is like this is embarrassing.
S1: I listen to your story video easy, easy.
S3: You you you get a paper cut.
S1: I slammed my finger in the door. That's the worst
S1: injury I've suffered.
S2: What about what about the great David Morrow? Story of
S2: the player in Tumut? Oh, can you tell? Because you
S2: probably remember. Do you remember it better than me with
S2: his knee?
S1: Yeah. So, David.
S2: This is how cold it was down in Tumut one day.
S1: Davey calling the game.
S2: I think he was down there.
S1: He was calling there might have been calling a game,
S1: but this is the late, great broadcaster. ABC two GB legend, legend, legend,
S1: legend Dave.
S3: Great man.
S1: He swears that he was in Tumut and called a
S1: game where a bloke broke his leg in the middle
S1: of the game and.
S2: It was that.
S1: Wet. It was that wet that the ice froze over
S1: his leg.
S2: Around his knee and leg where he broke.
S1: It, waiting for the ambulance.
S2: Waiting for the.
S1: Ambulance. We called back.
S2: We called mate. I've never heard something so ridiculous in my.
S1: Life, but he swears it's.
S2: True.
S3: I agree with him.
S2: So he's saying that the whoever is laying on the
S2: ground and. And it's that wet that it was and
S2: cold that the ice froze around the leg got broken.
S3: And was Game of Thrones before Game of Thrones.
S1: But you know what, the more and more I think
S1: about it, I am going to call BS because if
S1: you're playing football, your body's going to be hotter. Yes. Yeah.
S1: So how is it going to how's it going to freeze?
S2: We threw all this at him and he swore by it.
S1: Did he have a couple of.
S2: I reckon he would have had a couple of those ones.
S1: Davey, mate, that's one of the biggest weekends of my life.
S1: So myself and Darryl Brohman, we were invited by Davey
S1: to go down to Gundagai for the Snake Gully Cup
S1: that is single handedly the three biggest days that I've
S1: ever experienced in my life. I have never drunk more
S1: alcohol than I did with David and his mates in Gundagai.
S1: Even Darryl put up the white flag on the Saturday night.
S1: He said this is ridiculous. But there I was on
S1: Sunday carrying the torch.
S2: Ready to go.
S1: Again. Well, mate, you don't get this big mucking around.
S1: Let's have a break. We'll come back with listener questions
S1: right after this. Welcome back into listener questions. Thank you
S1: for all of the questions you're sending through in the
S1: Mark My Words mailbag. It's bursting. That's how big it is.
S1: I'll tell you what, it's one of the biggest mailbags
S1: I've ever seen. Yeah. So keep them coming wherever you
S1: leave your questions. What are you looking at me like that?
S2: Move on.
S1: It's a bursting mailbag. The Dragons from Gary.
S2: Mailbag.
S1: From Gary. Well, if you get a couple of those
S1: TV channels will be sweet. The Dragons just snapped a
S1: 15 game losing streak against Brisbane. Payne Haas called his
S1: team out, saying they're all talk at the moment. And
S1: with key injuries hitting the squad, the Broncos lacking the
S1: required grit and leadership. Gentlemen, we might start with you
S1: on this.
S3: Yesterday's history. Tomorrow's a mystery. That's why today is a present.
S3: Does I say that right? Yeah.
S2: Let's run with it. Let's run with it.
S3: Well, anyway.
S1: With Nostradamus.
S3: In other words.
S2: Let's run with it.
S3: In other words, the Broncos at the moment are living
S3: in past glories. They are living in past glories. And
S3: Payne Haas has called them out. Yeah.
S2: I love that he has.
S3: So do I.
S2: If if anyone can say whatever he wants.
S3: He can say whatever he wants to because he can
S3: see something, he can see something maybe while he's out. Yeah.
S3: And when you put two and two together, when you
S3: see what happened on the weekend against the Dragons and
S3: you see the last weekend and you see that, um,
S3: that they wanted four days off, like, come on, that's
S3: that's it's mate.
S2: I reckon they are lacking the required grit at the
S2: moment and I'm not sure they all want to do
S2: the tough stuff. And that was shown on the weekend
S2: against the Dragons, but I would caution everyone. Like they'll
S2: bounce back.
S3: Hold on, I've got it. Yesterday's history. Tomorrow is a mystery.
S3: Today is the present. That's why it's a gift. Ah,
S3: that's the one.
S2: Did you stare down the.
S3: Yeah, I did. Like my when I was a poet. Yeah.
S3: I didn't know it.
S1: Can you deliver us some, like, inspirational words prior to
S1: the podcast? Every week. That's beautiful.
S3: No worries.
S2: That was.
S3: Lovely. Can you cut that bit out now?
S2: Yeah, yeah.
S1: No. No stuff. UPS get left.
S3: That's right.
S1: Yeah. Question from Jim Penrith just held off a Warriors
S1: comeback to go four points clear at the top of
S1: the ladder. They're completing at 92%. And resting origin stars.
S1: Is there any team in the comp that can legitimately
S1: challenge them for the 2026 premiership?
S3: No, not at the moment.
S2: Not if they're fully healthy come September. And we've seen
S2: this story way before.
S3: Yeah, it's on repeat isn't it.
S2: Yeah. They they rest players. They get themselves in front
S2: coming into origin, their ability to rest players to get
S2: them through that origin period to then freshen them all up,
S2: ready for a charge at the title. They know what
S2: they've got to do, when they've got to do it
S2: to get themselves ready. Injuries will be the only thing
S2: that stop the Panthers, I think.
S3: Yeah, I agree, I think that's their comp to win
S3: to lose. Um they have that look of menace about them.
S3: Um even to go against the Warriors last weekend when
S3: they had three of their best players out and Warriors
S3: had a couple out as well. And I think them
S3: two will go deep into September. But Penrith at the
S3: moment are just I don't know when you bring someone
S3: like Casey McLean into the team and um you know,
S3: Liam Henry has been out for most of the year
S3: with an injury and their depth is astonishing. You know,
S3: the the next man up mentality is just fantastic. And
S3: I think even, you know Kogarah against the Warriors last
S3: weekend was was awesome as well. So um yeah look I,
S3: I it's their comp to lose to, to be honest
S3: I thought roosters I thought maybe Raiders you know, the
S3: start of the year I thought dogs but the Melbourne obviously.
S3: But now they're the only team who kind of uh
S3: are backing their own favouritism. Yeah. All those other times
S3: we thought might be in the top four. Top five. Well,
S3: there's some doubts about them. There's no doubt about Penrith.
S2: Someone will have to go on a run won't they?
S3: Like a like a knights or a dolphins or roosters.
S2: Someone's gonna have to get. Yeah. Never know.
S3: You never know. Here come the dragons.
S1: It'll be the greatest comeback since any. I was going
S1: to say. Religious figure from Kerry. With the sheer pace
S1: of the modern game, the traditional prop forward role has
S1: changed drastically. Is the classic enforcer dead or just evolving
S1: into a different type of athlete? Good question.
S2: It's a great question because it is, isn't it? The
S2: way the rules have gone this year, we're seeing those
S2: lean front rowers come to the fore. Yeah. And like
S2: there is still room for those bigger front rowers, but
S2: not as many of them not to carry as many
S2: of them. Yeah.
S3: No, I think that the the way the game's going,
S3: it's um you see a lot more guys over the 115,
S3: 120 mark be dinosaurs in our game. We're not you
S3: can't carry them because the game is so quick.
S2: Um, but isn't it crazy because you think about it, right?
S2: Like you look at a Mitch Barnett, Jackson Ford, probably
S2: six foot something, 110 kilo maybe. But then you could
S2: have the back row who's exactly the same shape. You
S2: could have a center who's exactly the same shape. Yep.
S2: You could have a winger who's exactly the same shape.
S2: You could have a fullback. He's exactly the same shape.
S3: Like it's all in the genes.
S2: It's all it's it's everyone's.
S3: Just remember, I remember, I remember when I was a kid, right?
S3: Then we played school footy after the after, you know,
S3: school and you always stand at the in the science
S3: lab after going to roll call and watching their team
S3: come up and you'd see them come up and you go, oh,
S3: they're off the bus. There's their halfback. Yeah, there's their
S3: front rowers. Yeah. There's this. Oh, he might be a
S3: centre or second row. Now they get off the bus.
S3: You go. I don't know who's who. They're all giants.
S3: Yeah they're all giants.
S2: They're all similar.
S3: They're all similar size.
S2: Yeah. Like there's only you'd look at someone like a
S2: Payne Haas obviously an exception to the rule there. But
S2: predominantly everyone's at that very same figure. Mhm.
S1: Good question Gary.
S3: Thank you. Yeah.
S1: Um from Noel, Noel says, uh, we've got over 25,000
S1: Queensland fans signing a petition.
S2: To Noel.
S1: To have Ashley Klein axed for the Kalyn Ponga sendoff.
S1: Yet Graham Ashley and the NRL have fully backed him.
S1: How frustrating is it for players and coaches to see
S1: an on field referee issue a red card for a
S1: shoulder to the head, only for the match review committee
S1: to effectively downgrade it to a fine? Does this inconsistency
S1: make a mockery of the game's concussion protocols?
S2: Can you just give an explanation on why it was
S2: a fine.
S1: Well can I. Well.
S2: In 2022.
S1: The first thing I want to say is I look,
S1: a couple of weeks ago, I sat here in this
S1: chair and. And I said to Ashley Klein, if he, um,
S1: referees like he did to start the comp, he will
S1: single handedly destroy the state of origin. I'm going to
S1: give him a rap because I thought he was fantastic
S1: in origin one. So. Ashley. Well done.
S3: Yeah I.
S1: Do. Um, I also want to give him a rap
S1: for the decision that he made because he got it right. Um,
S1: there was forceful contact to the head of a player. Um,
S1: it was a shoulder charge and it was a send off. So. Ashley.
S1: Well done. Now, the reason why, because a lot of
S1: people and piggy have said because the match review committee
S1: has fined him, the referee got it wrong. That's incorrect.
S1: You'll remember a couple of years ago and I spoke
S1: to Graham Annesley about this. There was a change to
S1: the judicial code because the clubs, they virtually said, well,
S1: we are releasing our players to go and play rep football.
S1: Why are we being punished through suspensions for acts of
S1: foul play in the rep arena? So the NRL made
S1: the change with the approval of the commission. That way,
S1: if it was a grade one or grade two offence,
S1: the player would be fine. Yep. So the $6,900 fine
S1: that was paid by Kalyn Ponga for a grade two
S1: offence in club football would have warranted a suspension.
S3: 2 or 3 weeks.
S1: Does that make.
S3: Sense? It does.
S2: Very well explained.
S3: That's and that's and look I with the actual send
S3: off um I, I on the night I didn't think
S3: it was one. And I think if you speak to
S3: ten people, five will say it was five will say
S3: it wasn't. And that's what our game's about. Um, you know,
S3: if that was put this way, that was Tedesco who
S3: got sent off for that, I'd be filthy. I'd be
S3: filthy because, you know, he didn't mean it. And it
S3: was just a it was a. But anyway, that's long gone.
S3: Don't go down that rabbit hole. But look.
S1: Well done Ashley. Well done.
S3: You know what? Yes. Because the opening 6050 minutes of
S3: the game or 60 minutes of the game until he
S3: got sent off were exemplary. Yeah. You know, they put
S3: the whistle away and it was fatigue.
S2: Yeah.
S3: And at that time, Queensland were winning the battle.
S1: Yeah. But but off the back of that and we
S1: spoke about it on the weekend, not to repeat myself
S1: here but the different audience I get that. Um, I
S1: think there's a lesson in this for the NRL, the
S1: way in which the game was refereed in origin. Mhm.
S1: If we referee the game at club level like that. Yeah.
S1: How much better will the product be? Oh mate the
S1: fatigue back into the game.
S2: Well I called the game on Friday night. Sharks versus manly.
S2: Your man Todd Smith he would have taken off. And
S2: I think the the coaches blew up about it.
S3: I think we said about it on Saturday.
S2: It was awful.
S3: There was there was 12 in.
S2: The first half and then nothing in the second half. Yeah.
S1: Two. Leave it alone.
S2: No. But it was horrendous. I was blowing up deluxe.
S2: It was That looks like.
S3: It looks like the guy. Where have you seen where
S3: the Millers? Yes, where the Millers. You know, um. That
S3: the bloke. And where the.
S1: Millers. The guy that gets sitting on the. The spider
S1: on the nuts.
S3: That looks like.
S1: He's a good man. Leave the ginger ninja alone.
S3: Yeah. He's brotherhood baby.
S1: Brother. You know what? You know, I'll say this like,
S1: you know, I'm critical of referees and all that. They
S1: are actually a really good bunch of.
S3: People, mate.
S1: They're very good at what they.
S3: It's a thankless job. Yeah, 100% for Grant Atkins.
S1: And in defense of the referees there. Could you imagine
S1: they're getting pulled from pillar to post all these variations.
S3: It's the only job in the world, almost, that 50%
S3: of the people are going to hate you.
S1: Yeah.
S3: No matter what you do.
S1: True. Anyway, what's. Oh, we got one more. Sue Luciano
S1: recently opened up about how he nearly walked away from
S1: rugby league entirely six months ago, because he simply fell
S1: out of love with the sport, an environment as ruthless
S1: as the NRL. How common is it for senior players
S1: to silently battle that level of severe burnout, and what
S1: actually pulls an athlete back from the brink had some
S1: good questions.
S3: That is.
S2: That's full on.
S3: I'm piggy. When I played, um, if you were feeling
S3: down or you weren't feeling yourself, it was taboo to
S3: say anything to anyone. You were. You were thought of
S3: as a weak link in the chain. And I, you know,
S3: thank God, times have changed. You know, I thank God
S3: that we have, um, so many avenues to, to go
S3: down now that we can ask questions because, um, I
S3: would have used it a lot. You know, I was
S3: very temperamental player, very temperamental. I'd go off like a,
S3: like that. Maybe if I spoke to someone about my
S3: anger issues, I might have been a different person and player. Like,
S3: I don't take many things back in my in my life,
S3: I would have taken maybe my temper just back a
S3: little bit in what I do away from the. Because
S3: when you get given a green light as a 19
S3: year old at club footy, when Ron Willie come, he said,
S3: I want you to be the biggest, baddest man in
S3: our team and everyone. Everyone's scared to run at you.
S3: So at 19, I had that. I'd go to the club,
S3: you know, there was no button that would go off.
S3: I'd go over there and someone looked at me the
S3: wrong way. What are you fucking looking at? Like, like
S3: that's what happens. Yeah. You don't know like, because you
S3: get told to do that. But, um. Yeah, look, I
S3: thought I think there's a lot of rugby league players
S3: and we both experienced ex teammates who have committed suicide and,
S3: and what a trail of destruction that leaves and how
S3: many questions are unasked. Um I think we've we've come
S3: a long way Sue in um thank thankfully because modern
S3: day rugby league players are shielded from a lot of things.
S3: Um and they've given a really good guide on where
S3: to go if you have got dramas.
S2: Mhm. And it's accepted isn't it really. Of course it
S2: is accepted.
S3: People like Tommy, Tommy Herschel and Gus Wall and.
S2: All those.
S3: Guys. You know, I think that, you know, we need
S3: more of them.
S1: Yeah, it's. And good on you for what you said there. MM. I'm.
S1: I'm a big advocate for lifeline. 131114. If you're if
S1: you're struggling, you need to talk to somebody. I've actually
S1: I've spoken publicly about this. I phone lifeline one night.
S1: I lost several of my mates growing up to suicide
S1: and I blame myself. And one night I was just like,
S1: I just need to talk to someone. I thought I
S1: kept hearing about this number and I rang them. I'll
S1: never forget the woman's voice on the other end of
S1: the phone and what she said to me that night.
S1: So if you are feeling a little bit, you know,
S1: just feeling a bit down.
S3: It's okay not to be okay.
S1: And you know, the other thing, you don't even have
S1: to identify who you are. Know, if you want to
S1: just ring up anonymously and have a conversation, you can
S1: do that as well. So, um, and I think with,
S1: with players like Nicho Hynes, piggy and some of the
S1: others that are talking about, well, obviously struggles.
S3: Like Luciano.
S1: Luciano, well done. The more, the more people talk about it,
S1: talk about it, especially rugby league players who are looked
S1: up to by others. It gets rid of that stigma,
S1: which is important.
S2: Yeah. And it normalizes it for everyone. And then kids
S2: that are looking up to all these role models that
S2: are football players are seeing that they go, the players
S2: go through situations like this and they go through times
S2: like this and it's okay. It's okay for them to
S2: do that. And then the kids see that as well,
S2: and they take an understanding understanding to it as well.
S1: I don't want this question to be misconstrued because it's
S1: not meant to be that way. But you're involved in
S1: the NRL w so the women's program and look, I
S1: don't know whether this is this is fair and accurate,
S1: but is it fair to say that women could be
S1: a little bit more delicate or maybe a little bit
S1: more fragile with some of their emotions from time to time,
S1: or not really?
S2: Well, I just think it's a whole different space. The
S2: men's game to the girls game. And and obviously there
S2: is less pressure than the men's game. You know, they
S2: only play ten games a year at this point in time. Yep.
S2: Um but the, the girls still go through I, I
S2: would say different pressures to the men because the girls are,
S2: they're not full time. So whilst they're getting paid and
S2: the work, then they're, then they're, then they're working, as
S2: Emily said, the work that they've got to find has
S2: got to be around footy, the football and the times
S2: that they're training, they've obviously a lot of them have
S2: got partners, husbands and the like that they've got to
S2: deal with their own home issues as well. So they
S2: probably got a different set of, um, issues that they've
S2: got to deal with compared to the men where, you know,
S2: there's a huge spotlight on the men every day, every week,
S2: every little thing that they do is scrutinized. And whereas
S2: the girls, it's probably not at that point yet, but
S2: they've got their own set of issues that they've all
S2: got to deal with day in and day out playing
S2: in the NRL W.
S3: Well sir buddy.
S1: Well said. All right boys. This has been great.
S3: Yeah.
S1: How good is this.
S3: Yeah. Well listen the questions always bring a bit of
S3: a different perspective to the to a lot of things.
S3: And these these questions this week were fantastic. Keep them coming.
S1: Yeah. Thank you very much for coming everyone. It's been
S1: a very, very entertaining podcast. Uh, we just had to
S1: cut a little bit out there because we got a
S1: little bit random.
S4: Woo hoo!
S1: MJ, see you later in the week. Love you. Great, man.
S1: See you buddy.
S3: Yeah, Piglet.
S1: See you everyone. Thank you very much for your company.
S1: Leave your questions. Follow, subscribe, like leave comments, leave questions.
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