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Speaker 1: Now launching the Mark Mottlop story Mark Motlop His Life

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Speaker 1: and Times. It's been launched tomorrow at the Bookshop Darwin.

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Speaker 1: Sports journalist Gray Morris has written the book about Motlop,

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Speaker 1: the first NT footballer to play three hundred games, and

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Speaker 1: Gray joins me in the studio. Good morning to your mate.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie on this warm Tuesday morning.

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Speaker 3: It is very warm out there.

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Speaker 1: Gray, I reckon I interviewed you three years ago when

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Speaker 1: you're retired, but you can't keep a good man down.

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Speaker 3: You're back into it. You're writing a book.

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Speaker 2: Actually it was four years ago.

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Speaker 3: Four years ago.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I've been a retired gentleman since. But gets a

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Speaker 2: bit boring sometimes when you're retired. I mean there's so

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Speaker 2: much golf you can play in so many other things.

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Speaker 1: Well, when you've been living a life that is like

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Speaker 1: sports journalism every single day, it's hard to switch off

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Speaker 1: from that older magic.

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Speaker 2: Well it was twenty seven years old. Was at the

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Speaker 2: inteen years Every day, you know, you wanted a story

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Speaker 2: for the back page or the inside pages. So it

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Speaker 2: was a busy time.

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Speaker 1: It would have been a very busy time. But now

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Speaker 1: you've been busy writing a book. On the wonderful Mark Motlop,

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Speaker 1: his life and times. Tell me how you got into this.

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Speaker 2: Well, Mark had been into me for a while to

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Speaker 2: write a book, probably five or six years ago. He

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Speaker 2: first said to me Gray, I want you to write

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Speaker 2: a book about myself and the family and growing up

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Speaker 2: in Darwen, etc. Etc. I thought about it. I knew

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Speaker 2: it'd take a bit of work, and I've never written

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Speaker 2: a book yep. So I sat down one day with

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Speaker 2: him and started taking notes. And that was about two

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Speaker 2: and a half three years ago, so it took a while, yeah,

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Speaker 2: to get out, but it's out now, so hopefully the

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Speaker 2: Darwin sporting and general public will buy plenty of copies.

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Speaker 1: Well, he's a very well known man and very well

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Speaker 1: you know, he and his family so well known as

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Speaker 1: being sporting icons.

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Speaker 2: Right, yeah they are. I mean his dad came to

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Speaker 2: dar On in the fifties from up in North Queensland

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Speaker 2: somewhere and he was a rugby league man. But the

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Speaker 2: Motlop brothers, four of them, were in doctrinated into Argy

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Speaker 2: rules because their house is only a short distance from

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Speaker 2: nightcliff Ovill. Yeah right, so Augie rules became their folklore.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, Mark tells some intriguing stories about what it

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Speaker 2: was like in Darwin in the sixties. And you know

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Speaker 2: when he was a lad hiding in caves on in cliffs,

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Speaker 2: when the tide came in and went out again and

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Speaker 2: all that type of thing and hunting comeing. One thing

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Speaker 2: the Motlop and a lot of Darwin families do is

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Speaker 2: hunt hunters. They hunt for fish, they hunt for buffalo,

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Speaker 2: they hunt for goose. Just goes on. It's an intriguing story.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, tell us, you know, he's there's some aspects of

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Speaker 1: it that people might sort of be quite.

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Speaker 3: Surprised by, or you know, some stories.

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Speaker 1: I would imagine quite a few bits and pieces that

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Speaker 1: people have never heard before.

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Speaker 2: And of course he was here doing when that big

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Speaker 2: wind hit darn Re seventy four.

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Speaker 3: Yep.

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Speaker 2: They're in the house in Nightcliffe and the house has

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Speaker 2: actually it had a rip right around and that nadle. Afterwards,

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Speaker 2: of course all the neighbors came and stayed in their

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Speaker 2: house thinking it was a safe house and it was,

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Speaker 2: but only just it was a terrifying time. Sideline Tracy.

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Speaker 2: That was one instance that he recalled with you know,

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Speaker 2: with a haunting memory. I guess you could say and

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Speaker 2: as I said, all the hunting that went on, and

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Speaker 2: his dad worked on the roads up here in the

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Speaker 2: northern Turty, the old BF roads that they built to

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Speaker 2: the east and west of Darwin, and his mum was

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Speaker 2: it was a local Lorna John's. So once the twain

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Speaker 2: shall meet and they end up having six kids, and

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Speaker 2: of course from then, you know, quite a few of

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Speaker 2: those lads have ended up playing in the AFL.

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Speaker 1: So what an incredible legacy, you know, Yeah, how wonderful.

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Speaker 1: And now in terms of you know why this is

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Speaker 1: such an important story to.

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Speaker 3: Tell, Greg, why did you you know, why did you think?

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Speaker 1: Do you know what?

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Speaker 3: I'm coming out of retirement and I'm going to write

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Speaker 3: this book.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, as I said, there would loss to write

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Speaker 2: about with Mark, Yeah, you know, and as you said,

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Speaker 2: he's a very well known figure in Darwin. And so

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Speaker 2: hopefully this will this will start a whole sequence of

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Speaker 2: events because I expect to get calls now from the Maclean's,

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Speaker 2: the Reales, the Dumbings, the Bonson's, the ah Mats.

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Speaker 3: You reckon you might be writing a few more books.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot of terrific sporting families.

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Speaker 1: Really is, isn't There and I mean over the twenty

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Speaker 1: seven years that you've worked as a sports journalist in

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory, you must have you know, you've you

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Speaker 1: would have told some incredible stories and you would have

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Speaker 1: seen some incredible things happen in sport.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's right. Sport brings everyone as one. You know,

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Speaker 2: you can be living out there and all of a

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Speaker 2: sudden emerge. It's a terrific and Australian Football or Ozzie

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Speaker 2: Rules in particular, is a huge board up here. I mean,

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Speaker 2: I know the Rugby League people will probably say at

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Speaker 2: the opposite and you're one of them, I.

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Speaker 3: Love all sport.

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Speaker 1: I'm probably like you Gray where I go, I love

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Speaker 1: all sport and I really respect the fact that here

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Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory that AFL is so popular.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. And Mark, of course, with his Ozzie

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Speaker 2: Rules expanded, he went down to Adelaide to play in

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Speaker 2: the NFL, he went west to Perth to play with

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Speaker 2: South Fremantle and and Saturday's brothers. So you know it

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Speaker 2: was just just a huge thing for Darwin.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely so great. The book is being launched tomorrow.

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Speaker 2: Eleven o'clock in the morning. Yes, I hope some you know,

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Speaker 2: I hope the fans can get there and have you

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Speaker 2: listened and buy some books eleven o'clock in the morning

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Speaker 2: at the bookshop in the Morley.

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Speaker 3: And so you'll be there. Is Mark going to be

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Speaker 3: there as well?

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Speaker 2: Mich will definitely be there.

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Speaker 1: Well, I've got to sign copy from you, but I

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Speaker 1: feel like I need Mark to sign it as well.

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Speaker 3: I'm going to be on air. I'll have to try

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Speaker 3: and do that at some point.

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Speaker 2: You know, you definitely need Mark to get involved there

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Speaker 2: and get him to put his signature on there. And yeah,

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Speaker 2: as someone said, this is the first of many books, Gray, And.

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Speaker 3: How are you feeling about it?

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Speaker 2: I really have to have a think about it. But

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Speaker 2: I think, well, once I'm refreshed and renewed and ready

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Speaker 2: to go again, yeah, there will be more, mate.

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Speaker 1: I'm fascinated, like from a real journalistic perspective, and this

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Speaker 1: may not interest our listeners as much, but for me

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Speaker 1: as a journal you know, we're so used to writing

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Speaker 1: in sort of short, punchy format, you know, me for broadcast, youth,

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Speaker 1: for newspapers. What's it like then for you as a

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Speaker 1: journalist who's written that way for such a long period

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Speaker 1: of time, then writing in that longer form and getting

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Speaker 1: all those thoughts down on paper.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, it's not all the one story, Katie. You know.

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Speaker 2: You start with the beginning, then you move on to

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Speaker 2: his sporting career, then living in Darling, then hunting. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and then he's he's sort of you know, it just

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Speaker 2: goes on, right. It's all different stories anyway. And some

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Speaker 2: days you get out of bed and you think, oh, beauty,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to write a lot today, And other days

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Speaker 2: I think I might have.

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Speaker 3: A day off. The brain doesn't always work.

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Speaker 2: But it does take a lot of work, and anyone

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Speaker 2: out there thinking about writing a book, they'll have to

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Speaker 2: sit down and think how much time it takes and

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Speaker 2: how much thought goes into the old brain too.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, but I know.

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Speaker 2: It was an enjoyable time with Mike. Mike was very good.

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Speaker 2: Of course, it was hard to get a time because

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Speaker 2: I think his job takes him out of the Northern

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Speaker 2: territory fair bit, and so a lot of the interviewing

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Speaker 2: were done on the phone.

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Speaker 1: Now someone's just messaged through and said, please ask if

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Speaker 1: there is a secret.

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Speaker 3: Now, I hope I pronounced this correctly. Black charm?

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Speaker 1: Is that how you say it, it's the recipe in

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Speaker 1: Mark's story. Yum oh, says that person. It's I think

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Speaker 1: it's a very territory dish. I'm sure sure I've pronounced

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Speaker 1: it incorrectly, but I'm guessing there's no recipe in there.

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Speaker 2: Great, but that's that's why I'm giving you a confused. Look,

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Speaker 2: we didn't go that far into a recipe, but maybe

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Speaker 2: in book two we will.

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Speaker 3: Well, he must buy the sounds of it.

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Speaker 1: It's someone who's friends with him and obviously knows that

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Speaker 1: he does it well, So I.

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Speaker 2: Can tell you that that there was a lot of

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Speaker 2: talk about mud crabs and goose and so, yeah, he's

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Speaker 2: he's a man of the world, is Mark Butler?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, in a proper territory, you know, like that's a

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Speaker 1: proper territory upraising, isn't it. You know, all the hunting

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Speaker 1: and and you know, and fishing and all that kind

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Speaker 1: of thing. That's what my son gets up to on

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Speaker 1: the weekends.

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Speaker 3: I love it.

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Speaker 2: And I made sure that I put a lot of

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Speaker 2: indigenous culture into the book as well, Kate, because because

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Speaker 2: he was born here yep, and and so he found

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Speaker 2: the extended family. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, Well, Gray Morris always a pleasure catching up with

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Speaker 1: you mate. Thank you so much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: No, and thank you for you and your station for

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Speaker 2: doing something on the book. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Sorry, So tomorrow eleven o'clock you said, didn't you? Eleven

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Speaker 1: o'clock at the bookshop Darwin in the mall, So be there.

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Speaker 1: It'll be a fantastic event. Good on your great thank.

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Speaker 2: You Be there or be squeat.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely