WEBVTT - REVISITED: Eddie McGuire 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:08.559 Hey, legends, Welcome back to the Mason Cock Show. 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:08.840 Now. 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:11.520 Today we look back on the interview of Eddie McGuire, 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:14.240 a man, a myth, a legend of the media sphere 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:17.200 in Australia, has accomplished so much and we look and 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:19.560 talk to him about his backstory and everything else and 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:22.560 how he's become such a successful image in the media 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:26.040 sphere in Australia. Sorry, it's an incredible interview. Really excited 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:27.160 for you all to be able to hear it again 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:30.200 and hopefully you may learn a thing or two about 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:32.960 the great man. So without further ado, let's get into it. 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:40.520 Good everyone, Welcome back to the Mason Cock Show. 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:40.720 Now. 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:43.800 Today We've got a special guest, a man that I'm 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:46.159 very close with. He's one of the uh He's known 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:48.559 as the man that is everywhere. He is one of 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.159 the most iconic people I feel like of Melbourne and 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:53.880 of the country. He's known. First time I ever met him, 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:55.520 I think he was I thought he was a regius 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:57.600 filming of Australia. I was kind of confused on who 0:00:57.680 --> 0:00:59.280 he was until I saw him on the back of 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:01.080 a taxi. I thought, Oh, this guy's pretty big deal. 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:03.200 I'd say but he's a game show host. He's a 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:06.080 member of the Order of Australia, he's an honorary doctorate 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:09.080 from r MIT, Sale of the Century winner, former CEO 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:11.600 of Channel nine, a journalist and AFL commentator, and I 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:12.960 could go on and on and on about all the 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:15.720 different things he's done, but he is one of the 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:18.480 most probably influential people in my life. I'd say coming 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:21.479 to Australia and it's so great to have you on 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:24.039 The Man the myth Legend Eddie MacGuire Show. 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.280 Good to see that, Thanks so much for coming on. 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:28.919 Interviewing football is not the other way around. 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:31.080 I know this is I've been nervous here and usually 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:32.360 you're the one on the other side of the mic, 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:33.959 so I'm going to have to really take control of 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:37.600 this conversation. But I find it amazing because you've got 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:39.080 such an amazing story, and I think a lot of 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.920 people gravitate you you to you because you've come from 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:44.360 broad Meadows and you've been able to create a career 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.880 of yourself and it's come through a lot of hard work, 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:48.880 a lot of dedication. I think you're probably the hardest 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:51.080 working person I've ever met in my life. You're constantly 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:52.920 on the go, You're constantly doing something. So I know 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:55.400 this whole interview, I want to say thank you for 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:57.280 taking the time to come out and do this. It 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:00.360 is amazing to have you on. And something I said, 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:01.880 I think a lot of people gravitate to you, and 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:03.680 you've got some amazing stories that we're going to go 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:04.440 through on this podcast. 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:06.800 Well, you know, in a lot of ways, Mason, what 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.160 you said there is what I'd like to be doing now, 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.760 which I am doing even through our business at GMTV, 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:14.440 and that is over the journey. Over my journey, so 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.320 many people have given me a hand up. You always 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.760 hear about the discrimination against people. I've always found that 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.840 coming from broad Meadows, if you had a bit of go, 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:27.240 people go, jeez, that's pretty good. You know this kid's 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:28.760 got a bit of go about him. Well, they would 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:32.000 never know where you're from. I just found over the journey, 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:36.160 so many people gave me a leg up. Not one 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:37.959 of them going buy me a car or And I 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:40.480 think they just gave you a chance, or they let 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:42.840 your door, not even they didn't have to be that. 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:44.840 They might just say hello to you. You know. I 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:47.600 remember the first time Bobby Rose introduced me to someone 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:49.720 said he's one of us. He's a great Collingwood med 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:51.240 It was one of the proudest moments of my life 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.600 that Bob Rose anointed me a Collingwood person. I mean, 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:57.119 the club meant so much to me as a kid 0:02:57.160 --> 0:02:59.920 coming through. But people like Lindsay Fox who was the 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:01.880 killed a president back in those days, and I remember 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:04.440 bringing him up one Sunday morning something had happened down 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:08.679 at the Saint Kilda Social Club, which was a regular account. Yeah, 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:11.120 I can tell you I was either most of them 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:13.840 or a reporter on the rest of them. And then 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:17.320 after that, Foxy has looked after me. We became close friends. 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:21.440 I'm going on his eighty fifth birthday cruise. The family 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.400 are close family friends of ours and Foxy has a 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:28.720 great line he says, to have a friend, you have 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:31.160 to be a friend. And I've always been conscious of 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:33.639 that along the journey, that you have to give yourself 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:36.640 to people as well. So as my time has come around, 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:39.840 you know, I looked at what I was doing with Collingwood. 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:43.080 I really saw that as my way of giving back 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:46.040 to the community without getting into politics. So putting in 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:49.640 the housing for the homeless and things like that. That 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:51.720 was part of what we need to do. It couldn't 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:53.760 just be about trying to win the premiership. Of course 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.040 that's the thinking about it all the time, but it 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:58.920 needed to be something bigger than that. And the saying 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:00.240 that we sort of had a calling Wood was if 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.800 you didn't stand for something, you stood for nothing. So 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:04.760 that was sort of the ethos we wanted to bring 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:06.800 back to the club that maybe had missed for a while, 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:08.560 but was really what the club was based on. 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:09.760 I've got to ask you this, as you brought the 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:11.120 club already and I was going to bring this at 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.000 the end of the podcast, we'll bring it forward. Is 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:15.120 it true that you became a Colling fan because the 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:16.599 Colling the theme song was on the back of a 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:18.880 packet of chips? Is that story actually true? I've got 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:21.000 a bit of dirt on you. We're good mates, I 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:21.400 know if you. 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:27.240 Yeah, yeah, sort of right the right, but close enough. 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:31.000 It was a doughnut bag, not a But what happened 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.880 was in nineteen seventy I was in great prep. I 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:36.880 was five years of age and I idolized my brother 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:40.839 and clearly my dad, who because we lived in broad Meadows, 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:44.039 the closest team was Essendon basically although were in North 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:45.920 Melbourne zone, but they were no good at the time. 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:47.440 And if I was on the other side of the fence, 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:49.080 I would have been in Carlton's zone. 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:50.000 The family. 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:54.760 So there I issen'd and so I idized like I 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:56.880 carried my brother's bag. He was everything to me. So 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.960 I don't even I still don't even realize how I turned. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.960 But what happened was I fell in love with Petty McKenna. 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:05.039 Nineteen seventy the Price, you know, it should have won 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:06.880 the premiership. We were right in there going well. McKenna 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.279 kicked one hundred goals and every time you turned on 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:12.400 the TV in nineteen seventy the football you saw Collingwood 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:14.719 was basically in the replay every week. There was no 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.640 live games in those days world of sport. I remember 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:19.279 sitting there and finding out for the first time that 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.040 Lou Richards played for Collingwood, that he was a premiership captain, 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:26.560 and that was like Hollywood had come to broad Meadows. 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.480 If you liked that, Lou was Wow, Lou Richards, you know, 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:31.960 and all that sort of. Anyway, this particular day, Frank, 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.360 my brother was in there, come back, you know, all 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:37.800 the come back to as and all that. And I 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:41.120 was walking back from lunchtime from school and there was 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:44.480 a Jiffy donut bag that used to have the Jiffy 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:46.960 donuts right the gym donuts, and it used to have 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.440 the themes ones on the back. And I saw the 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:52.960 paper about twenty meters from home as I came around 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:55.560 the corner, and I said to myself, all right, this 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:57.680 is a site now remember on five. This is sort 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:00.880 of points to how mad I was even back then. 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:03.400 And I said, if this has got the Collingwood theme, 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:05.040 so on it, I'll take it as a sign. And 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:08.000 that's it. And I opened and I'm sure enough the 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.479 universe is talking about and the univers was talking to me. 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.200 And that was my moment. And then Frank came home 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.599 a couple of weeks later and he said it was 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:17.800 he nearly fell over because Dad had bought me a 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:19.839 Collingwood jump and a mom had so number six on it. 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:20.320 That was it. 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:22.640 That was that your assault from that day? Well, I 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:24.200 want to ask you this to start off. I know 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:27.599 you as a person. I find you amazing. Whenever I 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:29.400 see you work a room, I know you do a 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:31.360 lot of hosting. You've done some amazing things for brush 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:33.719 fire relief, flood victims and everything else. And I see 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.400 you work a room and it's it's something that's a 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.920 talent that not many people have. Now I want to 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.000 get some advice from you. Right, So let's say someone's 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:42.960 listening and they want to get a bit of advice 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:44.920 on maybe let's story this. How do you Is there 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.359 any tricks you use to remember someone's name? Because I 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:49.040 feel like you're really good at this, so you can really, 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:50.680 like work a room, remember everyone that's there. 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:52.840 The first trick is I don't think about it. To 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:54.440 be honest, I don't go want to go. I have 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.400 to work a round. People talk about networking and contacts 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.360 and things like that. If you're trying to do that, 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:04.479 I find it's pretty awkward. And that goes back to 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.760 probably being a journalists from such a young age, when 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.320 you're thirteen and fourteen, you had to actually introduce yourself, 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.920 have a connection with people, and you always remember their 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:16.440 stories and so there's always that part of it. I'm 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:20.480 finding these days. I realized that up until about five 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:24.080 years ago, I had really good eyesight, and so that 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:25.880 would give me the chance so I'd see people from 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:28.720 right across the room and look at them, picked them, 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:31.280 see who this, and with work out the connection to them, 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:33.800 and I'd be right. These days they are almost upon 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:38.080 me put the goggles on. So it's not as good 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:41.040 as it used to be. But it's about being interested 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:44.800 in people and knowing everyone's journey or their connection, and 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.640 you know, without pumping the tires up. I genuinely liked 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:52.520 meeting people, not what they can do for me. I 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:55.120 liked their stories. And I suppose going back to being 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:57.600 a journalist, you're always looking for the story, as opposed 0:07:57.640 --> 0:07:59.880 to these days. You see a lot of stories on 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.640 television in the newspapers, and they're really just feel everyone's 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.680 got a story if you, if you kick the rock 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:08.800 over a little bit and find out what's there. So 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:10.800 from there I was able to do that, and I 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:15.080 genuinely was an and continue to be an enthusiast. I 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.160 look forward rather than backwards, and so from that point 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:21.440 of view, every time you walk in the room, it's 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:22.920 full of possibilities for a bit of fun. 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.120 Yeah, exactly. I think there's a great quote someone said 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.080 it was be interested, not interesting. Yeah, I feel like 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:28.920 that's very much of it. 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.680 That's the quote. That's the short line to a long answer. 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:36.400 So well done. You've edited me beautifully. Yeah. But then 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:39.280 when you know, when you are things that at collingwod 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.680 for example, when I was president, and you know, part 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:43.920 of what you need to do is make people feel 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:45.960 special as well. I feel the president of the club. 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:48.679 You know, at the president's lunch, I would go around 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.560 every table because they baughter table to beat the president's lunch. 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:53.360 And part of the thing I know is that they 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.679 wouldn't have come to see the footy, but to you know, 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.160 I was entertained and as a well known president and 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.400 your celebrity and all that type of thing. So you 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:02.679 go around to these people and you have a bit 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:04.920 of interaction and they want to have a photo with you, 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:07.920 and it makes their day. That's what my job is 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.520 as president of Collingwood. Part of what I brought to 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:14.480 that job was my celebrity. You know, people like Jeff 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.760 Kennett brings his political acumen, Jeff Brown now the president 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:21.600 of collin brings his business acumen and his connection to 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.440 the club. You've got everyone's got to play there, get 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:28.240 their role and my role is was exactly that. It was. 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:30.720 You know, when you're hosting functions, don't just get up 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:32.920 and give a speech, go and find out what's going on. 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:36.040 And then you know, inevitably I'd find out this blocerus 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:37.600 you know, wants to be a sponsor of the club. 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:39.079 I've brought him on. I'm not give you a name, 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:42.080 thank you, close that deal and anywhere you go. 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.000 It's one of those things. I feel like that's something 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.200 I've realized, I guess in my time here, is that 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.400 like the littlest of things, he makes someone's day or 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:50.280 makes someone's weak even in like month or year, and 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.560 they'll talk about it for you, like I'll meet someone again, 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.200 you know, two years down the road and be like, oh, 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:56.040 I took a photo with you this time doing that, 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.160 you know, And I was like, yeah, yeah, of course, 0:09:58.200 --> 0:09:59.920 I'll take a million photos made bike. It is. So 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:00.680 it's to see the. 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:03.439 Give a bit of yourself. I think one of the 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:07.319 great things about Australia is and particularly Melbourne, particularly Melbourne, 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:10.360 is the access to everybody. You know, so I don't 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:12.600 worry about paparazzi. You don't have Pepperitzis in Melbourne because 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:15.400 there's no need. You see what's every week. You know, 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:19.120 we are everywhere Whereas in the States, I always found 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.120 even going to the super Bowl, you go into one 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:23.920 of the top hotels and they say, oh, you're here, 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.480 what are you for it? Super Bowl? Oh the parties, 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:30.839 Yeah you're not going yea, and they go, you're going 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:33.960 to the super Bowl. Whereas where we're sitting, I think 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:36.520 this has been this place had a major impact on 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:36.960 my life. 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.760 Let's give it people listening in and watching. We're at 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:43.360 the MCG, iconic MCG. So is my office actually. 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:47.480 Exactly a box at the MCG. But what I've always found, 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:50.320 even the difference between Melbourne and Sydney is that all 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:54.439 our major events are open to everybody. There's one hundred 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:58.080 thousand seats in this place. You know, maybe the Grand Final, 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:01.800 maybe the occasional Lands day you might struggle to get 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:04.520 a seat, okay, but every other thing you can go to. 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.839 So as a little boy, we would come here. I'd 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:09.600 sit over there in half Wood, Flint when Purna mckinna 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.560 kick nine against Richmond one day. I was here in 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:14.840 the old stand in seventy two when we got beaten 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:16.880 in the Pulminary Final. Life having led by forty two 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:20.040 points at halftime. I stood over there for the first 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:23.080 Anzac Day game between Collingwood and Richmond, right on send 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.719 a wing under the old clock when they reckoned it 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:27.880 was ninety thousand. It was about one hundred and ten thousand. 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.040 In this particular. I sat over there for the first 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:34.240 Collingwood Essendon all the things I called, the Grand Finals, everything, 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:36.160 but not only that, but I was over here as 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:38.520 a kid on the Centenary Test, the day when David 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:43.319 Hooks hit all the boundaries and Rick ma Cosca came 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.560 back unto the ground. I see it. For the Commonwealth Games. 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.319 I sat over there as an in grade one when 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:51.440 the Pope was here. So all these things happen. You 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:53.960 go to the Melbourne Cup, there's one hundred thousand people 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:56.240 get into Flemington for the four days of the carnival. 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:58.719 You go to Moomba, which everyone sort of laughs at. 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:00.520 But if you're a kid out in the housing house 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.880 in broad Meadows, member was massive. You know. My dad 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.160 was smart. It was Scottish, so he's tight right, and 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:09.680 he worked out that if you stood opposite the town hall, 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.760 that's where all the performances happened. Because all the vps 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:14.760 are sitting in the town hall. We're sitting on the 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:17.480 other side of the road and in the sunshine. We 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:19.480 thought this was better because they're sitting in the shade, 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:21.160 which is a bit like here. You had the MG. 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:23.120 We used to sit in the in the southern stand 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:25.520 in the old days, and we thought this is great. 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:28.720 As all the noises and it's so vibrant, the members 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:30.560 are so boring, and they're in the cold, you know, 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:33.840 and so whatever. Whenever he sat, it was my dad 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:35.680 who said, you know this, this is the best place 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:39.000 we could be. And that was our whole enthusiasm for Australia. 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.160 You know. I lived in broad meadows that may as 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.360 well have been Beverly Hills compared to women dad came 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:46.160 from and my mom. So each generation gets its go 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.800 and he just he and Mom just drilled into us 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:51.679 that this was the greatest place on earth and if 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:54.280 you had any amount of ability or get up and go, 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:55.840 this was the place to do it. 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:57.280 Is it true you hit a hard teck on this 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.600 still get my well? 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:04.840 It was a hetag and I took two wickets and 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.400 then it was a media game and Kevin Bartlett was 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.640 actually facing up and I was being an idiot mucking around. 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:13.439 So I actually went through the fence up into the 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:16.880 back of the stand to start my running. But I 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:18.720 got true morphort and I've got David hooks. 0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:20.640 Yeah, I'll you, I got hooks. 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:22.680 You try to try to put me over the out 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:24.400 of the stand and he said he got caught on 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.160 the boundary line. But he said he said it. I said, 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:30.440 I sucked you in here. That was great on the 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:31.360 on the m c G. 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.000 Yeah, You've got an amazing amount of memories here, mate, 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:36.079 I know you you've been here, You've been part of this, 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:38.360 this building and this structure and this coliseum that is 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:40.920 and you definitely make it up. But we'll go back 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:44.160 to a bit of I guess your origins. Really you 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:49.320 talked about your parents were immigrants back from Scotland and Scotland. 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:52.160 My dad Scottish Mom. I like a drink as long 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:52.960 as it's free. 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:55.360 Yeah, it's yeah. I've got to ask you this because 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:57.720 I love my parents, you know, my parents, and those 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.440 are very valiably people. Now I've got to I've got 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:03.520 to ask you this. What is the biggest life lesson 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:04.640 you've learned from mom and dad? 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:06.599 Optimism? 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:08.640 Optimism and education? 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.880 Education, and unconditional love and tough love. You know, there 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:16.120 was tough love. It was pretty pretty brutal experience they 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:18.160 were coming from, so there was no other way. There 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:21.160 was no easy day in their life until both really 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.680 came to Australia and started their family here. But they 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:26.520 were both pulled out of school at a young age. 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:29.400 Dad was working in the coal mines of Glasgow looking 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:32.240 at running the pit ponies when he was thirteen or 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.840 fourteen years of age. His big break to get out 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:37.800 of the mines was World War Two. So you know, 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.360 Dad's life really didn't start until in his forties when 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:43.000 we came out to Australia and Mum worked hard and 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:44.880 then when she came to Australia, she was working all 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:48.160 the factories at broad Meadows. But you know they were 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:50.720 able to provide for them every year. It was the 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:54.160 battle to get the books and the uniform and play 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.120 the school fees. And you know we were pretty lucky 0:14:57.120 --> 0:14:59.320 in that. You know, we won scholarships and my elder 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.200 system the frame, my young sister Bridget and myself, so 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:04.680 that gave us a chance here. I went to CBCS 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:07.200 and killed her, so it was great again. It was 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.000 education by Osmosis. I'd get on the train every morning, 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.800 and my brother actually brought this to my attention because 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.000 he did the same thing. And you get on with 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:18.240 all the working class people in broad Meadows and they'd 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:21.280 go into be getting off the various factories along industrial 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:23.680 broad Meadows Line in those days, and you know, on 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:25.800 the way up you'd smell then Abisco factory and work 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:28.560 out whether they're making Vita bridge that day or chocolate 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:30.560 or whatever, you know, And then I'd get on and 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:32.920 read the paper. Bought the paper every morning, and you 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:34.680 go to Flynn Street and as you've got to Essendon, 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:37.240 sort of more professional people getting on, whether they were 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:40.520 public servants or lawyers and things and sort of different 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.200 people in the suits. And then at the end of 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:43.800 the day and then when you know, you go to 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:45.480 the city, you get off at Flinnis Street and out 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.400 would go to windsor go past the Rosella factory in Richmond. 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:49.400 You'd smell where they were. 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:51.200 Cooking making that day effort to get to school. 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.400 So it was an effort, but it was also it 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:55.240 was good fun. It was late coming home when you're 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.200 footy training and things. So quite often in Windo you 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:00.360 go to school in the dark and come home and dark, 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.400 and you know it, you learned how to It's a. 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.560 Wake credit to you work, I think probably comes a 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:06.760 little bit from that that does. 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:09.200 Yeah, well, you were you're working twelve hour days at 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:12.840 school and go home and do your homework. But most 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:14.440 importantly you'd see at the end of the day and 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:16.600 you'd see that, you know, the working class people getting 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:19.680 on and you know, they had the dirt on them 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:22.880 and things going home and they worked a really hard day. 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:28.320 And you know that to me was inspiring to see 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:31.920 people who were literally doing pick and shovel jobs like 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.800 my dad was, who were doing it and for their families. 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.200 And then you know, you might even up to church 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:38.960 on a Sunday and you knew all the faces and 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:40.680 all that sort of stuff, and you'd see them dressed 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.880 in their Sunday best and they were doing great, and 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:46.920 they would be the president of the local football club, 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.000 so Dominic Football Club or Broady Footy Club or those things, 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:53.680 and you'd see these people in different different guyses and 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:56.080 then you'd work out that they actually just good, hard 0:16:56.080 --> 0:17:00.000 working class people. They're hugely inspirational and at the same 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.360 time you'd see the professional people and go all right, 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:05.280 there's another way through this as well. And that was 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.640 inspirational for so. You know, I remember one time saying 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:09.919 to my dad, I want to get a job apart 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:11.840 time job. You know my mates at school we're getting 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:14.880 making money packing shelves at coles. And I said, he'd 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.480 think this is great. I want to step up. He said, 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:20.159 you kidding, said I haven't come twelve thousand miles for 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:23.040 you to stepselves. He said, get in there, do your homework. 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:25.000