On Side

In this highlight edition of our podcast On Side we take a peek at some of the best interviews so far.

This includes our chat with 2008 and 2012 Paralympic cycling gold medallist Michael Gallagher.

Prior to the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Gallagher tested positive for recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO) at a training camp in Italy. Still under sanction, Gallagher talked about the biggest impact his sanction had on him and what drove him to “cross a dark line”.

How far has women’s sport come? Events like Australia's Twenty20 World Cup with a crowd of 90,000 in March suggest a long way. We discussed parity in sport - where we’ve come from and what still needs to be done - with one of our greatest sportswomen Heather McKay, one of our greatest basketball coaches Carrie Graf and up-and-coming basketball star Keely Froling. Today we highlight Carrie’s views.

Also featured is part of our interview with Gold Coast Commonwealth Games heroes Eloise Wellings and Madeline Hills who, along with Celia Sullohern, created one of the highlights of the Games when they waited for Lineo Chaka at the finish line – an act of sportsmanship that was beamed around the globe.

Finally, we take another listen to some of the best moments of our interview with Katrina Fanning, an Indigenous champion and rugby league legend. We reflect on her illustrious career, the issue of racism within sports and the role sport plays in reducing barriers.

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Cricket icon Belinda Clark has blazed her way into the record books and is just as fearless off the field, paving a way for women in sport.

In the sixth and latest episode of On Side Clark, the first player, male or female, to score a double century in a one-dayer, talks about the highlights of an illustrious career – on and off the field – and the rise and rise of women’s sport.

“I’d like to think that cricket has been at the front of the pack pulling others with us but there’s still a long way to go,” Clark says.

“I’d like to think the next generation of young girls hopefully will grow up knowing very well from the beginning of their life that sport is an option for them as a profession, it’s an option for them as a coach, as a volunteer, and it’ll be a totally different perspective that I perhaps grew up with.”

Inaugural AFLW premiership coach Bec Goddard is another trailblazer for women’s sport.

Just announced as the spearhead of an all-female coaching panel for Hawthorn Football Club’s VFLW team, Goddard has been fighting the male bias for years.

“There is a very frustrating issue at this level,” she says. “It’s this idea of merit and what we define as merit in our industry. So many women are qualified, that have got certificates …. at the decision making level they are getting blocked by these biases.”

We also talk to our Director of Anti-Doping Policy Chris Butler about the changes to the 2021 WAD Code, including those around substances of abuse and our athlete educator Riley McGown answers the question “Are paralympic athletes subject to the same ant-doping rules?”

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A self-confessed adrenaline addict with the injuries to prove it – Caroline Buchanan is held together by bolts, wires, plates … you name it. For a decade this eight-time World Champion was at the top, but is now in unfamiliar territory - as the underdog.

In the fifth and latest episode of On Side, Buchanan candidly talks about building not only her brand but her sport, her triumphs, struggles, THAT accident, and why now is the best time to be a female in action sport.

We also re-live one of the greatest moments in Australian sport – John Aloisi’s penalty goal against Uruguay which cemented Australia’s spot in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and chat to Paralympian Chad Perris, a bronze medallist in the 100m event at the Rio Olympics, about his career so far and his other “side gig” – sports commentating.

Known for her tenacity and down-to-earth attitude, Buchanan is not only an incredible athlete (in three cycling disciplines), she’s a successful business woman, social media influencer and mentor.

“A really big goal of mine, initially, was to make the sport known, so help get it on mainstream TV, so when it was footy on a Monday after they’ve had their weekend games I was paying a media liaison to help package my world cup win and BMX was packaged at the same time,” she says.

“A lot of money that I invested back in to not only building the sport, building my own brand, it was 5-7 years of really putting everything back in to make this momentum happen, to be able to be this full-time athlete.”

Coming back from an off-road accident that nearly killed her, Buchanan admits she has “seen both sides of being an elite athlete in Australia”.

Aloisi’s famous penalty goal was voted by the Sport Australia Hall of Fame committee as one of the three greatest sporting moments in Australian history.

He says he is asked about it almost daily when in Australia.

“[People] remember where they were, what they were doing, whether they were at the game, or in a pub or at home, and I’ve heard some funny stories, it’s a special moment that I was lucky to be a part of,” Aloisi says.

With only 5-8% vision, World championship silver medallist Perris says he’s constantly proving himself against the doubters.

“I used to play Aussie Rules footy, and as a junior I went in there and I wore sunnies and a hat when I played and you’d always get people questioning why is this guy [playing], how can this guy play this when he can’t see, I’ve dealt with it all my life,” Perris says.

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Guests: Eloise Wellings, Madeline Hills, Michael Crooks, Carrie Graf, Keely Froling & Heather McKay

How far has women’s sport come? Events like Australia's Twenty20 World Cup with a crowd of 90,000 in March suggest a long way.

In episode four of our Sport Integrity Australia podcast ‘On Side’, we discuss parity in sport - where we’ve come from and what still needs to be done - with one of our greatest sportswomen Heather McKay, one of our greatest basketball coaches Carrie Graf and up-and-coming basketball star Keely Froling.

We also chat to Baseball Australia’s General Manager Performance Pathways & Player Development, Michael Crooks, about the sport’s challenges – funding, match fixing, differences in anti-doping in the Major League - and creating pathways for young athletes dreaming big in the US.

Finally, we talk to Gold Coast Commonwealth Games heroes Eloise Wellings and Madeline Hills who, along with Celia Sullohern, created one of the highlights of the Games when they waited for Lineo Chaka at the finish line, and triple Olympian Bronwen Knox answers the question “If one person in a team tests positive, does the whole team get tested?”

A leading advocate for the equality in sport, Graf says there needs to be a shift in the thinking of what is a Return On Investment “rather than just commercial and eye balls”.

“I was a little girl who grew up when there wasn’t any role models and you couldn’t aspire to work as a professional athlete, as a coach,” she says. “l was fortunate to have a professional coaching career for 20-plus years, I think we’re certainly seeing a shift that little girls can look on TV and look around the media and go ‘wow, I could do this a job’, and that that is a legitimate job but I still think there is a long, long way to go.”

Froling, who has two brothers currently playing in the National Basketball League, says she often compares the rewards.

“I look at what the boys get and what they’re doing and I think, ‘oh, it’s so annoying’ … we work just as hard if not harder than them and aren’t rewarded in the same way.”

It’s certainly a long way from when McKay, a winner of 16 British Opens in a row, competed as an amateur, having to take two months off work without pay simply to play.

As an amateur she says she played “for fun” and without the pressure athletes’ face now.

“Today the pressure is there, the big money’s there, so when the money is there, certainly there is going to be a lot of pressure because you’ve got to perform and that’s really the difference between today and in my time. It’s their full-time job.”

With significant contracts up for grabs for young baseballers overseas, Crooks is trying to develop right path for talented young players.

“Managing the workloads and expectations for these young players is really, really critical to make sure that they get the most of their opportunity when they do finally get over to the United States as opposed to sending them over as a 16-year-old with no support mechanisms, no safety nets for them and basically leaving them to the wolves so to speak to try and survive in what is an incredible cut-throat world of professional sport,” Crooks says.

In our From The Highlight Reel segment Australian 10,000m runners Eloise Wellings and Madeline Hills relive an act of sportsmanship that was beamed around the globe.

“We were just doing what we would always do in any other race and it just so happened that there was a whole lot of cameras and a whole lot of people watching,” says Wellings, who concedes her own run was “one of the worst” of her career.

“It takes vulnerability to finish a race like that for Lineo when things aren’t going well to run the last three laps on your own. As Madeline said you are very exposed and it’s a vulnerable thing to be in.”

Madeline, agrees.

“We’ve all had that day,” she says.

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Guests: Jessica Hansen, Steve Jackson & Michael Roeger

Ever since he was a young boy growing up in Langhorne Creek, three-time Paralympian Michael Roeger has dreamed of winning gold for his country.

In Sport Integrity Australia’s third edition of its podcast ‘On Side’ Michael talks about the Tokyo 2020 setback given his “hot” start to the year, his penchant for making up stories about how he “lost” part of his arm, his first sporting love, and why he thinks Paralympians are less likely to dope than their Olympic counterparts.

We also chat to Australian Dolphin Jessica Hansen on her recent move to Canberra, what drives her to get out of bed to train each morning and her role as a Sport Integrity Australia athlete educator.

Finally, we look back at what is regarded by many as the greatest NSW Rugby League grand final of all time and our athlete educator, swimmer Hayley Baker, answers the question ‘Are anti-depressants banned in sport?’

Roeger, who was born without the lower part of his right arm, believes the feeling he had when he beat the 1500m world record in Boston in 2015 “would be worth $1million” and is “his greatest achievement” after coming close to the feat multiple times.

He now focuses on the most gruelling event in athletics – the marathon – to which he holds the T46 marathon world record and says the postponement of Tokyo 2020 was especially disappointing because he was in the best form of his career.

“It was one hit after the other,” he says. “I really did feel that 2020 was my year; mentally, physically; I feel like I had all my competitors covered. I was mentally ready, physically [ready], I felt I could’ve done anything this year and that’s been taken away from me…the tough thing is fitness, health one year is not guaranteed the next.”

In our From The Highlight Reel segment we look back at the 1989 NSW Rugby League grand final regarded by many as the greatest of all time and speak to Steve Jackson, who sealed the win for the Canberra Raiders with a try in extra time.

Jackson, the self-confessed naughty boy who rather than dip his toe in the water would dive head-first, admits he played and lived his dream. He also talks about his transformation and how he now uses his own experiences to help young people.

Our guest Australian Dolphin breaststroker Jessica Hansen is not a morning person. It may take three alarms but gets out of bed to train “because I know that when I go to training I can improve something or work on something, there’s always something to get away from this session to help me achieve my goals”. Tokyo 2021, watch out.

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Guests: Melissa Breen, Cassie Fien & Craig Phillips

Commonwealth Games Australia’s chief executive officer Craig Phillips is the most capped Olympic team official in Australian sporting history and has 35 years’ experience in the sports industry.

In Sport Integrity Australia’s second edition of its podcast ‘On Side’ we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the sporting calendar, on planning the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, and on sports very survival.

We also discuss the dangers of supplements with Australian marathon runner Cassie Fien, who was banned for nine months after the supplement she was taking unknowingly contained a banned substance, and talk to Australian women’s 100m record holder Melissa Breen on breaking that 20-year record.

Finally, our athlete educator Annabelle Cleary answers the question ‘Is there a minimum age for being tested and being banned from sport?’

While Phillips says his organisation hasn’t felt a commercial impact from COVID just yet, he admitted COVID-19 has disrupted 2022 Commonwealth Games preparations (resulting in three athlete villages) and was concerned about the solvency of some Commonwealth sports.

He was also enthused about a packed calendar which will see the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Winter Games, various world championships and the Commonwealth Games all held within 12 months.

“It’s never happened ever, for anybody, at any time,” Phillips says. “We see this wonderful opportunity for Australian sport…for Australians to get behind athletes wearing that green and gold for that 12-month window.”

Australian marathon runner Cassie Fien was preparing for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games before she was banned for nine months after taking a supplement. She talks about the devastating moment she was told she was banned and the impacts that ban had on her career and her life.

“I couldn’t eat or drink or anything for nearly 3 days,” she said after being told her sample contained a prohibited substance. “I guess I felt sort of numb, and like something had been ripped out of me. I couldn’t really, I didn’t know how I was going to keep living.”

She says her sanction had a far-reaching impact.

“It didn’t just affect me, it affected my friends, my family. It’s not just the athlete that suffers, it’s everyone around them. If I could just reach out to even one athlete to just go, ‘I probably don’t need to take what I’m taking’, then that’s my job done.”

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Guests: Katrina Fanning, Emma Johnson, Adam Cook & Naomi Speers

Katrina Fanning is an Australian women’s sport pioneer, an Indigenous champion and rugby league legend.

On Sport Integrity Australia’s first edition of it’s podcast ‘On Side’ we discuss Fanning’s illustrious career, the issue of racism within sports and the role sport plays in reducing barriers.

We also discuss proposed changes to supplement regulation with Sport Integrity Australia’s Chief Science Officer Dr Naomi Speers and the Therapeutic Goods Administrations’ Dr Adam Cook and talk to our Deputy CEO (acting) Emma Johnson about her stunning Olympic Games debut as a 15-year-old in the segment From The Highlight Reel. To wrap up, our athlete educator Riley McGown answers the question: “How long do substances stay in your system?

Katrina’s fascination for rugby league comes from growing up in Junee, a country town where “rugby league is all anyone talks about”.

“I was just lucky that in my age group of boys in Junee there wasn’t too many boys that wanted to play … The first year the boys weren’t so sure about it [playing with a girl] – I don’t think they passed me the ball once, so I learned to tackle pretty well.”

She says playing rugby league gave her a sense of belonging, of acceptance, and the lessons she learned from sport can be transferred to all aspects of life.

While she acknowledges “silent barriers” when she was growing up, Fanning says she was lucky living in Junee was “a much easier road than it has been for many Aboriginal and Torres Islander people”.

“Whilst my experience wasn’t perfect it certainly is a lot further along the way to the Australia I aspire for us to have, that I want Australia to be, and it proves that it is possible with good will, and certainly sport played a big role in that.”

An advocate for the women’s game and indigenous community pathways, Fanning has been encouraged by the stance taken by some of our national sporting teams and associations and player-led movements against racism.

“I think it’s really important for people to see that all Australians should be offended when there’s racism or discrimination… we like to believe this country is built on a fair go and if you put in the effort and you’ve got the talent you will get your just reward, well, we have to live that, not just say it.”

She also discusses her role on Sport Integrity Australia’s Athlete Advisory Group, the Black Lives Matter movement and the ‘win-at-all-costs’ attitude that prevails.

“I get to catch up with lots of former athletes now and I can’t think of the last time when any one of them raised their win-loss record, their fastest times … [sporting success] shouldn’t be the only way you measure how successful you are as a person.”

Fanning, who played for Australia in the first ever women’s rugby league Test in 1995, says being labelled a “pioneer” doesn’t sit well with her as there were “decades of peoples’ hard work and sacrifice” beforehand.

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The National Sports Tribunal CEO John Boultbee says the tribunal is an “overdue” opportunity for sporting bodies, athletes and support personnel.

“It’s the first time Australia has had its own Sports Tribunal to hear all matters from all sports and to be at arm’s length from the sports and provide an independent and transparent service,” Boultbee says. The highly respected senior sports administrator and lawyer says the tribunal provides a cost-effective, efficient, independent and transparent avenue for the resolution of sporting disputes.

The tribunal will hear anti-doping violations, disciplinary disputes, selection and eligibility disputes, and matters relating to bullying, harassment and discrimination. “We have 40 tribunal members, they are the people who will hear cases and conduct mediations in the tribunal,” Boultbee says. “They come from outside of Government, they come from outside of sports organisations and some even from outside of sports, so they are truly independent and not appointed by sports that might be a party to the dispute.”

Panel members include former athletes, sports administrators and experts in specialist areas such as anti-doping and medicine. The tribunal will run on an opt-in basis. For those sports that already have a tribunal, Boultbee says athletes can choose to use the NST or retain their current system. The creation of the Tribunal, along with Sport Integrity Australia, was identified in the Wood Review as part of a whole package of governance reforms designed to protect athletes and sport.

In our segment, “So I was wondering” our Senior Education Officer Cheryl Kalthofen explains why ASADA does not approve or endorse any supplements.

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With Sport Integrity Australia opening to the public on July 1, new Chief Executive Officer David Sharpe talks about the dangers sports will face in the future in the latest episode of On Side.

Sharpe admits there are a “lot of challenges ahead”, particularly in the current COVID-19 climate.

“If you took me back three or four months ago, I would have said the greatest threats in sport are organised crime infiltrating sport and vulnerabilities in sport,” Sharpe says, “but right at the moment I think the immediate threat that has been exposed is the fact that the COVID virus has led to an economic downturn in sport and staff have been reduced across education, integrity and welfare units and I think that really has exposed some major vulnerabilities across sporting bodies.”

He says the loss of structure in athletes’ day-to-day lives poses potential problems, too.

“Athletes and sporting bodies have very structured organisations; athletes are told when to arrive, when to sleep, when to eat, when to train, and what goes into their body, without that supervision on a day-to-day basis it really exposes them to vulnerabilities around making decisions that they don’t normally, or haven’t normally, had to make.

“From that, it opens up opportunities for organised crime to go in and exploit them and use that to their benefit in betting markets.”

Sport Integrity Australia will oversee integrity issues such as the manipulation of sporting competitions, use of drugs and doping methods, abuse, bullying, and discrimination in sport, however Sharpe says the organisation will not work alone.

Also on On Side, Steve Northey, our Assistant Director - Sport Operations, answers the question from the public about athletes being tested while overseas.

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This episode features two of our Doping Control state managers John Rhodes (Victoria) and Alissa Ready (Queensland).

John and Alisa commenced their newly created roles in July to be a conduit between the Canberra office, regional staff and sports.

John, who has a background in anti-corruption, says the perception of ASADA of the past has been “misrepresented” and is happy to see this perception has changed in recent times.

Alisa agreed. She said that ASADA was seen as the “bad guy” but is much more athlete-centric now, helping athletes to comply with the rules.

“The DCO and chaperones are going out and really trying to engage with athletes and the [sporting] organisations and trying to educate them, while waiting for athletes to produce a sample,” she said.

“DCOs and chaperones play a key education role, they educate athletes about supplements, medications; it’s about helping athletes and enabling them.”

John added: “The professional standing of our operators in the field is really first class.”

In the “So I was wondering…” segment, our Director of Legal answers a question from the public, this week it’s “What is prohibited association?”

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