The Hard Yards

Current Brisbane Broncos player David Mead joins me for a chat. David talks about  his journey all the way from his village in Papua New Guinea, where as a little fella him and his mates played footy with bottles or whatever they could find. David went on to the NRL and also played Super League in the UK as well. It is a great story from a humble and great guy. I hope you enjoy listening in to his story as much as I did.

Brisbane Lions backman Darcy Gardiner joins me for a chat ahead of another finals campaign in the AFL. He certainly knows a thing or two about doing the "Hard Yards" as he has been out most of the year with a shoulder injury requiring surgery. A ripping fella with a great positive outlook, get around it and have a listen!!

Pro golfer Aaron Baddeley joins me for episode 1 of Season 2 of The Hard Yards. Aaron rose to fame winning the Australian Open Championship as an amateur before defending his crown a year later. 20 or so years on and with 4 PGA Tour titles to his name he is still doing battle on the PGA Tour and still known as one of the best putters on tour. I hope you enjoy episode one as I catch up with Badds and chat all things golf and life!! 

This was one of my more challenging interviews.....purely as I knew very little about the sport of horse racing where this weeks guest Mark Du Plessis plies his trade as a jockey! With 19 group one wins and wins in multiple countries around the world to go with some cool Melbourne Cup stories, it ended up being one of my favourite episodes as I learnt so much about the sport and also now respect jockeys even more! Have a listen and don't forget to share it around.  To get your discount golf tees from The Hards Yards sponsor, The Tour Tee, go to www.australiangolfsupplies.com.au and use the code "THY10" on check out!! 

It is a fantastic story of perseverance and getting back up knock down after knock down. This guy probably sums up, The Hard Yards podcast perfectly. He has made it to the top now though however and is one of the excitement machines of the AFL where he captains the Brisbane Lions. If you have a kid who isn't quite getting selected and needs some inspiration to keep going, have a listen!! 

The "Raging Bull" Gorden Tallis did it all, captaining the Broncos, the Maroons and the Australian Kangaroos! A glittering career but not without its challenges. We chat life in Townsville as a kid, and his St George debut right through to his current role working with the Titans to grow the game on the Gold Coast. I hope you enjoy episode 20 of The Hard Yards!!!

This week sees me spend some time with one of the up and coming AFL umpires, Alex Whetton. He may not be a household name or one of the elite sportsman I have had on the show so far but it is a fascinating chat with one of the critical players in our AFL season. Do yourself a favour and listen in to what these guys go through week in week out to try and get everything right in a high pressure atmosphere!! Respect!

He was the number 3 draft pick in the 2016 AFL draft and has since not only cemented himself in the Brisbane Lions side but is an integral part of the premiership push for them this year. It was fantastic to sit down and chat with Hugh, one of the young guns and hear about his journey from a dairy farm to playing AFL footy! Ripping fella!

One of the most respected cricket and rugby league writers for the Courier Mail as well as host of Cricket Legends and regular on The Back Page on Foxsports Robert Craddock joined me for an amazing chat about his career in sports journalism. Looking at sport from outside the playing field looking in and covering some of the big issues in a transitioning career from print media to the current digital world we live in!! Enjoy!!!

It's a term not loosely used, this weeks guest on The Hard Yards is a "Double Allblack!" Jeff Wilson represented New Zealand on the international stage in two different codes, Rugby Union and Cricket. Jeff is a phenomenal athlete and an even better guy. You can't help but have a smile on your face when you are around him. I hope you enjoy this one, an incredible story of representing your country!