Chiming In - Steve Gillis, Player Manager

Australian poet and storyteller Murray Hartin joins Chimes for an hour of bush yarns, sporting memories and poetry that moves from hilarious to deeply heartfelt.Murray shares how a Tamworth poetry competition launched his career, recalls his rugby days and performs tributes to Dawn Fraser and woodchopping legend David Foster. He also delivers “Turbulence”, the powerful “Rain from Nowhere” and a cheeky poem written especially for the Fanatics TV crew.A conversation about Australian characters, friendship, family and the power of a good story.This episode contains strong language and discussion of depre...

Ben Lovett joins Chiming In to share his powerful rugby league journey, from growing up in Parkes and chasing an NRL dream, to breaking through at South Sydney before a devastating knee injury changed everything.Ben opens up on the physical and emotional reality of rehabilitation, being advised to medically retire, the support of his family and South Sydney, and finding a new purpose through coaching, community work and mentoring young players.⏱️ TIMECODES0:00 — Welcome to Chiming In2:20 — Growing up in Parkes, sport and a love of rugby league6:0...

Terry Kennedy joins Chiming In for a brilliant trip through his career in Australian sport and mediaFrom growing up around greyhound tracks with his father Frank Kennedy, to learning the ropes in regional newsrooms and calling almost 200 NRL games, TK shares the stories, characters and moments that shaped his career.He also reflects on working alongside some of sport’s biggest names, his love of racing, unforgettable trips to Hong Kong, South Africa and Royal Ascot, plus the changing landscape of Australian racing and sports media.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS0:00...

Come inside the world of player agent and Chiming In presenter Steve Gillis as he gives us a bird’s-eye view into the deals, drama and decision-making behind the NRL player market.Having worked in rugby league as a journalist and player agent for almost 45 years, Chimes brings his trademark honesty and insight to Part 2 of this wide-ranging conversation.In this episode, Chimes breaks down Penrith’s player-market outlook, Tolutau Koula’s future at Manly, Melbourne’s expected bounce-back and whether Cronulla’s premiership window is closing.Plus, he explains the realit...

Come inside the world of player agent and Chiming In presenter Steve Gillis as he gives us a bird’s-eye view into the deals, thrills and spills he’s overseen this season.Having worked in rugby league as a journalist and player agent for almost 45 years, Chimes knows the ins and outs of the game as well as anyone.In this episode of Chiming In, he gives us an inside look at Sam Walker’s future, how Adam Reynolds’ send-off was bungled, what’s next for Josh Papalii, and why the Dragons’ Couchman twins put their ne...

Inside Jai’s Journey.South Sydney CEO Blake Solly has been front and centre since news of Jai Arrow’s battle with Motor Neurone Disease began.In this episode of Chiming In, Solly shares insight into Jai’s courage and the way he has inspirationally lifted his teammates this season.He also reveals how coach Wayne Bennett was instrumental in ensuring Arrow was credited with 100 NRL games for the Bunnies — and how Souths pitched the idea to the NRL.But there’s more. Solly openly discusses:- The si...

Tim Gilbert has covered two Olympics, US golf majors, the Commonwealth Games and 11 years producing the Sunday Footy Show — but he started out earning nine grand a year at a tiny radio station in Goulburn, and very nearly lost the job in his first few months.Gilbert takes us from his early days growing up as one of six kids in Guildford, through a thousand dollars' worth of job applications that finally landed him a start at 2GN, to the night he slept through his alarm and left the Goulburn rural news off the air for ni...

Dave Trodden runs one of Australian sport's biggest and least understood organisations — the New South Wales Rugby League turns over more than $50 million a year, oversees 126,000 players across 700 clubs, and controls every competition in the state bar the NRL and NRLW.Trodden takes us inside the business of Origin: why Matt King was the right call to succeed Laurie Daley, whether Ivan Cleary has put his hand up for a future crack at the job, and why he expects Origin player payments to eventually double. He also opens up on protecting referees after a wave of pu...

Darryl Brohman OAM is back on Chiming In just over a year since his last appearance — and in that time he's fought off non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, his second cancer battle after prostate cancer a few years earlier.The Queensland Origin forward turned radio institution talks candidly about six rounds of chemo, losing his hair "everywhere," and the perspective he found sitting in a ward full of people going through the same thing — all delivered with the self-deprecating humour that's made him one of the game's most loved characters for the best part of 50 years.Broh...

Dean "Bulldog" Ritchie has covered rugby league for the Daily Telegraph for 37 years, breaking some of the game's biggest stories along the way — from a teenage cadet's first back-page scoop to the Bulldogs' secretly-photographed meeting with Jonathan Thurston.Ritchie takes us through how a chance work-experience placement turned into a career, the mentors who shaped him — including the legendary Peter "Chippy" Frilingos, whose sudden death at work in 2004 Ritchie still finds hard to talk about — and 37 years' worth of scoops, near-misses and colourful nights out, including the taxi door that put him in hospital.He a...

Peter Sharp is one of rugby league's most respected and longest-serving coaching minds — over 40 years in the game, and the man widely credited with discovering and shaping a young Andrew and Matthew Johns at the Newcastle Knights.From playing days at Maitland in the 1970s and a colourful path through Central Charlestown, England and Newcastle's junior system, Sharp went on to become an NRL head coach at Manly, an assistant to Craig Bellamy at Melbourne, and later took Hull FC on a 13-game winning streak in England before switching codes entirely to coach Ulster in rugby un...

Craig Salvatori was a mainstay of the Sydney Roosters front row through the late '80s and early '90s, racking up around 140 first grade games between the Roosters and a final season at South Sydney, three State of Origin appearances for the Blues alongside Laurie Daley, and a Roosters life membership this year that came with the club's Indigenous Round honour.He was also at the centre of one of Australian sport's most confronting personal stories: in October 2002, Salvatori lost his wife Kathy in the Bali bombings, and became an unlikely go-between for the Australian...

Fresh off coaching New South Wales to a series win nobody outside the camp gave them a chance of, Laurie Daley sits down for a full debrief on the campaign — the celebrations, the criticism, and everything in between.Daley takes us inside the moments after the siren: the Gatorade shower, the speech in the sheds, a beer on the SCG turf with the playing group, and the 5:30am walk into a radio station on zero sleep to do an interview live, still buzzing from the win. He also answers his critics head-on — the press conference "grenade," the...

Paul Nobby Clarke is one of rugby league’s good guys.A powerful front rower forward in the 1980s and 90s, Clarke gave as good as he got but always found time to look at the lighter side of life.Tough, skilful and uncompromising, Clarke played a major role in Penrith’s first ever premiership victory in 1991.According to team-mate Royce Simmons, Clarke was deserved on the Churchill Medal. Clarke reckons Simmons told him after the game that he was Canberra’s best player in the first half and Penrith’s best p...

You would think former Manly coach Anthony Seibold would be death riding the Sea Eagles this year. Strangely, that’s not the case.Dumped by the Club after just three NRL games, Seibold is today back on top of his game and would be more than pleased if his former chargers went on to the win the premiership.In this episode of Chiming In, Seibold opens up on shock moment he was shown the door at Brookvale and how he has since put his life back together.His openness and ho...

Royce Simmons is one of the most loved people to have ever played the game of rugby league.Who could forget the 1991 grand final, when Simmons - in his very last game for the Penrith Panthers - scored two tries in a five star performance to overcome the Canberra Raiders.Sadly, in recent times, the former NSW and Australian hooker has struggled with health issues and is battling dementia.But it hasn’t stopped Simmons' zest for life and his desire to raise funds and try and find a cure fo...

Wes Heritage is a former Australian Rules footballer who gave the game away to focus on the family business - burying people.And while some of his former team-mates went on to greatness, the hard working funeral director chose a different path.Each year, Heritage oversees more than 600 funerals - ensuring families and their loved ones are given nothing but the best support and care in a most difficult time.Death awaits us all yet we never really explore the funeral process until it’s bestowed upon us....

Peter O’Sullivan is regarded the NRL’s premier recruitment manager having successfully shaped the playing rosters of teams like the Dragons, Roosters, Storm, Warriors and Knights over many years.He was also responsible for putting together the Dolphins inaugural team in 2023 - which, amazingly, less than four seasons later, is now considered a genuine premiership contender.So what does a recruitment manager do and how does he identify and procure talent.O’Sullivan is credited with unearthing and launching the careers of players such as Greg Inglis, Latrell Mitchel, Israel...

Jordan Rankin was only 16 years old and still at school when he got the call-up to make his NRL debut for the Titans.He became the third youngest player in the game’s history to debut.On the day of the game, the Gold Coast halfback stuck to his normal routine which included donning his school uniform and heading off for classes.Looking back, Rankin’s journey has been truly remarkable, having had stints with the Gold Coast, Hull, Doncaster, Wests Tigers, Huddersfield, Castleford and Parramatta - where he captain coac...

Phil “Buzz” Rothfield has spent 50 years as one of rugby league’s most recognisable voices.After stepping away from newspapers, television, radio and podcasts, Buzz returns for a special episode of Chiming In to explain why he retired, what he misses, and what he really thinks of the NRL season so far.In this episode, Buzz opens up on the pressure of working seven days a week in rugby league media, life after NRL 360, and why breaking stories is still hard to let go.He also gives his unfiltered views on And...