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 government's response on the ground, speaking daily with radio host Alan Jones and eventually meeting with then-Prime Minister John Howard. More than two decades on, he talks openly about grief, acceptance, and raising his daughters through it.

It's not all heavy going, though — Salvatori also revisits the infamous headbutt that cost him a five-week suspension, a near-miss at a premiership in 1987, and a colonoscopy story that nearly blew up his marriage. And after 45 years as a builder, he's about to set off on "Salvo's Aussie Pub Crawl" — a year-long lap of the country's pubs with his wife and dog in tow.

In this episode of Chiming In, Craig shares stories from a life that's been as tough as it has been full, and explains why he's chosen to talk about the hardest parts of it rather than look away.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Intro

01:21 - Welcome: Craig Salvatori joins Chiming In

01:47 - Breaking news: retiring after 45 years as a builder

02:32 - The plan: Salvo's Aussie Pub Crawl

05:20 - The colonoscopy story that nearly got him busted

09:02 - Naming the tour and sorting sleeping arrangements

14:35 - Opening up about the Bali bombings and losing Kathy

16:33 - How the group ended up split between the Sari Club and babysitting

18:06 - The night of the bombing and the search for answers

21:34 - Getting the Prime Minister involved

24:25 - Has he been back to Bali since

25:29 - Roosters and Rabbitohs career, and getting signed for $2,000

29:50 - The 1987 preliminary final classic against Canberra

31:12 - Backing Laurie Daley against his critics

32:40 - Falling out with Phil Gould and leaving the Roosters

35:24 - Retiring at 30, and getting two new knees at 53

37:36 - Roosters life member and Indigenous Round honour

41:28 - The hardest front rowers he played against

42:20 - The famous headbutt and five-week suspension

46:15 - Calling games on radio with 2GB

47:16 - Life on the road calling Cowboys games in Townsville

53:01 - Wrap-up and best wishes for the trip

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 pile-on over Melbourne's interchange calls, and whether Laurie Daley holds a grudge (his answer: no, but he's keeping receipts).

Along the way he talks through what Stuart Diver's story meant to the playing group, a reunion dinner with the 1996 Blues team, the viral clip of Phil Gould pinching his seat in 2002, and just how far Andrew Johns' influence reached inside the camp this year. There's also a quiet moment about his late father, and the song that reminded Daley he was with him in spirit on the day it mattered most.

In this episode of Chiming In, Laurie shares what it really took to win the "unwinnable" series — and what's next for him and the Blues.

00:00 - Intro

01:08 - Welcome: the Origin-winning coach in the studio

02:35 - What's next — the contract question and his plans

06:50 - Celebrations: the Gatorade shower and the sneaky phone request

08:52 - On the field when the siren went

10:27 - The team photo, and standing at the back on purpose

12:21 - A beer on the SCG turf and the speech in the sheds

14:59 - 16 weeks without a beer, then the one that mattered

16:10 - The 5:30am walk into the radio station

17:51 - Over a thousand texts, and who reached out

26:51 - The press conference "grenade"

29:09 - Does Laurie Daley hold a grudge?

30:15 - The "putting his players to sleep" story

32:44 - Answering the Melbourne interchange criticism

37:56 - Brian To'o's Origin future

39:44 - Stuart Diver's story and what it meant to the group

42:08 - Reuniting with the 1996 Blues team

44:03 - Phil Gould's "greatest ever" comments

45:44 - The viral Gus seat-pinching clip

47:38 - What he learned about himself this campaign

48:38 - Isiah Yeo's leadership in camp

50:26 - Nathan Cleary and the immortal conversation

52:13 - Mitch Moses' kicking game and his role in the win

56:25 - His late father, and the song that reminded him he was there

58:11 - Wrap-up and what's ahead for the Blues

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 performer in the second.

In this episode of Chiming In, Nobby shares the secrets of his success and recalls how his childhood dream of playing in the NRL never left his radar.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.