Episode 5 | Eddie McGuire

This guest is one of Australia's most recognisable media figures, but he sits down 'With the Stars' to discuss the role he played in building the Melbourne Stars.

Eddie McGuire was the first President of the club, carrying a wealth of insider knowledge that is being shared for the very first time.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:09

Alright, everyone, welcome back to With the Stars, proudly brought to you by Dodo as always, and as always with me. My name's Bobby Quiney for a starters. I hope you know that. Alongside me, we've got Benny Gibson, the media manager, and he's done a great job so far of staying out of the camera, which is great. He's gonna do the same thing again. Benny, welcome.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Thanks, Bobby. Two cameras definitely not directed at me, which is great. Haven't spoken for a while, and there's been a bit of cricket between now and the big bash, and we've had some great performances. Maxie just got 70 off 30 odd the other night. Get him in the final. Stoin 62 knot out of 22 balls. Annabelle Sutherland made a ton, the fourth ton for her test career. Unbelievable stuff going on all around the world.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

Stars are going beautifully, aren't they? I'll tell you someone else who's going beautifully. We are so lucky to have a man who has been everywhere. Everyone in Australia would know who this man is. He's a podcast host, he's hosts TV shows, he's uh used to be a journalist. We all know him and love him, one of the greatest men alive. Welcome to the podcast, Eddie Maguire.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

I've never been introduced as I host a podcast before, but there we go. There's another one. There's a first, but uh, good on you, Bobby. Good to see you, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

I want to ask you a question straight up. Was that introduction suffice?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Oh, well, you could have gone a bit longer, but uh, you know, you left out about 15 logies and order of Australia and I've been present president of the Collingwood Football Club for 23 years. Uh but no, you didn't mention what I'm actually here for.

SPEAKER_03 1:32

Well, correct, but I wanted to pump you up before I we go back in time for the city. You didn't do much of a job. It was the worst intro I've ever heard. And there you go. Even when I practiced this intro, it still didn't work because I'll take you back to a time when I wasn't playing as many games as I'd like. And so all of a sudden, Clint Cooper uh had suggested that maybe it could be a good opportunity for me to host some of the hospitality functions. And I thought, Benny, this is great, great option to do some stuff outside cricket. You know, cricket could finish at any moment. And so I got up there. My job, I welcomed everyone, and the first proceeding is as Ed's role with the stars was that it was a president of the Melbourne Stars. And I said, Welcome everyone to uh the function, blah, blah, blah. Um, I'd like to welcome up uh the president of the Melbourne Stars, Eddie Maguire. So Eddie comes up and he goes, Bobby, that was shithouse. Can you do it again? Walk back down, and I'm like, oh, and I don't think I did a better job. I just yelled at it, I just did it louder. So um it was so funny.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

It was wound up like a top, you can imagine what was going on, but we had a lot of fun in that stuff. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_03 2:33

And so, I mean, one of the things that I down here that I didn't say, mate, and and obviously we're talking to you as a former president of the the Melbourne Stars, um, is your generosity. And and as much as like his tongue-in-cheek or your bit of a wind-up because I did I did a really bad job of introducing him, was that I'd gone to Ed in the first place and said, Listen, I'm working on a bit of some media stuff, and I I mean, maybe there's a big gap between you and me, but I love some help, some advice. Uh, and organically it came through, even in in it didn't listen to anything I said as usual.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

It hasn't worked. But no, it was good, it was good fun. But it in those days, what we were trying to do at the stars, and particularly it's a summer, it was summer, it was fun. And we didn't want it to be the you know introduction of here comes the president. It was let's have some fun, let's get in here, let's have a bit of fun, and particularly because of your stature as one of our champions of the game. It was just good, it was back and forth. I remember somebody who did that to me very early on in my career was Keith Stackpole playing. Yeah, okay. And it was fun, and I was taken aback, as you were, but uh I remember after that I thought, okay, that's it's important to get the intro right. But at the same time, the tone of the situation, because what it did is it the the room laughed, everyone had a joke, you got back up, I came up, said whatever I was going to say, and everyone had something to go home with and have a bit of a bit of fun. It's about entertainment, it's about just for a moment in time making people feel good about themselves and where they are and setting the sort of tone for the night. So uh, you know, I think uh sometimes we can get a bit carried away, um, particularly when we're involved. So you're a player on the presenter club, we want to win, big crowd. You're you know, there's a million things that go on when you're the president of an organization. You know, can the people get in? Are they selling the merchandise? Is the the room right? Are the players right? What's going on? You know, are the trains on strike? Are they you know killing themselves in the cheer squad? You know, whatever the situation is, you know, have they got the the right flamethrower up and not burning half the stand down? All those sorts of things you're watching and you're keeping an eye on. But everyone else is there for a bit of fun, and particularly with the big bash, there was a lot of people who had never been to a cricket match. Yep. So we were getting a lot of people for the first time, so we wanted to make it a little bit more relaxed.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

Well, we're about to get there because before we get there, and you've talked about a mean things going on from a star's perspective, and I feel like when everyone from the outside looks in and sees Eddie Maguire, they just assume that there's a million things going on with you. What what are you up to right now? Oh, well, I've got a podcast host.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

I've got a million things going on. Um, I've got some meetings today. There's an interesting message there, actually, just come in. Uh, but um uh well I have a production business, uh Jam TV, which does over 500 as I broadcasts a year. Uh, you know, we broadcast everything from uh basically all the football other than the AFL.

SPEAKER_04 5:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Uh we do all the Channel 9 shows, some of the Channel 7 shows. We do documentaries, we do the NBL, the A-League. Uh uh we're involved with uh V8 Supercars and uh various projects and Unreal. Uh we're actually one for the cricketers, we're doing a fantastic documentary on the Sesqui Centennial Test for next year. Unreal in March. I'm on the uh the organizing committee of the Sesquis Centennial. I'm on the organizing committee of the NFL coming up in September. Um so yeah, I'm on the board of Visit Victoria, so it's a bit gone on. How many committees are you on? No, they're just those ones. I just keep it. Yeah, volunteer committees. Uh I'm a trustee of the MCG, so that that that's that's there as well.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

How many committees and boards do you reckon you've been on over your time?

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Um plenty, but again, I I I tend to like to do ones where I'm fully invested. Well, volunteering as well, you know, and areas that actually make sense. So Collingwood to me was was um it was as much about uh being involved in a charity as it was about anything else. But that's my passion, that's what I love. That's what gave me the opportunity as a first generation Australian coming here. Um, yeah, we couldn't afford to go on any holidays. We lived out in Broadie, and you know, dad came from Scotland, mum came from Ireland, and but what we did every weekend is we went to the footy, yeah, we went to the cricket. You know, I remember going to watch Gillette Cup games and uh you know when Richie Robinson was the captain of Victoria, you know, Mick Malone beat us at the MCG one day, 75,000 for a one day when one day was just starting. Who would have thought? You know, I still I mean that was my my draw. I remember getting on the train to go to a World Series cricket match out at Waverley, and it started to rain as we pulled up at Kooyong Station. And me and my mate from Brody, we we looked at it and go, it looks at the Australian Open.

SPEAKER_03 7:01

And we jumped off the train and went just change of plans. Change of plans.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

It worked out well because it did. The cricket got washed out, and we went to the tennis and uh you know, might have jumped the fence and got in. But anyway, we we were there. So that was that was while I've and of course weekends was the footy, yeah. And uh and but for me, I started writing for district cricket when I was 13. I remember that, yeah. And I was just watching looking outside down in the uh foyer here at headquarters at uh uh cricket Victoria and all the old names from you know the late 70s and early 80s and you know Dasher Hibbett and all these guys who were there, and and then as a young reporter at Channel 10, I'd cover the Shield cricket. Yeah, you know, so you watched a ton of cricket.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

I think it's easy to see your passion for cricket and why you got involved with the stars, but how did that actually come up? Because the Big Bash was a whole new invention.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yeah, well they they they decided to get in the Big Bash again, going back to when I was CEO. In those days, they had one 2020 game and it raided through the roof. I'm saying, come on, let's do a few more. And they were reluctant to do it, cricket Australia. Um, anyway, so the Big Bash uh concept came up and they came to see me and uh said, you know, would you be involved? How would you like to do this?

SPEAKER_03 8:12

And I said, uh Who's that when you say they uh cricket Australia? It was Cricket Australia, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

It was James Sutherland and uh and a few other guys. I came in and said to them, I would only be involved if we were able to have it as a community-based team. And so I actually said to them, why don't we just call it Collingwood? And I'll merge them into Collingwood and we'll have that Collingwood tradition. There'll be no worries about having rivals down at whatever you want to call the other mobile. And we were flying it, the price were going well at that stage as well. MCG, train across the road at what was the Lexus Center in those days. I'm the president of both, you know, we'll shared services. It made a lot of sense. Yeah, anyway, they wouldn't have to think about that, and they came back. No, no, we don't want to get too close to the AFL. I said, Well, sort of it's going to be if I'm involved. But anyway, so no, they went, so Melbourne stars said, Yep, no, no problem at all. However, I still want this to be um, I want the profits of this club to go into grassroots cricket, and I want to see the pipeline. And uh I said, what I want to do is, you know, we were landing uh Collingwood membership caps for a couple of cents out of um China or you know wherever we got them from. Um so the membership hats were just becoming a real thing. And I said, What I want to do is I want to give every kid a green stars cap on every beach, every junior cricket team, walking down the street. All I want to see is green caps everywhere. Unfortunately, Cricket Australia had already done a merchandise deal with um an American. Remember those bowl bowl caps they were trying to sell? Yeah, and so sadly that that idea fell away a little bit. But my whole um consciousness at that stage was about juniors. I had two boys playing junior cricket. My two boys were only well ten and twelve or something. Yeah, and they were mad cricketers, yeah. They absolutely love cricket. So uh I had a bit of uh you know a renewed love of cricket going every Friday night to watch and Saturday morning to watch the boys play. So so that was the idea of it. And the other thing that I I loved about it was cricket, I've always felt is just too niche. It's one wicket keeper who's usually there for seven years, and no one else gets a game in the Australian team. Four bowlers, you know, an all-rounder, four or five batsmen, whatever it is, whatever the shape is. And I thought this is a really great way. I I've always believed that the reason why AFL football is so big is because there's 750 local blokes playing, and and now women. Yeah, so your local hero from everyone can remember every bloke who's played at their local footy club who went on to play senior football. Well, certainly I can. And I just thought the opportunity, because I knew all these great guys, like the Jamie Siddons, you know, and and even you know, Buff Lehman to a degree, but people who just missed, yeah, you know, over the years, you know, and we we saw blokes come into the Australian team when World Series cricket happened who would never have got a go. And you know, one of my ideas that I put to uh cricket, and I uh and look, I throw up ideas because that's what I do, don't have to take them on, but I wanted to actually change the Sheffield Shield into the teams of the 2020 Big Bash so that it had two teams in Melbourne, okay, and then you could have a state of origin series for the big V.

SPEAKER_03 11:26

You saying that 15 years ago versus saying it now. 15 years ago, I think people, because uh they're scared of change rides, yeah, where they are will will just go no. Yeah, when now that if you proposed it today, yeah, and especially what what's going on, it becomes more realistic, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 11:44

But it should have been. Because it would have been 15 years. Is it too late though? No, no, it's never too late. It's just we could have done it 15 years ago. I mean, I what I wanted for the Melbourne Stars, so when I got in, yeah, we warmed into it. And uh, you know, people you'll probably ask me, oh, we haven't won a flag. Well, we got ripped off about three or four times. No, it's seriously, the the rule changes that cricket Australia allowed, you know, that time when Kowajia was able to play and half our team got dragged out on the grand final. I couldn't believe that they they let this happen.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

Um but then there was another one where we finished top, we're undefended all year, and then we lost one game the first final, and then you're out, and they changed the system again after that. Yeah, all that.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

But anyway, we didn't win so I forgot about that, but bad luck, yeah. I have it. A few others as well along the journey. But anyway, but um, but you know, e even with that, so what what I want I what I wanted to do was so I was president, but I sort of felt as if we were the ownership. John Wiley, myself, David Evans, and you know, the other people involved in the in the in the uh board. And we had representatives of cricket Victoria and things who were wonderful people, so you know, they're keeping an eye on where we're going. But what I wanted to do, which again was probably ahead of its time, I wanted the Melbourne Stars to be an international team. So I actually spoke with Lords about us playing at Lords and playing in County cricket, playing in uh their one days and their 2020s, and even this was before the hundred came.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Jeez, I wish I listened to you, that would have been a great trip.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

And what I wanted was I wanted us to have a troop of Victorian players who were able to play cricket 12 months of the year with our doctors, our coaches, TV rights coming back to Australia. So, you know, imagine on a Wednesday night in uh middle of winter, and you can turn on Foxtel or Channel 7 or Channel 9 or Channel 10, whoever had it, and watch the stars playing Somerset and uh you know, you know, 2020. And I'd spoken to the guys at Lord's and they were looking to sell that, you know, the block of land next to they actually wanted to, had the deal done, and then I think the council stopped them. And I said, Don't sell any land in London, my god. Don't do that. I said, What you need is more content. Yeah, because they came out. We had the conversation sitting, you know, where I used to sit at the MCG in that back row. Yeah, and the the then chair of uh I think it was the chair or the CEO of Lords was with me, and he thought it was a great idea. So I suddenly went, right, okay. Anyway, it stopped. So they were the things that in my mind, I just thought the momentum. So again, you can talk about how we won a flag. That wasn't necessarily my uh my job. My job was to fill the MCG. Yeah, and I remember speaking to Stephen Goff, who was the head of the MCC in those days, and Goffey said, if you can get 25,000 in here, we'll be we'll be happy. 30,000. We did it regularly. Basically pay, you know, the day when 85,000 turned up, yeah, you know, I remember speaking to Kevin Peterson and Warney's Warney rang me and said, We've got to get KP, we can get Kevin Peterson. And uh, because Warney was finishing up. And I said, Oh yeah, he said there's a few into him. So I spoke to KP and said, Listen, how do you feel? Just I said, shut your eyes for a moment and tell me what it would feel for you to walk out onto the MCG and have 80,000 people cheering. Cheering instead of Bill. Yeah, cheering it. So never happened. I said, Yes, it will. Yes, it will. I said, Yes, it will. I said, you will walk out onto the MCG. I said, you win the game for us and you walk off a hero. And uh anyway, I came back a couple of days later and said, Oh, you've got me. Got inside his head, and uh, and then we had and then he was unbelievable because he the all the stuff you know, saving the rhinos and the way he played and everything about him. Yeah, KP was just fantastic. And talk about you know, a guy sometimes get the internationals, they come in and they, you know, come here for a holiday.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

No, he threw himself right in, and then we had Will Smith turning up and all the celebrities and there's a photo of you and Will Smith on the wall in the office downstairs.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Is there? Yeah, well, that was that was a that was a big night, and he was he was great for us as well. But we got all these guys going because we had the international flavour, and we were the big team, we were the stars.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

So, can I get you why you're talking about that? So, so was it from the start, and I don't know whether you was were in cahoots with the renegades to make this happen at the start, whether there was like a little bit of a force rivalry, but also the discussion about no, no, we, and I don't know whether it was just because of your vision, we want to get the biggest and best name.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

We don't worry about anyone else, we did our own thing, and I knew it was gonna happen anyway because James Brayshaw was down at the renegades. Yeah, so you know Dunstall was there for a bit of time. Then Dunstall, who was great, is one of the uh Jason is one of the great uh uh sporting administrators. He rebuilt Hawthorne, did a great job with the renegades, knocked us off in that final, which I don't know how we lost that still, but anyway. Um the uh but the the point there was that they were going to do their own thing. Yeah, okay, so I didn't worry about them. And it was always, you know, and cricket victoria were trying to get it up. It didn't matter. When I I sort of said to him, you sure that maybe I should be the the president of the team, or we should maybe the stars need to be the Western Northern suburbs because of my background as a Broad Meadows guy. Yeah, yeah. And uh James a bit more, you know, the West Australian, South Australian cricket royalty and his father's sticks. His father sticks was you know part of the the royalty of Western Australia. Great black. I mean, an amazing family. So it was always gonna work whichever way it fell. Anyway, but it was the MCG was for me, and uh and right, let's get stuck into it. And uh again, you know, it was a bit of boys' own annual stuff. Suddenly I can pick my cricket team. So I go, right, first black I'm gonna get, I'm gonna get Ian Chapel.

SPEAKER_03 17:17

Yes, I remember that chairman of selectors.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Chairman of Selectors, because all I ever read all my life, and every time I spoke to Ian Chapel, was how the administrators and the selectors are all dickheads. So I thought, right, okay, in you come back. Did you have Warney on that stage? Yeah, you already got Warney.

SPEAKER_03 17:32

Exactly. That's how it all worked. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

And there was one block we had to get.

SPEAKER_03 17:35

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

As soon as I got this, I could get Warney. And everyone said no. I was too old. I said, so when turn it up. So I got I I can't remember how it was. Anyway, I got Warney on board.

SPEAKER_03 17:44

So when you and Warney are sitting down, yeah, whether it be over a coffee, a Red Bull vodka, no doubt a Dart, was there a list of plays? He was 100%.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

You were just glass glass red, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

Was like, was there a list of plays that you gone were targeting? Yeah. And and how many of them did you get versus?

SPEAKER_01 18:02

Oh, look, I think uh they th those guys got into that, and Clint Cooper did a great job, and and all the other guys.

SPEAKER_03 18:09

You had a semi-wish list, didn't you? No, no, no, it wasn't. No, we're all over it.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

I mean, the first thing I did was go get the people who could make the right calls. Yep. So Ian Chapel, Shane Warren, away we go. And then Warney picked the team. It was like that. But also went and got Viv Richards. Oh, yeah. I've just you know, so because what I wanted was international players, but also the local guys to come and not just play 2020 and bit of hit and giggle, but to walk into the room and see Ian Chapel, Shane Warren, Vivian Richards, you know, I'm the president and I I'm coming in. Come on, we're here to win and kill and all the rest of it. A chest full of sponsors and a and a crowd that they've never played in in their life. I wanted people to come to the Melbourne Stars and experience something that no one would ever have. And what I wanted to keep was that truncated season so that the international players would come here. And one of the selling points I said to Brighty and all the international guys is come here, I'll give you the best physio, the best medical facility. So if you've got a bit of a niggle, come down, we'll look after you, train you. It's 2020. You know, we've got the clubhouse at Crown and then down it was down at the Emerson and places like that. So we're gonna have a lot of fun, it's gonna be great, and it's gonna be big time, and you can make a name for yourself. And I don't know any sports person alive who's gets the opportunity to walk onto a packed MCG who thinks, oh no, I think I might do something else. And you know, KP says for his storied career, that was one of his greatest ever memories was walking out and walking off getting a standing ovation.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

So, Benny, like one of the one of the queries that came about without sort of lagging too much about like, you know, we didn't have the on-field success that we probably deserved at that time, was that you they cheated us out of it, that's why. Like a lot of us have obviously been around like high-profile cricketers, right? But then you see Eddie come in the room as your president, but also Eddie being like, wow, like like Eddie. And but then in the change rooms, there's a normalization, and then you get you know, Viv to come in the change room, and I'm like, this bloke is next level. But you see it on the bus, the next thing you you you you know, he's telling cricket stories, he's asking about you, he's got this most amazing laugh. Like anyone you any West Indian you you speak to, you're like, I just wish I could speak like them. Like they've they're just so smooth, and and he was amazing. And you know, I guess what I'm trying to get at is that you're you're talking a lot about like big names, but also talking about the fan engagement and experience side of things, but as a player, it was next, it was it was next level, which may maybe there were elements of like expectations that we had to sort of rise to, but that's what you want, don't you? You want the best time. Well we wanted to be the big time.

SPEAKER_01 20:47

And and look, that was my philosophy at Collingwood, that we went from Victoria Park, which was falling apart, um, you know, the worst, the worst facilities with the worst list in '98, '99, um, you know, finished on the bottom of the ladder, broke, all the rest of it. But what I wanted was for people, rank and file people, people like me as a kid, who really I got my identity by barracking for Collingwood, yeah, and going to watch Victoria play in in cricket and all that type of thing, and going to the MCG to watch Australia play, and you know, taking on the POMs, and you know, it was really, it was really important to me as a little boy going there. It was right, let's get into them. You know, they were superheroes, Tomo and Lily and Max Walker, and you know, the Chapel brothers and Ian Redpart, who lived in Victoria, and Stacky, I just thought, was a superhero because his dad played in the premiership for Collingwood. Nothing to do with his cricket ability. No, the whole thing, like, like, who is this person who plays, opens like a swashbuckler for Australia and for Victoria, and his dad played an premiership for Collingwood. My God. Where do these people come from? You know? But for me, they were my childhood superheroes. You know, I wasn't into Superman or Batman or any of that stuff. These guys were everything. Yeah, you know, so the cricketers in the summer, you know, Greek Chapel, Greek. Chapel, the first ever colour print front page of the Herald was a poster probably 75-76 of Greek Chapel, which was on you know on my wall. Um these were the the superheroes of the time. So when the time came, that's what I wanted kids to have that they could come and see this. But also blokes who were sort of middling players or bursting through or making the decision to have a bit of a go, you know, for you, Bobby, to go out and play those great innings for the stars on national television and be on the back page of the paper the next day and everyone knows who Bobby Quani is. You know, it was great. Um, that's what it was all about. So for me, there was it was the perfect combination of my love of sport and and the traditional values of sport and then show business as well and television and everything else that came with it. So that's why I used to get excited about it. I had the added extra that my boys loved it, you know, probably kept me there a bit longer, to be perfectly honest. I didn't get much time off in the summer. Yeah, um, as you know, I didn't go on the interstate trips because it was just easier. It was a hundred thousand dollars probably.

SPEAKER_03 23:07

I don't understand how you did the stars, let alone anything else.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

No, but it was that was more because I wanted another trainer to go. Yeah. If I didn't go, you know, the budgets were pretty tight. It meant we could get more medical staff or whatever. Um, me going to watch the game in Sydney and sit there having another, you know, piece of rubber chicken and you know coming out and yeah, it wasn't going to help you guys. Being down here with the sponsors, making things happen, doing you know the MCG.

SPEAKER_03 23:32

Sure, there's a bit of family time, like you had to like I mean, you your boys are with you, you bring them in the rooms, no, but that's it.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

No, no, my my my wife, long-suffering Carla, um, but but she was asked once I'd you ever go skiing or anything? She said, No, no, we're a we're a we're a footy cricket family. And and that was it. She knew it. I mean, she was a kid, her father was president of the local cricket club and opening bowler, and she grew up as a little girl going to cricket matches and you know, mumps and whatever makes her free boys happy. That was it. Yeah, but also uh we have to stick together. That's why we all used to go as a as a team. I had to change the rules to get the boys to be able to sit with me at the footy because it was a corporate area and you know the underage liquor licensing and all that sort of stuff. I don't I'm not drinking, I don't I don't drink at the sporting events or anything.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

That's how Warney tried to change the rules about smoking smoking your vengeance.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

But Warney was unreal. I mean, Warney, I mean, you know, the the McCullum ball. I mean, for me, that is one of my greatest highlights because he's got a black armband on, and that was for my father, who died that week. Yeah, and uh I remember his the last time I spoke to my father was uh he was uh he was 94 and a half uh and he knew his time was up. And we had our last goodbyes on the Friday, and I turned up on the Saturday and he said, I said, What are you doing here? What do you reckon I'm doing here? And he said, Uh, what's on today? I said, uh I said, We're playing tonight at the MCG. And he said, Go on, get on with it. Yeah, come and get on with it. Yeah. So with that in mind, I turned up and um my brother was actually with me and my sister was in the ground. My mother's sister wasn't there, but as it turned out, we were all there. And um, yeah, so Warney uh the next week, Warney with the black armpan, uh he bought so my father actually died while I was watching the stars. That's extraordinary. Yeah, and that's where the way he wanted it. So it wasn't that I didn't want to be with him, it was quite the opposite. He didn't want me to be there. He wanted me to be at the Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:18

Doing your dad in the last bit. If you're saying to push on, you push on, don't you? Yeah, you do. Talk to us about your relation with Warney. Like, was it strong before you got to the stars?

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Yeah, well, well, I knew him as when he started. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we had him on our radio shows and and the likes. This, you know, he was the you know, the pudgy kid from from uh Brighton. We uh I knew him uh see uh I sort of knew him a bit because he wore 23 because of his love of Dermot. Yeah, and Dermot was one of my best mates, and he was then he loved Trevor Barker, who was one of my best mates. So we used to have a golf Forsome when I was about 22, 23.

SPEAKER_03 25:53

I didn't say you were a golfer.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

No, I'm not. I'm hoping so. I'm a member of more golf clubs than games I've played in the last 10 years. I'm the best member you can have. I pay up and don't show up. It's as simple as that. It's it is it is ridiculous. But um, so we but we used to play at Elston Week, Royal Elston Week. Yes, and the four were Dermot Brereton, Trevor Barker, and Shirley Strawn from Skyhawks and me. Right now, you've got to remember this. Yeah, Doom and I the same age. Barks was the biggest star in in Australia. He was God, right? So suddenly, you know, Barks is my mate, and I'm going out to nightclubs with him, and Doom and I are the same age, and you know, Doom Doom grew up in Frank's and I grew up in Broadie at either end of the same railway line. Over the same thing with Irish parents, the whole routine. And we became mates on a state of origin trip. And then uh and and then Sherl was he was there was no one bigger in Australia in the 70s than Skyhawks. Do you know Skyhawks? No, right, okay. You gotta get a good song. We'll get you a cassette tape to put in the car after that. But all the songs were basically about Melbourne. Uh Greg McCainch was a songwriter and guitarist, and Red Simons was the lead guitarist, and Bongo Starkey was the drummer, and uh uh, you know, and he's a character too, Shu, as well as. I think Shill was sensational and loved his sport, big hawthorn man. But I remember getting in uh getting in his powder blue Porsche with ski racks on the back of it at uh rajeunes and mooney ponds and driving to the Chevron with him and just what is and he parks up on the footpath and we I'm here, get out and parts you know, it's like Moses parting the Red Sea in we go and drink cards and and I'm uh I'm still living in you know the commission house in Broadway going, how long has this been going?

SPEAKER_03 27:35

So literally the bees' knees, aren't they?

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Yeah, well we but you know we but we'd go and play golf on a Friday, and next day Parks and Dermot would be dominating. And Shule was there as a superstar, and he had Shure's neighborhood, his own TV show in those days, and I was you know making my way through the ranks at Channel 10. So it was that so it was great. So so much of my life and fun has been around it. Back to Warney. So he was the sort of next generation coming through on all that, and then suddenly he went from being you know the young bloke to how did that happen? And he he never changed. He loved the idea of the stars, he loved it, he loved being captain, you know. He said, I maybe I shouldn't be captain. I said, You should mate you the captain, and he loved it, and he got Capelli in, and he got KP, and well, you had him in the dressing room, so you know what it was like there.

SPEAKER_03 28:23

But what one thing that I guess that that resonates with me is both of you, the way you talk, one, you don't sit on your ass and just like let things happen. You're innovators and you're doers, and you you want to make shit happen.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

Yeah, well, Warney'd be ringing me from everywhere around. Why don't we do this? Why can't we do this? Why don't we do this? Why don't we do that? You know, but also he was uh his partner at that stage was Liz Hurley, Elizabeth Hurley. And you remember the the dinner they put on down there. So they put dinner on at Warney's house down there. And so imagine everyone in cricket was trying to get into it. And they were settling in for the night, and I think I got up at one stage and said, Right a everybody, it's been wonderful. Let's give Elizabeth and Sean a big round of applause. Now get up and go down to the pub down the road and get out of here. Get everyone out because everyone was settling in. But Elizabeth was wonderful, she was the wonderful hostess, but would turn up and you know, you look at the the old shots of Warney's kids, you know, Jackson's about it. Yeah, they're all together, aren't they? They're all together, but they were there and they leant into it. So they didn't sort of hide away. No, they were all part of it. So again, the Melbourne stars, you've literally got a movie star, you've got the superstar, and then you've got everything else going around it.

SPEAKER_03 29:32

It was great time. It's funny you mentioned that because when we had Jacko on um the last podcast, I reckon it was, we spoke about I remember going through an airport and um you know, Warney and and and Elizabeth were walking through the airport, and there were just cameras. And you know, we after the odd shield game, there'd be a camera at the carousel maybe every second shield game, and just to speak to the captain, where this was like there were three cameras, five photographers, all following these people around. So, you know, you'd be you'd be speaking with them, you're doing the right thing, you're just conversing as you normally do, and you're walking towards, you get through the um the x-rays of scanners, and then you're walking through, and then all of a sudden there's all these, you know, and you're like, how how on earth do they put up with all that shit?

SPEAKER_01 30:15

But Warney was the most extraordinary ordinary bloke you ever made. Yes, and that's what he was. He just sprinkled magic dust wherever he went.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

And uh a wonderful person. But I loved what he did with the stars because he really really put in. Yeah, he bought in.

SPEAKER_03 30:30

And from the Ridersun days as well.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Yeah, but you know, he knew he could he wasn't there, but he still pulled out some magic. And I reckon the st I reckon the big bash became something off the back of that ball. So he might have had the ball of the century against getting, but that ball was the one that launched big time big bash, and everyone talks about it. Yeah, but still. I mean, every how many YouTubers have have looked at it. That was the moment, and I remember looking at it, and uh yeah, as I said, I was pretty emotional because of um what was going on uh with the black armband, but because I was outside, I didn't hear him say that he was gonna call it. I could uh just watched it happen in front of me, and then everyone said, Oh, he called it beforehand.

SPEAKER_03 31:09

Well, we're all the same, we're running in, and we're thinking we've we've seen the back of Brendan McCullum. Like that's the bit we were pumped about, and then all of a sudden he goes, I called that, and we're like, Oh, good on you, mate. Yeah, and then find out later in the game, and it's like what he did. He did, yeah. Mate, circling back to sort of more the stars, yeah, and um from a jovial perspective, you and your presence and your network. Now, we've got some solid names in here that you've been in involved with. So you've got Glenn Maxwell, Lesith Malinga, um, we've got uh Andy Lee, Kevin Peterson, Luke Wright, Jimmy Faulkner as well.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Still get texts from Jimmy everyone. Well, I was gonna ask. Yeah, it drives me mad. It's great. I love him. Well, he's a Pisman as well, yeah. Exactly. Yeah, Beery, Barry's texting me as well.

SPEAKER_03 31:55

Beery would would probably hit you up for tickets quite often, I reckon. He's probably can.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

Um because they're family.

SPEAKER_03 32:00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

That's the thing. It's like the calling of boys, the Stars boys are all family. I'm probably this is probably I love them. This is probably that's why I'm not gonna pick one.

SPEAKER_03 32:07

No, no, no. Well, it's more were there any any of those guys, and I'm probably I've circled Jimmy Faulkner because he's he's a beauty, but he'd fall in that category, would come up and be like, Hey Ed, um any chance you could do this for me? Ed Holmes. Geez, I love the way you dress, mate. You look good. Can you get me into this? Can you?

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Oh yeah. Yeah, everyone thinks you're ticket tick. Yeah, yeah. Finals tickets.

SPEAKER_03 32:28

So was there anyone within that group? All of them. All of them. No, a lot of them. Some of them. So Max will tick. Malinga wouldn't have to converse with you, really. He was Andy Lee probably didn't have to. Andy Lee's on his own. He's playing. KP, but you're happy to look after KP.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

KP was good, good at that, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:44

Lucky Wright would have absolutely he'll probably either get the second ticket that KP couldn't find.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

No, Lucky Wright was just a great play. He was just great, he turned up, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:53

Um Beerie, I've got down here. I've added Beery because of you. So Michael, so Michael Beer would have asked plenty. So did you get him tickets to the the last Colin Grand Final?

SPEAKER_00 33:01

I don't know, I might have, did I? You couldn't have a thousand people come and ring you.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Well, these days I can say I'm not there anymore, so you know, I don't have any access. I say to people something when they ring up, they go, Right, okay, here's here's the pecking order, okay? So I've got my family, my friends, people that I want to do business with, the Collingwood members, and then you. Okay?

SPEAKER_03 33:23

It's like you were in hold on the phone and they say, you are 21st in line.

SPEAKER_01 33:28

Yeah, well, 120,000th at that stage. But no, no, that the no the guys were good. They you'd think that in that situation they would come in and siphon the place for five weeks and get out. They actually they they took up the vibe, as they say, in the castle.

SPEAKER_03 33:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:48

And uh Dennis Danudo, right? But they they they actually got what we were trying to do, and they realized actually you don't need to, you know, take all the biscuits off, you know, there's more coming. We're actually gonna have a lot of fun, and you know, you can just be here. And we did train at the best facilities and we did get the medical people in, and we did have the most fun. Accommodation. Accommodation start a crown, all that sort of stuff, and and we played in front of big crowds, and it was big.

SPEAKER_02 34:14

So, what's your vision for the next chapter of the Melbourne Stars in 10 years' time?

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Well, I don't know, I'm not there anymore.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

But but it let's say like because clearly you're you're staying touched so you you're you're an almanac essentially. You you'll read things uh see things, speak to people.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

Well, I probably could go back to what we said 15 years ago and implement some of those things.

SPEAKER_03 34:32

Well, but is as simple as that, or is it you've got something maybe you've that's going through your mind?

SPEAKER_01 34:36

Again, look, I'm out of it. Uh, and when I left, I stepped out as the same at Collingwood. I don't get any. But that doesn't stop your mind. No, no, but I'll look at it from a different point of view now. Yeah, for me, why I loved the concept of 2020 Big Bash and being involved in the stars was it was for all those kids who don't go on holidays.

SPEAKER_03 34:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:54

Right? That was me. You know, I used to read about people going to holiday houses and all that sort of stuff. Never heard of it.

SPEAKER_04 35:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

And but we went to every event. So if I was 12, my dad would have taken me to the stars.

SPEAKER_04 35:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

And we would have gone and I would have loved it, and it would have been the highlight of my week. And I would have known every stat, I would have known every what every bat was that every player had, and what brand of runners they had, and everything else that was going, we're doing all over it. And I watched that with my blokes who have a different upbringing than what I had, but they were just all in, and you know, within two weeks, suddenly I they had to get three cars to take all their mates to the game. Yeah, yeah. And you remember what it was like in the rooms. I'd walk in, and it was, you know, it's like you know, those young boys that just walk through, it's like a team of boys at each other. A team of boys that come in all again, they're all like this, looking at you know everybody and standing in the corner. And you know, within 10 minutes, once it loosened up, they're suddenly you know borrowing somebody's bat, you know. They've got KP's bat.

SPEAKER_03 35:51

They'd always go to like KP's bat or um Maxie's bat, the bag, and and and they're both really like happy to do it and they're like, look at this, and then they're sure enough to pick it up and then they look at the size of the bat and they go, Oh, how do I get me one of these?

SPEAKER_01 36:06

They're looking at it, photos and things. But but the thing I loved about it was that it wasn't just straight into the rooms, everyone stayed out for the best part of 45 minutes, so it wasn't just you know the president's kids who were getting a run at this. It was everybody, and we were family and stuff. Everybody, but but everyone outside, you know, we went around the whole MCG, stayed out, did as much as we could. And I love that. I love that community aspect of it. And so, in a lot of ways, it probably encapsulated my total being as a kid who used to be very much standing up, you know, a seat at a at at the footy with what was the old VB cans you said. And my dad used to come with, he used to bring a lump of wood to put on top of it so the cans wouldn't cut into my foot.

SPEAKER_03 36:51

Imagine trying to get through security at the MCG with a lump of wood.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

It was pretty handy on the Broad Meadows train on the line, too.

SPEAKER_03 36:58

What about what about the time that Usain Bolt? Uh I think we we're nearly going to wrap it up. You you're saying Bolt came. Like, where did that spark from?

SPEAKER_01 37:06

Well, if you remember the first year, it was a circus.

SPEAKER_03 37:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 37:10

And uh, you know, there were all sorts of things going on. So um I was getting ready to host the Olympic Games, and uh Maury Plant, the great Maury Plant, was involved as well. So I knew that Hussain Bolt wanted to it was a cricketer.

SPEAKER_04 37:25

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 37:25

So I thought, oh well, let's let's see if we get to Usain Bolt. Why not? Yeah, why not? And he was up for it.

SPEAKER_04 37:30

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

And uh ended up playing soccer at one stage, it didn't get there. But yeah, he but but it was interesting when I spoke to him, I said, Why did you go to athletics and not cricket? I said, You clearly got the right build for a West Indian fast bowler. Yeah, and his dad stopped him playing cricket, he said, it's too political. It's too political, and over there, especially, but he said, you know, you might be the best player, but they're gonna pick somebody else. He said, You run, you get there first, you win.

SPEAKER_03 37:56

It makes sense, it keeps it simple, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 37:58

That's from the lips of Usain Bolt. Not that's there's no interpretation. That's what he said, quote unquote. We're having dinner with him with my wife Carla, and she just yep, you know, because she'd been watching all the political machinations that happen around me and you know Collingwood and stars.

SPEAKER_03 38:16

It would be never ending, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:17

Well, it's never ending, and you know, so sometimes the whole thing, just because you've got the best idea in the room doesn't mean you're gonna win the day. Yeah, but uh so Bolt did that. So yeah, so there was all that circus, and then he leant into it, and of course I wound it up like a top, and you know, which you're very good at.

SPEAKER_03 38:30

Do you know what? And before we get there, and this is really random, I think we did something at Dick Smith one day, and um myself, Clint McKay, and John Hastings were there as an appearance, and then Eddie's we're all waiting on Eddie. Eddie lobbed in and it was to do, it was just to talk and and it's um to build up Dick Smith, I think it was at the time. And I remember like talking to him, going, have you got prepared? He goes, No, no, we're we're good to go. I'm just gonna talk about it. And I'm like, what's going on with these blogs? You cannot just lob up, and sure enough, he he reels off all the people that are working there, that are people that are here, and then becomes the Don King and goes, I'm promoting, I'm not only promoting the Melbourne Stars, I'm promoting Dick Smith, and I'm promoting the game. And you're like, How the hell do you do this shit time and time again? It's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 39:15

Well you gotta have the skill, but you've got the enthusiasm for it. Yeah, that probably got it all. Someone someone could have enthusiasm, but how to articulate that at the same time is the Dick Smith one is a good one to jog my memory on because Dick Smith went under while they were their our sponsors, and I was overseas, and John Wiley was overseas in completely different time zones. I think I was in Europe and he was in uh I think he might have been up in Canada or something. He was in he was out on like he could have been in Siberia or it could have been in, you know, uh Alaska or somewhere. He was out in the middle of nowhere. And we we did a phone hookup, and by the next morning, we had a new sponsor of twice the money. And uh that was where it was at, you know, because we had and David Evans was involved at the other end, and Clint Cooper was doing a great job. And you know, I remember the cricket, cricket Victoria rang the next day, or hands in the air. Oh, what are we gonna do about Dick Smith? I said, Don't worry, it's fixed. I said, uh, and you you guys turned up the next day and the the stickers went on. You just get the stickers on top. Optus was on there, stuck on, and away we went. So there were good, it wasn't just me, it was there were so many great people. But you you look at it, we you know, people like you know John Wiley. Imagine having his horsepower involved and and committed. No, and I was gonna say, and David Evans. Yeah, so we we had a really good group of people around the place.

SPEAKER_03 40:36

I think we were lucky um to have the people obviously in the background, and not just you, like the support. And Sherelle McMahon was there as well. She was great.

SPEAKER_01 40:43

Yeah, uh Damien Fleming was a so that I I I for I forgot to mention Damien. So Damien was there as well picking the site. So you had Damien Fleming, Ian Chapel, uh uh Shane Warren, etc. And Greg Shipard was the coach, you know, and Ship was a great coach. So you had a you know, that side of things is a bit like when I was a Collingwood. The the first time I ever slept was when Greg Swan was the CEO. Literally, eight months in, I used to wake up at three o'clock in the morning like this every morning.

SPEAKER_03 41:12

I've got stuff to do. What's going on?

SPEAKER_01 41:14

What's going on, trying to figure it all out. And uh Swannee said to me, Right, I've got to the bottom of the finances. I said, How bad is it? He said, horrendous. I said, but we know there's no more. He said, No, we've got to the bottom of it. And I remember Mick Multhouse the first day, he came in and spoke to the players. I thought I don't have to worry about the team.

SPEAKER_03 41:30

How good's that?

SPEAKER_01 41:30

And away I go, and I'll go and do what I do.

SPEAKER_03 41:32

So you slept till 4 30 at least.

SPEAKER_01 41:34

Yeah, well, no, well, that literally the next day I slept through for the first time. And for 18 months in a row, I woke up every morning at three o'clock in the morning sitting up, bobbling up like I get up and go into the room next door, write it all down, and then come back in.

SPEAKER_03 41:49

It's a good way to it's a good way to do it. Um Ed, we we finish every segment um with uh three questions. Um and this is called Let's Get Real. And this is brought to you by Dodo, uh, the real deal for internet and mobile. Uh to check out more, head to dodo.com.au. Um I'm gonna reorder these questions that uh Benny's organized for me. Now, the Melbourne Derby had 68,000 um people attend this year, and and it's they've had 80,000 in a previous time. Do you see those numbers happening again in the ensuing seasons?

SPEAKER_01 42:20

Yeah, yeah, Ken, because these things ebb and flow, you've got to get the timing right on it, and got to get the promotion right. You know, people, it's the rhythm of life. People get to Christmas Day and they're cooked. You know, they're and then you've got New Year. So I think th those two weeks after, before the tennis comes on, uh are really prime. That's a little window, innit? Yeah, and people have not everyone's on holidays for uh till Australia Day. There's a lot of people who actually, you know, uh at home want to do something. So you've got to get that clear air. And you've got, you know, I'm very big on thinking about making life easy for people. If you've got a decision, do we go or don't we go, if it's made easy for you, then you'll go.

SPEAKER_02 42:58

We've mentioned some massive names that you had involved with the stars. Is there someone in the world that you really wanted to bring? Even even like past, like even sort of you reckon someone like older, like from the 70s? Yeah, anyone going through your mind in in that initial era?

SPEAKER_01 43:14

I'm just trying to think, um, the international players, because there were yeah, there were, because what I was lobbying at times, when when they started stealing all our players, um, you know, ridiculously to play, not even play, you know, you've got to go and be on the team bus in Tasmania and then we're not gonna play you and all that routine. I said to them, well, if you still if you take four of my batsmen or four of my bowlers, allow me to go get one international player. And I actually said to him at one stage, if I can go and get Tin Dorker, I'll fill this ground five times. I said, just for one game. If we get him to come and play in the grand final, right? You've taken three or four of my best batsmen, let me go get one, get me, let me go get Satchin Ten Dorker and have him playing as the as our batsman and warning. Our bowler and said, and let's see how many people said we'll have to put screens out in the park. It'll be the biggest cricket match in the history of Australia in one night on a 2020 big bash night.

unknown 44:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:13

I I think right now, even and he was retired by that stage. So the Indian Dony Coley.

SPEAKER_01 44:19

But but in that stage, you know, yeah, uh the we weren't allowed to get in the Indian players. But he was retired. We could have gone and got him. Anyway.

SPEAKER_03 44:28

Trick missed. Just a lot, a lot of tricks missed by the sound of it.

SPEAKER_01 44:32

It was great, but yeah. But but I was probably look, it's easy for me to say because I was one out. So, you know, I come in with 10 ideas and all that sort of thing. They're trying to run a competition.

SPEAKER_03 44:42

Yeah, yeah. So eight or nine years, I think you were president and your time in the stars. Uh, do you have a favorite moment? Do you have memorable moments that that really stick with you?

SPEAKER_01 44:51

Uh look, having yeah, walking to the MCG when we got the 87,000. Yeah, that was mission accomplished. Yeah. Because and Steve Goff came over to me and said, Well, you're right, well done. No, congratulations. And I said, Well, it's not just me, it's everybody.

SPEAKER_03 45:09

Yeah, yeah. I think we are very lucky that when I say we as a player, that we had the calibre of the board that we had through that time. Um, and it's just a bloody shame that as you said, you know, we we we probably could have had two titles if not all through that time. Yeah, um, but could have, would have, shoulda.

SPEAKER_01 45:28

Mate, you but we invented something, we did something. We did something that hadn't been. 100%. That's great.

SPEAKER_03 45:33

You you the impact the impact that you had on the startup.

SPEAKER_01 45:36

We did it all together, but it wasn't so much so much fun. Hey, don't don't accuse me of false modesty, okay?

SPEAKER_02 45:42

Bobby wants redemption for his intro. He wants an out.

SPEAKER_03 45:45

He wants a clear thing. This podcast is about you. Oh, okay. Right? We've got you on and what are you bugs to? Yeah, yeah, but there's three cameras on you only, so just the way I like it. But but innovation, um, your wealth of knowledge, and the one thing that stood out from the very start of this podcast, which was a no-brainer for everyone, is your is your passion and enthusiasm. So that that you brought to the stars, the impact you had with the stars is phenomenal, and the impact you still have in sporting circles now is phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 46:11

So it's all about this is my philosophy in in all sports. For the competitor, you must give them the best opportunity to achieve their ambitions. You have to get in the right medical facilities to prolong their career as long as possible. So Scott Pendlebury to me is the crowning moment on all the money we put into leaving Victoria Park to go to what was the Lexus Center in the early days. So you do that and you give those people who come into orbit and you ask them to play and play injured at times, I don't say sacrifice, invest in their own career by not doing things, but investing in their career so that they get the best popular possible opportunity, and we bask in their reflective glory of their unbelievable sporting and mental prowess. Similarly, at the same time, not to the side at the same time, you have to look into that crowd and see the wonderment in kids' eyes, and you have to see the pride in older eyes, and you have to see in the oldest eyes that they think that this is the great day, that the best day of watching the Melbourne Stars or your footy team in my case, Collingwood, haven't come and gone, that there's going to be better tomorrow, and that you can talk about how your grandfather took you to the grand final as you look down at your own grandkids. And you can do that. People can do that now. They can sit in their reserve seat at the mighty MCG, that just amazing citadel and heartbeat of our city, and you can sit there and you can have the memories going back. You know, I I I was lucky enough. I I met the guys who won the four in a row for Collingwood.

SPEAKER_04 47:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:51

You know, Harry Collier, Percy Boyer, uh Bruce Andrews, these guys. And you know, they died, we go to the funeral, and then you go, Wow, hang on a second. They knew they were coached by Jock McHale, and they go back to the first game. Yeah, yeah. Lou Richards' grandfather played in the first game for Collingwood. Lou was a hero. And you go, wow, you know, Ed Richards is still running around for the dogs.

SPEAKER_04 48:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:16

So I love all that. I love that there's the the the the two degrees of separation of sport in Melbourne. You know, and everyone, we get in there, belt the hell out of each other, but we're all pals because uh the game is more important than anything, and what it does for our community, and particularly, I think at the moment, right now, sport has never been more important in Melbourne than what it is. It brings all the joy, all the fun, whether it's big-time international, you know, NFL, Grand Prix, Australian Open Tennis, or 2020 Big Bash, AFL. And I say that not that they're huge and they're not, they're huge and they're huge, they're just local huge and they're international huge. We've got the combination of everything. Yeah, I mean, how good is it that Oscar Oscar Piastri played footy against my boys?

SPEAKER_03 49:00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:01

You know, it's uh you got Oscar.

SPEAKER_03 49:03

Two degrees of separation you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 49:04

Yeah, Oscar's you know doing great things. He comes over to me and says, Oh, how's how's Joe and Xander going? You know, he I think he played for the uh Brighton Vampires or something, or one of those teams down there, and you know, my boys are playing at Paran. It's unbelievable, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 49:18

Yeah, I love it. And I as I said, he he's very articulate, he speaks so well. Um, but mate, honestly, thank you for being on this podcast. My pleasure. And thank you for the work you did for the Melbourne Stars as well, because everyone's very appreciative of that.

SPEAKER_01 49:30

It was absolutely a labour of love, and I must say, in all sincerity, and I'm not trying to be obsequious, but uh, I got more out of uh being the chairman and getting to know everybody and being involved in such an exciting project than uh you ever put in. So if we if we're square, then I'm very happy. But I walk away, as I did from Collingwood, feeling like I I got more out of it than anybody else.

SPEAKER_03 49:55

Love it. Well, everyone's appreciative, and thanks for talking about it. Cheers.

SPEAKER_01 49:58

Three cheers for us. Sing the song.

SPEAKER_03 50:02

Yeah. Thanks, Ed. See you guys.