# 274: Greg Inglis (Player Profile)

An episode of [The Howie Games](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1146329262), 22 Jul 2026, 11 min.

Audio: https://enrichment.soundstack.com/4vjqq8/episode.flightcast.com/g9qxewsz4xc76tc4gp32qenm.mp3

One of the most gifted athletes this country has ever produced joins us for a Player Profile that celebrates an extraordinary career, and a ripping character! The résumé is ridiculous. Three-time Premiership winner. Clive Churchill Medallist. State of Origin icon. Indigenous All Stars captain. Australian Kangaroo. South Sydney champion. Melbourne Storm superstar. But this one is much more than the highlights reel. GI takes us back to the beginning, from driving an old Gemini around the bush and earning his first $500 playing footy at just 14 years of age, to becoming one of the biggest names in Australian sport. Plus, his favourite ever player and favourite player to watch! * Support The Goanna Academy today, and help break the stigma around mental health by giving young people and communities the confidence to speak up and seek support. For the Stick With It campaign, every wrist wrapped in strapping tape is a simple reminder to look after your own mental health and stand by those doing it tough. You can get involved by taping up, donating or purchasing campaign merchandise, with every dollar helping fund vital mental health programs in the communities that need them most. Change a life, or save a life! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] A listener production.
[0:03] Okay, are you recording?
[0:08] This man dominated for the Melton Storm.
[0:10] Part of a Queensland origin team that won eight straight titles, played for the Kangaroos, did all sorts.
[0:15] Greg Inglis, GI.
[0:16] Are you ready for the Howie Games player profile?
[0:18] Go for it.
[0:19] Nicknames, what are yours?
[0:21] GI, Grego, Tiger, Kid.
[0:23] Tiger and Kid were from Bellamy, as we spoke about.
[0:26] Tiger, Bellamy, Kid's from MacGuy.
[0:28] Right, GI is a good one.
[0:29] GI, what's your favourite food, Tiger?
[0:31] Nothing beats home-cooked baked dinner on a Sunday roast.
[0:37] If someone was coming to your house and you had to cook and you were going for your number one dish, what are you?
[0:42] Oh, it would be barbecue.
[0:43] Barbecue?
[0:43] Yeah, it would be a good ribeye, good chops or cutlets.
[0:47] Right.
[0:48] Yeah, just do the whole spread and then a bit of salad.
[0:51] Chops are underrated.
[0:52] My mum used to serve me chops.
[0:53] Mate, they're underrated.
[0:54] They're underrated.
[0:55] I got some chops.
[0:55] They're tasty.
[0:56] My wife was away, I don't know, for two days or a while ago.
[0:59] The house nearly burned down, the dog nearly ran off, and I nearly lost the kids.
[1:02] But the young bloke wanted chops, and I had a little bite of the little tail bit.
[1:07] Dead.
[1:08] Oh, mate.
[1:09] It beats it.
[1:09] How good's a chop?
[1:10] On a barbie especially.
[1:12] Righto.
[1:12] Cook on a webber.
[1:13] Now, it's not an easy one.
[1:16] Three people alive or dead that you have met, that you haven't met, are coming around to GI's for a steak or chops and a salad.
[1:24] Who may those three people be?
[1:26] Ah, wow, that is a difficult one.
[1:31] Okay, it would just be me grandparents.
[1:33] Your grandparents.
[1:34] Yeah.
[1:34] They paved the way for me.
[1:36] They, you know, obviously raised my dad and my dad raised me, so it's a flow-on effect.
[1:42] Okay, so your grandma, your grandpa, and who's the third person?
[1:45] You've got to come up with one more.
[1:46] I'll be your wife.
[1:48] She has the help out with the salad.
[1:49] Yes.
[1:50] What's your wife's name?
[1:51] Elise.
[1:52] Right.
[1:52] Shout out to Elise.
[1:53] What was the first ever car you drove?
[1:56] Mazda 3.
[1:57] Mazda 3.
[1:58] Owned or drove?
[1:59] What was the first one you owned?
[2:02] Mazda 3.
[2:02] What was the first one you drove?
[2:04] Gemini Bush.
[2:06] Gemini Bush car.
[2:07] Bush car.
[2:08] I like that word.
[2:09] Windows are out.
[2:10] There's no battery in the hood.
[2:11] Battery was sitting on the passenger side.
[2:13] Me and my good mate since year two.
[2:15] What was that show on ABC?
[2:17] Bush Mechanics?
[2:18] Bush Mechanics.
[2:18] And they used to travel through.
[2:20] That's a great show.
[2:21] Get out there, mate.
[2:21] It's the best.
[2:23] If people haven't seen that show, they need to check it out.
[2:25] Yeah, I always second guess it.
[2:26] It's like, are they like for real?
[2:28] Yeah.
[2:28] They're for real.
[2:29] Yeah, like something goes wrong, they pull out the chewing gum, that was your first car.
[2:33] What was your first job?
[2:34] What was the first thing you did that you got paid for?
[2:36] Rugby league.
[2:37] Rugby league.
[2:38] Never had a job.
[2:38] Right.
[2:39] So what was your first rugby league paycheck?
[2:41] That's from Melbourne Storm?
[2:42] It was 500 bucks.
[2:42] 500 bucks.
[2:44] A game or just 500?
[2:45] No, just 500 bucks.
[2:45] 500 bucks.
[2:46] Right.
[2:47] 14.
[2:47] Right.
[2:48] That's so good.
[2:49] And you need to listen to the full episode because Greg signed as a 14-year-old.
[2:52] Never seen that 500.
[2:53] No.
[2:53] It was just kit.
[2:56] Right, right.
[2:57] Back then that was with Fila.
[2:58] Yeah, right.
[2:59] It was Fila.
[2:59] I thought I was.
[3:00] Oh, yeah, it was Fila, wasn't it?
[3:01] I thought I was a man.
[3:02] I thought I was a man.
[3:03] What?
[3:04] When you would go home from school and you weren't playing sport and the telly was on, what was Greg English's favourite show as a kid?
[3:11] Oh, man, I was more of a morning person.
[3:14] I used to love Astro Boy, Aggro's.
[3:16] Aggro's got a connection.
[3:18] Yeah, yeah.
[3:20] Dragon Ball Z was a phase for me.
[3:22] And then my afternoons, I probably was...
[3:28] If I wasn't doing anything in sport, probably just put on a cartoon or a movie.
[3:34] I'm not sure.
[3:35] Oh, okay.
[3:35] That's true.
[3:35] You know, like Monday during the week was probably my non-sport night.
[3:40] Right.
[3:41] Monday night was the night off.
[3:42] Yeah.
[3:43] Talk about movies.
[3:43] What's your favorite movie?
[3:44] Gladiator.
[3:45] Gladiator.
[3:46] My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the armies of the north, general of the Felix Legions.
[3:53] Loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius.
[3:56] Yeah, Russell Crowe.
[3:57] Good show.
[3:58] I didn't want to meet Russell.
[3:59] What was alive when you met him?
[4:01] Everything.
[4:02] Right.
[4:02] You didn't want to meet him because you liked the lady out of so much?
[4:04] I love it.
[4:04] So he was in charge of the rabbits?
[4:05] Yeah.
[4:06] So do you go and meet him before you sign or how did it happen?
[4:09] Yeah.
[4:10] So I went and met him.
[4:10] He's a funny story.
[4:12] I was in Brisbane and I almost signed with Brisbane.
[4:14] Yeah.
[4:15] And then Anthony Munnine rings me up.
[4:18] So he top rings me up and goes, oh, Russell's got a ring.
[4:21] He wants you to come down and have a look around.
[4:23] Yeah.
[4:24] And I was like, nah, nah, I'm calling you bluff here.
[4:27] I don't believe it.
[4:29] Anyway, rings on private number.
[4:31] I was like, hello.
[4:33] Puts his Russell Crowe voice on the way he is, deep voice.
[4:36] And I was like, piss off, child.
[4:38] Hung up.
[4:39] You thought it was Mundine?
[4:40] Yeah.
[4:40] Hung up.
[4:41] And then he rings back again.
[4:43] I said, I don't believe it.
[4:44] Just go away.
[4:45] And then because he used to play pranks on me all the time.
[4:48] Then he texts me and goes, I need the answer.
[4:51] It's him.
[4:51] I said, all right, send me proof.
[4:52] And then so he sent a photo of him and Russell.
[4:55] So I picked up the phone.
[4:57] And then the next morning he flew down to Sydney.
[5:00] And what actually got me to sign with South Sydney is not actual the club, but his vision on the community, what he wants to build in that.
[5:09] But yeah, it's a little funny story for you.
[5:13] What, if anything, are you currently watching?
[5:14] You spend a lot of time playing at the moment.
[5:16] Are you watching anything or not?
[5:17] I just finished watching Zero Day with Robert De Niro.
[5:20] Right.
[5:21] Yeah.
[5:21] Good?
[5:22] Yeah.
[5:23] I don't mind little conspiracy theories on Netflix either.
[5:27] I'm watching this one called The Octopus.
[5:29] The octopus?
[5:30] Yeah, it's called the octopus.
[5:31] It's like a web of spies and a lot of stuff going on.
[5:36] The octopus.
[5:36] I'm going to check that out.
[5:37] Music, what are you currently listening to?
[5:39] Country.
[5:39] Country.
[5:40] Like Australian country, American country.
[5:41] Chris Ableton and Ella Langley.
[5:43] Right.
[5:43] So I'm listening to them two at the moment.
[5:45] What if anything scares you, Greg?
[5:48] Snakes.
[5:49] Snakes.
[5:49] I hate snakes.
[5:50] Don't like snakes.
[5:50] Can't knock.
[5:52] No.
[5:52] Travel destinations, what's your favorite place to go?
[5:55] Home.
[5:56] Home.
[5:56] Home.
[5:57] Which we talk about in the full episode.
[5:58] Yeah.
[5:58] Bucket list.
[5:59] Haven't been, love to go.
[6:00] Look, I love Gladiator that much.
[6:01] I went to Rome.
[6:02] Right.
[6:02] And I walked, it takes about two and a half hours to walk around.
[6:05] Right.
[6:05] I spent four hours in there.
[6:06] Did you?
[6:07] Yeah, just looked at every little artifact, thinking about a different thing.
[6:11] Oh, that's funny.
[6:12] Went to Greece with my wife.
[6:14] Have you been there?
[6:14] Yeah.
[6:14] Somewhere you haven't been?
[6:16] I wouldn't mind traveling to Top End, like Arlington Land.
[6:18] Okay.
[6:18] Okay.
[6:20] Yeah.
[6:20] That'd be beautiful.
[6:21] I wouldn't mind having a look around there, spending a whole week or so up there just looking around.
[6:26] You know where I reckon you should go?
[6:28] Where?
[6:28] There's a man that's pretty connected to the country.
[6:32] I mean, you go to Southern Africa.
[6:34] Southern Africa?
[6:34] Southern Africa.
[6:35] Get yourself on safari.
[6:36] Yeah.
[6:37] Sunsetting at night.
[6:38] Yeah, I reckon I would love it.
[6:40] I reckon that would be right up your alley.
[6:42] I'll tell you another story about my trip up to the Cape.
[6:44] Go on.
[6:45] I almost died.
[6:46] What happened?
[6:46] I went out to Farmigan and did a chat over there.
[6:51] Anyway, I got on the boat.
[6:52] They took me over to the tip of Australia and up the tip, the East Coast meets West Coast currents flowing in by that tip and was diving for crayfish and I didn't judge it right.
[7:03] So I dove in at low tide when the tide was low.
[7:06] Say it's like two metres.
[7:08] And then as I was coming back up, say it was 10 metres.
[7:11] Yeah.
[7:11] So I was like...
[7:13] Yeah.
[7:13] Really?
[7:13] Gas and flare.
[7:14] Really?
[7:15] Yeah.
[7:15] I dropped the spear gun, dropped the crayfish.
[7:18] Right.
[7:19] Yeah.
[7:19] Crayfish got away though.
[7:20] Oh, right.
[7:21] Crayfish pulled through.
[7:21] But it was all right.
[7:22] We had two eskies.
[7:23] You mentioned Russell Crowe.
[7:25] He may have been your answer, but through your sporting career, you will have met a lot of people that we would call well-known, famous people of celebrity, whatever term you want to use.
[7:33] Someone reasonably well-known that's made a positive impression on you that wasn't Russell Crowe.
[7:37] That wasn't Russell Crowe.
[7:40] Well, the obvious one's Craig.
[7:42] Craig's obviously in the obvious one.
[7:44] Craig Bellamy's a pretty good one.
[7:45] Yeah.
[7:48] Look, who's a massive me rugby league and as a person with the two would be Craig.
[7:56] Craig, I love that.
[7:57] Talking about rugby league, if you could watch one player play the game in 2026...
[8:03] Nathan Cleary.
[8:04] He's an exceptional player.
[8:06] He's unbelievable.
[8:08] But he asks me if I have to bring someone back.
[8:11] No.
[8:11] Well, so he's your current favourite player.
[8:14] Who's your favourite player of all time?
[8:15] Lockie.
[8:15] Darren Lockyer.
[8:16] Lockyer.
[8:17] Who's the best player you've played with at the Melbourne Storms?
[8:20] I'm not answering that.
[8:21] I knew you wouldn't answer that.
[8:23] I knew.
[8:24] I had that one tucked away for the last hour and a half.
[8:27] And I knew you wouldn't answer it.
[8:29] I knew you wouldn't answer that.
[8:31] Number one player all the way through where it's at now.
[8:33] They're all great.
[8:34] Yeah.
[8:35] I like that.
[8:36] Last couple for you.
[8:37] We typically finish this podcast the same way, but before I get to the final question, which is the most important question, something that you are good at that we wouldn't realize.
[8:47] It doesn't matter how minute the skill.
[8:49] Swimming.
[8:50] Swimming.
[8:51] Good swimmer.
[8:52] Oh, yeah.
[8:52] Went to state.
[8:53] Except when you're up at the top end.
[8:54] Went to state.
[8:55] Did you?
[8:56] Yeah.
[8:57] As a swimmer.
[8:57] As a swimmer.
[8:58] As a kid.
[8:59] Relay, 100 meters.
[9:00] Freestyle.
[9:01] Yeah, freestyle.
[9:01] Really?
[9:02] Really.
[9:03] people are not going to understand the full episode.
[9:06] We go through the other sports that approach Greg.
[9:09] We didn't get to swimming.
[9:10] Maybe Swimming Australia, she got a hold of you.
[9:12] Right.
[9:13] Last one I have for you.
[9:14] Check out Greg's work with the Goanna Academy.
[9:17] All the details are in the show notes.
[9:19] There's a full discussion on it next week, but there's merchandise available now, which you can buy on the show notes.
[9:24] It's doing an amazing thing, helping people with mental health in all sorts of parts of Australia, which we speak about in the full episode, which comes out next week.
[9:31] But...
[9:32] Greg, this question defines you as a Melbourne Storm legend, as a Rabbits legend, as a Queensland legend, as an Australian legend, as an athlete of great renown, as a father, as a husband.
[9:46] Greg Inglis, pineapple on pizza, yes or no?
[9:52] No.
[9:52] We've got an issue, Tommy.
[9:53] No.
[9:54] Eight straight wins for Queensland.
[9:55] Can't do pineapple on pizza.
[9:56] You can't do pineapple.
[9:57] Oh, you can.
[9:57] Yeah.
[9:59] I prefer not to be on my pizza.
[10:02] No, no.
[10:03] I appreciate you've got a view, but rarely people go with that answer on this show.
[10:07] But if you get the next one wrong, then your episode may not go to air.
[10:13] Okay?
[10:14] So you've got the pineapple wrong, GI.
[10:16] Yep.
[10:17] Peanut butter, crunchy or smooth?
[10:19] Crunchy.
[10:20] You survive.
[10:21] Crunchy.
[10:22] You survive.
[10:22] Crunchy.
[10:23] Crunchy.
[10:23] Crunchy.
[10:23] Mate, your full episode's out next week.
[10:24] You're a star.
[10:25] Thanks, Ali.
[10:25] Well done, mate.
[10:26] Well done.

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