# 273: Beau Ryan (Part A)

An episode of [The Howie Games](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1146329262), 14 Jul 2026, 50 min.

Audio: https://enrichment.soundstack.com/4vjqq8/episode.flightcast.com/rl4ugjbsoes32cz2m1v6io1v.mp3

From cult NRL winger to one of Australia's biggest media personalities, Beau Ryan's career has been anything but ordinary. Beau takes us behind the curtain of breakfast radio - he is dominating on Triple M! - revealing the ruthless early-morning routine that gets him ready to entertain Sydney every day. He also reflects on the humble beginnings, guest appearances on The Footy Show that quickly became an obsession, and the balancing act of building a media career while still playing NRL—under one very clear instruction from his coach. And then there is a tale from Beau's Footy Show days that somehow gets more unbelievable with every minute. One of the best stories in ten years of the podcast. Funny, honest and full of behind-the-scenes moments from rugby league and television, this is Beau Ryan at his entertaining best. Beau co-hosts the Triple M Breakfast show on 104.9 Triple M Sydney alongside Aaron "Woodsy" Woods and Cat Lynch. You can catch the show live every weekday morning from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM, or listen to the podcast on the LiSTNR App. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] A listener production.
[0:05] OK, are you recording?
[0:10] Welcome, one and all, to episode 273 of the Howie Games, part A.
[0:16] Thanks for tuning in, by the way.
[0:17] Featuring a man that has excelled in many fields, the first one being the NRL, Bo Ryan.
[0:24] Ryan picks it up.
[0:25] There's nobody in front of him.
[0:27] Going for the line.
[0:29] And Ryan goes the length of the field for the Sharks.
[0:33] Now the Sharks, they get their turn.
[0:35] Beautiful ball, put away out the back.
[0:37] Mo Ryan scores for the Sharks.
[0:39] Ryan down the eastern sideline.
[0:40] He kicks and gets to the ball.
[0:45] Now, Bo is one of those characters that lights up a room with energy, humour and good vibes as soon as he walks in, whether it be in the NRL, on the telly with the NRL footy show Back in the Day or hosting The Amazing Race, a show I absolutely love.
[0:58] And now on Sydney Triple M Breakfast Radio with Woodsy and Cat, Bo, he's a force of nature, this man.
[1:04] He is a fellow who is willing to put himself out there, right out there.
[1:07] He works hard.
[1:08] He works really hard and thinks pretty deeply about family, life and health.
[1:13] So you search and try to find, but you don't know where to go.
[1:19] So many thoughts flood through your mind.
[1:22] You're confused and want to know, mystery, what is to be.
[1:27] So much more than meets the eye.
[1:30] Listen to me, time is your key.
[1:33] You will find out by and by.
[1:36] I must say I had never met Bo before this chat, but he made me go away feeling motivated and good about the world, which is a really nice gift to give.
[1:45] Enjoy the story of Bo Ryan.
[1:47] Never satisfied.
[1:52] So when you search and then you find And know just where to go And thoughts that once used to cloud your mind You see clearly and now you know Mystery, what is to be revealed in King Selassie Come on children, trod with me We want to reach Mount Zionist
[2:15] Well, there's excitement here, the excitement at my house about this episode because my wife and kids love the Amazing Race.
[2:22] My wife and I often say we think we'd go okay on the Amazing Race.
[2:25] This man hosts the show.
[2:26] He's a multimedia star.
[2:28] He does breakfast radio on Triple M. He's a former rugby league star.
[2:32] He's a self-made man.
[2:34] His name is Bo Ryan, and we are pumped to have him on the Howie Games.
[2:36] Big Bo, how are you?
[2:38] Good, Howie, thank you for that intro and also thanks for reminding me about the Amazing Race, which is in a holding pattern at the moment, mate.
[2:46] But it's coming back.
[2:48] Well, it is.
[2:48] Look, it is.
[2:49] But, I mean, I'm an impatient person.
[2:53] You know this.
[2:54] I do.
[2:54] But last time I spoke to you, you said you'd love to do it with your wife.
[2:59] I mean, be very careful what you wish for.
[3:00] I think it's crazy to do it with a loved one.
[3:06] I think more a sibling or a parent, it would be probably smarter, but the show's designed to test you on every level.
[3:13] Um, and it's designed to, it's a TV show.
[3:16] Look, it's a race, but it's a TV show.
[3:18] Yeah.
[3:19] And, um, I don't advise my friends to do it with loved ones.
[3:23] And we are friends.
[3:25] Just hold, hold station on the amazing race.
[3:28] Cause I want to speak to you about it later and logistically how you go about it and what's involved, but yeah.
[3:34] Before we get to footy, mate, you're a radio star.
[3:37] You, Woodsy, and Kat, Triple M Breakfast.
[3:41] Just run me through your morning.
[3:42] What time does the alarm go off?
[3:43] Because I'm always fascinated by you folk that can manage to entertain at this time of the morning.
[3:48] Yeah.
[3:49] My alarm, I'll be honest with you.
[3:53] Go on.
[3:53] I've got a little thing that I do.
[3:54] Go on.
[3:55] I like to test myself, but my Monday alarm is the earliest.
[4:00] And I set my alarm for 3.45 a.m. Oh, man.
[4:04] And on the Monday, but every day I go back three minutes.
[4:08] So it's 3.45, 3.48, and then 3.51, and obviously, et cetera.
[4:13] Problem is, yeah, I wake up at 3.45 every day.
[4:16] Every day.
[4:18] Yeah.
[4:18] I mean, when we started 18 months ago, we were starting at 6 a.m. And we floated the idea to start earlier because –
[4:26] Breakfast radio is cutthroat.
[4:30] It is, in my opinion, it is when you talk about anything, I explain it to be first grade.
[4:34] It doesn't matter what sport you follow.
[4:35] It's the top level because it's where you are tested.
[4:39] It's where all the big guns are respectfully.
[4:42] And it's the hardest, in Sydney, it's the hardest market.
[4:45] My word.
[4:46] So we thought we'd get a jump on and go 5.30.
[4:49] So we floated that idea and we start at 5.30.
[4:50] 5.30.
[4:52] The difference between 3.45am alarm and 4.15am alarm is massive, mate.
[4:58] That 30 minutes, I mean, when we floated and I floated to some of the people, let's start at 5.30.
[5:04] It was a good idea at the time.
[5:05] Jeez, it was stupid.
[5:08] Because when my alarm goes off, it feels like I'm being raided.
[5:11] Really?
[5:12] It's that bad?
[5:13] But it's, you have to be a morning person to do brekkie radio because you see, you know,
[5:19] You're, well, you see, I drive, I've got a fair drive to the city from where I live in Cronulla.
[5:24] Um, and I, when I started, I used to listen to a lot of different, I listened to a lot of different radio shows and I see what's happening.
[5:30] I'll listen to the AM dial to see, you know, current things that are happening.
[5:34] Um, but the last while I sort of just sit in silence, to be honest with you, to sort of just get...
[5:41] get in the zone and get in, uh, I sort of get in into my feelings, get a bit raw with myself.
[5:46] And then when I get to work and surround myself with the team, uh, everything just escalates.
[5:51] I'm a team person.
[5:51] I love it.
[5:52] I love it.
[5:53] You have to love breakfast radio.
[5:54] If you don't love breakfast radio, you'll get found out very quickly.
[5:57] If you're not a breakfast morning person, you'll get found out very quickly.
[6:01] But, um, it's, it took me probably four months, I reckon, to get into a proper routine and system with it.
[6:08] And when I say that my alarms,
[6:11] You adapt quickly, mate.
[6:13] Humans are tough, mate.
[6:14] They adapt quite quickly.
[6:15] So I got used to getting up early.
[6:18] That was pretty quick.
[6:19] But it's the afternoons that I struggle with.
[6:22] From about 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., it's...
[6:26] it's hard to sort of stay, not only to stay active, but to stay present in conversations, especially with my wife and my kids.
[6:36] Like, you're there, but sometimes you feel like a zombie.
[6:38] But what I like to do is I'll try and book things online
[6:43] for then.
[6:45] My kids will have school pickup and I'll try and be at that.
[6:47] If not, I'll try and have a meeting or a phone call or something important or something where I need to be aware and alarmed for that time just to sort of, to keep myself on my toes.
[6:59] Otherwise, you just find yourself in this washing machine of life, mate.
[7:04] And what time do you shut down?
[7:06] I go to bed early.
[7:07] I've always been an early riser and go to bed.
[7:10] I like that.
[7:10] But without breakfast ready, I get up really early.
[7:12] I got up early anyway.
[7:13] Yeah.
[7:14] But my – I'm in bed probably 8.30.
[7:19] But my wife and I go to bed at 8.30.
[7:21] Yeah.
[7:23] I'll fall asleep earlier.
[7:24] I can't day sleep.
[7:25] That's probably the thing that's going against me.
[7:27] The guys on my team can and I'm happy for them.
[7:29] You're not a napper.
[7:30] I wish I was, Howie.
[7:32] I've tried it a few times, but once I'm out, I find it hard to get up.
[7:36] If I fall asleep, I'm gone for two hours and then I get up and you can't sleep at night and that's a vicious cycle you don't want to fall into.
[7:43] So I just try and push through.
[7:46] But I'm in bed about eight.
[7:47] And how do you go about-
[7:49] Well, very quickly, so Saturday morning comes around, your day off.
[7:53] Do you still wake up at 3.45 or not?
[7:55] Around then, yeah.
[7:56] Well, I stay up later on Friday night, though.
[7:58] To try and push through.
[7:58] Because that's the thing.
[7:59] Well, I get excited.
[8:01] Today's a Friday.
[8:02] I don't know when you're going to air this, but I'll pull the curtain back.
[8:04] Today's a Friday.
[8:05] I'm very excited.
[8:06] So let's talk to Howie.
[8:08] Let's do everything.
[8:10] Friday's always been my favorite day, and I...
[8:13] What I do is I stay up late.
[8:14] And when I say late, I say like 11, 12.
[8:16] My wife and I will watch something.
[8:18] I'll take my son to soccer training, whatever.
[8:20] And I mainly speak about all night how excited I am that it's Friday.
[8:25] But I do.
[8:26] I wake up probably 4 tomorrow.
[8:28] Like Saturday, I wake up 4.
[8:29] But I get up about 5.30.
[8:31] And what about looking after yourself?
[8:33] You're a former athlete.
[8:36] You're obviously still in good shape.
[8:38] Are you strict on a diet approach or an exercise approach, more importantly?
[8:45] For me, if I'm at work all day and I haven't done anything outside, whether it's the gym or go for a surf or go for a run, I get edgy, how do you approach that side of life?
[8:55] It's a good question.
[8:57] I mean, outside of probably –
[9:00] you know, probably some relationships with mates, talking to them less, and some stuff with, you know, probably less time with being president with family.
[9:07] The training's probably suffered the most from the breakfast hours, my training, which, again, affects your physical health, but mental health.
[9:13] Yes.
[9:13] But my approach is since I played rugby league and since I retired, I've always eaten well.
[9:20] And I tell everyone, they go, what's your diet?
[9:22] What's your training like?
[9:23] What's your schedule?
[9:25] Training for – I can only speak a bit for me and my mates and for a man.
[9:30] is the easiest part in my opinion.
[9:31] Yep.
[9:32] Diet's harder.
[9:33] Yep, I agree.
[9:34] And when I go on the amazing race, I rarely train.
[9:39] I'll stretch a lot and swim a bit, but I don't train because obviously I need the energy.
[9:45] But I'll come back and I'll feel good because I eat well.
[9:51] And eating well is, people say 60%, 70%.
[9:54] I reckon it's 90% of it, mate, to be honest with you.
[9:57] Because sometimes you can go in and flog yourself or run or train or roll, whatever it is, it's the falling into the trap of eating food that you shouldn't be eating.
[10:07] And especially for us, we're busy people.
[10:09] We're out and about.
[10:09] I'm overseas.
[10:10] I've got every reason to eat bad things, getting up early.
[10:14] But I think if I'm eating well, I'm halfway there.
[10:17] Yeah, mate, I agree 100%.
[10:21] I think you're right.
[10:22] I think it's like 85% diet, 15% gym.
[10:25] It's interesting, isn't it?
[10:26] Because –
[10:28] Ten years ago, blokes just didn't even talk about this stuff.
[10:31] If I'd got you on the podcast ten years ago and we started, I'm not talking to you about your sleep patterns or how much you eat.
[10:37] People might not be interested, but I don't know.
[10:39] I'm getting old now, and it becomes a real – you've got to look after yourself, Bo.
[10:45] You only get one crack at it, mate.
[10:46] You've got to look after yourself.
[10:48] Big time.
[10:48] Big time, man.
[10:49] I –
[10:50] And I think it's cultural as well, how we like.
[10:53] I mean, you grew up with sport.
[10:54] I grew up in the, you know, NRL and rugby league communities, played footy in the winter, cricket in the summer.
[11:01] And a lot of it was cultural, so it's learnt behaviour, how to act as a...
[11:05] As a man, you don't talk about, you know, your sleep patterns or your diet, you know.
[11:10] But I think you probably should because we want to look after ourselves.
[11:15] Yeah, I don't know.
[11:17] You get to a point in your life where you're not trying to impress your mates anymore.
[11:19] You're just trying to impress your kids and your wife and yourself.
[11:23] And I was lucky I found that pretty quickly when I retired.
[11:26] I've got a very small crew of mates.
[11:29] Yeah.
[11:31] Like I've got a lot of friends, but I've got, you know, my crew of really good mates is, you know, really small.
[11:37] And we might talk every day in the week, and I might not talk to them for three months, but we're all good.
[11:45] It's just learning how to work what's good for you.
[11:51] Like I said before, the diet stuff with me, I'd like to train more.
[11:54] You might, you know, find sleeping better.
[11:56] Everyone's different, and I've found –
[11:59] a really good routine that suits me because my lifestyle is different to yours and yours is different to mine.
[12:07] But I always constantly have to be testing myself.
[12:10] That's what I've learned.
[12:11] And I only found that out probably the last three years.
[12:14] And I always thought that it was a test in my career or a test in something I'm elevating myself in terms of like an achievement.
[12:23] But I've sort of scaled it right back and I sort of test myself daily with little things, whether it's restricting a food or cold showers.
[12:29] I do that daily just to keep myself on my toes, man.
[12:33] How long are you going the cold shower for?
[12:35] Now you're starting to really, this is sort of Harry Garth's idea.
[12:37] No, well, I'm not doing the cold showers at the moment.
[12:40] Brad Fittler and I, we made a pact many years ago.
[12:43] He did a year.
[12:43] I did six months.
[12:44] But I started in about April.
[12:46] It was this time a few years ago.
[12:47] But I, like, I don't drink.
[12:51] I used to drink a bit and I was a binge drinker.
[12:55] So I sort of, you know, I cut that out years ago when I've stuck at it.
[12:58] And I sort of was envious of people that would drink and party and whatnot, but it was never good for me, Howie.
[13:06] So I would cut that out and that was the start of it.
[13:12] But little things.
[13:13] You know, I did a thing recently where I went Sullivan for a bit.
[13:16] Did you?
[13:17] Just my wife.
[13:17] Like I told my wife for a bit.
[13:19] So I thought I'd push that.
[13:20] That was a little test.
[13:21] Is that a selfish decision though?
[13:22] That was a hard one.
[13:23] Did your wife look at you and think, mate, you're being a bit selfish?
[13:25] Yeah, well, she floated it.
[13:29] I feel like it was her idea.
[13:31] That's a different story now.
[13:32] That's a very different story.
[13:34] No, no.
[13:35] I, um, no, I just, I don't know.
[13:37] I've, I've just always felt a bit different like that, mate.
[13:40] I feel like, you know, I joke around and muck around a lot, but I, I,
[13:44] I like to put myself in positions where I'm tested and I think that's where the growth is.
[13:49] And I'm testing myself with breakfast radio.
[13:52] I love it.
[13:52] I test myself under pressure.
[13:53] You know what it's like?
[13:54] It's different.
[13:55] I get to perform.
[13:57] When the mics are on or the TV's on, we get this adrenaline.
[14:00] Your average person doesn't get it.
[14:03] I'm probably, I take it for granted because a lot of people can fall in a rut or fall into similar patterns and I can't turn up and be off.
[14:11] I can't be overseas filming and have a bad day.
[14:14] I can't afford to do that.
[14:16] So I've sort of mastered the art of being able to turn it on when I need to, but I also like that adrenaline of testing myself under live radio, live TV, whatever it is, um, and
[14:28] But sometimes you can get good at something or you can get used to something.
[14:31] I need to try something else, mate.
[14:33] I think that's a great point.
[14:35] People probably don't understand about the profession we're in.
[14:37] That's something I've learned to do.
[14:40] You're not – I'm a positive, really happy guy.
[14:43] I'm blessed I don't struggle with mental health at all.
[14:46] I see life through an optimistic lens.
[14:48] So most days are good days.
[14:51] But I think I've learned that.
[14:54] When, say yesterday was Thursday footy, I was in a great mood, it was a great game of footy, but sometimes you jump in the car and something might not be quite right at home or there could be a family thing going on or you could have a headache or whatever and you're like, okay, well, the bloke's been at work all week, he's turning on the footy
[15:10] You've got to be at your best.
[15:11] You've got to turn up and entertain and be ready to go every single time, which, you know, with you and the Amazing Race, and I spend a lot of time travelling with cricket in India, and it's like you're buggered, but it's like, well, there's 25 million Indian dudes turning on the cricket tonight.
[15:24] You've got to bring the sizzle every single time, don't you?
[15:27] Big time, mate.
[15:28] And there's no – I mean, you get it, and I'm not like –
[15:33] I drive to work sometimes doing radio.
[15:34] I'm thinking, how am I doing this?
[15:37] How am I in this position, you know, driving around?
[15:41] The 7-Eleven's shut, Howie.
[15:42] Like, I'm trying to get a coffee.
[15:43] The 7-Eleven isn't even open yet.
[15:46] How am I at this position?
[15:48] I've worked too hard to be doing this shit.
[15:50] Yeah.
[15:50] But as soon as I get in to work, like I said before, everyone's excited.
[15:55] But it takes a lot of strength to turn up.
[16:00] It takes a lot of strength to put pressure on yourself.
[16:04] And I think that's where the growth is.
[16:06] And I won't shut up about that because I talk to everyone and people in my industry and then I've got mates, you know, that have played obviously footy and people that work in the media.
[16:16] The thing for me is always put myself under pressure.
[16:19] I think that's where we grow and when I get complacent, that's a scary path for me.
[16:25] And pressure looks different to different people.
[16:27] Yeah.
[16:29] But you can't have bad days in media.
[16:32] You can't.
[16:33] I can't turn up in the Amazing Race and be in Morocco and look tired on a piece of camera.
[16:37] You just can't, mate.
[16:37] I've got to go behind a rock and bottle it.
[16:39] I might have stuff happen at home or my kids miss me.
[16:42] I've just got to turn that off, put some clear eyes in and stand up and give a piece of camera, mate.
[16:46] And that's – there's –
[16:49] There's a good part of that and there's a dark side to that because you learn to sort of hold stuff in and bottle stuff because at the end of the day, we're dancing for the man and I get that, but we're also in a really good position, mate.
[17:03] I can't – look, people go, you do the amazing race, how great is it?
[17:07] Yeah, it's the best job in the world, but it is hard because it's long days, you're away from family.
[17:13] Yeah.
[17:15] But you've got to love it, man, and I love it.
[17:17] And you can see in hosts if they love it.
[17:20] Yeah, my.
[17:20] You can see if you're doing radio, if you're doing cricket, if you're doing footy, you can see in your body language, in your presence, in how you talk, in your energy, and if you don't love it, you shouldn't be doing it.
[17:30] I couldn't agree more.
[17:31] I'm enjoying the conversation.
[17:33] This show never really knows where it's going.
[17:35] I'll straighten it up a bit, but I love your attitude and your approach, and I'm sure it will resonate with the audience.
[17:39] Footy.
[17:40] Just edit it how you want, Howard.
[17:41] No, no.
[17:41] It's your podcast.
[17:42] You can just flip shit around.
[17:43] We won't be cutting anything out of this nice, tasty little conversation.
[17:46] So rugby league, when do you first get into it?
[17:49] What are your first memories?
[17:50] Who do you first play for?
[17:52] I grew up in Albion Park, south of Wollongong, as a massive Canterbury Bulldogs fan, NRL by the Bulldogs, which was tricky being in the Illawarra.
[18:02] The reason I supported them, my mum and dad introduced me to it, but my mum, my nan, my mum's mum, Gwen Crumpton, worked at the Bulldogs
[18:11] And she was the secretary.
[18:12] She works.
[18:12] She was the right-hand man for Peter Bullfrog Mall, who was running the Bulldogs at the time.
[18:17] Picture it like Gus Gould.
[18:18] Yeah.
[18:19] Gus Gould's current right hand.
[18:20] So she was given life membership recently, so 25 years.
[18:24] So every second Saturday, I was at Belmore Oval.
[18:26] We drove from Wollongong to go up and watch the Doggies play.
[18:28] So I was born into it.
[18:30] Who was your man?
[18:30] My pop played for the Berries, say Canterbury.
[18:32] So it was in our blood.
[18:33] My man was Terry Lamb.
[18:34] Oh, Terry Lamb.
[18:35] Come on.
[18:36] Lamb, nicely taken.
[18:37] Little dummy.
[18:37] He's through.
[18:38] Lamb's got support.
[18:39] Broughton's there for it.
[18:41] It is a try in the corner.
[18:42] Good one.
[18:43] It was Terry Lamb in daylight.
[18:46] He was a god in my household.
[18:47] He still is.
[18:49] And still, when I see him, he'll beeline to me and we'll chat.
[18:52] But he...
[18:53] You know, growing up in Albion Park, a blue collar area, supporting the doggies, like it was just rugby league in the winter and cricket in the summer.
[19:02] That's what you did.
[19:03] And it got to a point like you sort of pick one when you're old enough.
[19:06] And I was lucky that there was a bit of a pathway for me, but my mum wouldn't let me play until I was seven.
[19:14] So I wanted to play at five, not allowed.
[19:16] And under six is not allowed.
[19:18] And she couldn't hold me back much longer.
[19:20] So since I was seven, I've played until I retired.
[19:24] So as a cricketer, what did you bring to the table?
[19:28] Compare yourself to a modern cricketer.
[19:30] You as growing up, were you a batter, a bowler, dashing all around, a keeper?
[19:34] What did you bring to the table, Bowie?
[19:36] I loved cricket.
[19:38] Yeah.
[19:39] My sister played for Hobart before the Big Bash.
[19:44] Okay.
[19:44] So she used to fly down there.
[19:45] So essentially the women's cricket was – the teams that were in was obviously New South Wales, Queensland, I think Victoria.
[19:54] Hobart had a team, South Australia.
[19:56] And –
[19:57] New South Wales were the strongest team.
[19:59] And whoever didn't make New South Wales, to be honest, would make up a lot of the other states.
[20:03] Yeah.
[20:04] And my sister didn't even get picked for New South Wales.
[20:06] Victoria was strong, actually.
[20:08] Yeah, Victoria was strong.
[20:09] And the rest of the states were filled up with people who didn't make Victoria and New South Wales.
[20:13] So my sister played down there in Hobart.
[20:17] My sister is...
[20:20] My parents' favourite.
[20:22] That's a big admission.
[20:23] Which kills me, it does.
[20:26] But she just missed a window, my sister, so she could play cricket and she was a handy footy player.
[20:31] But she just missed a window of what's happening now and I couldn't be happier for all the women that are going through, you know, reaching all the heights they are.
[20:38] But I loved – we played cricket all the time and she was a gun cricketer.
[20:43] I would open the bowling and bat about five.
[20:46] Opened the bowling, bat five.
[20:48] So pretty handy all-rounder.
[20:49] Opened the bowling, bat about five.
[20:54] It's hard to get any direct link as to who that would be.
[20:57] Well, you know who I used to say I was like and I loved him, man?
[21:00] Go on.
[21:00] Jacques Callas.
[21:02] Jacques the Callis.
[21:03] Who Ricky Ponty came on this show and declared him just about the greatest cricketer of all time.
[21:08] So I like you comparing yourself to a bloke that took 300 test wickets and averaged 55 of the bat.
[21:12] That's nice going.
[21:13] Well, I'm not going to say Enrique, Moses Enrique or something.
[21:16] I'm not going to respectfully.
[21:17] Do you know what I mean?
[21:18] I'm going to shoot for the stars, Howie.
[21:19] Bloody hope you do, Bo.
[21:21] But I grew up in that era like I –
[21:26] I didn't know much about South Africa.
[21:27] I didn't know anything about South Africa.
[21:28] I just knew they were good at cricket.
[21:29] Yeah.
[21:30] And I knew everyone in my family was going for Australia.
[21:32] And I remember sitting there watching Fanny de Villiers and watching- Alan Donald.
[21:38] Alan Donald with Zink and Hansi Cronje.
[21:42] And I'm like, I'm going to go for South Africa, Jonty Rhodes.
[21:45] And they went on a hot streak.
[21:47] In my opinion, that was- Because your favorite era is what you grew up watching, right?
[21:51] Yeah.
[21:51] So that early 90s, mid-90s, you know, late 90s was the epitome of – it was the top echelon in league, cricket, everything.
[22:00] And they were white hot South Africa and Australia were very, very good too.
[22:04] But I went up to watch them play.
[22:07] They were playing in Barrel one time, South Africa.
[22:10] They were playing like a New South Wales team or something.
[22:12] But Jonty Rhodes, we heard –
[22:14] I whispered John T. Rhodes was going to be there because his back before was in, you know, it might've been in the local paper.
[22:19] Yeah.
[22:19] So my sister and I got driven up there and we stood there the whole day watching, yelling out to John T. And then when the game finished, we sprint on the field and he picked my sister up and gave her a hug back before phones and taking photos and all that.
[22:30] And we drove back and we still talk about it to this day.
[22:33] Um,
[22:34] But it was, cricket was, yeah, cricket and footy was our life, man.
[22:37] Mate, Jonty Rhodes, I was working on the first tournament I did overseas in Dubai, and I met Jonty.
[22:44] He was involved.
[22:45] I don't think he was commentating.
[22:47] And I was like, yeah, I was like, Jonty Rhodes, best fielder ever, the diving into the stumps, and, you know, a little punchy character.
[22:54] And he must have heard that I enjoyed surfing.
[22:56] And I get this text message out of the blue on the WhatsApp, how he, I'm going tomorrow with my South African mate.
[23:04] and I thought, well, there's not going to be surf, and there was, and I went surfing with John T. Rhodes.
[23:08] Bullshit.
[23:10] Mate, not only did I go surfing with John T. Rhodes, there was a sweep and some people got pulled out, and our man, the hero, John T. Rhodes, paddled over on his board, grabbed someone, and dragged them into shore, and I'm declaring it he saved their life.
[23:24] So that's my experience with the great John T. Rhodes.
[23:27] That's John T. Rhodes.
[23:28] I wasn't going to believe it, but until you tell me that last bit, that's John T. Rhodes' behaviour.
[23:32] Correct.
[23:32] It was just New York's behaviour.
[23:34] Yeah.
[23:34] I heard there was 10 of them that he saved.
[23:36] Can you send me his number?
[23:37] I'd love to chat to him.
[23:39] He spends a lot of time in Goa now.
[23:40] He spends a lot of time in India on the coast, the great Jay Rhodes.
[23:44] Were you a gun rugby league player?
[23:47] Were you the most talented player in every team you played for or you had to work hard, Bo?
[23:51] No.
[23:51] I wasn't the most talented, no.
[23:53] I mean, in local, like in my, you know, in Albion Park, we were in a minor competition.
[23:59] So maybe in that team.
[24:00] But when I went into Wollongong and tried to level up, no way.
[24:02] No, no, no.
[24:04] No.
[24:04] I was a part of the bunch, you know.
[24:07] But when I was there and I was signed to play at the St. George of Lora Dragons, we had a white hot under-19s, 20s team.
[24:15] We ended up taking out the comp.
[24:16] But they said I was always too small, like too skinny in the –
[24:20] But everything else fits, so, you know, he needs to put on size.
[24:24] And it was really hard for me to put on weight.
[24:25] I still find it now.
[24:26] And I know people go, oh, you know, that's all, what a problem to have.
[24:28] But I really struggled with it.
[24:30] Yeah.
[24:31] And I had a really good 2003, 2004, and a lot of the guys in my 19s and 20s team got taken up to top great training, and I knew I could compete with them.
[24:40] If not, I'd do better.
[24:42] So all I wanted was a crack, and my manager got me a training trial at the West Tigers.
[24:49] And that's when I went up there.
[24:52] and did one training session, and everything was built around skill and speed and hand-eye and catch-pass rather than size and run-over blokes and punchlines and taught different respective cultures and different respective systems.
[25:07] But that was the system that I sort of needed then.
[25:11] Yeah.
[25:12] Because rugby league, and we're seeing it now, mate, with the six again, well, rugby league isn't about I can run over you and you can run over me.
[25:18] It's a...
[25:19] It's a physical sport, but a lot of the teams are now winning 46 to 36.
[25:24] On an overlap, it's catch-pass, it's skill, mate.
[25:27] it's not a slow down wrestle game.
[25:29] We don't wrestle.
[25:30] It's not about wrestle.
[25:31] Who's a stronger wrestler or who's got a bigger forward pack.
[25:35] It's a game won by the halves and decisions.
[25:39] That's what it is.
[25:40] And that's what the West Tigers was doing.
[25:42] And it suited me.
[25:42] And playing with guys like Robbie Farah, Benji Marshall, of course, I learned a lot about, you know, how to play rugby league and things that I, you know, you think you know everything as a teenager, but going there it was like,
[25:57] it was the best decision I've ever made.
[26:00] So I'll talk to you about your league career and your debut in a moment, but I ask you this question because eventually you get to a point where you're a media star.
[26:09] So if you weren't,
[26:11] going to be playing professional rugby league at that stage?
[26:14] Obviously rugby league gave you a platform then to work into something that you're brilliant at, which is the media.
[26:19] But what path were you going down if you didn't get to play rugby league?
[26:23] Like were you like doing acting or drama or anything like that?
[26:28] Or no, not at all?
[26:29] No, because I wasn't.
[26:33] I wasn't exposed to that.
[26:34] No.
[26:34] Like it was probably a cultural thing because the kids that did the drama at my school were the kids that weren't in my group.
[26:41] Yeah.
[26:41] Respectfully.
[26:42] You were the sport kid.
[26:43] Yeah.
[26:44] And they didn't cross over those two things.
[26:46] But I was chips in at 19, mate.
[26:51] I was all chips in on rugby league.
[26:52] Okay.
[26:53] Not to say that I wouldn't have been able to bounce out of and do other things, but I...
[26:58] A lot of mates were starting an apprenticeship and, you know, you're just out of school.
[27:02] So I was like, I know, I want, I believe I have what it takes.
[27:09] And I just want to be able to sit with myself like in anything in life and just know that I gave it everything because I feel like that's the –
[27:18] I've never lived like that and I never would forgive myself if I didn't.
[27:23] But if I didn't do that, I'd be doing an – I would have done a building apprenticeship or something.
[27:26] I hate building.
[27:27] I know nothing about it.
[27:28] But I would have done an apprenticeship with a dad's mate who's a tradie or that other just for the money or just for the check, man.
[27:36] I was all in on rugby league.
[27:39] Back to Bo in a moment.
[27:40] Now, if you have not caught up with our new series featuring Jason Dunstall, The Big Five, please do me a favour and give it a go.
[27:48] The Big Big Five.
[27:50] It debates the big topics in our life, the topics you and your crew debate.
[27:55] Awaiting you are the Big Five sports movies of all time, male sporting goats, Big Five Aussie songs with a huge unannounced guest who went through his Big Five as well.
[28:05] How do you think it feels, sleeping by yourself?
[28:07] Yes.
[28:07] We're the one you love.
[28:09] Is this somebody else?
[28:10] Yes, I love it.
[28:11] It's a one.
[28:12] Big Five Aussie sporting performance is probably the toughest one I've had to do so far.
[28:17] And one of my favourites, Big Five old school TV shows.
[28:22] Your number one show of all time.
[28:23] They cover everything from...
[28:26] racism to death to hate to alcohol to drugs to mental health to love to life you name it absolutely everything and at different times full-on serious at other times cleverly witty sometimes some base humor would come in it was incredible check out the big five in your howie games feed now just click play good on your legends
[28:54] Time to continue with Bo.
[28:55] So you get your chance.
[28:57] I wrote some notes here.
[28:58] So West Tigers and Cunalla.
[29:00] We'll get to Cunalla.
[29:01] But round 16, 2007, Bo Ryan runs out.
[29:06] Canberra Raiders take on the West Tigers.
[29:09] And away you go.
[29:09] You can see there, Bo Ryan on the wing.
[29:11] He'll make his first grade debut.
[29:13] Today we're in jumper number two.
[29:15] What's your first memory of the big time?
[29:18] Were you equipped?
[29:18] Were you ready to go?
[29:20] A couple of main things for that game.
[29:21] I think I had 40 tickets.
[29:22] So I had half a Wollongong there, me mum and dad and all my mates.
[29:25] A good start.
[29:26] One of my best mates who's a Raiders fan too.
[29:30] And I think he had a fucking Raiders jersey on.
[29:32] I can't remember how he.
[29:33] He went to watch you on debut in a race.
[29:35] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[29:36] In the opposition's kit.
[29:37] But the things I remember, there was three moments I remember.
[29:39] One was going to the game and I was sitting next to Ben.
[29:42] So as soon as I met Benji, we just clicked.
[29:44] I grew up playing against Benji because when he'd come over from...
[29:48] New Zealand and lived in the Goldie at Kebert Park.
[29:50] I was living in New South Wales.
[29:52] I was playing New South Wales schoolboys.
[29:53] He was playing Queensland schoolboys.
[29:55] And we played them in the schoolboy championships to pick the Australian team.
[29:58] I was playing 5'8".
[29:58] Because you just play wherever you want the ball.
[30:01] So I'm like, yeah, I can play 5'8".
[30:02] I'll play 5'8".
[30:03] He was the other 5'8".
[30:05] And obviously they carved us up because Benji was in the team, Carmichael.
[30:08] And he got the Australian team.
[30:10] 5'8 jersey.
[30:10] I remember when the team farted, they were all standing there, and Benji's got the Australian jersey on his shoulder.
[30:14] He wouldn't put it on.
[30:15] Wouldn't put it on.
[30:15] Wouldn't put it on.
[30:16] So we were talking about that when I got to the Tigers, and we just clicked.
[30:20] But I remember being in the bus on the way to the game.
[30:24] And I remember I hadn't eaten enough.
[30:26] It was like a two o'clock game, Howie, and I remember we were going there at about 11.30 or 12 or something.
[30:30] So I'm like, I've got to eat more.
[30:31] I've got to, I'm nervous.
[30:32] I'm like, I was stressing, mate.
[30:34] So I made a salad sandwich.
[30:36] I remember putting beetroot and ham and all that and putting me hand and putting a serviette on it and then just, you know, getting ready on the bus, fair drive to the game and I'll eat it on the way.
[30:44] And I remember talking to Ben before the game and...
[30:48] He's like, mate, you're sweet, bro.
[30:49] How you feeling?
[30:50] I was like, yeah, mate, I'm feeling all right.
[30:51] Like, I'm nervous, man.
[30:52] I've got my family here.
[30:53] Like, you know, it's a big moment.
[30:56] He goes, you know, bro, you're going to be sweet.
[30:57] Because he wasn't playing that game.
[30:59] He was out.
[30:59] He was injured.
[31:01] And he's talking to me and he goes, he just kept asking me, bro, are you sweet?
[31:04] I said, yeah, I'm feeling sweet, mate.
[31:06] Like...
[31:07] Like, I am stressing out, but can you stop asking me that?
[31:09] Because, you know, you're starting to fucking get in my head.
[31:12] And he goes, bro, look at your arm.
[31:14] And I looked at my hand, and the sandwich that was in my hand, I'd scrunched it with the serviette.
[31:20] And the beetroot was running through the serviette down my hand.
[31:24] And Benj must have thought my arm was bleeding or something.
[31:28] And he's like, bro, what's going on with you?
[31:30] I said, oh, shit, that's a sandwich.
[31:31] And we laughed.
[31:33] So that was what I remember before the game.
[31:36] I remember right at the start of the game, early on in the game, one of our forwards ran the ball, Keith Galloway, and got hit high.
[31:45] And I was young.
[31:46] And they were Scott Logan, the guy that hit him high, was late 20s, early 30s maybe.
[31:50] And then they got up, and this was back when you could fight.
[31:53] So they started punching on.
[31:54] So Logan meeting Keith Galloway with a big shoulder charge.
[31:57] Logan didn't like it.
[31:58] Now it's going to be on for the two good men.
[32:04] And I was like, I remember being really close to a guy and going, holy shit.
[32:08] It felt like, I don't know if you've been in that position, Howie, but it felt like watching your dad fight.
[32:13] I'm like, my dad's fighting my next door neighbour.
[32:15] It felt like a kid watching a man fight.
[32:18] I remember that clearly.
[32:19] And then I remember the siren going.
[32:20] I remember it getting hit hard early.
[32:24] The first run I felt all right, and then I got hit hard, probably second or third run.
[32:29] And then I remember the game being over.
[32:31] So it's a bit blurry, but it was one to remember.
[32:35] I was thinking about it and when I was reading about you and I've watched a lot of NRL footy show stuff this week and for people that follow the AFL game, you will have heard of Shane Crawford.
[32:48] A lot of similarities, I think, discussions about getting into media, whether it should be on TV when you're playing, the type of stuff he was doing on the AFL footy show and the type of stuff you were doing.
[33:00] So how do you get...
[33:02] your first opportunity to go, do you go on as a guest panellist or how do you make your first step into the bright lights of TV?
[33:11] It was a timing, fate.
[33:15] So growing up watching the footy show, like the AFL guys do, you ever worshipped the show.
[33:20] The NRL footy show was massive.
[33:22] Matty Johns was doing plenty of different characters and appearing on it.
[33:28] He went through all the things that he went through in his personal life and whatnot and lost his role.
[33:35] And then I got a call from your manager saying someone at the Tigers must have mentioned, you know, if you're funny or whatever.
[33:42] It ended up being Robbie Farrow, who I played with, and Benji.
[33:44] They spoke to their management and said, you know, because Channel 9 were ringing around, said, look, we need someone to come in and have a crack at this.
[33:50] There's an opportunity.
[33:51] We hear this Bo Ryan's doing stuff at training and whatnot.
[33:53] So I got a call from your manager, come in and meet the guys at 9.
[33:58] But I had no context.
[33:59] No one had told me it was that.
[34:00] So I'm like, shit.
[34:01] Get in the car, get in the manager, drives me over.
[34:02] He goes, look.
[34:04] They want to give you a crack on the footy show.
[34:06] You know, you just be yourself.
[34:07] Do something funny.
[34:08] So we get there and I sit down.
[34:11] I've got Chris Huntington, who's my best mate.
[34:12] He was playing at the Tigers at the time.
[34:14] And Gary Burns, the EP of the footy show, says, all right, mate, so you heard you're funny.
[34:18] I said, oh, I don't know.
[34:19] No one said I'm funny.
[34:21] He said, oh, I heard that.
[34:22] So do something funny right off the top of the interview.
[34:24] Do something funny.
[34:25] What do you mean?
[34:26] He goes, well, do something funny.
[34:28] And so I just turned to Heino and luckily I think he had like a, his shirt was too tight.
[34:32] So I just ripped him to shreds and he had a bit of scar tissue on his face.
[34:35] He had an injury from training.
[34:37] So I basically just ripped into him for about a minute and come back and he goes, all right, cool.
[34:42] You start tomorrow.
[34:42] And I go, start what?
[34:43] Yeah.
[34:45] Start what?
[34:45] What do I start tomorrow?
[34:47] And they just sent me out on the street of Leichhardt after training just to do like a Vox Pops thing and a few people on the street.
[34:55] Have you seen Michael Crocker's Falcon in the disorder, State of Roger disorder?
[35:01] No, I haven't, to be honest.
[35:02] Would you want to try and...
[35:03] You know, get in the way of one-on-one kicks and see what happens to you.
[35:06] No, it's not going to be a stitcher.
[35:08] You're not going to do some skeet on me and everyone's going to laugh at me in the footage show?
[35:11] Oh, probably.
[35:12] Yeah, probably.
[35:12] Let's do it.
[35:14] Let's do it.
[35:18] Sorry, thank you.
[35:20] I told you it was a stitcher.
[35:22] And I turned up the next day.
[35:24] After training, a little bit nervous.
[35:25] But the camera came on and I can't explain it, mate.
[35:28] Like, once...
[35:30] Once the camera come on and the light come on and I started, like I was into it and talking to camera, I don't know.
[35:37] I was, I felt like, I hadn't felt like that in a long time, man.
[35:39] I felt addicted to it.
[35:41] Really?
[35:41] I loved it.
[35:42] What'd you love about it?
[35:43] I really, really loved it.
[35:45] Probably coming back to what I said earlier, the pressure of it.
[35:48] Yeah.
[35:48] Big pressure.
[35:49] Probably the, the being uncomfortable about it.
[35:53] I'm not too sure, but I like performing.
[35:54] I've always liked it.
[35:55] I wish I did some drama and acting growing up.
[35:57] Um, yeah.
[35:59] But I, watching it back, I thought it was great, right?
[36:02] I loved it, doing it.
[36:03] Watching it back, it was the shittest piece to camera you've ever seen in your life, obviously.
[36:06] I thought it was like I was going all right.
[36:08] Can we find this somewhere?
[36:09] But it was just the feeling I got.
[36:10] I'll be able to find it for you, for sure.
[36:12] Whip, because we need to use the audio.
[36:13] I remember that at Blade's...
[36:15] I remember I had a Blades t-shirt on because they were our sponsors at the Tigers.
[36:18] And I'm just like, back when you could just, there was no subtly.
[36:22] Like, I think I could just, I was holding maybe a Gatorade or whoever is our sponsor.
[36:25] Like, it was just the most branded shit you've ever seen.
[36:29] But I, man, I knew I wanted more of it.
[36:33] I knew I wanted more of it, mate.
[36:34] And this is without even seeing it go to wear.
[36:36] I was like, this is...
[36:38] I love this.
[36:39] And the segment went well.
[36:41] So then the next week they said, we want it again, but we want you to come on the show.
[36:45] So they played the tape and then they played, I forget what it was.
[36:49] It was like, uh, we did a game.
[36:52] It was me and another player, like a guessing game or something.
[36:55] Yeah.
[36:56] Um, and I did that.
[36:58] So that, that segment become, it was probably five or six rounds left becoming every week thing.
[37:04] Yep.
[37:04] And they wanted me live as much as I could.
[37:07] And it just went from one thing to another, but the live aspect, how we was a whole different ball game, mate, because I enjoyed the.
[37:19] the doing, the filming and the taping, the camera.
[37:21] But being in there, like you don't understand how, I don't understand how much or fully appreciate how much experience I've got for doing 10 years of that in front of 300 people live to camera or to the audience or performing.
[37:33] There's nothing else.
[37:34] You can't get that anywhere in TV now.
[37:36] And I did it for 10 years.
[37:38] So that when I come out of it and was sitting on the project or sitting on Studio 10 or doing The Amazing Race or whatever it was, everything felt amazing.
[37:46] Like the pressure was, you can't compare it to it.
[37:51] So it was the best training I could have had ever, or it was the best experience.
[37:56] And it was the best, it got the ball rolling for my career and put me under extreme pressure early without even knowing it.
[38:06] But there's doing that and there's doing Voptos.
[38:09] Good stuff.
[38:10] Who's your favourite team?
[38:11] Yes.
[38:13] Perameter.
[38:13] Okay.
[38:14] Who's your favourite player?
[38:16] Keith Urban?
[38:17] Yeah.
[38:17] Yeah, he's a good player.
[38:19] And then there's coming up with characters.
[38:21] So I watched a lot of this back.
[38:24] DJ Yala, the Egyptian-born Australian DJ.
[38:27] He's still around.
[38:28] Well, he's Lebanese.
[38:29] We had to say Egyptian at the time, but he's Lebanese.
[38:32] DJ Yala down here at Bankstown signing off.
[38:35] Unlucky this year for the Doggies, but good luck to the West Tigers.
[38:38] Bo Ryan and Chris Huntington, very, very strong, man.
[38:41] I just want to say 2011, year of the Doggies.
[38:45] And Donnie Palmer, who just seemed to be a trainer doing stretches.
[38:49] Anyway, Heidi, this one's for you, champ.
[38:52] Sorry to interrupt, fat man.
[38:53] Hey, go for your life, champ.
[38:54] Roddy Palmer here anyway.
[38:56] Yeah.
[38:57] Put a few back, yeah.
[38:58] Where'd you come up with this stuff?
[39:00] And that takes them nuts to roll that out when you're starting to – when you're still playing football, by the way.
[39:06] I'm sure you were getting plenty on the field about your characters.
[39:09] Yeah.
[39:10] I don't know.
[39:11] I feel, I mean, DJ Yala, he's just a Bulldogs fan.
[39:15] He's dressed up.
[39:16] He's a Bulldogs fan.
[39:18] And he's your typical passionate rugby league Middle Eastern fan.
[39:22] He loves it.
[39:23] And a lot of people can relate to that and resonate with that.
[39:26] At the time, I was living with Robbie Farrar.
[39:28] And it was my first experience with Lebanese people.
[39:32] I didn't have a lot of, I didn't have any Lebanese mates.
[39:34] Now, the majority of my mates are Lebanese.
[39:36] Yeah.
[39:37] And I loved everything about it.
[39:38] It was – their culture is – I couldn't get enough of it.
[39:43] So that was to answer that question.
[39:46] Donnie Palmer was a Ronnie Palmer who was a trainer at Penriff.
[39:49] And then it sort of just linked into play.
[39:51] So while we worked out, I'm like, I'll just do a Benji or Sonny Bill or Paul Gowen, whoever the highest profile person was, Sammy Burgess.
[39:59] We would just, or I'd always just aim for them and take on their persona or personality.
[40:06] And the people, people liked it, man.
[40:10] People like, cause they don't watch the show for rugby league news.
[40:13] They watch it for entertainment.
[40:15] How did you deal with coaches, teammates?
[40:19] All of a sudden you're on the TV and now you're becoming a TV star, but your main job is to go out there and perform on the weekend.
[40:27] So I don't know, but I remember with Croft –
[40:31] He had a great game.
[40:32] Fantastic.
[40:33] You know, he's got – he's played brilliantly because he can relieve his mind by going and doing immediate performance.
[40:38] Yeah.
[40:38] But then when he'd have a bad game, it's like, oh, hang on, hang on.
[40:41] This is taking away from his performance.
[40:43] Did you cop that?
[40:44] Did you deal with that?
[40:45] Yeah, I copped that, of course.
[40:46] I –
[40:48] The reason I could do it, Tim Shane's my coach at the time, said, look, because I did a couple without even telling him, like as in just appearing on the footy show.
[40:55] And after about a month, he said, mate, I heard you're on the footy show quite a bit.
[40:59] I said, yeah, yeah.
[41:01] Thanks for watching it.
[41:04] He said, I said, oh, well, can I do it?
[41:06] Like, what's the issue?
[41:07] Because I'm just waiting to get shut down.
[41:09] That's all I was doing.
[41:10] Yep.
[41:11] And he said, you can do it.
[41:13] Just don't play shit.
[41:15] Yeah, okay, okay.
[41:17] Now, the thing with wing, Howie, when you're playing outside backs, fullback or wing, there's only two games you can have on the wing, a good game or a shit game.
[41:27] Because you catch the bomb or you drop the bomb.
[41:29] Yep.
[41:30] You score the try in the corner or you don't score it.
[41:33] You make the tackle on the edge that gets exposed or you miss the tackle.
[41:38] There's no gray area with a winger.
[41:40] You've either had a great game or a poor game.
[41:43] And I was very lucky the first, after he said that, I remember running out or playing the Roosters.
[41:48] And the Roosters were in good form, man.
[41:50] And I'm going, just don't play shit.
[41:52] Don't play shit.
[41:54] And I remember Mitch Pearce hit a torpedo bomb first touch and he's put a torpedo bomb up and I'm just thinking, don't play shit.
[42:01] And I caught it and it probably brings me back to what I bring a lot of stuff back to.
[42:08] I liked being under that pressure.
[42:09] I don't know.
[42:10] I see people now struggling with it.
[42:12] And I think it'd be a lot harder now with social media and TikTok and all, you know, so much with podcasts and so much noise around the game.
[42:22] I think it'd be much harder to be in an RL player now.
[42:24] Yeah, no doubt.
[42:25] But I sort of looked for that pressure.
[42:30] And it's just naturally something that I've done.
[42:33] I don't suggest it to everyone in terms of, you know, overloading yourself in terms of doing media and playing.
[42:39] But I...
[42:40] I liked it.
[42:41] There were times where it was hard to manage.
[42:43] I won't lie to you, mate.
[42:44] It was really hard to manage back into my career, especially when I had my daughter.
[42:49] You know, you want to spend time with your kids.
[42:51] I'm working so much in the footy show.
[42:53] I'm playing full-time.
[42:54] It got tough, but I wouldn't change it.
[42:58] How many Logies did you win?
[43:00] As in the footy show?
[43:01] Yeah.
[43:02] The footy show won most of them.
[43:03] When you were on it, it just used to win every year.
[43:04] Yeah, they won a lot.
[43:06] I mean, to be honest, the AFL footy show dropped off a little bit.
[43:09] The AFL footy show I loved.
[43:10] Yeah.
[43:11] And there was a period there, I can't remember exactly what years, but they sort of dropped the ball a little bit too.
[43:15] I mean, NRL footy show ended up dropping the ball, but.
[43:17] Mate, I've got it here.
[43:19] Logie, best sports program 2009, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.
[43:23] Yeah.
[43:24] Yeah, that was the run, man.
[43:25] 11, 12, when there was no rules, like.
[43:28] Yeah.
[43:29] You could do a lot more back then.
[43:30] Well, mate.
[43:31] And I would say whatever I was thinking, man.
[43:33] I would literally say what you're thinking.
[43:36] And I think 2012, I remember Ginge.
[43:38] I forget what year it was.
[43:40] Might have been 11.
[43:43] Might have been 11.
[43:44] 11, 12, one of them years.
[43:45] He goes, I want you to level up this year.
[43:48] And whatever you're thinking.
[43:50] David Gingell, I'm very close with.
[43:52] He said, just say it, mate.
[43:53] He said, if it's a prerecorded thing, we can just cut it out.
[43:57] And I did that and it was, a lot of stuff was landing.
[44:00] A lot of stuff got me in trouble, Harry.
[44:02] There was a lot of times I was on the front page or in the news for other things, but that was the footy show.
[44:09] There have been many, many famous New Zealanders over the years.
[44:11] Sam Neill, Russell Crowe, Keith Urban, but arguably the most famous of all time was Sir Edmund Hillary.
[44:19] He was the first man to climb Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.
[44:22] When asked why he did it, he said he was trying to get as far away from New Zealand as possible.
[44:27] My daughter shows me videos.
[44:29] Now, I'll give you this one.
[44:29] My daughter will come to me and go, Dad, what about this?
[44:33] And I'll look at it and I'll go, oh, holy shit.
[44:38] How old's your daughter?
[44:39] 13, nearly 4-year-old.
[44:40] Has she showed?
[44:41] And she'll go, Dad, what is that?
[44:43] She'll show me the video of me saying something on the street.
[44:45] I'm out in Penzhurst or something or out the back of Blacktown and I'm saying something to a punter.
[44:49] And she'll go, what is that?
[44:50] And I'll look at it.
[44:52] I go, babe, they're doing anything with AI these days.
[44:54] That's not me.
[44:55] Did you describe?
[44:56] That's clearly not me.
[44:57] Look how bustly I am.
[44:58] That's not me.
[44:59] Well, talking about that and AI and your daughter, so you famously made a bet around State of Origin, and I watched it back, and you rolled into the whole show nude, full frontal to the panel, different time.
[45:10] Yeah, different time.
[45:10] Has your daughter showed you that video back or not?
[45:12] She hasn't yet.
[45:12] No, no, no.
[45:12] Right.
[45:13] But you know what happened with that?
[45:14] No.
[45:14] So with that, I was doing an interview in the city.
[45:17] So we were – I was – the footy show was starting at, say, 8.30 then, that time.
[45:22] And I remember I was in the – I was doing a live cross for the show at the start.
[45:26] I made the bet and we lost.
[45:27] So everyone knew I was coming on nude, right?
[45:29] And it was a big audience.
[45:30] But what they did is they said, go and do a live cross from somewhere in the city so you missed the start, say you're getting ready, and then come for the second break.
[45:36] It was the oldest trick in the book, trying to hold the audience.
[45:38] How are you?
[45:38] Of course.
[45:38] Of course.
[45:39] Of course.
[45:39] And when I got there, I got there and I got to the, they sort of followed me in and said, Bo's arrived, here he is, got clothes on.
[45:45] And I remember just checking in at nine, coming through the boom gate, seeing the guys, go to the front desk, and getting to the green room, like my little dressing room area.
[45:55] And there was just a gown or whatever it was.
[45:58] So I put it on.
[45:59] And I remember walking out and saying to the guys, yeah, so, but what am I, um,
[46:03] what am I wearing over me?
[46:05] You know, nude, like what am I going to do?
[46:07] And they go, what do you mean?
[46:08] I go, well, cause I'm coming out nude.
[46:10] What am I actually covering myself with?
[46:12] They go, I'm like,
[46:13] you're nude.
[46:15] And this is producers and makeup people.
[46:17] I go, no, I understand the optics are I'm nude, but what am I going to put over it?
[46:21] They go, no, no, you're nude.
[46:23] And I was on him about a minute and I was like, holy shit, man.
[46:27] It's freezing cold with the air con.
[46:28] No good.
[46:28] It's 9.30 at night.
[46:30] There's hundreds of people.
[46:31] So I've just gone, can I go bathroom real quick?
[46:33] So I'm like, I've got to get some energy in this thing.
[46:35] I've got to make this thing look a bit bigger than it is.
[46:38] And I remember being in there and coming out,
[46:41] And one of the makeup ladies goes, how are you feeling?
[46:43] I said, I'm shitting myself.
[46:44] She goes, I've got an idea.
[46:46] And she went into the green room, into her makeup area and came out.
[46:49] You know the little, I don't want to say it wrong, like a chicken fillet that they wear on there, the women wear on there, the chicken fillet like sticker on their boobs.
[47:00] I don't actually know what it does.
[47:01] It might be to fill the whatever.
[47:03] She goes, I've got one of them.
[47:04] Why don't you put it over and cup it like that?
[47:07] I said, and it was a big one, right?
[47:08] I said, great.
[47:08] Like, no, it would stretch around.
[47:10] No, but it would stretch.
[47:12] I'm sorry.
[47:12] It would stretch around so you could sort of stick it on your, you know, on your nuts and all that.
[47:17] So I said, great, give me that one.
[47:19] So I'm walking out and I've stuck it on, right?
[47:21] I've stuck it on.
[47:22] And I'm like, that's grabbing all right.
[47:23] And it sort of just looked like a nude cup.
[47:26] I'm like, it's all right.
[47:27] She goes, yeah, it's great.
[47:27] It's all right.
[47:28] It's like a Ken doll.
[47:28] Yeah, exactly like a Ken doll.
[47:30] With less bulge than a Kendall.
[47:32] And I'm walking up and I remember it was around Origins.
[47:35] Someone had a face mask of gallant.
[47:37] So they all had them in the crowd, gal, gal.
[47:39] And I thought, shit, just in case something happens.
[47:41] So I grabbed it and I put the gal face mask over myself to do a bit of a reveal.
[47:46] That was just like nothing planned, just footage.
[47:48] I just grabbed one.
[47:49] So I walk out and they said, Bo, come out.
[47:51] And I'm facing the panel.
[47:54] And there was about eight people on there.
[47:55] It was like Joey and Wally Lewis and...
[47:58] I think Erin Molan was definitely on there.
[48:00] Erin was definitely on there.
[48:01] Erin was in the middle because I'm going, Erin, can you turn around respectfully?
[48:05] And she's like, ah, yeah, I will.
[48:07] And everyone was on there.
[48:08] So it was all guys I idolized and they're laughing at that.
[48:11] And I went in and then they've gone, reveal yourself.
[48:13] So I revealed to them.
[48:14] There it is.
[48:20] And now I'm standing there and the camera's on me and I'm walking a bit.
[48:23] And then the chicken filler just falls to the ground.
[48:25] Mate, and I'm like...
[48:36] And I'm looking, and I'm looking at them, and they're looking at me, and Gail's just looking at it and looking at me, just shaking his head, laughing his head off.
[48:44] And I'm like, my hands are in the air, Howie, right?
[48:47] What am I supposed to do?
[48:48] I don't know, mate.
[48:48] So I just sort of just walked and just kept going.
[48:51] The funniest thing about that night, I sit down on the panel next to –
[48:56] Tell us.
[48:56] And we're talking about the game and I'm nude.
[48:58] Anyway, cut's here.
[48:59] They do a few questions.
[49:00] Cut's at a break.
[49:01] And I'm like, cool, what are we doing?
[49:02] They said, no, no, we'll just stay out of here.
[49:03] You're on the show.
[49:04] I'm like, mate, I did the whole show nude.
[49:06] Apparently, I just want to say thank you to my wife.
[49:08] I'm so sorry to everyone in my family other than me.
[49:11] The next break, they're like, oh, Penrith versus Manly.
[49:13] Who do you think, Bo?
[49:14] I'm like, bro, if you look at it, an hour later, I'm like, oh, look, I think Penrith, you know, the way Ivan Clears...
[49:20] I'm fucking talking about games nude, like, with no context.
[49:24] If you're watching that at 11 o'clock, I'm just like, yeah, and I want to give a shout-out to, they go, yep, Queensland Cup, Burley Bears, Bo, what do you reckon?
[49:31] And I'm talking, it's like, what the fuck?
[49:34] Do you know what I mean?
[49:36] That's fantastic.
[49:37] Like, what the hell, man?
[49:39] It's just.
[49:41] I've heard some stories on this show.
[49:42] I've heard some stories, but that's top five in 10 years, that.
[49:45] That is a beautifully told story.
[49:48] A different time, mate.
[49:51] That is the end of Bo Ryan, part A and part B, the Cronulla Shark Saga.
[49:55] Retiring live on telly and the phenomenal experiences of the amazing race.
[50:01] See you there.

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