161 Ray Hadley The Life Career Of A Legendary Broadcaster

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That's your rooster.

Yeah, apparently so.

Where'd you borrow it?

You know how kids listen to records and things like that? I used to listen to race calls.

I'd have cotton reels. I'd roll them down the driveway and have them painted different colours

and call them. I got them in my early 20s. I've got to have a crack at this. I can't not do this.

Where did your ambition come from?

My dad, who I loved dearly, and he was my hero, you know, just...

I'll work seven days a week from March to October, and the people will say,

I don't like this bastard much, but jeez, he works hard. I said, I'll win him over eventually.

He said, it'll kill you. And I said, well, it might kill me, but I'm going to do it. And it

really did kill me. I did it for 12 years. By the time we got to the end of 2002, we beat

Lortie for the first time, and in 2003, we beat him again, and we never got beaten again.

You want me to ring him now?

Yeah, ring him now. Let's put him on.

Rabs, it's Hadley.

Ray Hadley, finally, mate. Welcome to Straight Talk.

Well, it's lovely to be here, Mark. It's a great pleasure. Thanks for asking me. I'm not

all that flattered, given I wasn't the first choice of the radio broadcasters you've interviewed.

I'm sorry, but Ben Fordham, who's a family friend. So, I mean, I didn't know you. I mean,

I only bumped into you a few times in my life. I know you, obviously, I knew you through the

show on foot and everything else, but Ben's a family friend, like, you know, family.

I'm tipping Ben would have phoned you and said, I'd be a good subject to interview.

He did, actually. And he actually, I know, but funnily enough, he did. And he had Spira

Cristobalus in here, and they were here just before the show. And he said, I'd be a good subject to interview.

Before the Olympics. And they said, you should have Ray on the show before the Olympics.

But we couldn't organise it.

No, I was away in Paris for a while, so.

Too busy.

Well, it's worked out all right, because it's been a fairly hectic couple of weeks for me,

so timing's everything.

Well, there's a lot happening at GB. Is there anything off limits, by the way?

Well, legal matters.

Yeah, things that are before the courts.

Yeah, matters before the courts. So, you know, they're off limits. As I explained to my audience

recently, it's a difficult time for all concerned.

But I'm out of there on December 13, and other people can worry about it.

So, was there any coincidence in your retirement with you turning 70 this year? So, I'm not

sure what your birthday is, because we looked up Wikipedia, but like, you're 70 this year.

Yeah, September I turned 70.

And you sort of retired like October or something?

Yeah, I made the announcement sort of late October, early November. I made the decision

probably before that. But you see, when you make those decisions,

pretty important decisions in your life, and you've been doing it for over 40 years,

and you've been working, you know, for over 50 years, you think, well, am I really doing

the right thing? But I had a yarn with Tom Malone, the CEO in Paris. He grabbed me for

a cup of coffee and a bit to eat one day, and we went to this little cafe. And I'd signed

until the end of 2026. My contract had lapsed halfway through this year, and the

CEO asked me to sign for another couple of years, you know, to transition someone into

the position. And I started to think about the fact getting up at half past three in

the morning was a bit of an assignment. When I get there, I'm 100 miles an hour, so I still

love it, but it's still testing. And then, as I explained to him, I've now got seven

grandchildren, and seven years ago, I had none. And so, you've got, you know, Grandparents

Day and all the things that go associated with being a pop.

I asked for time off a couple of times. I thought, do I really want to ask for time

off? And so, I said, I'm probably not going to see out the two and a half years, so, you

know, what about a compromise? And then we met again, and by that time, I'd sort of made

my mind up. And I said, it'd be better to go at the end of this year, so it's a clean

break, six weeks off, and someone else can have another crack in 2025, which he agreed

to. And he's been very cooperative and very, you know, kind about it all.

And I explained to him, I'm not going to give up work altogether. I'm going to do something.

I started calling football back in the 80s, before that, the races. So, I'm too old to

call the races, but I'm not too old to call the football. So, he said, yeah, you can do

that, you know.

You mean do the, on Saturday afternoons and Sundays?

Well, you know, not on radio, but certainly there are other areas I could call.

There's nine.

Yeah, there's nine. Probably not at nine, but probably at Fox Sports or something like

that. I've been, you know, part of the GB operation for the last 23 years.

And before that, 19 years at TUE, all of that calling football. So, I thought, yeah,

you know, I've had a yarn to a few people. Just, you know, making myself available. And

I think the ideal situation next year, with Tom's blessing, would be to do a couple of

days somewhere, you know, just to keep my eye in and keep things bubbling along.

Well, NRL 360 needs a controversial, remember the old controversy corner?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

360 sort of looks a bit like that.

Yeah.

It looks like it needs someone in there.

Well, you know, I'm going to have a talk to, I'm fortunate that Steve Crawley's the

boss of Fox Sports.

Yeah.

And Steve and I go back over 40 years. He was a racing journalist for the Australian

when I was calling races. And so, we're pretty good mates. I don't want to take anyone's

job, but if there's a position I can fill on a part-time basis, I've just said, you

know, can we have a yarn about it? And he said, yeah, sure. So, we're going to have

a yarn sometime.

Look out, Braith. Look out, Braith. Braith in there. He's coming for you.

No, Braith's sweet. I don't want Braith's job. I don't want anyone's job. But I think

someone needs to challenge that crusty old Phil Rothfield, Buzz.

Buzz.

Buzz.

Look out, Buzz.

I think someone needs to have a shot at Buzz.

Give him a bit of a tickle up.

Well, him and I have been mates too for a long time, warring mates from time to time

because he's always looking for someone to pay out in his column. And sometimes I'm a

willing participant, other times I'm an unwilling participant. So, you know, I'm not going to

Yeah, you know, like it feels good. It's a good fit if I were to do something like that.

And that's not assured yet. I've got to get Tom Malone's blessing and I've got a few things

to negotiate. But I started calling the races in the early 80s with John Tapp and before

that, Des Hoystead, and then I went to the league in 87. So, it would be nice to round

out your career, you know, doing what you started doing, I suppose.

Would you, you're going to do 100 State of Origins?

No, I don't think, I don't think I'll get that opportunity because the only two places you

could do it would be the State of Origins.

The State of Origins.

The State of Origins.

The State of Origins.

Could it be on Channel 9 or radio?

What if this is a special guest, Ray Hadley, going to call his 100th game?

No, I'd have to get Rabbits there because he's on 99 as well.

I know.

So, it was funny, when I phoned him on the Thursday morning, I was about to make the

announcement out of courtesy, we've been mates for a long time, and I phoned him and you

can always get Rabs. So, I said, I'm going to announce my retirement. They said, you

know, you're not. I said, yeah. And he said, why?

And I said, well, it doesn't fit well with me getting to 100 Irish when you've only done

99 he said you lying bastard i said yeah you're right i was doing 100 state of origin calls that's

what you're talking about yeah sorry 100 state of origins and we both end on 99 which is good

because he started before me and then he had a bit of a uh a break uh in between channel 10 and

channel 9 and then came back to it when origin was in full swing in the early 1990s and i started

doing it in 87 so we've ended up both at 99 together which is a nice piece of synergy i've

called more grand finals than anyone with 35 and i'll finish on 35 so yeah that's that's a good

number to finish on 99 everybody knows who you are i mean by the way congratulations on an absolutely

stellar career like seriously like in not just not just winning all the awards and winning the

ratings and for so many years in a row and you know doing all the football and the racing and

just generally being in the radio in the radio scene but the longevity point and i've been out

of stay doing one thing not necessarily

for one station but one thing for that long period of time and main and stay relevant

is a pretty hard thing to do how do you feel about that i i guess the longevity is the most

rewarding thing uh because there are plenty of people who get into the media business it's

fairly hurly-burly particularly radio it's very competitive i've had some very tough opponents

over the years um i started off against sorber and hollywood and zorba is one of the toughest

competitors this is peter peters yeah peter peters for people who don't know zorba um he was the

prominent uh broadcast duo the decibel duo he uh he toughened me up because he said of me in 1987

that i was the only bloke in the media that could walk into a bank with a without a mask on and

rob it no one know who i was and he hasn't forgotten it and then he often says to me

i saved your career because we had a fairly mediocre start in 87 ratings wise um and at the

end of 87 to ue approached hollywood and zorba to come from gbc and i was the only bloke in the media

hollywood being a referee yeah greg hartley sorry i think i'm talking to people that don't quite

know who all these people are but you thank you yeah greg greg hartley good good bloke and peter

peters so they were offered the uh the job to replace me at the end of 87 because we hadn't

done all that well and uh hollywood and zorba greg and peter knocked it back so uh peter often

says to me now when we have a talk he said you know i saved your career by not taking the offer

i said yeah you're probably right because i could have disappeared without trace but

we survived and then i retort with by 1990 we beat you anyway so it didn't matter

and we won for the next 30 odd years there's something about ray hadley uh

and i was i do want to talk about who you were and where you grew up and stuff and then

you made me think about something when i listen to gal on radio particularly when they're all

there on a saturday yeah during the footy season there's a sense that you know with levy etc that

no one wants upset radley like there's no idea you've got they've got to get your permission

to say something particularly on um the continuous call team and all that sort of stuff you know

um is that a gag or yeah it's a it's a running gag i mean i started it i invented it along with

bob fulton and peter fralingos two of my dear friends who are both departed um and so there's

a sense of ownership but i mean i love gal that's paul gallen of course the former new south

wales and test player and um it's played on that they're scared of me and they're worried

when in fact they're not they're very irreverent about me they bag that when i'm not there they

bag the tribe out of me which is fine because i'm part of it it was a comedy show more than

the football show for many many years so i'm happy to play that role uh but you know i i play

up to when i'm on air with them briefly you know and pull them back into line and all the rest of

it and there's a i guess there's a respect there given my age and my experience

and uh you know and we exchange barbs and have a shot at each other but um i think they're doing

a fantastic job i mean you know totally it's hard to take over from a show that was as successful

as it was with myself and blocker and steven rach that is and peter fralingos and bob fulton

and others and now they've reinvented it and they're doing really well yeah i mean and it is a

real banter show like sometimes i think i listen to especially when uh the big minds are there i

think to myself talking about footy um

but but their their energy is pretty crazy and and levy's pretty good at it like he conducts the

orchestra really well i mean it's a great show and it's a continuation of what used to be there

when you were there with bozo etc bob fulton um and i don't really remember fralingos being on

there but that peter fralingos probably passed away in the 2004 peter died yeah yeah so a long

time ago but peter was a very important part of the the whole structure because he was there from

the very beginning in 1987 and he was a

newscorp guy yeah he was a a journalist at newscorp the chief league writer at newscorp

had the daily mirror i seem to remember daily mirror then when the daily mirror disappeared

it became the telegraph mirror then it became the telegraph as it is now and he was the chief

league writer there a bloke with great authority but a bloke with a great sense of humor as well

and so he was a very important part of it peter and our success and then bob was always viewed

as a fairly studious serious sort of bloke by the outside world he's a very

they call him bozo for a reason he's a bit of a clown you know so um but he was um he was sort of

the combination of peter and and bob was quite remarkable uh you know they they knew each other

quite well they'd been together for a long time on football tours and peter reporting on it uh

when bob was both playing and then coaching and so they had this rep rt which was very very very

good and i chime in um you know i was the youngest of the three of us and uh i was basically the

you know peter was a very experienced league journalist bob was one of the greatest players

and an immortal in the game of rugby league and a great premiership winning coach with great

credibility and i was sort of the new kid on the block and um i'd say that peter ended up one of

my best mates until he's passing in tragic circumstances at the age of 60 and not in 2004

and then bob of course he's passing more recently bob was my mentor uh he was a person i went to

um not a father figure because we were closer in age than that but certainly someone i trusted

implicitly and someone who i sought guidance from on a regular basis and uh we retired together from

the continuous call team he said he used to call me horse he said horse he said i've nearly run

the race here i've had enough and i said well if you go i go and he said you sure i said yeah

yeah i said so that was the by that time channel 902gb and i went to tom alone and said bozo wants

up i had a contract to call football and they said well if you call origin and grand finals and

other important games um we'll agree to it so bob and i retired and then together we went out

together and uh mark and the team took over from there you've got who ray hadley grew up and i

noticed in the notes that you were born in paddington which makes you a rooster yeah apparently

so but you grew up where where'd you grow up well i started my life in sydney dad came from a little

village on the mid north coast of new south wales called ewan guy rail halfway between kempsey and

maxwell it was a sawmilling town my grandfather worked in the sawmill dad was a butcher um got

his apprenticeship locally uh then joined the air force came to williamtown then to richmond

on the way to richmond he met my mum in newcastle and married her i was born in sydney as you say at

paddington uh but uh my sister was born in 58 i was born in 54 my sister colleen and mum had a

back wow and couldn't look after either of us obviously so my my newborn sister went to my

maternal grandmother living at blacktown and i went to my paternal grandparents living at

ewan guy rail uh and i started school up there mum was just incapable you didn't have the sort

of services in in 1958 59 60 you have now she was incapable of looking after us and there was no

alternative dad had to work to pay the rent and so i was up there for about four years started

i'd come back obviously for holidays and things and then one day dad turned up and said okay son

back home you come i didn't want to go because i was having a great time up there with all my

cousins and living with my nan and pop and being sport rock but you know i came back and we moved

to a housing mission house in dundas valley uh marshall road dundas valley tilopia and then in

about 64 mum and dad bought a little house across the other side of the valley uh off the rural bank

government owned bank it was a state became a state bank yeah the rural bank was called back

then and then um you know they they do what they do now try to assist you know people with low

income to get into houses mum worked in a factory back is all right by the stage she'd recover yeah

she oh well she was always troubled by it through her life but she was you know able to deal with

life but she worked at a factory you wouldn't even remember it i think called vincent's powders i

sure do vincent's we used to always talk about if someone was a pain in the neck they give you

a bex truck bex or vincent's a vincent's truck and a lake apparently it wasn't very good for

your kidney so they don't make them they're in a paper thing my mom used to have them yeah just

open them up and she used to pour them down exactly glass of water we always had a big

box of vincent's pink or white i can't remember they were pink yeah yeah not too long ago running

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reviews all on the app download today anyway so she worked there dad was a butcher um and uh he

died in 1975 at the age of 46 wow from what heart attack wow and uh so um i was only young my sister

was younger and basically the house was gone and i was like oh my god i'm gonna die i'm gonna die

uh mom was already separated from dad in another relationship so uh i moved in with a couple of

mates um by this time a training auctioneer for a company called pits hunting badger a pastoral

company i wanted to be a race caller that's all i really you know how kids listen to records and

things like that i used to listen to race calls listen to ken howard bert bryant vince curry

john tap later rabs of course um all these great race callers and i thought i used to dream oh

one day i want to be they want to be erased

Why is that?

That's a bit odd for a young kid if you listen to the race calls.

I don't know.

I had this dream.

I loved the way they did it.

I was captivated by how they could remember horse names

and repeat them rapid fire.

And so I'd spend Saturday afternoons listening to them.

On Sunday afternoons, I'd listen to Frank Hyde on the radio

calling football.

Oh, Frank Hyde.

Long, it's high.

If it's straight enough, it's long enough, it's there.

Yeah, straight between the pace.

Anyway.

I just love him.

But did you used to practice?

Yeah, yeah.

The Brabs have spoken before about, you know, calling Paddle Pop 6

and same as John Tapp down the gutter, paint colours on them and call them.

I had, remember the old cotton reels?

Yeah.

I'd have cotton reels.

I'd roll them down the driveway and have them painted different colours

and call them.

And then I used to do, when I got to about 18, I'd do phantom calls.

I used to drink back then and you'd get on the turps and you'd get to the pub

and the boys say, call a 1974 Miracle Mile, you know, so you'd call it.

Into a schooner glass and you thought, oh, I can do this.

But then you thought, it's okay.

A lot of people can do what they call phantom calls

because you're not identifying anything.

You're just doing it from your mind.

And then the next thing is, can I actually physically do this?

Can I see a horse's jockey's colours and transform that into a name?

I didn't know if I could.

I found out later I could and the same with rugby league players.

I found out I could do that as well and then with Olympics

and things like that.

So I was at Pitshunt and Badgery for a number of years.

I got my licence as an auctioneer.

I was a fair auctioneer in the day.

And what did they auction?

We did everything from livestock.

Pitshunt and Badgery was a pastoral company but we did clearing sales

and then we did fine art sales.

I did everything.

I sold everything from diamond rings to bulldozers

and I got taught by a very good auctioneer, the late Ron Vockler,

who was a product of Geoff K. Gray,

who was probably Australia's greatest auctioneer.

Gray's auctioneers?

Yeah, Gray's.

And then...

I still had this desire.

I ended up working for an auctioneering firm at Parramatta

called Steering Company who did the same sort of sales

as Pitshunt and Badgery.

And then I got the early 20s.

I was really ambitious.

I thought I've got to have a crack at this.

I can't not do this.

And so they had some races at the Sydney Cricket Ground,

probably 80, 81.

It was called the CIG 300 metre World's Richest 300 metre race.

It was also the world's only.

300 metre race, as I understand it.

And it was professional runners.

And some bloke said to a mate of mine who was running it,

he said, I reckon Ray can call that.

So I went down there and I called the final.

I got a free ticket to the grand final, which was a beauty.

And I called it.

And then I sort of thought I might be able to do this.

You know, I can identify these people.

So this is a running race at the grand final?

Yeah, around the perimeter of the SCG, the old SCG.

So then I started to go to...

Whippet races out at a place called Berkshire Park.

And I just turned up there one day and said,

does anyone call the races?

They said, no.

I said, I'll do it for you.

So I did that.

And, you know, I became proficient at that.

You know, six or seven Whippets running around the track.

And then I decided to quit auctioneering and have a crack.

So I was earning about 300 a week.

And I quit and I was earning nothing.

And so I didn't know what I was...

I just...

It was an impulsive thing I did.

And then I got a bit of help and I got a job at Appen Greyhounds

out near Campbelltown, calling the Appen Dogs.

It was a straight track, 272 and 366 metres.

First race, 12.45.

Last race, 4.45.

15 races.

And I got $37.50.

Per race or all together?

All together.

That was my only income.

What were we talking about?

The late 70s?

79.80.

Yeah.

37.50.

So I went from...

Earning 300 with a company car to 37.50 with no car.

So I was sort of on the bones of my bum and I thought,

I'm going to give this two years and if I can't get a job, I'll give it away.

So a mate of mine owned a cab and he said,

look, get a cab licence and you can drive a cab a couple of nights a week

and that'll get you enough money to keep going.

So I said, okay.

And a lot's made of the fact that the cab driver turned...

You know, the cab driver...

There's a lot of doctors around, lawyers around the man that drove cabs.

Yeah.

I mean, sustained themselves while studying.

And that's what I did.

And so I started driving the cabs on a Thursday and Friday night

and sometimes a Saturday night.

And so what I'd do, I'd drive the cab from, say, 3 o'clock

to up us through the next morning, 3 p.m. to 3.30 a.m.

And you could get 100 out of it, you know, if you worked hard.

And then I'd drive it on Friday night where you could earn 150

if you went really hard from about 3 o'clock till 4 o'clock.

Then I'd go home to mum's, I'd have her sleep

and I'd drive the cab out to Appen to the dogs.

And so I was turning up at Appen in a taxi every week

and there was an old bloke, the old boss out there,

there was a bloke called Jock McDonald, he was a cranky old bugger.

He used to walk around with a clipboard and, you know, he was really snappy.

So I went to him one day, I said,

Mr. McDonald, I said, what do you want, son?

And I said, I've been out here for six months calling the races.

I said, can I get any more money?

He said, how much do you get paid?

And I said, $37.50.

How much do you want?

I said, oh, $50 would be handy.

He looked at me.

He said, $50?

I said, yeah.

He said, you can't be travelling too bad.

You get a cab here every Saturday.

I said, Mr. McDonald, I drive the cab out here.

He said, you what?

I said, yeah, I work till four o'clock in the morning,

pushing the cab around, you know, the city

and then I drive it out here and then on the way back

I get a fare from Campbelltown to the city to have a crack.

He said, you can have $50, son.

He said, if you're doing that.

And he was a good old, you know, he really sort of shone to me then.

He thought, this kid's having a go.

So I did that.

Then I ended up calling the dogs at Bulleye and Nowra.

Can I just ask you something around that?

What do you think about those sort of sliding door moments in your life?

What do you think back about the old bloke who gave you the $50

and sort of gave you a crack, agreed to do it?

Is that actually a sliding door moment for you in your life?

I've got the biggest sliding door moment of all time that followed that.

So I used to drive the cab Thursday, Friday and some Saturday nights.

So there was no money in cabs on Mondays and Tuesdays.

You couldn't get a quid out of it, you know.

No fares.

Yeah.

So one Tuesday night or one Tuesday afternoon, the owner rang me.

No mobiles.

Rang mum's place and said, mate, do you want to drive tonight?

And I said, oh, John, there's no money on a Tuesday night.

And you'd pay the cab.

You'd pay in.

You know, you'd pay $20 or $30 for that cab and fill it up with LPG.

So he said, look, he said, the cab's sitting here.

Come and get it.

No pay in.

So whatever I made was mine.

Sure.

It was minus the LPG.

So you talk about sliding door moments or fate.

So I'm in the cab.

I drive into, on a Tuesday night, I drive into Sydney with a fare.

I end up on North Sydney rank.

There was a hamburger joint there that a lot of the cabbies would pull up

and they were here before Maccas to have a hamburger.

So I'm there and there's no computers.

The radio call, point car of the rank, Miller McLaren to North Ryde.

So I'm point, that's first car of the rank.

So I'm first car.

So I said, yeah.

Yeah, 1380, point car of the rank.

They said, nine o'clock booking, Mr. Collier, to UE, to North Ryde.

I knew who Mr. Collier was.

It was Mark Collier, the news director.

What I didn't know was that night, the late John Pearce,

who did six till nine, was crook.

So Mark Collier filled in for him.

So I get up there at nine o'clock.

He comes out at 10 past, jumps in the cab.

And there was no M2.

It was up Epping Highway.

So he said, you know where you're going?

I said, yeah, Herring Road or somewhere.

He was going to.

So I know where it is, mate.

No problem.

So we're driving along and engaging conversation,

like you normally do with people.

He said, what do you do, uni?

And I said, no, no, I'm not.

I'm a race caller.

And he said something prophetically.

He said, you're a race caller?

I said, yeah.

Where at?

And I told him.

He said, so you're driving a cab on a Tuesday night and you're a race caller?

I said, that's correct.

He said, I take it you're not a very good race caller.

And I laughed.

I said, yeah, you're probably right, mate.

And he said, I say, in that 25.

The 30 minutes of the trip talk, I told him about my ambitions

and what I wanted to do.

So he said, give me a ring.

Call me.

So I did, about 20 times.

Pested him.

So eventually, in October of about 1980, he phoned mum.

Mum said, a bloke called Mark Colley is looking for you.

So I phoned him and said, what can I do for you?

He said, you're still driving the cab?

I said, yeah, still driving that.

And I'm doing Appen and Bulleye and Nowra.

He said, good.

He said, I need a traffic report.

I said, I need a traffic report for Gary O'Callaghan.

He said, come into the studio.

We've got Navy week coming up.

He said, you ever been in a helicopter?

I said, oh, yeah, not a problem.

I'd never looked at a helicopter.

So I went in the helicopter, did traffic for Gary.

And then some magic happened between Gary and I.

We just seemed to strike it really off.

And next thing, I'm the full-time traffic reporter

for the best-known breakfast host in Sydney on TUE, Gary O'Callaghan.

It's TUE and Sammy Sparrow.

Yeah, he was on a quarter past eight, Sammy.

And what happened?

No one used to talk to Sammy bar Gary.

But because I was in the chopper and he lived in the opera house

with Eleanor, his wife, and the kids, the twins, Sammy Sparrow, that is,

I started to engage with Sammy.

And Gary loved it.

And I'd be in the chopper on a holding pattern

because Sammy was taken off to come to the studios at North Sydney.

And I'd be saying, well, can you get Sammy out of the studio

into the chopper because I can't land and stuff like that.

And we'd have a joke.

And so Gary was the start of my career and Mark was the start of my career.

But you talk about sliding door moments and fate.

If I don't take the cab on that Tuesday night, Mark, nothing else happens.

No, but probably more important, if you thought you were too good to take the cab

and that you wouldn't have a crack, it's because you decided to have a crack.

I mean, if you're not going to have a crack, then you don't take the cab.

You don't meet Mark, you don't meet Gary O'Callaghan,

and that's probably may well be you still drive.

I mean, cabs or you're still calling up on horses, races, dogs.

Or going back to auctioneering or something.

Because I'd set myself two years.

I said, I haven't done it in two years.

I haven't got a job.

And the most important day came later on when a bloke called David Greenwood

gave me a contract at TUE, surety.

Before that, I was just casual.

And I've still got the contract in a frame at him.

It was $19,500 a year.

$19,000, about $400 a week or something like that.

But in the two and a half years or three years since I'd left auctioneering,

I was getting about $40 more than I'd left.

Plus I had a company car when I was auctioneering.

I didn't have a company car.

But just that paperwork, that piece of paper that said,

Ray Hadley is fully employed by radio station TUE.

And I thought, I can't believe it.

I've got a full-time job in the media.

Did you feel as though that, did you feel as though at the time,

and when you look back at it now, do you think you were the sort of guy that were,

just because of your, you know, how you got read, how you grew up,

you know, the humble sort of beginnings, that gratefulness was a really big deal

and allowed you to actually accept these sorts of jobs and take on these things?

Like being grateful, like I feel so grateful that I've now got a job in the media,

irrespective of the amount of money you're getting paid.

Yeah.

Is that important?

I've been very privileged.

And to have a full-time career that lasted well over 40 years is quite incredible.

And I mean...

I mean, I was ambitious.

I was really ambitious.

And that grew out of humble beginnings.

You know, I remember when I was only a kid, ambition.

And I'm always cognizant of the fact that not everyone can, you know,

reach their ideals or reach their dreams.

But Dad was a butcher and a really good butcher, but never owned a shop.

And I remember when I was about 10 or 12, sitting on the back step at home,

and a gentleman came to our house.

And I was sitting there with Dad, and this gentleman said he owned a butcher shop

at a place called Thornleigh in Sydney.

And he'd heard about Dad being a good butcher.

And he came and he said, Dad's name was Morris.

He said, now, Morris, he said, listen.

He said, I'm retiring.

I've got no sons.

He said, I need someone to take over the butcher shop.

And I've heard you're a good butcher and you're a hard worker.

I want you to take over my butcher shop.

And Dad said, oh, Mr. Whatever.

He said, no, I'm not a boss.

I'm a worker.

I'm a worker.

He said, and plus, I don't have any money.

He said, well, don't worry about money.

I'll finance you into it.

You don't have to pay me back eventually.

You will have to.

But initially, you just go into the shop.

And I'm sitting there saying, oh, how good's this?

Dad's got his own business.

How old were you then?

About 10 or 12.

Yep.

How good's this, you know?

This man wants to give my dad, who I love dearly, and he was my hero, you know,

and he wanted to give him a step up in life.

And Dad looked at him and said, no, I'm sorry.

I'm not a boss.

I'm not a boss.

I'm a butcher.

I'm a worker.

And so I thought about that, not then or not later, but after my dad died.

And I think at the time I was probably a bit resentful of the lack of ambition.

But, I mean, I'm only a kid.

And I thought, I get a bit emotional thinking about it.

And I thought, he's a really good bloke, my dad, you know.

He doesn't want to be a boss.

He's just wanting to work.

And...

I think that had a profound effect on me later in life.

But...

It must have.

I mean, it clearly would have because...

Yeah.

The ambition overtook me, you know.

I was going to say, therefore, if your dad wasn't an ambitious person,

where did your ambition come from?

Was it just...

I don't know.

There was no one in my family.

You know, Mum worked in a factory.

My dad was a butcher.

My grandfather's a sawmiller.

You know, we came from very humble beginnings.

Did you see other kids who had something that you didn't have

and you thought, I want to have that?

Or I want to improve the life of my family?

Yeah, I think, you know, I didn't have children, obviously,

when I started all this.

And I guess that drove me to, you know, want more in my life.

Not financial rewards, but more success in my life, you know.

So I did that and I just think that even if I think about it,

I'm talking about, you know, 50 years ago, 60 years ago, actually.

And it still has a profound effect on me now.

Totally.

About my dad and that's...

And so...

Do you think that's unfair to you or unfair or just generally societally unfair

for your dad to be forced to think that way?

Do you think it was unfair your dad had to think that way for him?

Yeah, but my dad came from, you know, a family of four boys

and they had nothing, you know.

They had absolutely nothing.

Didn't own a home, you know, rented all their lives.

And so...

I remember how proud my dad was when they actually owned a house

in Sydney in Dundas Valley.

You know, didn't own it, the rural bank owned it,

but they had their own home.

And so that's something I always thought of.

And that's something where I've connected with people ever since,

that the understanding that not everyone has ambition,

not everyone wants to be the best in what they do.

And if everyone felt the way that sometimes I do,

well, there'd be no one to drive trucks,

there'd be no one to drive trains,

there'd be no one to...

lay bricks,

there'd be no one to do all those really jobs

that are important, really important,

that just want to work for wages like dad did, you know.

And do you, I mean, clearly it's a driver.

And by the way, you achieved it, your own vision.

You've done very, very well.

Yeah, sure.

You're financially stable, you know.

Yeah.

I mean, clearly you've, I've been through,

we've been through a number of divorces together.

I'm pretty much the same as you.

I'd have a bit more if I hadn't have been through, but anyway.

So would I.

But it doesn't matter.

Yeah.

You recovered from those things.

Yeah, that's what you have to do.

And you've stayed in the game and you've stuck to your thing,

you keep going forward and you've made some money

and you've put yourself in a position now

where you can retire comfortably.

Exactly.

Yeah, well, that's where we are.

I mean, I don't, you know, people say,

oh, you must have a stack of money.

I've got enough money to retire.

You've got enough.

Yeah, but I don't need any more.

Yeah.

I mean, I think about, you know, my kids are set up,

the three that live here in Australia,

I've got a daughter in the States.

They've got their own homes,

they've got their own, you know, partners, husband, wife.

And they're, you know, in a strong,

position to look after themselves and their kids.

And Sophie and I have enough to look after ourselves.

You know, we won't be going on, you know,

long holidays internationally and things like that.

But that doesn't, that doesn't worry me, Mark,

because I haven't lived that life.

You're likely to see me at the local RSL,

a local pub or the little Italian restaurant at Rouse Hill

in preference to the finger wall for other places.

That's not my go.

It's never been my go.

I don't lead an extravagant lifestyle.

I just, you know, I'm a pretty normal person

who has a bit more money

than the average person.

Because I've worked for it.

This is a really interesting topic,

this concept of retirement.

And you just made me think about some stuff

because I'm not too dissimilar to you in age.

And I've got four sons and I've got three grandsons.

I haven't got as many grandkids as you've got.

But one thing always goes through my mind is

my level of response, my responsibility to my kids.

Still, my mildest son's 43.

I think to myself,

well, where, where,

when can I stop putting,

keeping myself in a position

that I can actually provide for them

just in case they need something to be provided for,

particularly my grandkids?

Yeah.

Do I need to be a person

who has to be able to send them to boarding school

or to school,

to a private school?

Is that something that goes through your mind,

that level of responsibility?

All the time.

All the time.

I've got seven grandchildren.

I know, you talk about them all the time

on your radio show.

I love them.

I love them.

They're the light of my life.

I mean, I spend as much time as I can with them now

given the constraints of work.

But,

I remember when Dad died

in 1975,

Mum and Dad were living separately

and so I was, you know,

20.

I had to take control of the situation

because Mum and Dad were apart

and

he was buried by a great

company,

William H. Timmons,

who still exists to this very day

in Parramatta.

He was buried at All Saints Church

and there was drama

because my grandfather wanted him

to be buried,

in his home village of Yolnguy

where his remains are now.

And there was all these decisions to make

and then no one in my family had died previously

that I could remember.

My grandma died when I was a bit younger

but I was too young to think about it.

And then there was a bill to be paid

and we didn't have any money.

And I said to my mum,

we got any money anywhere?

No.

And I said to, you know,

I went to the bank and said,

has Dad got any money?

And he, no.

He had nothing.

He didn't have $100.

And so I think the funeral

was going to be a couple of grand

and I didn't know what to do.

You know,

you'll bury your father.

He got no money

and my sister was only 16.

So I said,

I don't know how we get out of this.

And you're grieving anyway.

You know,

I was at Pits Hunt and Badgery

on a Friday afternoon

going to see me.

I was living at Nelson Bay up the coast

and the coppers rang.

And Pits Hunt and Badgery

and spoke to my boss

and they,

are you Raymond Morris Hadley?

Yes.

The son of Arthur Morris Hadley?

Correct.

Your father's deceased.

So my immediate thought

he'd been killed in a car accident.

I didn't know.

He died of a heart attack,

collapsed at a club up there

with his father and brother,

one of his brothers.

So we went up to identify the body

on the Saturday.

Came back and then this whirlwind of,

you know,

you've got to have a,

and he was a member of a few clubs

back in,

in our local,

local area,

Dundas Valley Rugby Union Club

and they put the hat around,

you know,

to try and get a quid.

It wasn't enough.

And this really good friend of dad's

who his wife had grown up with dad

up at Ewing guy,

his name was Clive Parker

and Joyce Parker

and they were battlers.

They had eight kids.

They were battlers.

So he came to me

probably three days later

and he said,

what are the funeral arrangements son?

I said,

oh,

well Clive,

I don't know.

You know,

what do I do?

He said,

we'll find out how much it is

and we'll get the money for you.

So,

I can't remember.

It may have been

two and a half thousand dollars

or something like that,

you know.

So he said,

okay,

we'll get the money.

We'll pay for it.

And I said,

who's going to pay for it?

He said,

we'll pay for it.

And I knew he didn't have any money

but he was going to borrow it

or something.

So,

I said,

well,

I can't afford to pay you back.

I was earning at the time

40 bucks a week,

you know,

as a trinity auctioneer

and he said,

what can you afford?

And I said,

I'll give you 10 bucks a week.

He said,

okay,

that'll do.

So,

for about,

I don't know,

a year,

every Thursday,

I'd go to his place

at Chestnut Avenue,

Dundas,

and I'd put 10 bucks

on the dining room table.

I said,

Clive,

there's your 10.

He said,

good on you, son.

So I probably paid him back,

I don't know,

400 bucks or something like that

and I turned up one Thursday night.

He said,

no need to come here anymore,

boy.

I said,

why?

He said,

you've honoured your father's memory.

You've done your best.

We've got some mates

we're kicking in the rest,

don't worry about it.

And,

that bloke,

he's now deceased.

His son,

one of his sons

is still one of my best mates.

We don't see each other

all that often,

but when we do,

I talk to him about

what difference

his family made to my life.

You know,

that's pretty,

you know,

everybody knows Ray Hadley

as the radio host

who controls the microphone

and gives it to politicians

and sticks up for people

who are doing it tough

or being badly done by.

And then,

we hear that story

and,

for a 20-year-old,

you're 20.

Yep.

That's a pretty

impactful event.

Mm-hmm.

Your dad dying

at such a young age.

That's a big event.

And then,

having to pay

40 bucks a week,

$10 a week

back

for your dad's funeral

because your dad's got no money

to pay for the funeral.

Yeah.

I reckon that has to have had

some impact on forming

who Ray Hadley is today

relative to his children

and grandchildren.

Yeah, well,

that's where we get back

to where you started

a little while back

about what you think

you're obligated to do.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Your obligations

are to your four children

and your grandchildren

and that's what I think about.

I think about Daly.

Well.

Daly doesn't go past

I don't think about this.

No, well,

sometimes,

you know,

my wife is the same

with her two children.

So,

she's got two kids?

Yeah,

she's got a boy and a girl,

Nick and Jessica.

They've got grandkids?

No,

neither married.

Neither married?

Yeah.

And you've got,

and you've got.

I've got Dan,

who's 35.

I've got Laura,

32.

I've got Emma,

who's,

nearly 30

and I've got Sarah,

who's 27.

So,

the grandkids are all to

your biological children?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So,

I've got,

Dan's got three,

a boy and two girls.

Laura's got three little girls

and down the other end,

Sarah,

she's got one little boy.

Can I ask you a quick question?

You've got a favourite?

Hmm?

You've got a favourite?

Well,

I know you're not supposed to.

No,

well,

I'll answer it this way.

The older ones think

Sarah's my favourite child,

but that's not true.

It's just that she's the baby

and she lived at home the longest

and she was with me

through a difficult,

difficult period in my life.

Her and I just lived together

by ourselves,

so there's a bit of reliance

upon her,

but I love all my children equally

and they're all wonderful people.

Emmy,

the middle girl's been in the States

for quite a number of years,

but she's a,

she's an outstanding person.

Laura's a great mother

and a great hard worker.

All my kids are hard workers.

Dan's a really,

you know,

he was in a bit of strife

a few years ago

and battled his way back.

Was he a copper?

He was a copper

and he's out of that now.

He had a problem

and he's now

the general manager

of Investigation

for Racing New South Wales

and doing a very good job.

All on his own back,

despite what someone might say

from time to time

in the echo chamber.

There's always opposition media,

mate,

so that's how it works.

Anyway,

so,

and Sarah

is saying the youngest one,

she's a hardworking mother of one

and they've all got fantastic,

in Daniel's case,

wife Cass,

in Laura's case,

husband Brad

and in Sarah's case,

husband Jack.

I've got,

I'm very fortunate

with my,

sons-in-law

and daughter-in-law

but I think about that

all the time.

I mean,

it's almost a preoccupation

with me to make sure

the kids are okay

and,

you know,

I want to help them

with the education

of my grandchildren

and I honour that commitment

and I guess it's in the back

of my mind all the time

where I came from

and I don't end up

in that situation ever

and,

you know,

I,

I,

I often say,

look,

you're going to carve it up anyway

when I fall off the perch

which may be sooner rather than later.

Who knows when you go,

you've got no say in all of that

so there'll be something there

to make sure you've got no mortgages

and,

and Sophie will be looked after

obviously as well

but,

I remember a mate of mine,

he's an old bloke,

he's still alive,

Dickie Hoyle,

he's a funny old bloke,

Rabson and I used to play golf with him

and he was quite wealthy,

Dickie.

We used to call him a squillionaire.

He retired very early

and he had a stack of grandkids

and had four kids as well

and,

and years ago

he'd be talking to Rabson and I

and he'd say,

I'm taking the kids to Disneyland this year,

we're going to Disneyland.

I said,

Jesus,

Dick,

that must cost you a quid

and he said,

well,

they're going to get it in the end.

He said,

I'd rather see my little grandkids

having fun now

when I'm able to watch it

than,

than doing it when I'm gone

and I used to think,

that's not a bad attitude to have,

you know,

and so to a certain extent

I've been impacted by

not just my circumstances

but a mate like Dickie

who I thought

was a fairly good idea.

If you've got a bit of money

and you want to splash it on your kids

or your grandkids,

do it now

while you can enjoy it with them

in preference to them

enjoying it after you're gone.

It's,

it's,

well,

I mean,

I'm,

I'm sort of in the same boat as you

but I don't have as many

but I'm,

like you,

I mean,

I come from similar sort of circumstances

but not,

not the same area

but not that wealthy,

a family,

we had nothing

and I think it has,

is a reflection of

how we grew up ourselves.

We just want better for our kids

and our grandkids

and everybody else around us,

our partners.

Yeah.

So I do want to talk about Sophie.

So,

how long have you been

Sophie been married for now?

Coming up for four years.

Do you know you talk about

ad noisem on the radio?

Well,

that's because.

It drives me nuts,

like.

Well,

she's,

she's changed my life.

I mean,

she worked with me for 18 years.

Yeah,

but she's,

right,

you say,

Sophie this and Sophie that.

I love her.

I know you do.

I love her

and she's a great woman

and she has been instrumental

in bringing our families together,

you know.

The Brady Bunch.

Yeah,

she,

she often talks about

our blended family.

That's good.

And,

you know,

her,

I,

I love her.

I love her daughter.

I love her son.

And,

you know,

they're part of our extended family

and they're very,

very,

like my own children,

very productive young people

who are achieving great things.

They're a reflection on

not only their mother

but their father,

Greg,

who's a good person.

And so,

you know,

people said that

I changed since the grandkids

were born.

I've basically changed

since I married Sophie.

Changed which way?

I've mellowed.

Yeah.

I've calmed down a lot

and I'm,

I'm a lot easier to deal with.

Compared to what though?

Like,

how were you before,

before Sophie?

I was a bit tear and bust.

I mean,

you know,

when I got myself in the strife,

you know,

10 years ago for,

you know,

giving young blokes

a hard time at work

and I paid the penalty for that

and I admitted to it.

You owned it.

I owned it.

I mean,

you know,

it was the way I was.

It was wide.

And,

and so,

you know,

I changed anyway

but then with Sophie's influence

I've changed more because.

Do you think she's actually

sort of given you guidance?

Well,

yeah,

not,

she's not that sort of person.

She doesn't tell you anything

but she just leads by example.

That's what I mean.

She's,

you know,

I had a joke about

with Tom Malone

just last night.

We were,

Tom rang me about

another matter

and we were talking

and because I'm finishing

on the 13th

and Sophie

is working with me obviously

and still employed by 2GB.

She said,

over,

she knew I was talking to Tom

and she said,

ask Tom if I can

keep my emails open

until we come back

from holidays

just to make the transition.

And I said,

you heard what she said,

Tom.

And he said,

yes,

yes,

yes,

yes.

He said,

of course,

Sophie can keep her emails open

as long as she likes.

And I said to Sophie

in front of Tom,

I said,

I think he trusts you

more than he trusts me,

Sophie.

And that's what it's like.

She has this impeccable reputation

as a person

who would,

you know,

she gets,

if someone would suggest

you got a parking ticket,

she'd be in a state of apoplexy.

She's just a really model citizen

who does everything

to the letter of the law.

How'd you meet her?

How'd you find your feet there,

mate?

Well,

because I work with her.

Because she's working there.

For 18 years.

But how'd you find your feet there?

Like,

seriously.

Well,

look,

she was single

and I was single.

And,

you know,

we saw each other every day

and we were friends.

I mean,

you know.

You got to know her first.

Yeah,

well,

Jesus.

Actually know her.

Yeah,

actually know someone

that,

you know,

and she was a dedicated,

first of all,

she worked for Bob Rogers.

Right.

She was Bob's PA.

And then,

Bob didn't need a PA anymore.

So then,

someone said,

Sophie,

it'd be good for you.

And I said,

okay.

So,

I didn't know Sophie that well.

That was a long time ago.

And so,

she worked with me

and worked with me

and she was,

she's very good at her job.

I mean,

my.

Is she retiring too?

Or maybe you don't need to talk about it.

Well,

she's a bit younger than me.

So,

I don't think,

it's a funny thing.

She's a funny girl

because when I discussed

whether I was going to give it away,

she said,

oh,

she said,

I'm too young on,

you know,

she's in her mid to late 50s.

She said,

I'm too young to retire.

And I said,

well.

So,

we have a place up,

up the coast

at Pretty Beach

and there's a great couple up there

that got a little cafe restaurant

and she loves going there

for a wine and coffee.

So,

she said,

I'm going to ring Sally Ann.

And I said,

what are you going to ring Sally Ann for?

She said,

I'll get some cash work up there.

I said,

so if we're not traveling that badly,

then you've got to get a job

as a barista

or work behind the bar.

I said,

she said,

but I've got to do something,

you know.

And I said,

well,

let's just have a bit of a break

and then we'll think about it.

But,

you know,

she's pretty valuable

and she'll be,

she'll be doing things at 2GB

beyond my career.

Beyond your career.

Yeah,

she'll be doing things there.

So,

and you said,

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We were made for this.

And by the way,

I have to tell you,

whilst I'm interviewing you

after Ben,

I will reveal this to you

on this show

that I'm talking to you

before I'm speaking to Lorsie.

So you already had Lorsie.

Well,

Lorsie and I have had

a colorful relationship.

I was his off-sider

and his replacement

for about 10 years.

He's referred to me

as a copyist

and a person

that's copied him

and I put my hand up there

and I,

I've often thought about it

like,

you say you're a jockey

and you're an apprentice

and you're watching

James McDonald ride

in the modern era

or you watch George Moore.

Well,

you'd be a bit of a dope

if you didn't look at them

and say,

geez,

they do that correctly

and that's what happened

with Lors.

Lors was without doubt

the most

professional radio broadcaster

I'd ever seen.

He panelled himself.

He knew how to panel

and I learnt to panel

watching him

and so he had control

of the show.

Every facet

of his programme.

He had this wonderful voice

which,

you know,

he was blessed with

and so,

yeah,

I copied him

and I did a lot of things

he did

and I've had a fair bit

of success copying John

so I don't know

that I changed the formula

but,

look,

he retired at 89

and,

you know,

he's had this wonderful career

that stood the test of time.

I hope at some time

in the future

him and I can

bury the hatchet

and maybe meet

and he'll have

a wild turkey

and I'll have a diet cake

or something

but I have admiration

for his longevity

more than anything else

and I've said

and declared before

I think he's the greatest

broadcaster Australia's

ever produced

and no one will

overtake that from him.

Now,

I mean,

I'd like to think

that during our professional lives

when we competed

up until about

2003

and then

things changed

and I started to win

he didn't like the fact

that I was winning

which I can understand

given he was the

king of the castle

for a long time.

He sent me

remember facsimiles?

Yeah, sure do.

Yeah,

well,

you have to be my age

or your age

to remember facsimiles

but when I won

the first survey in 2003

he sent me

with his leatherhead

a facsimile

from his office

when I won

and he said

congratulations

I've still got it

you have mine

maybe it is time.

Well, of course

that was 2003

and he retired

in 2024

so it wasn't time

for him obviously

but

I mean

we were professional rivals

I don't know

whether he admired me

but I certainly admired him.

Well, that's

well, you've got the high ground

all of a sudden

that's perfect

talking about big names

I want to talk about NRL

well, let's

no, not talk about NRL

let's talk about rugby league

because you know

NRL is only the modern game

let's talk about

go back

go back

and you've called

you know

not only called

but you've

been a student in the game

for a long, long time

I love it

who

who

who

there's only three positions

I want to know about

who's the greatest front rower

that you've ever seen

and including that

I put a hooker in there

like in the front row

can we go back

to the St. George period

because you were around

as I was

before

let's go back

to when I started

watching rugby

not calling it 87

because that narrows it down

I think Arthur Beetson

is the best front rower

I've ever seen

but I would put Bob O'Reilly

a short half head behind him

right

a great front rower

from Parramatta Penrith

and other clubs

during the time

I think O'Reilly

was a

I think O'Reilly

ball distributing front rower in the guise of Arthur Beetson.

And they were great mates, of course, because they played together at

Parramatta during the premiership years of Jack Gibson, but Arthur's

the best prop I've ever seen.

And why do you say that?

Well, he was just this big bloke who was probably lacking in

match fitness most of the time.

They used to call him half a game arty or whatever they call it.

Poeter.

Yeah, but he could do things other people couldn't do.

He could distribute the ball.

And I also liked him as a person when I got to know him much later

in his retirement years.

He was a really nice bloke, a good fella.

The great thing about Arthur that I remember is he could spread his

legs out and he had a big butt on him and he could just stand there.

He was a big dude.

He could stand there.

They couldn't move his centre of gravity.

Then he'd got the ball there and just put it wherever he wanted to.

The best Arthur Beetson story I've been told was he used to love

playing golf with Jack Gibson.

Jack was a very good golfer.

He went with Jack to Parramatta, did he?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, he was there.

In the early 80s.

Yeah, in the early 80s.

That was when he clipped Michael Cronin on the chin in a state of origin

when they were teammates.

In 82 or something.

Yeah.

And anyway, so they'd play together at the Lakes or Bonny Doon or somewhere

and they used to play for a bit of money and Jack beat him.

So that's it.

Arthur said, that's it.

I'm getting rid of these clubs.

I've had a gut full of this.

I can't beat you.

You know, I'm giving it away.

So with his cohort, Ron Massey, Jack put an ad in the Mirror

or the Telegraph the next day.

He said, a golf club's for sale.

Phoned Arthur Beech and then, you know, they used to run the Classifieds

with Arthur's home number.

This is long before mobiles.

So Arthur wakes up and the phone's ringing.

Want to buy your golf clubs?

And so he's taking calls all day and then he finally,

he then woke to the fact that Massey or Gibson had done it to him.

Most people don't realise what a practical joke of Jack was.

Oh, he was a funny man.

Very good practical jokes.

I'll tell you a story he did.

I used to do charity auctions for him because he raised a lot of money

for schizophrenia because of the death of his son, Luke.

Anyway, there was a colourful identity who was a fairly heavy character

that Jack had encountered and I had occasion to say things

about him during my broadcast, this person.

Anyway, this person was not very happy with me.

So Jack phoned me on the eve of one of these charity auctions.

It was one of the auctions I did where he got all these,

these cheques signed by these famous people, Jack Nicklaus,

Greg Norman, the President of the United States, Bob Hawke.

Jack used to get people to sign cheques.

Give them as a gift.

And then he put them in a big frame.

He'd have all the golfers, all the politicians, all this, all that.

We raised about 300 grand at one auction.

Anyway, so I used to do the auction for Jack because of my auctioneering background.

So Jack rang up, used to call me kid.

He said, hey, kid, you been bagging this bloke?

And I said, yeah, I have been.

He said, he's not happy.

He's not happy.

He said, he's not happy.

He said, he's not happy.

He said, he's not happy.

He said, he's not happy.

He said, can you drop off?

I said, well, Jack.

He said, can you drop off?

He said, look.

He said, there might be a couple of blokes that'll break your legs if you don't drop off.

I said, well, Jack.

I said, I'm not happy about that.

And he said, yes, drop off.

And I said, okay, I'll drop off on your advice.

So he said, look.

He said, all I can do is guarantee that nothing will happen to you until the auction.

He said, but after you've done the auction for me, you're on your own, kid.

And then hung up.

And I thought, is he serious or not?

So I rang him back and drew the answer to the phone.

I said, can I speak to Jack?

And I said, Jack, are you serious?

He said, kid, whatever you're doing auctions for me, you'll be sweet.

I said, okay, Jack, I'll keep doing auctions for you.

And Jack would have known him too, the bloke.

Oh, Jack knew the bloke very well.

Whatever.

It is an unusual position.

The second position I want to ask you about, the greatest halfback.

And coming to the modern era too.

I mean, is Cleary a chance?

I'd have to say Johns.

Andrew?

Andrew Johns.

I'd have to say Andrew Johns.

What about Cleary?

Where do you see that?

Well, there's actually, it's funny you should mention him because I said recently in an interview

that I think by the end of his career, and he's only 27,

he could be the greatest player of all time.

Player.

Player of all time.

The greatest player of all time.

What he's done in grand finals.

Amazing.

I mean, he seized victory from the jaws of defeat against Brisbane.

With a bad shoulder, he dominated in the game against Melbourne.

Yeah.

And it's rare for players to lift the level he can lift to on so many important occasions.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, to date, I still rate Johns as the best I've ever seen.

He could do things.

I mean, he tackled like a front rower, Andrew.

Well, he's all big, thick around the lower.

Yeah.

Got a big ass and he can do things.

Strong.

Strong.

But I think that, you know, by the time we reflect in the next three or four years, as

he gets towards the end of his career, Cleary could be the greatest player of what the game's

ever seen.

And coach.

My third one's coach.

Well, look, I'm a fan of Jack, so I love Jack.

Um, but I can't split three, three coaches, um, the two older bulls, Wayne Bennett, Craig

Bellamy.

I, I just, I've had a love-hate relationship for Wayne forever.

Uh, one week we talk to each other, next week we don't.

Currently we're talking to each other.

Um, and I think he's a unique character, Wayne, that's much needed in the game.

I love Craig Bellamy as a person and as a coach, he's without peer, but it's hard to

eclipse what Cleary has done with Penrith.

Yeah.

Hard to eclipse that.

So, and there's been many great coaches over the years, but I mean, I have great affection

for Jack.

He won the first premiership for Parramatta, then won two more before John Maney won again

in 86.

Um, and Jack always had the timing right.

He always went before he got pushed, if you know what I mean.

He didn't last too long.

He just.

He was smart.

He made successful moves and made a successful move to another club.

Yeah.

What was the greatest origin game you ever called?

Uh, 94.

Um, Mark Coyne's try at the Sydney football stadium.

I've heard you say that before.

Yeah.

Saved the day.

Yeah.

It saved the day.

Coyne's a great bloke as well, but it went through all those Queensland hands and, you

know, just that one try is the best try I've ever called.

And I'd say the fact that, you know, I was there calling that game makes it stand out

in my memory.

I've called 99 of them.

So it's hard to, you know, differentiate from one to the other because there'd been some

great origin games, but that one just keeps living in my memory at 1994.

I mean, I'd love to know from you, origins about Clash, um, you know, a Clash of Titans.

What do you, would you suggest is the greatest Clash you've ever seen in Origin?

I mean, we've seen, you know, Spud Carroll, we've seen, um, Mark Guyer, we've seen Wally

Lewis, blah, blah, blah.

But like, what, where's the, where's the best Clash?

And do you think that that Clash will continue on, that style of Clash?

No, I think that, like, the Clash between Mark Guyer.

Mark Guyer and Wally at the Sydney football stadium was, and David Manson was the referee

and Jack was in the box with me.

And, you know, there was all the hullabaloo about Manson should have done this.

It was right on halftime, I think, if memory serves me correctly.

And then Jack looked at me and said, kid, what could, what could he have done any better,

Manson, in handling and defusing what was happening?

No punches were thrown, they were shoulder each other and chesting each other and all

the rest of it.

Bridging up.

Yeah.

And then, I mean, Gordon.

And then Tallis dragging.

The fullback.

Brett Hodgson over the touchline.

I think he's playing wing, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Dragging him over the, over the touchline, you know, as a defining moment.

Every origin Lewis played in, dominant, tackling people like he was a front rower, even though

he was playing sometimes in a locked position or a five-eighth position.

I think he's one of the greatest players of all time as well, Wally, and a great fella

too.

He's a, he's a, I treasure his friendship more than most.

At difficult times.

At difficult times in my life, when I was calling on Channel 9 on a Thursday night and

going to Brisbane, Wally was a, a rock solid friend, a good man, a good man.

Yeah, he's, he's been through his own dramas over the last couple of years too.

Yeah, well, you know, and I've offered my support to him because I've been there and

done that and, you know, and no one's perfect.

We all have frailties, but Wally Lewis is a good, people, I get, I don't arc up with

people anymore, but if they bag Wally, I'll get, I arc up.

Because I know he's a good fella.

You, you've seen footy for, forever.

I mean, do you like where the footy is now, I mean, in terms of the evolution of footy?

I mean, I, like you, I used to go and watch with my dad, St. George, play at Sportsground

back in the 60s.

And, and now I, I mean, I love the game now too.

But do you have a preference for where the game would be and, or, or are you happy with

the evolution?

No, I, I thought about it.

I don't want to be one of those old blokes, particularly old commentators who say, ah,

it was better then, it was better then.

You know.

Well, the game.

They're faster, they're fitter, they're bigger.

Yeah, much bigger.

Much bigger.

I mean, back, Boze used to say to me, if you were fitting at 95 kilos, you're a monster.

Yeah.

You know, and now they're 115, 120.

And running 12 seconds.

Yeah, and, and just, and, you know, very hard to handle.

So, um, no, I, I, I just love watching it at the top level.

You know, the, the grand, last grand final I called, I thought was a great game, Melbourne

and Penrith and, you know, every Origin game's an occasion.

So, you know.

People say, oh, don't do this, don't do that.

You know, this changes and second phase and, you know, the cutout passes and, you know,

all the things and that, you know, are repetitious about it and short dropouts and short kickoffs

and all that.

But, you know, I mean, I just don't want to sit here as, you know, a veteran saying, oh,

it was better when I started in the eighties.

Games evolve and this game's evolved.

It's evolved from 1908 to 1928 to 1948 to 1968 to 78, 88 and it keeps evolving.

Like nearly, you're right actually, by the way.

Nearly.

Every 10 years, it changes.

If you look back at 10 years, it's sort of a fairly significant change.

I mean, where it is now, I love it.

I mean, it's a great athletic spectacle.

I can't move off sport until I talk about the Olympics.

I mean, how many Olympic games have you called?

I've been to seven.

The first one was 92 in Barcelona, which I didn't do much calling because I was a commercial

radio broadcaster seconded to the ABC and there was a bit of, you know, good people

there.

I work with my dear friend, David Morrow, the late David Morrow in 92 and some

great commentators, George Gruljic, Alan Marks, Neville Oliver, really good ABC commentators,

but they gave me the Greco-Roman wrestling to cover.

So we'd never had a competitor in Greco-Roman wrestling.

We'd never won a medal because we'd never had a competitor.

But it was, you say, those games were about learning.

I'd never been to the Olympics before and I sat behind George Gruljic and David Morrow

at the track and field at Montjuic Stadium.

I sat near Norman May for the swimming.

Norman May, he was the swimming legend.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, he was great.

He had a glass eye.

I remember someone telling me a story.

Norman used to take his eye out sometimes as a bit of a gag and put it in his glass

He was a character nugget.

And I mean, he was a hero of mine and, you know, when I was a kid, gold, gold, gold.

Yeah.

And then to think that I got to emulate him in, you know, 96 in Atlanta.

So you succeeded him?

Is that, would that be right?

No.

Well, sort of, Jerry Collins followed him in to be the swimming commentator on the ABC,

but there was no real...

Radio, commercial radio, swimming commentator.

And I fulfilled that role from about 2000 on.

Right.

So I did the swimming in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012.

I missed 16.

And then we had COVID, of course.

And then I came back for 2024.

So doing both track and field and swimming.

Although in Paris, I did mainly swimming.

We had a brilliant young commentator who is the Melbourne race caller, Matthew Hill.

I think he is perhaps the best commentator I've ever worked with.

He's brilliant.

He's just, I mean, I've never, I've never seen a bloke.

I mean, you've got these 1500 meter races, 3000 steeplechase, the 5000, the 10,000.

And you've got all these runners from Kenya and from different places looking the same.

And he can identify them within a second.

You know, he's, well, anyone that listens to the Melbourne Cup calls

or the big race in Melbourne knows what I'm talking about.

He's just a, he's a freakish commentator.

Was there anybody that you...

You love to call in...

I'd like to pick on the swimming because that's one of my favourite events.

So that you'd like to talk about that, you know, in terms of Australian competitors.

Yeah.

Ian Thorpe.

Ian Thorpe.

2000.

The Americans go in raging hot favourites in the four by one.

Yep.

Ian Thorpe swims the anchor.

Last leg.

That's the last leg.

Yeah.

Last leg.

Against...

And Ian's a 200, 400 swimmer.

He's not a 150 meter sprinter.

He's a strong swimmer.

He's up against the fastest 50 and 100 meter swimmer in the world, Gary Hall Jr.

In the last 100, he's into the pool behind Gary Hall Jr.

And you think, well, silver.

And then all of a sudden, there's a sense of anticipation on the turn of the 50.

Comes off the wall.

Big kick.

He's going to get him.

And then he's going to get him.

And then on the wall, he gets him.

Yeah.

And they were...

They won more four by 100 than anyone else.

The Americans, for obvious reasons, they're very good at it.

But, I mean, this Australian team anchored by Ian Thorpe won.

And I sat next to him in Paris.

He was on Channel 9 while I was on radio for Nine Radio.

And I love him as a person.

I love him as a swimmer.

And he was thrust into the limelight as a kid.

I mean, he was only a boy.

Yeah, 16 or something.

Yeah.

And he was able to achieve all these things as a kid from southwestern Sydney.

And I think that's...

That's the greatest swimming performance I've ever seen,

that last leg of the four by one in Sydney.

Yeah.

It looked like he knew he had to win it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it takes an inner strength that not many would understand.

I certainly don't understand the inner strength athletes have to do what he did.

I mean, you know, he knows that Gary Hall Jr. is faster than him.

Yeah.

He knows that.

He knows over 50 and 100.

You know, nine times out of 10, Gary Hall Jr. beats him.

Because he's a 200 swimmer and a 400 swimmer.

Yeah.

But he gets in the last leg and he beats him.

I'm going to switch tack all together because sometimes this is a, you know, can be ugly.

What about, I want to talk politics to you.

Yeah.

I mean, you don't hold back.

You rarely hold back.

Yeah, well, it's an opinionated radio.

Yeah, I get it.

You can't, you get splinters in your ass sitting on the fence, so you've got to have a crack.

Totally.

You've got to have a view.

And by the way, people want to hear your view.

If I'm an Array Hadley listener, I want to know what Ray's view on it is.

Yeah, well, that's what I get paid for, giving opinions.

I mean, I'm not a, I don't work on the ABC where I've got to give both.

Besides the argument, allegedly, I'm on commercial radio giving my opinion.

Yeah.

And people will agree with it or disagree with it, but it's a firmly held opinion I have.

Well, could we just talk about that for one second before I go on to politics?

In terms of you presenting your show.

Yeah.

Every day.

What's the cadence of it?

So, what do you have?

Are you on 48 weeks a year or 36?

What's the deal?

Okay, so I have about six weeks off through the course of the year, so I'm there for 46 or 52.

The day starts at 3.30 with an alarm.

I'm in the studio by about half past four, quarter to five.

My staff, one staff member's there when I get there.

The other two make their arrival at five.

And what would they have done before you get there?

No, my staff member and I are the first ones in.

Right.

My executive producer, Olivia, and that's always the case with my EP, we're the first ones in.

We work by ourselves and then the other two girls.

But what are you doing?

What are you doing?

Oh, well, I go through emails and I'll have emails.

I'll check my emails the night before or before I go to bed about nine o'clock.

I check and see if there's any emails and I'll forward them to her and say,

we need to discuss this in the morning.

There may be emails from politicians.

There may be emails from listeners.

As in suggestions for the show?

Yeah.

So, there'll be things that we have to attend to.

There might be an email from a person listening who needs help with something

and we're going to address that either on or off air.

So, there might be 10 of those.

So, we'll just make sure there are no more emails.

When I get there, there's probably 100 that are coming overnight and so I'll look at them

and discard some of them and refer to others.

And then we start to read in order, the Telegraph, the Australian, the Herald, the Financial Review.

Back in the day when I did Brisbane, we'd check the Courier Mail as well.

I'd take notes.

Olivia would take notes.

The other staff, two young ladies, Chelsea and Georgia, would come in and they'd start

to do the same as we'd done in case.

One of us missed something.

So, we do that until six o'clock.

We have a meeting on the dot at six and I'm joined by my panel operator, then Gavin, who's been there

since about half past five.

He's getting the studio ready for me.

We have a meeting and we try to make the meeting a bit fun.

We mix in the serious discussion with a little story.

I like to tell them stories.

They're young kids and so I've been around a long time, so I'll tell them stories about things that have happened in the past.

Just share things with them.

It might be about something that happened 20 years ago.

It might have happened two weeks ago, but I'll tell them stories.

I'll talk about the kids.

What did you do yesterday?

Because every Wednesday morning I've been to see the grandkids on Tuesday, so they'll ask me about what happened yesterday.

What did you do?

I'll talk about that.

We fit in with each other and they'll tell me things about their lives.

So, we share information and then we get down to it and we go through it all by about half past six.

Olivia's designated who's doing what story, you do this, you do that, and I-

As in terms of doing a bit of work on it?

Yeah, do a bit of work on it, research and things like that, and then I tell them what I'll do.

I'll say, I'll do this, this, and this.

Most of it now is off the top of my head.

I mean, the show is pretty much an ad lib.

It's a bit like our conversation here.

I mean, there's no notes.

We're just sitting here talking to each other.

Well, that's what I do on the radio.

I just talk about things I know about, and if I don't know about it, I'll make it up.

And then I go into the studio.

I've got network commitments where I've got to record commercials for networks, so I'll do that.

I'll do some other stuff in the studio for about half an hour.

Then about seven o'clock, I walk over to the fish markets, which is across the road at Pyrmont.

I'll have a cup of coffee.

I'll talk to the traders.

I'll talk to the delivery blokes.

I'm pretty well-known over there because I've been going over there for 20 years.

The boys, good day, Ray.

How are you going?

Good, boys.

What's happening?

We've got new fish markets being built.

They'll talk to me about that.

I'll ask them about the prices.

I'll ask them about, because a lot of retailers go down there to get their supplies.

What's the business like?

They tell me things are tough.

It's a tight week this week.

No one's spending any money.

It's strange because this time last year they were spending.

Then I'll have a cup of coffee, and then I'll wander back over, get back in the studio about quarter to eight,

and then start taking phone calls from people.

Olivia will come back and say, I had a request for this to happen, that happened, this happened.

We'll talk about that.

Then I then prepare my introduction.

I do it on dot point, just give myself some dot points, and the introduction lasts from about 10 past nine to about 25 to 10.

I just set the tone for the day, what I'm going to talk about.

Then-

You set on air?

Yeah, do it on air.

These things are going to cover off today, in the next three hours.

Yeah, this is what we're going to get into, and this is the stuff I'll talk about.

Then I might go off on a tangent, as I often do, about something that's annoying me.

Then there'll be interviews organized or a special guest in, and then we might have on one day a performer coming in.

I love country music, so I'll talk normally country music.

Are you going to give that show away, by the way, Saturday night?

Yeah, that's all finished.

I had to talk to them this morning about it.

We've got someone else taking it over, but that's good.

A mate of mine's going to do it.

You should pre-record that.

Yeah, yeah, I'll record it.

That's done on a Wednesday morning, actually.

Oh, really?

That's one of the things the boys used to joke with me at the football, because it comes on after the football on a Saturday night.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So you better get going.

You've got the country music countdown to do, or Daryl calls it something else, the country music cavalcade or something like that.

So yeah, that's recorded Wednesday morning, because it's got to go to about 80 network stations.

Wow.

So you've got to package it up and send it out to them, and that's done, and it's in the can for Saturday night by Wednesday, about 7.30.

And then it's pretty much the same every day.

I mean, and the difference was from about 2.30.

I mean, I did it from 2002 until 2014 during the football season.

I did it for seven days a week.

I do the Monday to Friday show, and then I do the football on Saturday and Sunday from March to October, and that was a bit of a haul.

That came about when Singo, I went, I started there Christmas Eve 2001.

It was with Macquarie.

Macquarie Radio.

It was Singo and 2GB.

I'd come across from TUI.

I got the sack at TUI, because they wanted to.

They wanted to stop me doing Lawsey's program and dock my pay, and I said, no, I'm not going.

So I rang Singo and said, you've been offering me a job for a couple of years to call the football, because we'd been not calling the football at UE, but beating Singo on the ratings.

We'd paid a million dollars for the rights.

So Singo was desperate to get me over there, and I didn't fancy the people they'd call on the football.

So I rang him after I got the sack and said, I might have a yarn to you.

He said, yeah, I heard you got the bullet.

You better come over and have a yarn to me.

So I was in a very negative position, given that I'd got the bullet.

So I went over and had a yarn to him, and so he said, yeah, come and call the football.

And I said, well, he said, what about the blokes I've got now?

I said, well, they're no good.

He said, what?

I said, they're no good.

He said, but they're on a contract.

I said, well, they're no good.

If you want me to come, I'm bringing my crew over.

I'll bring Fralingos, Fulton, Roach.

They're coming with me.

He said, all right, OK.

Well, if you want to come and you want to bring them, I suppose I'll have to pay the other blokes out.

I said, well, you've got plenty.

Pay them out.

So farewell them.

Get them out of the joint, because they're no good.

Then he said to me, have a listen to the station for about a month and see what you think.

This is in November, December 2001.

So I had a listen, and they were rating 3% and 4%, you know.

So he said, OK, what do you think?

I said, well, you've got to get rid of all of them.

He said, what, everyone?

I said, yeah, yeah.

I said, you know, Kerry and Kenley's good, but the rest of them, they're good.

Really?

I said, yeah.

He said, but they're really good blokes.

I said, yeah, but so is my Uncle Jack, but I wouldn't put him on the radio.

I said, you can't have.

People on the radio, John, because they're good blokes.

It doesn't work, mate.

And he said, oh, OK, all right.

So I started doing breakfast Christmas Eve 2001, because he was trying to get Jones across.

And then he got Jones to do breakfast, and I was just there to do the football.

And I think they had someone lined up to do the mornings, I don't know who.

And they had this big press conference at the Park Hyatt, where the singer announced

they'd signed Jones to lead the team.

And I was there at 2GB for breakfast.

And I'm out the back with Bob Rogers and George Bushman, the general manager, and Singer's

mum, actually, who was there on the day, dear sweet lady.

Anyway, I'm just listening to it, and James is talking about what he's going to do, how

he's going to do it, and all that, you know.

Then Singer grabs the mic and says, I've got a very important announcement to make.

He said, after some really delicate negotiations, he said, I've just convinced Ray Hadley to

take over mornings on 2GB.

He never spoke to me about it.

I didn't know.

I said, what?

I'm here to do the football.

So they pushed me out on stage, and I got the owner of the radio station just announcing

to 100 media people that I'm going to do mornings.

What am I going to say?

Were these the upfronts?

Yeah.

These the upfronts where they're selling it to the advertisers?

Well, no, it was just the announcement of Jones, basically.

So all the media were there, you know.

So I said, oh, that's a great honour, John.

Thanks very much.

You know, he said, oh, you'll take on laws and all this.

I thought, Jesus, what's he?

So we get in the car to go back to Sussex Street where the studios were, and I got in

the car and said, what are you doing?

I said, we haven't spoken about this.

He said, you haven't told me about mornings?

He said, oh.

He said, you know what a singer's like.

He said, I knew if I put you on the stage, you wouldn't be able to say no.

You'd have to say yes, because you're an ambitious bastard.

You won't have a crack.

And I said, all right.

He said, now we've got to find a football commentator, because I've sacked all the other

blokes on your advice.

And I said, well, no, I'm calling the football.

He said, what?

I said, I've got to call the football.

I've got Fralingos, Fulton, and Roach coming here.

What, do you want me to ring them up and say, good luck, boys?

I said, I can't do that.

They're my mates.

He said, what are you going to do?

I said, well, I said, here's the plan.

The plan is that I'm up against Laws, who's an institution, OK?

He hasn't got Jones as lead in.

I've got Jones as lead in.

So I'm going to be advantaged over him.

He's having a fair bit of time off.

I'll work seven days a week from March to October.

And the people say, I don't like this bastard much, but geez, he works hard.

I said, I'll win them over eventually.

So he said, it'll come.

I'll kill you.

And I said, well, it might kill me, but I'm going to do it.

So I did it.

And it nearly did kill me.

I did it for 12 years.

Worked seven days a week from March to October.

I don't know how I did it, but I did it.

I was a lot younger then, obviously.

And by the time we got to the end of 2002, we beat Lawsey for the first time.

And then 2003, we beat him again, and we never got beaten again

until I lost a survey about a fortnight ago for the first time in 160 surveys or 20 years.

I saw that.

I couldn't believe it.

Just off the back of you announcing your retirement.

Yeah, well, I mean, look, I know there's Channel 7,

who are one of our opponents, given we're owned by Nine Radio, did it.

They met me out the back of the day that the ratings came out,

and a young bloke interviewed me, and I stopped the car.

I don't want to be impolite.

He's been waiting there for me, so I come out of the car park.

You could drive off, but I thought, no, I won't do that to the bloke.

So he was very polite and asked me about, you know, are you disappointed?

I said, not really.

I said, we've won 160.

That's 20 years unbeaten.

No one's ever done that before.

So it's, you know, something to hang your hat on.

And so I get home, and then I start getting phone calls about up R6.

They put the package to air, and they said, Ray Hadley's won 160,

but lost today to ugly Phil O'Neill from WS.

So he's going to retire a failure.

So I thought, a failure, eh?

Okay.

Given that Channel 7 can't beat Channel 9,

I know a bit about failures compared to them.

So there's one more survey to come on December the 17th.

And if you're going to do that,

if I happen to win it, which will mean I've won 161 of 162,

I'll be on the phone to someone at Channel 7 saying,

listen, you low bastards, the failure here, I've just had a win.

However, if I get beaten, I won't be ringing anyone.

I'll just disappear into the ether.

But I'm going hard for this last survey because I'd love to win it,

just to jam it up Channel 7 news for what they said about me.

Ray, you talked about when you're setting your day, you get phone calls.

And I presume, you know, politicians will ring you.

Yeah.

Or their chief of staff or something like that.

Or you might be ringing them.

Yeah.

Who's the heart been the toughest politician you've ever had to deal with?

I mean, in terms of punish.

Malcolm Turnbull.

Yeah.

He rang me one day and gave me a spray.

Over the phone?

Over the phone.

Not on air though?

No, no, no, no.

He gave me a spray about something I said.

But I think most people had cowed tower to Malcolm.

So given that I was a Western suburbs boy, I replied in kind.

I think Malcolm heard words he'd never heard before along the lines of,

Nick, you hit up your ass and use yourself as a fucking jug handle.

And how'd he take it?

Not too well.

You can't speak to me like that.

I said, well, don't ring me abusing me.

Who do you think you are?

I'm no better than you.

You're no better than me.

And we went out at hammer and tong for quite a while.

And I might've got him to swear at me, actually.

He may have lost his cool with me.

But I mean, I don't like him.

He doesn't like me.

I think he was a dreadful prime minister.

And I don't think he's much of a person either.

And the two GB or the group,

it tends to be pro more, definitely not left.

No, we're conservative.

Conservative.

I'm a conservative commentator.

Yeah, correct.

And of course, Malcolm was a leader of the liberals at the time.

But he was masquerading as a liberal.

He's a Labor person.

Because he's turned since then.

Well, no, I think he was always left of right.

I mean, left of center.

Left of center in the liberals, yeah.

In the liberals.

And he's a person that was elevated to the prime ministership.

I think beyond his station in life.

And he had a really good bloke like Brendan Nelson,

who was then the leader before him.

Yeah.

Who got, you know, well, you wouldn't say knifed,

but you could say knifed.

Because they shafted.

Shafted, shifted sideways.

And Nelson's a really good fella.

Yeah.

And a good, decent man.

And would have been a good prime minister,

had he been given the chance.

Did you deal with Scott Morrison?

Yeah, I got on well with him.

We had a couple of blues over time.

But he, I mean, he's a decent human.

Being Scott.

I mean, you know.

Where did he go wrong in the end?

I think the holiday in Honolulu did him in.

Yeah.

You know, I'm not holding a hose.

I think he did a great job through COVID.

I really do.

I think.

Under the circumstances, yes.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, no one had ever been there.

We had a Spanish flu back in, you know, 100 years ago.

But nothing in the middle of all of that.

And it's always easy to look back and say,

well, we've done a better job.

They should have done.

But he made some pretty tough decisions.

And, you know,

we're an island nation.

People had to remember that.

You know, we weren't part of Europe

or the United States of America.

And he had to stop the spread of it.

And he might as well take advantage of the fact

that we are an island nation.

Just close the joint down.

Yeah.

So, you know, but I think he did his best

in very difficult circumstances, Scott Morrison.

What about Elbow?

Well, I've known Elbow for about 35 years.

And I've got to admit that when he was elevated

to the leadership, I thought, well, you know,

he's a knockabout sort of bloke.

He's a rabid-ass man.

And, you know, he's from the left of the Labor Party.

But, you know,

I really was encouraged by him.

I thought, you know, he might have a crack this bloke.

But I now can, you know, conclude by saying

I think he's the worst prime minister I've seen

in my time in broadcast.

I've heard you say it already.

Yeah, I think he's just not up to the task.

I don't think intellectually he's up to the task.

I don't think that he's smart enough.

I mean, even going into the election,

I started having my doubts when he stuffed up interest rates.

I mean, I'm a knockabout.

When they asked him what's the official interest rate,

he didn't know.

He had no idea.

And you can't.

You can't be the leader of the nation and not know those.

Even if, you know, you're not well-versed in, you know, finances.

You are or I'm not, you know.

But I'd still, if I was being the leader,

I'd make sure that I'd be saying to people,

I need all these facts and figures in front of me.

That's pretty basic.

Yeah.

I need to know all this stuff.

Yeah.

And even if I'm not enamored by it, it's not one of my goals.

I need you to be here telling me about it.

Yeah, yeah.

And who do you think is our greatest prime minister then in your time?

Oh, Howard.

Why?

Why?

A really steady hand.

Smart.

The gun.

The gun buyback.

Yeah, after Port Arthur.

I mean, it wasn't very popular at the time.

I mean, you know, you reflect back, but a brave decision

and a right decision, as it turns out, a very right decision.

And there's a sense of decency.

And he was never panicked or flustered, you know,

and as opposed to Albanese who doesn't know his ass from his elbow,

Howard was always on top of everything.

He was always well briefed, you know, and he was made fun of and, you know,

people made fun of him over quirks and different things he did.

But I think that he was a wonderful prime minister at a very difficult time.

Yeah, and I think also, I think Albo is a great politician.

And what I mean by that is as a diplomat, like he'd be a great diplomat.

I don't think he's been a great leader in the leadership sense.

Yeah.

I don't think he's been a great leader.

I quite like the bloke.

So do I.

I quite like him and, you know.

But leadership's not his go.

Yeah, and so I'd like to repair our relationship when he's not prime minister.

Yeah.

When he's not in such an important job, you know.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, he was transport minister at one stage

and I don't think he was a very good transport minister.

I just think that, you know, I think Bill Shorten would have been a pretty good prime minister.

I really do.

The way he's handled the NDIS has been very good

and I've had a lot to do with him over the years.

The way he's handled the NDIS because there's a lot of frailties attached to it

and it's very important that we look after people who are less fortunate than most of us.

But, I mean, he was given a shit sandwich, really, when they said,

yeah, look after this.

And the thing with Bill, he will aim up.

He'll turn up.

Oh, yeah.

Bill will turn up.

Like, if you call him, I've heard you.

Oh, mate, I've had conversations.

I've heard you give him curry over that.

I've been in the middle of nowhere.

I remember I was driving from Mudgee to the Gold Coast probably early this year.

Well, late last year, maybe earlier this year.

I'd broadcast in Mudgee at the racetrack for the country championships

and I was making my way up to the Gold Coast for some other reason.

And I was in the middle of nowhere and he rang about a really difficult situation

with the NDIS with someone who had special needs.

And I told him the story and said, you've got to help me with this person

because this is dreadful.

You know, you've got all the Reuters stealing money from us

and you've got this really, really poor person that needs some help.

And he was really invested in it and he solved the problem for this poor person.

I mean, so that, I mean, you know, I'm happy for him.

He's getting out of politics and going to be the vice-chancellor of the ANU

or wherever he's heading.

But, I mean, I think he's a good person.

I think he's a good person.

I hope you indulge me for a second, but I've got some people who know

that I'm talking to you and I've got this, I don't know if I should tell you

who it's from, but I'll guess.

Okay.

Has anyone, and this is an important one from this individual, he says,

ask Ray, has anyone ever attacked his family because they're related to Ray Hadley?

Yes.

Can you tell me about it?

My son.

My son.

My son got caught with 0.66 kilogram of cocaine.

Less than a gram.

That's not, that's 60% of it was nothing.

Yeah.

$100 worth of cocaine.

My son was struggling with PTSD.

And had he not been my son, he lost his career as a police officer.

He suffered what they call curial punishment.

What is that?

Well, that means he's been punished because of his name.

Right.

The magistrate took that into account.

He pleaded guilty, obviously.

He resigned his commission in the police force after nine years there serving the state.

And he was on the front page of the paper.

He's been called a druggie.

He's been called a drug addict in parliament by Mark Latham, more recently.

He's as, I'm as proud as him as ever could be.

Because he was in big trouble.

Big trouble.

And his mum and I went to see him in hospital.

And I was really worried about him, really worried about him as was his mum.

And he dragged himself from the depths of despair.

He got himself a job at Racing New South Wales as an undercover operative.

You know, not dealing with bikies and hoons, but dealing with people who were doing silly things.

He's now the general manager of investigations at Racing New South Wales.

On his own.

And when I talk to people in the racing industry whom I know quite well,

they tell me he's an outstanding individual.

He's got a wife and three kids.

And where he's come from to where he's got to,

I couldn't be prouder.

That sounds like a proud dad to me.

And he got tortured by people because his name was Hadley.

He made a mistake.

He made a silly mistake.

It cost him his career.

And he had a very good career in front of him.

And he had to read about it in the papers.

Because of his surname.

Exactly.

I can resonate with that one, mate.

I know that one works.

This one's slightly different.

Can you tell me about being the first person in the world to report the death of Osama bin Laden?

Hmm.

That's Fordham.

Spot on.

Yeah, of course it is.

Yes.

There was a report that, well, we did get it right because he did eventually get killed.

But we went off a bit early.

Probably about three or four months early.

But you're predicting it.