🎙️Abbey Holmes - Commentator and AFLW Premiership Player 🏈 📺

Hey, Legends, Welcome back to the Mason cock Show. Today's guest or a very very good friend of mine and someone I cannot wait to get into this chat with. They are a real estate agent, Adelaide, Adelaid, premiership player at Channel seven, commentator Australia's traveling no about as I like to say sas, and survivor, contestant, owner of the clothing brand Blindside, and many many more things we'll get into. But it is a good friend, Abbi Halmes. Now we just talked about this.

The carrot cake is going to be a here's my carrot cake.

There's a whole thing between us now. I make a mean carrot cake for those people out there, very good icing just and that's going to be my payment for you helping me out today.

And I'm very upset that it's not right here in front of us.

I've let you down. Yeah, it's a great start to this event.

But I honestly cannot give high enough praise for your carrot cake.

I hate the word moist.

I hate it, but your carrot cake is like the most perfect level of moisteness.

That they could possibly be in a case.

We've said moist twice now, three times. I think people worked to I will say this. Matt Preston was on the podcast. I still think you didn't like it. Carrot Cake and everything. Yep, tried it. I think he wasn't as impressed. Well, it's a tough crowd to please whever it's Matt Preston obviously, so maybe our palette's just not as refined as the great mister Preston. I want to start this off. You've got a crazy life and I've known you pretty well over the past few years and

No?

No, And I'm a big one for sliding doors moments.

I love that, Like, you know what if you didn't, if you didn't go out to this combine, well you know we wouldn't be here to you know what I mean.

Has changed, it really does blow my mind.

And I pinch myself on a day to day basis because I can honestly see here and say to you right now that I'm living my dream. It honestly feels like I never work a day in my life, even though I'm a hustler and I grind every day, but it honestly feels like I don't work a day in my life because I legitimately love everything that I do.

Yeah, hustler is the number one word I think of whenever I think of Abbi Holmes. And You're never not doing anything. I mean, we drove here and I said, what are you up to? And you just like, I'm just busy. I'm just busy, And that's so y, I do know what.

That's one of my pet peeves is when you go how are you and people say busy, and it's like.

I just I just really genuinely busy though, did that to you?

And I'm so oh sorry, But I said to you, I can't believe we're already heading into round sixteen of the AFL. Like once you get into the grind of you know, round one, round two, round three, one, three, eight, it all just blends into one and to you blink and you're at round sixteen. It's unbelievable. But as I said, I'm a die hard, you know, footy lover.

I love the game. I know the game, I played the game.

So to think that it's my job to sit there on the sidelines and talk smack, really it really is a dream.

He told me earlier years before you got into this, that you consider yourself. One thing people don't really know about you is you can consider yourself. And I quote this from you because I had to question the word a shazzar y chaza jazzar chaza. Sorry there's an a in the I don't know, I just the Australian language, but yeah, a shaza. You had to try to explain that to me. Is what about you makes you a shazar?

Well, I'm just you knock about I don't know gal who I'm not much of a city girl. To be honest, not too many people would actually know that about me. I would prefer to be you know, remote in an indigenous community out in the middle of nowhere with red dirt. Then I would be, you know, going shopping in downtown Melbourne or anything like that. I think you could describe it as a little bit of a bogan, but yeah, I don't know.

It's a tough, classy, a classy bogan.

Can we go there like a chaser, Well, i'd say Clay a classy bogan.

Maybe let's jazz it off a little bit.

Okay, classy boger. We will get into the NT stuff and everything else, but I want to start off, like a lot of people know you for your commentating at the moment, obviously doing AFL W and AFL and you're constantly on television left, right and center, and we'll get into the Survivor and sas and all that kind of stuff. But the thing you're doing at the moment, and the thing that's why I've taking up most of your time is coming commentating, and I want to dive into a

Yeah, like what all.

Goes into Like explain to me the start of your weekend before you get into the footy.

Live television is a pretty scary place.

Sometimes petrifying if you make a mistake, like it goes to a nation.

And trust me, they are bloody, relentless Twitter and people come for you.

If you pronounce something wrong or you get something wrong and mix in a number that's not right, they'll let you know. But yeah, you're right, everybody kind of sees you on game day on screen, but there is so much more that goes into it than that. We're always getting sent stats from you know, the champion data guys and legends, and you're always kind of just.

Working your way through it.

And as I said, watching press conferences, pregame, postgame, I try and come at it from a little bit more of a personal point of view, so like it's my responsibility and I don't take this life lead to bring the I guess, the emotion from the players into the lound rooms of all Australians across the country. I don't want to go up to a player and just talk to them about you know, how many contested marks Mason Cox took and you know riveting, you know what I mean.

Do you have help kind of like on game day, like I feel like the behind the scenes, like before a game, you would sit there and you've talked about this with me, is you go and watch every single game games before, try to figure out satistical stuff about each single player so whenever it comes up in the game, you can instantly go, bang, I've got a fact for that, right, Yeah, Like in the moment of the heat of the games,

Yeah.

So obviously we've got our produce so that talks in a year, that that produces the entire game, you know, and they've got to hit things down to the second. But we've also got some pretty very very handy and incredible stats people. We'll always have one on with us per game. Josh Ka Swamp, the two that we use at seven and they are absolute gurus.

So they just crunching numbers in the backgrounding away yep, yep.

And and look we've all done a prep so we've all got numbers in our head.

But if it's you know, first.

Of the moment and you just need to know how many contested marks, Mason Cox has boom swamp.

Swamp up to the box, swampy.

Yeah, swamp Abs, and he'll be like, yes, Abs, I said, how many contested marks?

Is Mason Cox. He goes he's got seventeen seventy take that slight down.

And that's how quick they are, you know what I mean, Like, yes, they've got a computer and everything in front of them as well, but these guys are incredible minds.

You know that they know.

Basically every stat that there is in terms of history of the game, and you know clubs and where they sit with certain things from a week to eat basis.

They're unbelievable. So we're very lucky to have them.

Have you ever had a moment like we do Clanger of the Week on this podcast every single week, what's like the biggest one that you've just like either if it's personally you or it's like the production team just like no one knows what's going on. It's just chaos, like all over the tib Well.

I'll talk about one early days in just a moment, but lights out at the Gabba in.

Round two, I got they're not even in person there, weren't they like they were in Melbourne.

So so I honestly had to feel for twenty eight minutes and with nothing, and I remember the our director at the time counting us back in from a break and she's going teen T nine eight five four.

And I'm gone, what are we talking about?

And they're like, we don't know, just talk and I'm like, welcome back to the gabo with the lights are out, and it's like you know that like the duck with the little.

Legs swimming underneath it. Then you guys just see this.

Yeah, that was insane. But I remember early days, I was doing well. I was working for Channel seven with the VFL coverage. That's that's where I first kind of got my got my opportunity with seven. And thankfully this was only in a rehearsal, and we rehearsed for a reason, but.

I remember them.

You know. It was.

Jason Bennett, Nigel Carmeny talking, talking, talking through to me, and I knew exactly what I wanted to say and how I want to say it, and who I was talking about and that kind of thing.

But they threw to me and I just.

Went completely and utterly blank, like I'm just looking down the barrel of the camera, just wanting to sink into the ground, just wanting to fall into some black hole.

Tell you they were alive, yeah.

Yeah, but then I just had nothing on you. Oh my God, so that has been but you know what, it's these things that make you better.

Hopefully hopefully learn from.

Stronger.

Yeah so no, there's As I said, live television can be a pretty brutal place sometimes, but we've all had him.

Is there anything, like, you know, obviously you've worked with the lights of people like Brian Taylor, who is somewhat controversial attied we could say we love VT here. Is there anything that he's dying that sticks out in your head that you just go, oh, wow, we're going to roll with this.

Well, that's effectively roaming Bryan.

I was like a million episodes of that.

You cannot produce roaming Brian, you know what I mean, Like you're in a very happy environment where siders obviously just want a game of footage. You're with the friends, the family, the fans, supporters, so you just never know what he's going to come out of the mouth of anybody that Brian gets his hands on. But that's the best thing about it, and that's why we love roaming Brian and is that it's so authentic and real.

Does he just get unleashed or does he just he has no direction? He just goes, oh, here's the room.

They basically just hand over the rains to him. Yeah, gosh, that's talent, it is and that's.

Not you know what.

So BT the other day, I can't remember who had played, but it was a Friday night at the g We're in the winning side rooms and he said, Abs, do you just want to go and go and find someone and have a chat, like if I need a chop out?

And I was like no. I was like, what do you mean, what do you mean, Bt, what do you mean just go and speak to someone? Rand it?

And I said to him afterwards, I said, I got overwhelmed. It freaked me out. I don't know how you do it, and it is. It's such a skill for him to be able to go up to anybody and just have a question ready and to get some of the absolute gold that he gets out of these people. I absolutely love roaming Brian.

I like, I love these names because the people have got to know over the years, and like it is insane the stuff that I see him say on to Vision, like some of.

The wowyes, wow, poor boy.

There's lots of old boys in particularly from our probably production truck with the producers just going like oh uh, well.

You mentioned in your early days obviously getting into commentating in the vfl W actually the vfl W, r VFL VFL Sorry, And I just feel like, like any advice for anyone that's going out there in the media world that wants to become someone like yourself, who's you know, looking to go down that path, you know, and those initial steps are always I feel like the hardest. Is there any advice you would give someone that's coming out there and wanting to do the same thing.

Just say yes to every single opportunity that presents itself. And you know, I say that to everybody because I am living proof of what that can do. So, as I said, I was a real estate agent up into o and kicked the hundred, got thrown into this this world that I knew nothing about in terms of TV and radio. Worked out very very quickly that I had a massive passion for that area. And there wasn't too many women working in the footy broadcasting space at the moment.

She's always i'd have been a rude awakening.

Especially in Darwin when it's a million degrees. So Mom's like, oh shit, come home, darling.

Please please just just go to a nice courthouse. It's it's crazy, and I want to go back to the commotating side of things, like you have some amazing people that have kind of helped mentor yourself. You know, you talked about the Hamishes, I talk about BT's and all that, Like, you know, who's been the most influential from that act Because I think a lot of people see, you know, females and commentating. It's quite new, like there's not as many people in that industry. I feel like that are

Hundred percent.

Gary O'Keefe, who's the executive producer of the AFL at seven, he gave me my first opportunity in the VFL with seven, you know, putting a really green How old was I then, like twenty five year old or twenty four year old on screen in live television?

Oh yeah, exactly right, let's see how this goes.

Jayce Bennett, Nigel Carmedy, Campbell Brown are the VFL call team and they've been unbelievable for my development as well in those early years. But I remember Gazz would bring me after every broadcast and just say, Abs, like you did this really well? Perhaps work on this.

Don't do that all right, you know anything that sticks out? Just like please?

Did I go dear in the headline first?

No?

No, no, But you know he's been so critical for me in terms of my growth and development and confidence in all honesty, like he's really, I guess, taken an interest in my development and continued to kind of work with.

Me along the journey as well.

And I certainly wouldn't be here, you know, where I am today without the guidance and support from him, you know, Glennie Postel, Dan Edwards. There's so many amazing producers at seven which ultimately make us look good if you know

I was like, whoa, Like just chill out.

BT, like even yeah, rich oh Hodgy this year, like they've they've just been so good in my confidence as well, you know, hosting that first seg on a Friday night and oh look, I could sit here and name them all to be honest, like, I'm so lucky and so grateful to be surrounded and supported by so many amazing people who legitimately just want to see you succeed and do well.

So very very lucky girl, Incredible people. I've got to as this, how's the diet for some of these people? Behind the scenes. I've been told there are some macas rolling around every game day and.

Lots of nassy gorings, isn't it.

Lots of the go toosh at Marvel.

There's the old nazi boring at the G.

It's pretty good. We get fed quite well at the G.

Fish and chip stops in the area.

No, that's like a nice little maybe like even a little lamb curry or something.

So yeah, yes, exactly, very bougie there.

But no, look, I think you can sometimes fall into the track when you're working late nights, early mornings, you know, big hours, you can sometimes into the caffeine and sugar coffee, the coffees. Yeah, so we try and steer clear of that, but sometimes it's just that's just what you got to do.

We'll go into women in sport and comment commentating specifically now yourself, Daisy Pierce, Aaron Phillips are kind of like the three. I feel like they're really transitioned from a fl W to being in media, whether it be radio, where it be TV, whatever it is. Can you talk on I guess like do you have a bit of

Biggest supporters of females and you know women in this space, and particularly working alongside Daisy and Eron, like they are two of the best to ever you know, play the game from the AFLW perspective, but also their footy brains, my male or female two of the.

Best analysts that there are.

You know, both of them have taken different pathways this year and have landed in clubland, so Daisy obviously with Geelong and Aaron.

At Port Adelaide.

So they're certainly not doing as much commentary as they did, you know previously, but that is because they're still heavily entrenched in clubland now. So but you know, I feel so lucky and so grateful to have those two as well. That Daisy in particular, because we've kind of been on this journey together for quite a long time now. She would always just send me a text and say, hey, did you want to catch up for a coffee and chat through you know, this weekend or whatever it might

Daisy, you know, and Erin.

They're two incredible people who ultimately can do no wrong, you know what I mean, Like they can do whatever they want to do in the future, and that's because they work so hard at their craft. And yeah, I'm excited to see what their journeys look like in the next ten twenty thirty years time.

Yeah, it's going to be me really interesting. I think there's gonna be a lot more opportunities for females and sports.

Well, I honestly, I honestly believe that Daisy Pierce could be the first you know, female coach of the men's competition.

Oh yeah, for sure, hands down, Yeah, yeah.

I do find it interesting. The whole debacle of herbing and rooms.

It is the biggest, stupidest shit. I can't believe it.

It was wild. I don't. Yeah, I means every club is different in their own ways. To me, it was like it's not like she's in the team meeting room like where they're giving their address, you know, like she's sitting at the door, like just hanging exactly right.

And postmatch for Daisy peers to be in the rooms when all they're doing is going and talking to their friends and their family. They're not highlighting anything you know, overly strategic or anything. But AnyWho, that's a whole other conversation. And as I said, Daisy Piers, she honestly, in my opinion, could be the first head coach as a female of the IFL men's competition. And if she wants to pursue that, I'll back her in every.

Day of the week.

Feedback. You've been given much feedback, let's say, not from channel serving spell now it's gonna be super positive. But how if you handled I guess obviously not everyone loves changing, right, Yeah, you know, females and sport unfortunately, probably leads to some criticism from people over right. How have you kind of

It's been really challenging, you know.

But over the last few years in particular, I've been so proud to see a drastic change in that area, and I think we owe a lot of that to the afl W competition now heading into season.

Eh.

So it's now been around for a little while. The old dinosaurs and you know, old fuddy duddies who didn't think women belong in football might have had their opinions changed over the last seven years, which is awesome, you know what I mean. But early days it was tough because there were still those people who had that belief that women didn't belong in footy and everything that I said wasn't good enough for them. It didn't matter what I said, it was never going to be good enough

Very clear about who you are as a person, I think that's that's so critical. You know.

I know that I came into this landscape when there wasn't too many women in that space. But that's also something that I'm very proud of because hopefully other women in five, ten, twenty years time, they never have to deal with that, you know what I mean. So you're kind of paving the way for other females to enter that space and to not have to put up with that.

I think we're at the title of the pod Aby Holmes de Trailblazer, that is we'll go into I want to ask this also because I know we both are very passionate about an Indigenous community, and one of my favorite things is to see you up in the NT doing a bit of TV up there and reporting talk to us about I guess your connection back to community up there. Obviously, you've played football up in the NT with the war Tis. I've kicked one hundred goals. As

I think I honestly everything that I have today to my time in the Northern Territory and the opportunities that presented from that incredible place. I moved up there as a twenty one year old. I had never been to Darwin. I did not know a single person up there before I decided to make the move. And I was moving up there for a boy at the time. So my boyfriend was moving up to play for.

Yes No.

So he was moving up to play footy in the NTFL season and was originally just going to do the six months and then head back to Adelaide, but as most blokes do, fell in love with the place and didn't want to leave.

So as a twenty one year old girl, I.

Packed up my entire life, lived out at home, never stood on my own two feet, and I went to my dad and my mom and I said, Hey, I'm moving to Darwin.

Any father's worst nun.

But honestly, I look at that moment once again, going back to sliding doors moments. If I didn't have the guts as a twenty one year old girl never lived at a home, right, if I didn't have the guts to make that move, I would not be here today speaking to you inside this incredible little podcast studio.

You know what I mean.

But AnyWho, the Northern Territory, I was fortunate enough up there to that's where I really delved into the footy landscape and started playing competitively. When the AFLW had happened, I was working with the AFLNT and was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time out in remote indigenous communities.

Do you have a favorite?

I love this so my favorite I'm well, obviously the Tiwi Islands is up there, but my sister lives out in East aarnham Land and this is like proper, proper, proper Midller nowhere right, But Yea Kala.

Electricity, Yes there's electricity.

Yea.

Karla is hands down one of my favorite communities in the country. It is so beautiful, that people are amazing, just so much culture, you know what.

I mean, unique about it because I feel like people in Australia like they haven't really experienced the real community that's away from the towns of Dorowan and the towns of our springs and stuff like that, Like this is proper.

Like culture and history, and.

This is sixty five thousand years worth of culture, you know what I mean. And we're so fortunate to live in a country where there are still people who live in community who have their traditional ways to go there and experience at firsthand. It's one of my favorite things

You said, the best videos on backyard brands out there.

Thanks some of the but that's you know, I'm heavily entrenched in the traveling tourism space as well now and Backyard Bandits was a campaign created. It was born out of, I guess the frustration that there's so many Australians out there who have spent thousands traveling the world. You know, they've spent thousands going to the States and all of Europe, which is wonderful, don't get me wrong, but they haven't

Really, now, these jet skis, you threw two jet skis on the back of this ute, so a jet ski on the back of you and you took it through the desert Australia. This please tell this story how this came about, because this was that was some effort.

We got some funny looks. So back our bed.

As we started in Adelaide, we went Red Center, so Ularu, Kings Canyon, Alice Springs, all the way up to the top end, Darwin Kackadoo, Litchfield and in the whole West Coast of Australia top to bottom. But we had a Toyota towing a jet ski and then a six perth motor home on the road with us. And my goodness, some of the comments and the looks that we got towing a jet ski through the Australian outback was was priceless.

Was it worth it? Yeah? Once you got to use the jet ski. What do you got?

Oh Coral Bay, Yeah, I'll go yeah, Oh my god, that whole Coral Coast of w a is next level.

So Nikolau reef yes, well yeah, oh real is that your favorite place in Australia because I I'll tell you a little bit about it, but like I know, I've got a few other things I want to come get through. But travel is your jam. Yeah, Like one on one. I want to throw on this out of the Channel seven. Whoever's lesson can figure it out, travel show myself and Abbey will just show. We'll show people the true Australia.

Absolutely will.

East Anham one of my favorite places in the country. But also yeah, that far north northwest of Wa is pretty beautiful as well, Lake Aga.

Have you been there?

I haven't.

Holy moly, you see photos of it and it looks fake, right and you go there and it still looks fake, and you're like, what.

Do you mean?

This is real?

So we are very, very fortunate to live in such an incredible country with so many beautiful places, and I highly recommend everybody to just hit the road and go and see them.

Number one place right now, if you can book a teat anywhere in the world, not just Australia, would it be.

Oh my goodness, Well I have just booked to go over to the state.

That place is terrible.

NEXTI no, but look, I'm We're going to go to Miami and go on a cruise through the Caribbean.

Wow.

Yeah, so I think Mexico Bahamash So I'm pretty excited about that.

Sounds like a tough life, yes, Now this is after you work your ass off doing afi W.

And you think about it, right, You guys start in March. I don't have a weekend off until December.

That's terrible. Yeah, you don't get a bye week. We talked about this. We need to we need to leverage Channel seven to get you a bye week.

Yes, no, so yeah.

Men starts March, crosses over with Women's in August, and then Women's Grand Final is that first weekend of December. So it's a very very long year. And I think I've earned my cruise from Miami.

You well, and truly it's phenomenal. You fit in. Now. I want to go back. We'll rewind all this. We'll put in a little audio. I want to go back to the football stop because you are not originally football player.

No, you were a netball Yeah.

Big fan of netball, and then you had some knee injuries and then that led you to obviously moved to nor On Territory with the non Kegan. Yes, but we got to Keegan eventually, we did, and then you kind of get into the war Toll Football Club. Now we both have a little bit of connection to a war Old Tas Yeah, shout out to the tiles up there, and how was that? Like? That was we talk about like football, right and the bare bones of what football is,

Absolutely?

And that once again comes back to moving to a foreign place as a twenty one year old. Right, the first thing I'd did when I got to Darwin was find a Netbok club because at that point in time, netball was my entire life.

The girls that I played.

Netball with up in Darwen also played footy in the off season because up there those sports don't clash like down South. Netball and footy a winter sports, so you've got to pick one.

Oras up there, you played.

Netball from March through September and footy September through March. So it was those girls that convinced me to go out to war Atars and have a kick and you know, history obviously the best thing I ever did. But you meet incredible people that very quickly become your family when you when you're so far away from your family early days. But yeah, so kind of landed at the war Retar

Five one goal a game, much less than seven or eight. You're kicking away.

But yeah, like it does, like we do.

We just had this incredible family at the Warritar Footy Club and still to this day have great connections with the people that I played footy with.

So yeah, it was an absolute dream.

I went up there. He's about two years ago and I trained with them, and there's something that happened. I'm just like, I'm sure you would have experienced this. But like as a kid growing up, right, a thunderstorm rolls in games, canceled, right, you go home, they don't give us ship. There was lightning, thunder everything.

No one even battered than oh, cyclones.

Yes, so the amount of times that we played in cyclonic conditions, I'm talking horizontal rain Williams exactly. But like wind that it's basically knocking you over. Lightning is where they start to call them off.

Because I didn't get that off. Now, training was too important.

Training.

Yes, no, training, they'll change that, don't worry about that. But yeah, some of the conditions up there are relentless. Plus the heat as well, so game days are quite often thirty six thirty seven degrees and one hundred percent of humidity, So them tough in the territory.

Did you ever have to plan cyclone?

No?

Nah, but close to it in terms of conditions.

I remember playing a game of footy up there where I kid you not the water was up.

To my calf what.

So and try to feel Yeah, so drainage up in the territory grounds is actually quite good, but it gives you the context of how much rain can fall and very very quickly. In the territory. You swim, you're basically women swimmen.

You're training with the little ankle weights that old women in.

Yes, as I said, it takes a special kind of athlete to play footy in the territory, from the heat to the rain to everything that comes with it.

Once I'm done, I won't play for the task.

Well, Pegs is very much so on that. Yes, geez, such a new too lining together Big.

One two Punch, Big Kegs and Coxy.

I feel sorry for any rockman that comes up against that combination in the nterfl Kigs than me.

It would be a crime, very emotional thing between us that we have a connection, and there'd be a crime not to say it. Big Root, we both saw his parents is to get people contact. I'll let you actually talk about if you want. But Rooch's a friend of ours that had recently passed away, and I'll let you kind of explain the connection behind it and what exactly happened.

So we just had the three year anniversary of Roach's passing. I actually spoke to Jill, his mum yesterday because yeah, we are going to head to the Estates and yeah over to New York and the lead into Christmas, which would be amazing to see them. But Rooch, he's quite hard to describe as a person impossible because he is just one of the well, if not probably the greatest human being that one could ever meet, just in the way that he approached and attacked life. Right, he was gigantic.

He'd be sitting at one hundred and twenty plus kids, one hundred.

And twenty plus killows, but an adonis right Like. And I remember the first time I ever laid eyes on this guy. Right, he was playing at South Adelaide in the reserves. I was there watching Keeks, who played league. The reserves boys were all, you know, just wrapping up showers and coming up to the stands getting ready to watch the lead boys play. And they're all rolling in with like buckets of chips and pies and passes, yes, steak sandwiches, right, And then I see this massive dude just roll.

In right, and he plunked himself right in front of me.

Like, and he's thick, and he basically took up took up two seats, okay, And he pulled out of his bag the biggest tappaware container I've ever seen in my life, and it was just full of rice and vegetables.

And I was like, oh.

My god, who is this guy? Like everybody's eating steak sandwiches and like sausages, and bread and like all the greasy goodness. And this guy who did he never put a bad thing in his body, just pulled out that massive tupperwear he used to eat, you know, the four beans mix from the camp. Used to eat a four beans mix before training, after training.

Yeah you know what I mean.

Like he was just so healthy, so fit, so active and just one of the greatest people in the history of people. So unfortunately Rooch was killed, Yes, in a very bad accident. He was riding his bike and hit

So yeah, he's an amazing He's an American that was traveling around Australia since she's playing AFL and played from places from Southport to Carleton's vfl up to the tiers. He'd been all over the country and seeing quite a bit. I'd seen him or I'd talked to him. I think it was maybe a month before he passed, and he had sent me photos of him. I think I captured a buffalo out on the NT and they chopped it into quarters because it was too big to helicopter out.

Shit, honestly, And I was, just as I said, I just had the three year anniversary and I was going back and watching videos from that day with Rooch and he's in a pool and I said, would you ever get this in New York City? And he was like never, never,

There's one man that's lived his life to its force at m that's for sure.

And that's what you know.

I once again say to everybody, you've just got to make the most of every single opportunity and live the life to the absolute fullest, because yeah, you never know what's going to happen.

You're a walking testament of that. In absolute walking testament. I'll see one of your sliding doors moments now, EJ whitting game. Right, you go on, you kick one hundred five for the season, right, just subtle brush it off your shoulder. Yep, I'm here. Shane Crawford gets you, writes the article on you, says, come play from my.

EJ wedding team.

Right, you go out there, you just smash it. You just all these legends of the game ain't got shit on you. Right, You're out there and you absolutely kill it. And then you go AFLW. I'm essentially now one of the faces of afl W. Was there a lot of like stress and anxiety around that, like as there was the Marquie players. You think of Mohope, you think of yourself, You think of these people who are just like the image of trying to sell this product to Australians that

It really was, I think because I was that cheek who had you know, kicked one hundred and was playing in the Legends games and in the you know, the slowdowns in South Australia. There was a lot of pressure on me to perform coming into the IFLW. And you know, at that point in time as well, like I'd been playing high level netball from the age of kind of thirteen fourteen through twenty two twenty three when I moved to the territory and my body was absolutely cooked, Like

Joints hurt thinking, yeah, exactly right.

So kind of in my second year of AFLW, like I certainly wasn't able to play and perform the way that I wanted to on a you know, a week in, week out basis.

So that was a real big.

Challenge for me and ultimately why I kind of turned my focus to just the work side of it afterwards, was just because I wasn't kind of living up to the expectation that I had on myself. So whilst I'm very thankful that I had, you know, something else to turn to, it certainly was hard during during those years where everybody expects the world of view, there was quite quite a lot of predat pressure.

It's very hard mentor. I think whenever your mind wants to do something, your body wants to do another thing. Yeah, like, and I feel like that's I mean to have to

Yeah, absolutely, And you know what It's like when you're injured or you know, in a rehab group or whatever, it might be, like it's a pretty lonely place because you, oh yeah, isn't it?

Oh yeah, because.

All all the fun shit happens out on the on the park, nobody really cares about those that have broken.

So we sit in the back and the sheds on the on the assault bike, just kidding after it. How that is yourself? Chill?

But yeah, like you've got you've got pressure and expectation on yourself that you expect, right, but then add on tenfold what everybody else expects from you and they just need to google your name to to work out what you've done in the past.

So yeah, it was.

It was high pressure, high stakes, but I grew up a die hard Adelaide supporter, shouts me to say that, considering you just beat them onto points?

Did we was it? Yes? Yeah, it was yesh two points? What was it the game before? Howd we got them?

Yeah? You led by twenty seconds. AnyWho, Right, So I was a.

Die but die hard Crow supporter growing up right, footy mad family like one eyed Crow supporters. So to have the opportunity to be drafted to the club that you've loved and supported your entire life, pull on the guernsey and represent them. Plus win a flag in year one and forever be an inaugural way for w premiership player. Like, that's been pretty crazy to even think about, and a whirlwind.

It's like is like seventy.

So you're like, I still feel like that was yesterday, But I'm like, actually, that was a good what six years ago?

Seven years ago now?

So yeah, time flies, But so grateful for that opportunity, that experience and the people that I was able to achieve that with.

I hope to one day experience what you've experienced. But I want you to describe, after going through some of the hard times and the tough times to be able to lift up the premiership carpike, what did that mean to you.

It's hard to put that into words as well, because so going into that first season of aflw Adelaide's license bid was a joint collaboration with the Northern Territory, so two places which had been such a huge part of my journey coming together as one, so I've got to represent the both, which was amazing. We had majority of the team the list based in Adelaide and we had

Way yeah.

So we got together on two occasions before round one. Yeah, two occasions for like a little bit of a camp situation. Everybody had us as wooden spooners purely because of that situation, because they're like, how the hell is that going to work?

Right?

But to go through that season.

Make the Grand Final and then win it at metrocn Stadium, like, oh my goodness, my sister and my mum had flown down from Darwin, my dad and my nana flew in

Right. We just had the best group of.

People who completely and utterly brought into that situation, and ultimately that's what wants the flag.

Did you ever drink like a beer out of the cup?

Yeah? I don't even drink.

I don't know you someone does a drink. I mean on that occasion, I feel like.

You got to live after you you got to and that that was a rather large celebration after that one.

Give us a story Gold Coast.

Right, So when I don't even know we're staying at the golf course, I think, right, do you know why I know that we were on a golf course was because I remember doing I remember getting at an uber or something to macis, and then I ended up in a golf cart. And I was like Santa Claus, right, and I had all of these macs and I'm just in a golf cart, just like throwing cheeseburgers, throwing the chickens, your.

Spicy McNuggets or whatever you like. You get some French fries and you get some French fries. That's how I.

Remember where I was at a golf course, because I was somehow in a golf But then we had to get up like five am, fly back to Adelaide and then do a lack of honor for the men's for the men's game, so everyone had Yeah there was a few, there was, but no, it was the best, Like, and that's such an incredible memory with as I said, an amazing group of people, so very very fortunate.

That night that night, not during the game, probably the real.

Stuff Es Sagendary and Foley, Aaron Phillips once she gets yeah, let's just let's just hug her in there as well. Yeah, that it was awesome.

She would be a.

Look at how much she's experienced in.

Life and Dallas to go back here and like living out her life dream. It's like she would just be in habit, honestly.

And they've just had another baby as well. Congratulations to Tracy and Flip. But what she's achieved on and off the field, she is an inspiration.

She's an absolutely legendary. Yeah, all right, we'll move into another thing I want to talk to you about, because I'm wearing this jacket and this thing, I'm telling you, the most comfortable shit I've ever worn in my life. Now I'm not look people, we've got some Mason cock show merch out and that's great go By, don't get me wrong, but this shit is fucking on fire.

You know what's so funny is that I text you saying like, is it cool to just wear like shit?

Kit? As in, you know, I did wear and nobody cares.

But then you were like, I'm wearing my Blindside hoodie and I was like, I'm so glad I just messaged you because I was wearing that.

When I wearing this, it would have been matchy match Yeah.

So and then you messaged me and said I'm wearing that, so I changed.

I'm going to try to describe this for most people now. I thought about, on the way over here, how do I describe how comfortable this is? Right? I said, it's like a snuggie but in a jumper. Is that like a decent way to describe this?

I don't know the inside is so wearing a hug or I.

Don't know where you're getting this stuff made. If there's some kids in a sweatshop somewhere sorting this. Now, it's all ethically done. I'm sure it's all above board, But seriously, guys, this is I'm not I'm I don't really wear stuff very often that you know I wear consistently over and over. But you see me in the sweatshirt every single day.

Yeah, I'm just glad you like it.

It is legit.

You know that feeling of when you've had a really tough day, right, might be playing footy out in the cold, whatever, and that feeling of getting home, having a hot shower and then putting this on and not having to move for the rest of the night or the afternoon or the day.

I'm kind of the weirder that doesn't wear a shirt under it too, because it's so Yeah, this is getting me.

I'm so glad you like it, first and foremost. But Blindside born off the back of getting blindsided twice and survivor.

Of course, the name I was like five days off half a million dollars.

But that's fine, not salty at all, not salty at all. So we launched Blindside in February twenty twenty, which was just before every like the world shut down, right just before the all see you work. Yeah, COVID just before people couldn't leave the house, and then what we saw was obviously people at home. They wanted to be comfortable. People were doing the business work meetings with like blazers up top and then party done the bottom with trackies

So you're going to be like a CEO on television. You can be so successful. You're gonna be looking at this podcast and go, why the fuck that this interview? I've got it? Okay. Now, I've been wanting to as this because on this podcast we joke about it a lot. Brand and I are desperately single, and you know this, you met your future husband, your fiance at the moment, feel say on bumble, I did any advice for us

Do you have bumble?

I don't. I have hinge. I've gone on the hinge and another thing.

But do you know what so funny story about keys and I?

Right?

I was always adamant, for some reason that I could never have any of the apps, any of them. Yeah, right, because you don't want to be that footy cheek or that tall American dude that plays for Collingwood, you know what I mean.

So I was always adamant that I just couldn't do it from a professional side.

Yes, And then before my second pre season at the Crows, I'd move back to Adelaide from Darwin and I had to move had to drive over to my Melbourne place to pick up a few things, and I bought one of my best friends with me, Kim. So I was driving over and then Kim, my friend, was like, ABS, like you've always complained about being single, but you don't actually put yourself out there to meet anyone, Like I don't drink, I don't go out.

I don't kind of you too busy.

I like to work. Yeah, that's just what I do.

And she was like, I'm going to make your Bumble account and I was driving, so I was like, oh, well, I can't exactly do anything about it.

You're like, I don't have any control, and I was like, oh, as.

Long as I get to like pick a photo. So she made the Bumble account and kegs is my first ever Bumble date. Like, so I'm biggest advocate, one hundred percent strike right, one from one and done.

Maybe we need to download Bumble. I think Braidin's on Bumble. Bradin's on about twenty.

Different paps and everything.

Okay, so Bumble, what's the what's the go to prompt answer? I think, do you know what? Something like that?

So you know how with bumble, like the female has to make the move.

Oh yes, of course you didn't that I didn't.

I so Bumble.

It was like it's different because it's not like everyone can just go like yeah, the female in.

That that interactation interaction.

Has to make the first move. So I think mine was like a little handwave and that's it. Like I didn't really, that's all I.

Gay that real kicks and it works good.

And then so yeah, we spoke for a little while. Our first date went for like eight hours.

Wow. Love that.

So you know, I set up a coffee at three thirty because that's a great time because if it's going really pear shaped, you can be like, oh, I've got dinner plans, I've got to get get out of here and get out of here quick smart, or if it's going well, you're like run. Yeah that's experience. Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, So three thirty coffee date because coffee you can get out or you can stay in.

Yeah.

Coffee finished, and then he was like, do you want to move you to the movies and I was like yeah, it's next door. We went and saw Jimunji Jamuji finished, and I was like, do you want to get dinner and he was like yeah. So we went back to where we had coffee and then had dinner. And then when I sat down at the beach at Glen Elg in South Australia for a little while, literally eight hours and then ever since then have just been inseparable. And he literally told me he loved me in like two weeks.

Wow. Yeah.

He met my family within a week.

Wow. Yeah, that's huge.

So you know we knew straightaway, and you know the people are there. He's a nice guy, best person ever. Right, But you know how people always say when you know, you know, are you at least.

Expencive for exactly Well?

I used to be like, yeah, whatever, guys, and then I met Kegs and I was like, you know what, You're right?

Yeah, so don't hold, don't give in, don't give up.

Wiler Store download Bumble A hand wave Yeah, just that should real enough.

Yeah, or if somebody ever because they're going to have to like handwave to you, then you have to be like that, that's her.

That's it. That's the one.

That's the one. Yeah, we'll see.

Shout out to Keys is the biggest legend.

Yeah, last thing you've done Survivor sas you're on coming up. We can't yeah, we can't talk about too much. I'm just going to ask you this. Did you get in a fight with someone? Did you ever? You know? I think of the old rugby player fighting the for W player, and you didn't do that, did you?

It might be oh gosh, it might be some of that sas.

Okay, okay, so you're here you got through it.

I'm so excited for you all to see SAS, which we don't exactly have an air date, but it is later in the year where it at September October. It is by far the hardest thing that I've ever done in my life. And I've been fortunate to do a number of hard things, right Survivor, I didn't shower or brush my teeth for forty six days SAS in terms of hardness, yeah, the hardest, hardest, the hardest of hard How long does it lasts?

You have to wait?

Yeah, that's a good point. Good almost gotcha.

Yeah, but you know, such an incredible experience where we filmed in the Middle East, so very very different to what you've seen previously in Australian or says Australia. The Middle East was brutal, next level I think desert, Yeah, soft sand running My qud's burned just even mentioning the word. But yeah, amazing experience, great group of people, and yeah, I can't wait for you to see it.

I want to ask you this, if you can make one challenge for television, one challenge that would push people to the absolute limits, what would it be? Do you mean I'm talking clausaphobia. I'm talking to heights. I'm talking speed and just putting them all in a big pot and mixing them together.

Heights is my thing, Like no, I hate tips. Yeah, yeah, so anything to do with heights is gonna Yeah, he's going to really screw me over.

I'm sure it will screw over a lot of people.

So if you had to jump out of the helicopter, you that would be your worst case scenario. I'm not saying you did it.

Yeah, No, that would be that would be that would be very very bad for me.

Yeah, And unfortunately, I think there's going to be a little bit of heights coming my way.

I figured there would be.

I mean, like im my experience of.

Watching these shows, I feel like heights is kind of something they weave into this.

Every once a well that's the thing.

Everybody's got a thing, right, and they kind of hit you from every direction in the sas Australia environment just to kind of break you down.

And yeah, it was very very challenging. Yeah, I can't give too much away.

That's that's a very good question. It I think I'm going to start with maybe the Bachelor or Bachelorette would you ever go on batch? Not for sure? I would. You can be awesome.

What would you What would you pitch be?

Give it to me sales pitch. There's not really much to sales planceribe self, describe myself.

Pretend like we're on speed date.

Oh, a speed date. Some foot tall American mechanical engineer that plays sport for a living, enjoys the outdoors and traveling and just really wants to make a good connection with someone.

What do you look for in a female?

Oh? Intelligence?

Intelligence? Okay, other questions is that it?

Oh? Intelligence, beautiful? Get that's attraction? You know, have the attraction usually your friends tying.

I'm trying a couple of times.

I'm kidding. We'll move on to the last thing before we get in trouble because this has gone from a footy to a business to a dating segment. About that, No, it's okay, we could go on, and I believe me. You've talked about this barrossa idea and getting a wedding venue down there.

Correct, Yes, McLaren bel claren Bell.

Sorry, apologies, long winery region, big one guy. Where's that at the moment, it's.

Still bubbling away in the background.

Look I'm the kind of person who is like, I set myself a goal and I will put everything in place to achieve that goal.

Yeah.

Yeah, so that is asistent. Yeah, I'm very persistent.

And look, that's something that is ultimately a you know, a big goal of ours. And at the moment, we yeah, probably kind of focus a little bit more on Victoria at this point in time, but we will long term be back home in South Australia once we kind of hopefully are able to have some children and start a family on that front. But yeah, our lives are very entrenched in Melbourne at the moment.

So I want to ask this, I want to say, what's next? But if you could do anything right, You've got all these different pieces that you're putting together at the moment, from commentating to traveling Australia and everything else. What would you your dream job? If you only could pick one right, what would be your dream job? Oh?

My goodness, that's a very hard question.

I feel like that's pretty well.

Look but I honestly, as I said to you, I feel like I have my dream job. Yeah, and there's obviously so much you know, scope to improve and expand and that kind of thing. Yes, but I'm a sports nuffy.

I'm laugh with you on the sideline as I'm just acting like I'm doing something jogging up and down the sideline.

I'm a good chat right.

It's like a terrible interview you just stay away from.

There's a few but everyone no, no, no, everyone's pretty good. Pretty good.

But I feel like I've done you know that really well over the last few years, is build that trust to the relationships and the rapport with players and coaches so that they do trust me that I'm not trying to put them in a tree your situation. I'm not trying to get them to say something silly or get a headline because That's not what I'm about.

Right, But AnyWho, I digress. My dream job, I'm.

Doing it, you're doing it, okay, But yeah, like travel sport, what would your dream travel? Travel?

TV? Love like travel Tourism TV, The Dream, the.

Mason Cox and so we're gonna go to the Abbey Homes. I'm second to your fiddle Habby Homes, Mason Cox Travel Show. We're throwing it out there whoever wants to take it. I'm not going to say Channel seven is the only one out there. I'm happy to do whoever wants.

But you know that would be a vibe. We love our fishing, do you know what? So I remember funny stories.

We're just raffling now.

Sorry about this.

When I was filming a show up in the East downham Land, I caught a mackie and we were filming it and it like kicked and.

Nearly dropped. It took out a chunk of my guy's toe. So you guys toe, Yeah, the guy I was interviewing. Truth.

Yeah, but like so see, funny things happen when I'm in front of a screen.

Wow. Yeah, that's insane, chopped off the whole thing.

Really?

Wow? Okay, cat a meter Bury.

It still haven't correct a meter?

We do that? Yeah, one day we got to do it up there.

I'm actually quite dirty on it, to be.

Honest, that I haven't the ninety eighty seven, eighty seven ninety two.

No you did not, just really yeah.

Just went up there. I'll tell you a whole story about how I caught that thing. All right, we're wiffling on with the shazack, the shaz ap. I was like looking back to my notes of the shaza to make sure I'm saying it right. But we're going to finish there, because we could keep going on and on. But I know you've got training. I go to the VFL W Hawthorne training right now and shout out to them, by the way, and well done. So you kicked the goal.

Last week, my first game in a very long time.

I can only go one hundred and four more, hundred and four more. But seriously, thank you so much for coming on. You're an absolute legend. I will get the Caro cake too, I promised, But I appreciate you coming on. It is incredible what you're doing and what you're going to accomplish. Because if there's anyone out there that sets a path to do something and gets.

It done, it's you for having me

No no worries and dam yeah, we'll see you soon.