Sport & Life with Sam Kekovich and Leon Wiegard

The guys chat with 201 game VFL umpire John Sutcliffe about his career and what it was like to umpire the drawn Grand Final back in 1977.  We deep dive into the evolution of the umpiring fraternity and how much an umpire would earn back in the 60s and 70s.  John reflects on who were the toughest players to umpire and gave the most lip on the footy field. 

We chat with Guiness Book of World Records holder Archie Thompson who scored 13 goals in a World Cup match.  Archie opens up about his career and how he ended up playing in Belgium.  Sam presses Archie on his Melbourne Victory days on the back of chatting with Ernie Merrick last week, particularly around not being able to play defence.  Archie hilariously opens up about his Subaru W...

We chat with Scottish - Australian football manager Ernie Merrick.  Ernie first arrived in Australia in the mid 1970s and is most famous for his six year tenure at the Melbourne Victory taking them to multiple titles.  He's one of the only coaches in the history of all sports to win coach of the year and sacked at the same time.  Ernie also discusses his new role within the St. Kild...

We chat with Brownlow medalist and premiership player Mark Ricciuto.  Mark chats about his career at the crows and some of the coaches he had throughout his journey including premiership hero Malcom Blight.  He also talks about the impact of Tony Modra on the club and how it was Blighty's biggest regret trading him to Fremantle.  Sam also grills Mark about what happened on the famou...

We chat very candidly with former St. Kilda president and investor Rod Butterss.  Rod opens up about his time at St. Kilda and what broke down with former coaches in Malcom Blight and Grant Thomas.  He also gives insight into the passion and pain behind the St. Kilda football club.  Rod also chats about his battles with addiction and how to fight against such adversaries.  

We chat with former Australian all rounder Shaun Graf about all things cricket from an Australian and Victorian perspective.  Sam gets fired up as to why boards cannot seem to make a clear decision on the back of the Justin Langer saga.  Shaun also shares insights into his first class career with some hilarious insights into some of the classic state and premier cricket matches from the...

We chat with former Essendon premiership player and Fremantle coach Mark Harvey about his career and various health setbacks along the journey.  Mark talks about the tough coaching period at Fremantle and the day he was told his services were no longer required.  He also chats about his return to Essendon and how 2022 makes the clubs 150th anniversary.  

We chat with Australian sports journalist and former rugby league coach Roy Masters about some of the fierce battles back in his coaching days in the 1980s.  Roy chats about his work as a journalist covering 11 Olympics and some of the fun they had behind the scenes.  Sam also gets Roy's take on the current state of affairs in Australia and where things are headed.  

We chat with recently retired jockey Glen Boss who famously won three consecutive Melbourne Cups aboard Maybe Diva in 2003-05.  Glen opens up about his career which included 90 Group 1 victories.  We also chat with Glen about the darker moments and his battle with mental health.  Glen chats about his future plans around horse welfare and assisting the next breed of champion athletes...

Laurent Rospars is widely regarded as one of the worlds premiere food and wine experts.  We were lucky enough to catch him at the Prince in St. Kilda to pick his brain about food and wine with his 40 years of experience in the industry at the highest level.  Laurent announces the best wine to purchase for Christmas and its surprisingly under $50.  

David Boon is one of Australia's great cricket characters playing 107 tests and 181 ODI's.  We chat with Boony about his cricket career and some of his greatest moments including the hat-trick ball catch off Shane Warne.  

Michael Schiavello is an Australian sports commentator and journalist who has broadcast in over 27 countries across the world. He has recently completed a book titled “The Commentators:  100 Years of Sports Commentary” which has become a best seller on Amazon. We chat with Michael about his journey, find out what makes a good commentator and who are some of the greats over the past 100 years....

We chat two time premiership coach and winning trainer of the 2020 VRC Derby winner Denis Pagan.  Denis talks about his football career as a player and coach, expanding on his key winning philosophies.  We then ask about where his passion for horse racing was born and how much it meant to win the VRC Derby after only being in the training game for 6 months. 

We chat with the hilarious straight shooting former Australian quick Jeff Thomson.  Jeff played 51 tests for Australia and 50 ODI's and is regarded as the fastest bowler of all time.  Jeff opens up with some funny stories about his days with the national side and what he thinks of the current day cricketers.  Jeff shoots from the hip which is always fantastic entertainment for a pod...

We chat with the impressive Australian Tim Franklin, as he sets out to embark on a Guinness World Record attempt being the fastest man to run around the world.  Tim is set to start on the global journey in December 2022.  We ask Tim about how he came up with the idea, how he chose the route and what are the expected challenges he will meet along the way.  To get involved with Tim's...

It was the longest days of lockdown anywhere in the world with Melbourne enduring a long 262 days with restrictions.  Sam and Leon discuss what the new found freedom feels like as well as talking about some of the more popular guests they have had on the show over the journey.  

Mark Waugh is a legend of Australian cricket representing the national side from 1991 to 2002. Mark made 20 test centuries throughout his career and played alongside his twin brother Steven who went on to captain Australia. We ask Mark about the best bowlers he faced, playing with his brother Steve and what life is like now in the media with Fox Sports. 

Stephen Kernahan is a legend of the Carlton Football playing 251 games for the blues kicking a record 738 goals at centre-half forward.  Sticks won two flags for the blues in 1987 and 1995 and went onto become president of the club for six years stepping aside in 2014.  We chat to Stephen about how he ended up at Carlton, his playing days and how much conversation he had with the flying...

We chat with Australia's iconic racing personality Ken Callander.  Ken Callander began his career in 1962 as a copy boy with Sydney's Daily Mirror. He has since been the editor of The Sportsman, a racing tipster for Channel 9 and had his own radio shows on 2UE, 2GB and 2KY.  We ask Ken about his days with Kerry Packer, his best horse and jockey and why he left his role in the media. &nbs...

We chat with formidable trainer Ben Hayes.  Ben has been in the training partnership since 2016 and is based at Euroa. Ben lives on Lindsay Park, whilst also travelling to the Flemington stable to oversee that stable arm run by assistant trainer Dara O’Meachair.  We chat with Ben about his racing family, get insights into how big their stable is and find out if he has any mail for the up...

Everyone knows the story of Steven Bradbury, the man who won an unlikely gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics 1000m speed skating final when he was the last man standing.  Most people do not realise the hours of commitment to training over his career and the near death experience Steven had to overcome just to make the 2002 campaign.  Steven opens up about his career and the highs and...

We chat with 'the Ox' David Schwartz who played 173 games for the Melbourne Football Club from 1991-2002.  David opens up about his battles with gambling addiction and the long road to recovery but mentally and financially.  David talks about how bad the problem was owing 4.5 million dollars and punting away all of the money he earns during his playing days.  David is a passionate v...

Sean Mulqueen was part of the Australian Defence force from 2008 to 2014 and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. He talks openly about the campaign an impact of current events with the Taliban’s control of the region. We chat with Sean about the effect of the current situation of all involved with the Afghanistan campaign. He talks about the community group 42for42.org.au which offers support for...

Arguably the greatest full forward of all time, we chat with Peter Hudson about his career and most memorable moments.  We chat about how he took a helicopter to Waverly Park, who was his toughest opponents and that famous sign out the front of the church in Hawthorn.  

We chat with an Australian television pioneer Gordon Bennett who was instrumental in bringing images to homes across the world during the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.  Gordon speaks about the evolution of television coverage for the games, from the introduction of colour, to the amazing telecast from Tokyo.  We also chat with Gordon about the early days producing 'World of Sport' and what...