Sport & Life with Sam Kekovich and Leon Wiegard

We chat with former league start and Melbourne Storm inaugural CEO Chris Johns. Chris played with St.George and the Broncos in the 80s and 90s and then was part of the inaugural setup of the Melbourne Storm. We chat with Chris about his journey in league and how he helped setup a newly formed team in Melbourne.

We chat with Bill Perry of the London Tavern Hotel who was recently honoured with the Nikakis Benchmark Award. The award recognised the top publicans of their class across Australia. Bill gives us an insight into the industry and what it takes to run a successful venue in the modern pub era.

We chat with Brisbane Lions CEO Greg Swann after the announcement on his new role with the AFL as Head of Football Performance. Greg talks about the decision to leave the Lions and what he will be doing at AFL headquarters in Melbourne.

We chat triple premiership star with the Brisbane Lions and 2002 Brownlow Medalist Simon Black. Simon chats about his journey to the Lions and their incredible run throughout the early 2000s securing a AFL premiership three peat. Also how he became a star of the AFL given he was a player that lacked natural pace.

We pay tribute to former Australian Test Cricketer Bob Cowper who famously was the first player to score over 300 runs at the MCG. We chat with his close friend John Mackinnon who shares insights into Bob's life and his fondest memories.

We catch up with another legend of the Hawthorn football club, the colourful Robert 'Dipper' DiPierdomenico. Dipper follows up from our chat with Peter Hudson sharing his favourite memories from his time with the Hawks and how close the club came to merger back in the mid 90s.

We chat with one of footy greatest goal kickers and Hawthorn start Peter Hudson. Huddo chats with us about the recent 100 year celebrations with the Hawthorn football club and insights into their recent celebrations.

We chat with former Rugby League coach and current media personality Roy Masters. We chat with Roy about how he revved up his troops as a hard lined coach and the current state of the game. We also gather insights into the culture of Melbourne Storm and how they were robbed by the refs in the previous weekends 'Magic Round.'

We chat with Carlton hard man David Rhys-Jones to remember Peter Bosustow who passed away after a long battle with cancer at the age of 67. Peter was a cult hero at Carlton kicking 146 goals in only 65 matches for the blues, winning a flag in his debut season.

We chat with sports journalist Jon Anderson remembering one of Australia's greatest cricketers Keith Stackpole who recently passed away at the age of 84. Jon Keith was a legendary opening batsman who played 43 tests for Australia and also had a prominent role in the media post retirement.

We chat with former Australian Professional boxer Sam Soliman. We find out how Sam ended up pursuing a career in the boxing ring and recount some of his greatest battles including winning the world title and his fight with Anthony Mundine.

We recap an epic 2025 Masters tournament with one of Australia's finest golfers Craig Parry. Craig famously led the Masters back in 1992 and had some run ins with the drunk fans at Augusta. We chat about Rory's win in 2025 and what things were really like in the golf locker room over the years.

We chat with former Melbourne forward David Schwarz who played 173 games for the club and kicked 244 goals. We chat with the Ox about the concerning state of his former club and where they go to from here.

We chat with former Victorian Premier and Hawthorn President Jeff Kennett. Jeff gives his thought on the current tariff situation with the USA and the dire financial the state of affairs in Victoria. We also get Jeff's thoughts on the current challenges faced by the AFL and the Hawthorn Football Club. Jeff was instrumental the succession plan to install Sam Mitchel as the coach, which received criticism at the time of the appointment.

We chat with former Sydney Swans star Michael O'Loughlin who played 303 games from 1995 to 2009. Mickey 'O' opens up about his career and his work with the Go Foundation, assisting with educational services in the indigenous community.

We're joined by AFL / VFL legend Leigh Matthews. We spoke with Leigh over three years ago and had to cut the interview short, so we continue our chat to discuss his run with the Brisbane Lions, and also check in on the progress of the Olympic Games in 2032.

We chat with Pat Welsh who joined the seven network back in 1975 as a sports journalist. We chat with Pat about his 50 years in the sports media game and some of his finest memories including interviewing Cathy Freeman after winning gold at the Sydney Olympics.

We chat with radio and tv personality Shawn Cosgrove after the 100 years of RSN/3UZ celebrations over the weekend. Shawn shares some stories of his time at station starting back in 1976. He also chats about some of the big names he worked with in his time.

We chat with former professional cyclist Matt Wilson who is the co-founder of the new ProVelo Super League in Australia. Matt chats about his vision to revitalise the sport of national road cycling, and how this will lead to our next Australian champions at the Tour de France.

We chat with former Sturt and Melbourne player John 'Diamond Jim' Tilbrook. John played in 5 successive premiership teams with Sturt in the SANFL from 1966 to 1970. For the 1971 season he made the move to Melbourne which was a big headline at the time. We chat with John about his career and how he made it to the VFL after huge success in South Australia.

We chat with former Essendon great Paul Lander Haar who played 201 games for the Bombers over a 14 season career with the club. 'Vanders' chats about his journey to the big league, who we're some of his toughest opponents and the current state of the Bombers leading into the 2025 season.

We chat with former AFL player and now Australian Kabaddi coach Campbell Brown. We find out how on earth Campbell got involved in the sport and Victoria's big push to develop the game in Australia. Campbell also does his best to explain the sport to Sam and Leon which is essentially the Indian version of 'British bulldog.'

We chat with two time premiership player Mick Martin. Mick played 300 games (North 287, Carlton 13) and opens up about his career in the league. We chat about Mick's toughest opponents and the famous battles he had with Gary Ablett and Tony Lockett.

In this episode of Sport and Life, Sam Kekovich and Leon Weigard sit down with broadcaster and media mogul Eddie McGuire. Eddie shares the inspiring journey of his son Joe's meteoric rise through the college football ranks, culminating in a championship victory with Ohio State. The conversation then shifts to the thrilling prospect of the NFL coming to Melbourne in 2026. Eddie discusses the monumental impact this event could have on Melbourne and Victorian tourism. Tune in for a fascinating blend of personal triumph and future sporting dreams!

We chat with BBL commentator and former Australian cricketer Aaron Finch to chat about the exciting season of the BBL. Sam and Leon also chat about what happened over Christmas and what's happening in the world of sport for the start of 2025.

We chat with former Australian test cricketer Julien Wiener on the back of his Herald Sun article. In the piece Julien discussed his time being known as Australia's first Jewish test cricketer. On the show he chats about his career and the rare opportunity he got to visit the Jewish section at the Museum of Cricket at Lords.

We chat with Portsea Golf Club President Phil Cramer, who has revitalised the club to becoming one of the premier golf courses in Australia. Phil chats about some of the key things addressed since taking over the reigns, and how the membership has grown from around 450 to over 700 active 7 day members.

We chat with Channel 7 and Triple M commentator James Brayshaw on the back of the second test in Adelaide. James gives his take on where the Aussies are at and how the landscape of commentary has evolved over the years.

We chat with the captain of the Australian Olympics Water Polo Team Blake Edwards. Blake chats about his journey into water polo and how the Australian team have turned around their form in recent years. Their decision to focusing more on defence has resulted in taking down some of the world powerhouses in the sport.

We chat with former league star Mark 'Spudd' Carroll. Mark played 202 professional league games and represented Australia on twelve occasions. Mark took many big hits throughout his career and chats about the effects on his life post his playing career and the issues of CTE among former players.

We chat with entertainer and the voice of the iconic Australian music show 'Countdown' Gavin Wood. Gavin chats about his early days in radio and how he landed the dream job alongside Molly Meldrum. He also updates us with what he's upto today and his recent return from over a decade living in the USA.

We chat with 15 time Group 1 winning jockey and media personality Simon Marshall. Simon chats about his racing career and what led to his retirement after 11 years in the saddle. We also chat about how he transitioned into the media, with a cracking story about Melbourne Cup winning horse Jezabeel.

We chat with filmmaker Stewart Marshall about his documentary 'Fightback' which uncovers the real story about the 1989 potential merger with Footscray and Fitzroy in the AFL. Stewart chats about his journey to make the film and the roadblocks he's received along the way, including the AFL's resistance to back the project.

We revisit our chat with champion jockey Glen Boss who famously won three consecutive Melbourne Cups aboard Makybe Diva. Glen chats about his career and his struggles with mental health, leading to his passion to support others who are struggling.

With the Spring Carnival upon us, we thought we would revisit one of our favourite episodes with Jimmy 'Pumpa' Cassidy. We chat with Jim about some of his great wins with plenty of great one liners.

We chat with sports commentator and former world no 1 squash player Chris Dittmar. We chat with Chris about his professional sports career and his famous battles with Pakistan players Jahingar and Jansher Khan. We then find out how he made the transition to media and what his plans are now he has turned 60.

We chat with author Des Tobin about his new book 'It's In The Genes' which shares some fascinating stories about some family generations in Australian Football.

We chat with Laurenzo and Renato Serafini about their journeys with the Fitzroy Football Club and then the Brisbane Lions. We also chat about their roots at Assumption College, commonly known as the breeding ground for the games greatest players.

We chat with Channel 7 commentator and Western Bulldogs legend Luke Darcy. We chat with Luke about the rise of his son Sam and what wen't wrong with the Bulldogs finals campaign in 2024.

We chat with one of Australia's top sports journalists Jon Anderson on the eve of the finals kicking of for the AFL season. Ando gives us his picks for the opening round and who he thinks will play off in the Grand Final for the 2024 season.

We chat with Herald Sun journalist and Fox Sports personality John Ralph. John has been in the footy media for over 25 years breaking some of the biggest stories in the game. We chat with John about the 2024 season and his journey to date in the media.

We chat with Olympic Gold Medalist and commentator Scott McGrory. Scott won gold in the Madison at the Sydney Olympics and has commentated the past four Olympics for Australian television. We chat with Scott about the gold rush in Paris and where cycling sits currently post the games.

We chat with actor and singer Tom Burlinson. We chat with Tom about some of his most iconic roles on the silver screen including 'The Man from Snowy River' and 'Phar Lap.' We also chat about his incredible singing voice, and performances through the Frank Sinatra catalogue.

John Van Wisse is a vertan swimmer and swim coach who set a record when he ran, swam and cycled from London to Paris. We chat with John about his drive and what goes into his ultra humanistic endurance events.

We chat with one of South Australia's greatest football administrators, Bill Sanders. Bill was instrumental in the formation of the Adelaide Crows and gives us insight into his journey.

With the games on in Paris at the moment we thought we would go back through the archives and revisit our interview with one of Australia's greatest ever athletes, Herb Elliot. Herb won gold at the 1960 games in Rome and was undefeated over the mile in 36 runs.

We chat with writer, producer and director Tom Burstall. Tom has worked in the film industry for over 50 years and has worked on some major productions in both Australia and abroad. We chat with Tom about his career and get some fascinating insights into the film industry.

We chat with former Australian Road Champion Joh Trevorrow to get insights on the Tour de France. John also explains how the race works and how the Australians have performed in the 2024 edition of the Tour de France.

We chat with Brisbane Lions CEO Greg Swann who also held the CEO role at Collingwood (1997 to 2007) and Carlton (2007 - 2014.). We chat with Greg about his career in footy and the current challenges he's had to overcome at the various clubs he has been in charge of.

We chat with former premiership player Campbell Brown who played 205 AFL games, 159 for Hawthorn and 46 for the Gold Coast. Campbell chats with us about his career and the many adventures he's been on post retirement.

We chat with sports media superstar Matty Johns on the back of game two of the State of Origin. Matty chats about his venture into the league media landscape and shares some entertaining stories about his career.