Darryl Brohman OAM is back on Chiming In just over a year since his last appearance — and in that time he's fought off non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, his second cancer battle after prostate cancer a few years earlier.

The Queensland Origin forward turned radio institution talks candidly about six rounds of chemo, losing his hair "everywhere," and the perspective he found sitting in a ward full of people going through the same thing — all delivered with the self-deprecating humour that's made him one of the game's most loved characters for the best part of 50 years.

Brohman also looks back on winning the 1984 grand final with Canterbury after a move from Penrith, coaching reserve grade for Phil Gould at the Bulldogs, receiving his OAM for services to rugby league, and the racehorse syndicate he ran with Laurie Daley and Ricky Stuart that paid off in Melbourne on Oaks Day.

In this episode of Chiming In, the Big Marn opens up on health, humour, and half a century in the game he loves — proving why he's still one of the best gets in the business.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Intro

01:32 - Welcome back: Darryl Brohman returns to Chiming In

01:45 - Health update: beating cancer for a second time

03:25 - How the diagnosis came about

04:50 - Chemo, and finding perspective in the ward

06:22 - Does a football career prepare you for something like this?

09:54 - The line between commentator, expert and comic

12:02 - Was he always the funny kid?

13:06 - Prostate cancer, sleep apnea, and losing his sense of taste

17:26 - Meeting Bev, and coaching reserve grade for Gus at the Bulldogs

28:31 - Punting, and the racehorse he owned with Laurie Daley and Ricky Stuart

31:14 - Winning the 1984 grand final with the Bulldogs

35:04 - Receiving his OAM for services to rugby league

36:08 - Giving back through the Starlight Foundation

39:17 - Copping a spray from Tim Sheens, and getting dropped

42:00 - Backing Laurie Daley through the Origin scrutiny

1:00:15 - Life after footy: the media career and finances

1:01:20 - Wrap-up

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Dean "Bulldog" Ritchie has covered rugby league for the Daily Telegraph for 37 years, breaking some of the game's biggest stories along the way — from a teenage cadet's first back-page scoop to the Bulldogs' secretly-photographed meeting with Jonathan Thurston.

Ritchie takes us through how a chance work-experience placement turned into a career, the mentors who shaped him — including the legendary Peter "Chippy" Frilingos, whose sudden death at work in 2004 Ritchie still finds hard to talk about — and 37 years' worth of scoops, near-misses and colourful nights out, including the taxi door that put him in hospital.

He also opens up on his 37-year friendship with Laurie Daley, the on-air Origin III prediction that turned out to be spot on, and life inside NRL 360 alongside some of the game's biggest personalities.

In this episode of Chiming In, Bulldog shares stories from a career spent chasing the game he's loved since he was a kid waving a Roosters flag from the outer.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Start

01:27 - Welcome: Dean "Bulldog" Ritchie joins Chiming In

02:11 - His schoolboy footy days and a near-miss at a Wallabies jumper

06:00 - Breaking into journalism through Bill Mordy

08:18 - Cutting his teeth at the Cumberland papers

09:40 - Landing the Daily Telegraph job on 1989 Grand Final day

11:06 - His mentors: "Chippy" Frilingos and "Buzz" Rothfield

15:38 - Chippy's sudden death, and being a pallbearer

18:25 - His first scoop: "Saints Sack Craig Young"

22:09 - The Bulldogs-Thurston scoop, and other big stories

24:23 - Friends and foes in rugby league

25:53 - Building a 37-year friendship with Laurie Daley

36:52 - The night a taxi door put him in hospital

38:41 - Covering rugby league around the world

39:52 - The Perth Bears trip that cost Mal Meninga $20K

45:38 - Backing Laurie Daley, and the Origin III prediction that came true

47:58 - Inside NRL 360, and copping a spray on air

48:33 - Sunday mornings on the Big Sports Breakfast

53:28 - 37 years at the Daily Telegraph

54:51 - Social media, and whether the nastiness is new

57:49 - Expansion: Christchurch vs Brisbane for team 20

59:56 - Should the NRL buy English Super League?

01:01:18 - Wrap-up

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Peter Sharp is one of rugby league's most respected and longest-serving coaching minds — over 40 years in the game, and the man widely credited with discovering and shaping a young Andrew and Matthew Johns at the Newcastle Knights.

From playing days at Maitland in the 1970s and a colourful path through Central Charlestown, England and Newcastle's junior system, Sharp went on to become an NRL head coach at Manly, an assistant to Craig Bellamy at Melbourne, and later took Hull FC on a 13-game winning streak in England before switching codes entirely to coach Ulster in rugby union.

These days he's back in the NRL working alongside Phil Gould at the Canterbury Bulldogs.

Sharp opens up on discovering a teenage Joey Johns, the night out that nearly cost the Jersey Flegg side a game, getting sacked and picked straight back up by Craig Bellamy, and the toughest and funniest moments from four decades on the sideline — plus a candid word on mental health and the Black Dog Institute.

In this episode of Chiming In, Peter shares stories from a career that's taken him from suburban rugby league grounds to Belfast, and reflects on what's changed in the game he's given his life to.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Start

01:01 - Rugby league royalty: introducing Peter Sharp

01:35 - Phil Gould's tribute and the Gus friendship

07:29 - The Brian Smith interview and the "beef and pickle sandwich" job

08:35 - Growing up in Maitland, playing on the weight

13:11 - The 1977 grand final and a 30,000-strong crowd

14:06 - Injury, and backpacking to England

17:15 - Meeting Andrew and Matthew Johns at Newcastle

19:28 - The infamous night out before a Balmain game

21:21 - Rising to reserve grade and a premiership

23:39 - Becoming Manly head coach after Bob Fulton's shock resignation

26:22 - The Northern Eagles "messy flop"

28:13 - Forgetting his wife at Gosford

29:03 - Learning under Craig Bellamy at Melbourne

30:34 - Hull FC and a 13-game winning streak in England

31:51 - Switching codes: coaching Ulster rugby union in Belfast

41:19 - Greatest coach debate and rugby league heroes

45:00 - Media scrutiny then vs now

49:40 - Mental health advocacy and the Black Dog Institute

51:02 - Wrap-up: 32 years in rugby league

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