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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