Life of Brian Clubby Sports

Bruce McAvaney PART 1 of 2:
This week on the show Brian and Harrison are joined by the most esteemed sports broadcaster that Australia has ever produced, Bruce McAvaney OAM. If you’re from Australia and you’ve ever watched sport, you have no doubt witnessed Bruce’s brilliance. His resume and list of achievements is astounding, he’s been at it for almost 50 years covering Summer and Winter Olympics, horse racing (incl. Melbourne Cups), AFL, Australian Open Tennis, Australian Open Golf, World Athletics, Swimming World Championships, Bledisloe Cup, Rugby World Cup and plenty more. To put it simply, Bruce is one of the greatest commentators of all-time, he calls with class, precision, and most importantly, with absolute passion, he has been the soundtrack for countless great Australian sporting moments, and we are extremely humbled and grateful to be given the opportunity to chat with him.

PART #1 covers; The Art of Commentary, Bruce’s unbelievable dedication to preparation, his love and passion for sport, his relationship with Brian and other colleagues, some incredible stories from his time working on the Olympic Games and finally, a look ahead to the coming Olympics in Paris. We thank Bruce for his time.

This episode is brought to by Grimley’s.
Hosts: Brian & Harrison Taylor
Guest: Bruce McAvaney 
Produced by Harrison Taylor
Audio & Video by Rhino Productions
Special thanks to Seven Network Adelaide for access to their facilities. 

Get in touch with us or see more:
Mailbag - lobmailbag@gmail.com
Enquiries - harrison@ncmanagement.com.au
Instagram - @lifeofbrianpodcast
Tiktok - @lifeofbrianpodcast

This week Brian and Harrison kick things off with some footy chat; BT gives his thoughts on why state of origin footy has never worked in the AFL and how we can make it work and then Harrison quizzes BT on what Mad Mondays were like in the 80s. Brian then shares a scary story about how he almost lost his life in a Scooba diving incident before finally working through some mailbag submissions.

Later, the boys are joined by 3x Olympic Gold Medallist, Grant Hackett. Grant is one of the greatest distance swimmers in history and for many years was the undisputed King of the 1500m Freestyle having gone unbeaten in the discipline through 11 years of competition. He won 26x Gold Medals combined at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games & World Championships and broke 16x world records. He has also received prestigious honors such as the Order of Australia, Centenary Medal, The Don Award, Australian Sports Medal, and membership within the Sports Australia Hall of Fame and International Swimming Hall of Fame.

The conversation goes deep on; the pressure of performing and adapting to challenges, mindset around goal setting and winning and losing, finding balance between focused intensity and finding joy in the process, the determination and attention to detail required to be the best and his relationship with greats of the sports such as Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe , plus much, much more.
With an educational background in business administration, business law and financial services, Grant is now the CEO of Generation Life, an Australia-based, publicly listed investment firm managing more than $1.3 billion. More importantly than his role at Gen. Life, Grant is a proud husband and father and all-round top bloke. We thank Grant for his time.

This episode is brought to by Hard Cuddles.
Hosts: Brian & Harrison Taylor
Guest: Grant Hackett
Produced by Harrison Taylor
Audio & Video by Rhino Productions

Get in touch with us or see more:
Mailbag - lobmailbag@gmail.com
Enquiries - harrison@ncmanagement.com.au
Instagram - @lifeofbrianpodcast
Tiktok - @lifeofbrianpodcast

This week Brian and Harrison kick things off with some footy chat; BT gives his thoughts on the current state of umpiring, he clarifies the leadership changes at Channel Seven and sets the story straight on his future with the network. Away from footy they hit on; the Tour de France, Wimbledon and some mailbag submissions.

Later, the boys are joined by Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) CEO, Travis Auld. Travis joined the AGPC after a successful and extensive career within the AFL world where he worked as COO for the Essendon Bombers (97’-09’), as the inaugural CEO of the Gold Coast Suns (09’-14’) and then, CFO and GM of Broadcast & Clubs for the AFL (14’-23’). The conversation details his time at those clubs and the AFL and how it all compares to being in charge of two of the biggest events on the Australian sporting calendar in the F1 GP and the MotoGP. Travis is a fascinating, intellectual and engaging character who is helping to accelerate the prominence of Australian sporting events on the global scene, we thank Travis for his time.

Hosts: Brian & Harrison Taylor
Guest: Travis Auld
Produced by Harrison Taylor
Audio & Video by Rhino Productions

Get in touch with us or see more:
Mailbag - lobmailbag@gmail.com
Enquiries - harrison@ncmanagement.com.au
Instagram - @lifeofbrianpodcast
Tiktok - @lifeofbrianpodcast

This week Brian and Harrison kick things off with some footy chat; they touch on the AFL Hall of Fame, how being in the paper affects players and a classic Campbell Brown story. Away from footy they hit on; reviewing their recent episode with Andrew Dillon, how many bites does it take for Brian to polish off 2x Filet-O-Fish, and a few mailbag submissions.

Later, the boys do a deep dive on BTs transition from playing league football into the media, recalling some unbelievable stories and everything that went on in-between throughout the 90s, including the infamous 3UZ tapes (Nadia Comăneci etc.), his Prahran playing career and getting his start in the media. To add to things, BT and Harrison are joined by man who was ubiquitous during this period of Brian's life, close friend of the family and previous podcast guest, Rocky Dabscheck.

If you would like to catch up on the previous episodes referenced in the podcast you can do so by listening to: Ep. #19 - BTs childhood & adolescence // Ep. #31 - BTs playing career

Hosts: Brian & Harrison Taylor
Guest: Rocky Dabscheck
Produced by Harrison Taylor
Audio & Video by Rhino Productions

Get in touch with us or see more:
Mailbag - lobmailbag@gmail.com
Enquiries - harrison@ncmanagement.com.au
Instagram - @lifeofbrianpodcast
Tiktok - @lifeofbrianpodcast

This week Brian and Harrison kick things off with some footy chat; BT expresses his concerns around the length of quarters and provides a solution, plus, he shares his experiences being involved with the Big Freeze. Away from footy they hit on; reviewing their recent episodes with Josh Frydenberg and Lydia Lassila, why MotoGP is one of the craziest sports on the planet, and a few mailbag submissions.

Later, the boys are joined by AFL CEO, Andrew Dillon. Andrew Dillon was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Football League at the end of 2023. Andrew took on the role of CEO after an extensive (over 20 years) and diverse tenure at the AFL, before that, he spent time as a legal council for Village Roadshow. They discuss Andrew’s professional background, his experiences in community football, his goals for the AFL as CEO, plus all the major topics in the world of football today. With a passion for grassroots and community football, a calm and humble nature, and a steady eye on the future, we know the AFL is in great hands. We thank Andrew for his time.

Hosts: Brian & Harrison Taylor
Guest: Andrew Dillon
Produced by Harrison Taylor
Audio & Video by Rhino Productions

Get in touch with us or see more:
Mailbag - lobmailbag@gmail.com
Enquiries - harrison@ncmanagement.com.au
Instagram - @lifeofbrianpodcast
Tiktok - @lifeofbrianpodcast

This week on the show Brian and Harrison are joined by Olympic Champion Lydia Lassila. Lydia is a former Australian freestyle skier (Aerials) and entrepreneur. She is a 5x Winter Olympian, winning Gold at Vancouver in 2010 and Bronze at Sochi in 2014. A trailblazer in her sport, she continually pushed the progression of her sport no matter the consequences, she is undoubtably one of Australia’s greatest ever athletes. She is inspiring, incredibly resilient and has always maintained the very Aussie philosophy that it is just all about ‘having a crack’, she delt with devastating injuries, took time away to start a family and many more challenges, but always got through with sheer grit and determination.

As a youngster, Lydia was a talented gymnast with dreams of competing at the Olympics, injuries and opportunities forced her to give up her dream, but when a former coach called her and said that they were starting a pilot program that’s goal was to turn gymnasts into aerial skiers, and with the carrot of the Olympics dangling, she was all in without hesitation, the only problem was, at that stage, Lydia had never skied before. Within 18 months, she competed at the Olympics in 2002 (Salt Lake City) and by the Olympics in 2018 (PyeongChang) she was one of Australia’s most decorated and inspirational Winter Olympic athletes. In 2016, Lydia released a fantastic documentary called ‘The Will To Fly’, which follows her journey to the 2014 Olympics, documenting her career to date and her experiences as mum and competing in one of the world's most dangerous sports.

Lydia is also the founder of two businesses BodyICE (ice and heat therapy products) and Zone by Lydia (sustainable yoga gear).

Zone by Lydia
BodyICE

Hosts: Brian & Harrison Taylor
Guest: Lydia Lassila
Produced by Harrison Taylor
Audio & Video by Rhino Productions

Get in touch with us or see more:
Mailbag - lobmailbag@gmail.com
Enquiries - harrison@ncmanagement.com.au
Instagram - @lifeofbrianpodcast
Tiktok - @lifeofbrianpodcast