(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
I would say that Mark Graham
was the greatest Kiwi of all time.
Quite comfortably,
the-the man that turned the tide
for New Zealand.
He was a player
that the harder things got,
the better he shone out.
He had an aura about him
that when he walked
onto the-the football field,
he controlled the game.
He's a champion,
and no matter how hard you hit him,
he'd just get up.
(CROWD CHEER)
6'4", 15.5 stone.
He was like John Wayne
in the old movies.
He was the guy.
One of the words that always
I think of when
I think of Mark is fearless.
Big, strong, courageous,
tough, mean-spirited,
uncompromising.
I don't think
he gave Churchillian speeches.
He was your quintessential,
"Follow me.
"Don't listen to what I say.
You listen to what I do."
But the champions are champions
because of two things.
Up here, they're smart,
and in here, they've got ticker.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
(BIRDS CHIRP)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
I think that footy
can teach you a lot in life,
you know, you can...
Um, you know, like,
not everything's gonna go your way.
In 80 minutes, it's like, um,
you know, you could...
you could say,
you could compare your life
to 80 minutes of footy.
You're gonna have some highs.
You're gonna have some lows.
You're gonna have some good things
and some bad things.
And a lot of time
you spend getting up off the ground.
That's-that's life, you know?
You might have a few moments of, um,
absolute joy,
but you're gonna have more moments
where you're-you're
gonna be in pain.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
Mark Graham interview. Take one.
(CLAPPERBOARD SNAPS)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
Dad, do you know
why I'm making this film about you?
Um... (CLEARS THROAT)
Not really, Lukey.
I, um, I presume it's, um,
to get your career going
and, um, obviously as a father,
it's my...
My role is to help where I can.
And, um...
But I've gotta say,
I don't know if anyone
would bother watching it, Lukey.
I know that you would make it well,
but it's been a lot of years
since I've been playing footy.
So... it's, uh, you know,
how many years?
Lots.
'88 I retired, so, it's, uh, 12...
almost 34, something like that.
So, it's, uh, I don't know
if too many people even know
of me anymore, so...
But good luck with it. (CHUCKLES)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
Do you know why
dad is called Sharko?
I don't know.
No, idea.
Don't know where that came from.
(CHUCKLES) I haven't a clue.
Absolutely no idea.
I'm a bit lost on that one.
I-I don't know where it came from
or how he got it.
Yeah.
It's a... it's a bit of a mystery.
Always trying to find out
why your dad was called Sharko.
Why was it, by the way, Luke?
Testing Luke, L-U-K-E.
Hold tight. Hold tight.
Here, we're gonna talk to
a special guest.
Thank you very much for having me.
Thank you for getting
the message out there
in the-the documentary.
I will have to say, honestly,
it's a bit trippy.
Um, I didn't know
it would be my next project.
This one here,
when I started chatting
to dad about it,
I didn't really know
what I wanted to do to be honest,
and I had a few other ideas,
and he said,
"Just come back to NZ with me.
"We've got a reunion
for a 1977 team."
And, uh, I said, "Alright.
I'll come along.
"I'll bring two cameras."
And I'm certainly
not a camera person,
so, none of that footage
is gonna make the doco.
Even though dad wasn't around
when we were younger,
he was everything to me.
He's, um, he's my idol.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
I guess that's why
my younger brothers
and I, um, played footy growing up.
(CROWD CHEER)
Paul and Matthew were
probably much better than I was,
especially at footy.
None of us were obviously
as good as dad.
My youngest brother, Matthew,
was probably the closest
to... to, uh, to-to dad.
Matty, Matty, hold that, mate.
OK. Go on then, mate. Thank you.
Recently became a father,
um, for the first time,
and I have a son,
and I wanted him
to-to learn about my-my father,
my family.
Watch you fighting pirates...
That's right.
When will Peter ask the children
to come with him to Neverland?
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
When people are young,
they dream of
and look up to Superman.
I had real life Superman
as my father.
(CROWD CHEER)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
My parents were divorced
when I was younger.
I didn't get to-to
have the-the connection
that I would have hoped for,
to-to learn about his family,
his father, his upbringing
and-and learn about
who I am as well for my son.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
(BIRDS CHIRP)
I always wanted to be, um,
respected, I suppose,
as a... as a... as a person.
I wanted to be good at what I did,
and I wanted to be, um,
good enough to go
as far as I'd like to go,
being a father, being a husband,
being a brother, being a hopefully,
a-a decent person.
But it all comes down to want
and the price you're prepared to pay
'cause everything-everything
comes at a price.
(SOFT MUSIC)
Was-was dad a mummy's boy?
Oh, my goodness.
Yes. He was. (CHUCKLES)
He was... he was
such a gentle soft little boy,
very blonde, blue eyed,
and very sweet,
and then absolutely
in love with his mother.
And his mother was in love with him.
She was just such a,
um, kind, spirited,
um, genuinely caring person
that just...
whose whole-whole ambition in life
was to make everything,
um, wonderful, you know.
They had
a really lovely relationship.
I was a mummy's boy,
so, and I was a favourite
in the family,
which really upsets everybody else,
but it's a fact.
Do you remember
your first game of footy?
Uh, not very well,
but, um, I can remember my mum
giving me a card
with a prayer on it.
And, um, she's... she, uh,
told me that, uh,
if I said that and meant it,
um, everything would be alright.
And I always had that prayer card
and, um, I always said it
before every game of football.
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
And obviously, it worked.
(CROWD CHEER)
She was... she was, uh,
an absolute flip side
of the coin to dad.
She would protect us
from dad's wrath
'cause he's quite a cranky man,
probably like Mark in some ways.
(CHUCKLES)
He was...
he was a father of his times.
You know, as-as fathers
were in those days,
look, he was very, uh,
strong and disciplined
on-on manners in particular.
He knew right from wrong
and he wanted us children
to learn right from wrong.
There were, um, smacks involved.
We had a great relationship,
a very loving relationship,
but he was very tough
on my siblings.
Yeah, really tough.
The old man
was pretty strict disciplinarian.
Um, we had manners nice.
We knew how to eat.
We knew how to introduce people.
Um, we knew how to dress.
He was a take charge
sort of a person.
He led and others followed.
In fact,
Mark is very much like that.
He was a gifted person.
He... he... he knew
how to do stuff with his hands,
so he-he, um,
he'd renovate the house
by himself and us kids would help.
After church on Sunday,
we would do work
either in the garden
or in the house.
My sisters could all wallpaper
and paint and, you know...
He didn't seem to teach
the boys those things.
It was almost like he expected them
to know it through osmosis,
which was really weird.
We didn't really understand
that one.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
Did you idolise your father?
I don't know about idolise.
I certainly respected him,
and I respected what he stood for.
If things needed saying,
he could be relied on to say them.
And, um, I liked the fact that, um,
he was respected for what he...
what he said and did.
But he could also be
very, um, reactive.
If something happened
that he wasn't happy with,
he'd certainly...
people would certainly
know about that.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
Do you know why he's called Sharko?
Because of his...
because of his nose.
You know, it's just...
It's like a shark's fin. (LAUGHS)
I didn't know he was called Sharko.
No.
Called him a lot of other names...
(CHUCKLES) but not Sharko.
(CHEERS)
Rugby league
is an offshoot of rugby union.
The issue that split the two games
was the issue of player payment.
The game started
in the public schools in England,
really the privileged class,
if you like.
And the idea of amateurism to them
sat very comfortably.
They could go off
to their cushy jobs
and, you know, in finance
or-or medicine or law or whatever,
and they could afford to play.
They could afford time away
from their jobs.
Tend to find it's,
uh, the haves and the have nots.
The working class
versus the privileged classes.
If you played rugby union,
there were work opportunities
that I think you
could take advantage of.
Rugby league was considered
a second class sport,
as... as... as pure as that.
It was... it was the game
that the, um, the wharfies played.
It was a game of head highs.
(CROWD CHEER)
It was basically considered
a thug's game.
Rugby league
is without doubt the fiercest
and most brutal sport on the planet.
There is no more physicality
without any protection on your body
than rugby league.
A hard sport, physically,
um, demanding.
As a young journo,
go-going into dressing rooms
was-was quite shocking, no?
It was like walking into a MASH unit
back in those days.
It's bloodied. It's brawling.
It's a true test
of your skill and toughness.
You know, I-I've often thought,
Mark could have been
an All Black I'm sure,
and a great All Black.
He could have been
on the back shelf,
and back the sort of
Mark's equivalent,
I suppose, at-at the time.
Many in the sport of rugby union
that saw Mark playing
when he was at school saw him
as a great long-term All Black.
He didn't care
about pursuing the glamour team.
The All Blacks,
the darlings of New Zealand sport
with 83% winning record
in... in... in modern time.
The Kiwis were just not even viewed
in this... in the same stratosphere.
Mark always walked
the road less travelled.
He decides to go
for the blue collar game.
He decides to go for the game
in which New Zealand
has had scant success.
All Blacks dominant, so what?
I wanna pursue rugby league.
I wanna pursue the Kiwi jersey.
That's my black and white jersey.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
I had no intention of coaching.
I'd sort of stopped playing.
I knew... I knew
I wasn't much of a player
and, um, so there was no future
for me really.
And I started
an auto electrical business,
which was what my trade was.
So, this is back in the early '70s,
and just a guy came down,
um, knocked on the workshop door
one night,
and asked me
if I'd take over the team,
which was Otahuhu eighth grade.
And, um, and I went down
to Murphy Park in Otahuhu,
and that's where I started.
So, I went along
for the first Tuesday night.
6:00 came. There was no players.
I saw this old car parked
at the side of the ground.
So, anyhow, I wandered down,
and as I got close to the car,
I could tell there was about
five young kids in there.
Lowie had approached the car.
We were all sitting there waiting
for this new bloke to turn up.
It was full of smoke
and, uh, I could,
you know, just hear talking
and going on.
(TAPS ON WINDOW)
So, I tapped on the window.
And we're all sitting there
having a cigarette
and everyone's around.
Window wound down,
and I said
"Are you boys down at 15s?"
Yep. That's us.
He was upset.
And I said,
"I'll tell you what, fellas.
You've gotta get about 25 boys
down here on Thursday night
"or I'm telling them
there's no team."
So, they said,
"What do you need 25 for?"
Because you're off the team,
that's why.
All of you.
What! Oh, sh*t.
Next time we-we turn up
for training,
we're all out and about
and waiting to go.
So, I think they made them
a little bit happier.
There was enough
for two teams, three teams.
All these kids turned up.
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
The boys pass on,
on the ball at all times.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
Good shot.
How-how do you flib on that club?
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
That's a great pass.
Wow. Well played, mate.
Lowie, I think,
bought a modern coaching,
uh, ethic at that time.
He just had that ability to draw
special things out of people,
and Lowie understood
what needed to be done,
but he needed
a general on the field.
He needed somebody
who could execute,
um, to-to the nth degree.
And that's what he had in Mark
and there was a deep trust
between the two of them.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
(SIGHS)
(CHUCKLES)
There's a chemistry that's required
that's really, really special,
if-if you wanna get the best
out of one another.
And I think Mark and I
had that chemistry.
Beautiful. Good shot, mate.
Bloody hell.
I had my first workshop
on the corner of Panama Road
and Mount Wellington Highway.
I'd go down
and-and sit at this place
and give my hand around the shop,
and, um, we'd sit there
with our cups of tea
and sometimes smoke.
It would last a couple of hours.
All our discussions
were always over a cup of tea,
so, we'd go into my lunchroom.
We'd imagine what it'd be like to
climb to some heights
in rugby league, I suppose.
Cheers.
You on a national level,
you're gonna play
for New Zealand one day.
I'm gonna be there right there
with you.
Alright?
You're first, Mark.
You're behind me.
I'd like to think
that I was able to get
the best out of Mark,
but I know damn well
he got the best out of me also.
Oh, did you?
Yeah.
Oh, did you?
Yeah.
That's what it was.
You never in a million years,
when you think that,
you know, you could sit down
and have an imagination
and a dream
that could deliver something.
Well, this did, that workshop
and the cups of tea.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
In the early '70s,
we didn't get anything
out of football.
We won everything that year,
and, um, I think I was
maybe got $60 for a paycheque.
He was thinking
maybe he should give footy up
and-and really focus
on just making money.
But that's just how footy was, mate.
Everyone-everyone worked,
everyone had two jobs.
Everyone worked
and-and then they played footy.
(PANTS)
A thing that gets, uh...
Doesn't get
the recognition sometimes
is the sacrifices
that-that you make.
You put yourself
in a... in such a focused position.
Those around you suffer,
particularly your family.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
So, my career should have
actually finished in 1979
when you were born...
(BABY CRIES)
Uh, because I've gotta...
I have a job
and I can't afford to be injured.
So, I was sort of doing
what I could to keep him
going with footy,
and, um, and then
I get the call from, uh,
from Norths over in Brisbane
at the end of 1978.
I said to the president,
late Bob Bax,
"For us to win,
I've got the right player."
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
(HELICOPTER WHIRS)
(GROOVY MUSIC)
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
Hello, everyone, and welcome
to Seven's Big League once again,
and this event,
of course, the preliminary final.
The winner goes into the Grand Final
against South next week.
New Zealand international,
Mark Graham,
showed outstanding
form in the match
against the Brethren.
Norths had-had blossomed.
They'd-they'd, you know,
they'd-they'd become
a really, really strong team
throughout the season.
Referee Eddie Ward blows the whistle
and they're underway
in the preliminary final.
(CROWD CHEER)
And then, of course,
there was the incident
where Mark Graham,
uh, elbowed Wally.
At that stage, I had no idea
who Wally Lewis was, so.
Wally was probably
the game's most influential player.
A master of his era...
(CROWD CHEER)
..and a football god.
In many ways,
an Australian version of Mark.
Impossible guy to play against,
was the absolute key
to Australia's success
in that period of time.
Didn't like New Zealanders,
didn't hide the fact
that he didn't like New Zealanders,
so, he was easy to loathe.
Do you know
why he's called Sharko at all?
No, no-no idea.
(CHUCKLES)
If-if I had to ask why he was, uh,
why was he called Sharko,
I'd just say,
"Well, he attacks people."
And when he does it,
I remember a couple of those times,
um, he-he usually moves in
for the k*ll.
It's starting to go again. Yeah.
Mark had... had... had been running
the ball wide in left hand, right
out my left-hand side.
And Wally came in to tackle him.
He had, uh,
an enormously evasive game,
and he put his hand out basically.
And I went to-to try
and stop him in the elbow,
hit me right in the...
right in the throat.
For some reason,
Wally ran into Mark's elbow.
I did, I played the ball,
and I looked back at him.
He's still lying on the ground,
and he was going blue.
He's coming
and he wants to play to stop
because Lewis is down.
He's...
I couldn't breathe.
Um, and all I... all I remember
is he came back and...
..over there
between the other players, Lewis...
He was sort of making it
he was really badly injured,
but Wally was quite
well known for that.
And he said, "Are you OK?"
And I just shook my head,
and he got up
and he sprinted across.
Mark Graham
was the one that he tackled,
and Graham immediately saw
that there was trouble,
and he looked at...
The doctor came in and it was, um,
it was quite serious,
obviously, yeah.
I had enormous respect for-for him
for having any concern whatsoever
for an opponent in football games.
A lot of rugby league blokes
don't do that.
I don't know whether I would've.
Um, yeah.
I-I certainly want to think
that I, um, I'm helped.
Maybe if it...
if it hadn't been for him,
I, um, I-I wouldn't have been OK.
We restarted the game
with the scrum,
and I stood off
the back of the scrum,
and he wasn't there to mark me.
And, um, I stood in the tackle
and offloaded
to our captain Mark Murray,
and we scored on the post,
kicked the goal
and won the game, so.
(CROWD CHEER)
So, you didn't mean
to-to take him out
in that-that moment?
No, I meant to punch him,
and I-I meant to hurt him.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
We won that game by one point,
I think it was,
but that got us
into the Grand Final.
So, we'd had tough
preparation for it,
but the Grand Final itself
was a fantastic day.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
The First Grand Final
in the Northern Suburbs since 1969
and a win that was
very well-deserved.
Mark really didn't, um,
he didn't... he didn't get the chance
to enjoy the following days
that the other guys did
'cause he was straight off
to-to the UK.
(CROWD CHEER)
That's really
how I kinda remember my father
from when I was younger.
(CROWD CHEER)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
As I was growing up,
he-he'd do a lot of tours
internationally.
He'd go to England, go to France.
That kinda took him away, um...
Over a quarter of your life,
I suppose, I was away at that stage,
and, um, your mother,
um, always wanted you to kiss me
before you went to bed,
so, she put a-a photo on the wall
so that, um, it was about kissing.
Hopefully, you could walk over
and give it a kiss
and then you go off to bed.
So, um, she asked you
when I returned home.
You were ready to go to bed.
And I, um, and she said, "OK.
OK. Kiss your dad."
And I-I sort of bend down
to give you a kiss,
and, um, and you just turned around
and walked over to the photo
and gave it the kiss and walked off.
So, um, it was very cute,
but quite saddening
at the same time.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
I don't remember a lot
as well from those times,
I guess, part of the reason
why I'm doing this.
But it was... it was difficult, him
not being around.
Um, you know,
when you've got Superman,
you-you do want him to be around.
You don't really want him
to be safe in the world.
Why does the world get
to enjoy Superman when you don't?
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
We put him on the stage there
in... in... in, uh, Queensland
and played for North,
and I knew that the club...
all the Sydney clubs
would chase him just like that.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
Stand aside
Here come the Mighty Bears
Stand aside,
Here come the Mighty Bears
Stand aside
Or we'll crash you where you stand
The power and the glory
Is in our hand.
Dad used to take me
to-to footy with him all the time
when-when they played at Bear Park.
I wasn't one of the ball boys,
but I used to be babysat by them,
so, I was a few years
younger than them.
And it was great.
You were part of this inner circle,
you know, this inner world.
The crowd would-would
ogle these players,
and you were able to
just kinda walk in with them
and be part of this world
and this experience and surreal.
Absolutely surreal.
One day, I had brought
a yo-yo to the game.
I was, uh, on the bench
with all the players on the bench
during the game
and show them some of my moves.
Freddie Teasdell, um,
he was on the bench at the time,
and he was definitely known
as a bit of a larrikin.
I said,
"Give me a go with that yo-yo"
'cause I fancied myself as a...
on the yo-yo.
And I remember him
snatching it off me
and saying, "Oh, let me show you
some moves, Luke."
I started walking the dog
and this and that.
Well, unbeknownst to me,
Canterbury had scored a try.
Taps it up forward,
and it should be a penalty.
He's gotta get a penalty try.
And the camera, uh, turned around.
The cameras from the TV station
zoomed in on him.
So, I put on a little bit of a show.
Fred Teasdell on the bench there.
He's playing with a yo-yo.
If you look at the photo,
the-the one thing
that makes me laugh
is the doctor was sitting
at the end of-of the table.
Right? With smoke in his hand.
So, I believe Freddie got fined
a good amount of money for that.
You were the one that instigated
that by bringing the yo-yo.
I definitely say I apologise
for bringing the yo-yo along,
and I have not gotten
any better at this.
(LOUD MUSIC)
(SOFT MUSIC)
Paul and I loved
going to watch dad play
when we were kids.
Matthew was younger.
He never got the chance.
(SOFT MUSIC)
Matthew-Matthew
was always like that.
Overhead pass out there
to Mark Graham.
They lock in.
He's stepping and going well.
Mark plays great.
Skilled and talented.
Soft, though. Soft-natured boy.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
You know, we've got
some real speed out wide
and a lot of experience
because they played together
for the whole season...
Yeah.
..which is a big advantage to us.
And, um, I'm sure that once
they get acclimatised,
they'll produce
some really good football.
You'll be actually living in hotels
with them or would you...
No, just for the week
prior to the season, yeah.
And you're-you're personally
taking this very seriously?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
This is the honour of playing
for your country.
Oh, yes, definitely.
Definitely. Yeah.
And-and with the rugby union
tour last year,
there's been a big sway
to rugby league at home.
So, if we can...
Is it?
..if we can do well in the series,
I'm sure that we'll get
a lot more people over there.
The Australian rugby league team,
the Kangaroos,
have an average
winning percentage of 85
in more modern times, 85%.
Think about that,
which is better than the All Blacks.
(CROWD CHEER)
For Wally,
he could pick their victories
over Australia on one hand,
and Mark aspired
to get at least that.
But to do that,
you had to get past a team
that had everything
when it came to talent and ability.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
That first test match was, um,
in 1985 against Australia.
It was... it was really billed
as a... as an epic.
Jam packed
as the Kiwis come out
onto the field.
A lot of booing as the Kiwi...
It had a history,
Australia v New Zealand
at, uh, at Lang Park.
Wally Lewis, the Australian captain,
all concentration at the moment.
New Zealand played here,
had a reputation of being
extremely hard to beat.
Mark Graham
very fired up for this match.
(CROWD CHEER)
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
Kick-off by Mal Meninga.
The test is underway.
There was, um,
a-a lot of controversy
about some of the violence
that took place in that game.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
And there was...
There was plenty of it.
Mark had been imposing himself
in this contest as had the Kiwis.
They were playing with some style,
some passion, intensity, aggression.
They were matching Australians
in every... in every way possible.
(CROWD CHEER)
Mark was targeted
by, um, Noel Cleal.
And clocks him high
and heavy and hard.
I don't remember a lot of the game
because I was, um,
I was knocked out pretty good.
It-it ignited some hatred.
Mark Graham
doesn't really know where he is.
That's how it was
back in those days.
You know, you had the program,
and you-you made it clear
to your players,
that player there,
if he finishes the game,
we're gonna find it hard.
Uh, that's a blessing, I think.
I saw something in Mark
then that I'd never seen
ever before.
Pulled off the field,
but he sat next to me
in the... in the dugout
sort of thing.
And as he sat next to me,
he just sat there, and Nixon,
he collapsed onto my...
across my knees,
and he started crying,
and he said, "I'm sorry."
Um, yeah. I...
He can't remember doing it,
but he cried.
I'd never seen him cry before.
He cried and said, "I'm sorry.
I've let you down."
It's half-time, Tony.
Well, there you are. 14-14.
Who would have predicted?
Half-time,
I suspect there was a discussion.
Graham Lowe chats to Howie Tamati.
"Mate, we can't let this continue.
They're roughing us up.
"Do something about it."
(CROWD CHEER)
On the far side.
There are three kiwis,
and Tamati's-Tamati's
still throwing.
Punching started between
Kevin Tamati and Greg Dowling.
Kevin Tamati and Greg Dowling...
Both of you go.
Tamati being sent to the sin bin.
Can't quite see
who's being sent for Australia.
They're on the touch line.
Everyone knows it, and suddenly,
the comments made by Greg Dowling...
(CROWD CHEER)
I imagine
they'll be able to sort things out.
He called Tamati
a... a... a... a black 'C'.
And a little hand
on the shoulder, that's it.
(CROWD CHEER)
Bang. We're on.
Keven Tamati
hasn't lost his sense of humour,
or hasn't he?
He's on again.
It was always gonna be
on between these two.
Had the Aussies sitting around there
and I... and I looked.
By that time,
they were up against the fence.
And I went,
"No. No. Stop. Stop. Stop.
"You know, just stay out of it.
Stay out of it."
You know?
It's only because Kevin was winning.
(LAUGHS)
Possibly, Greg Dowling
might have been better served
to have checked out
Kevin Tamati's background
and maybe understood
that he was a pretty handy boxer.
Greg jokes about it now.
God, if I hadn't known
that he was that good
and that good a fighter,
I wouldn't have gone in there.
The pace of the game
really starting to show
on both sides now.
Wally Lewis flicking it back.
(CROWD CHEER)
(GROOVY MUSIC)
The start of that test,
Australia didn't give us a-a show.
And at the end, I think
they started worrying
a little bit about, "Whoa!
"These guys are-are dead serious
about what's going on here."
If New Zealand can come back
and Carlaw Park in the two tests
to level it in the next one.
Players sitting
into the dressing sheds,
they weren't saying anything
at the end of the game.
They'd realised that
they were just damn glad
that the match was over.
Dad, have you ever been afraid?
(INTENSE MUSIC)
(BIRDS CHIRP)
We used to go pig hunting
with the neighbours,
you know, like
every weekend basically.
We stopped by someone's place,
um, and we got their dogs
that under the guise of going,
um, going pig hunting,
we're actually going
for a cigarette.
And off we went,
and I don't think we've ever been
pig hunting at that stage before.
So, we had one knife,
and that was his-his knife.
(KNIFE CLINKS)
Cool.
So, we would sit down for a smoke,
and the dogs disappear.
You could whistle 'em up
and they'd come back,
and they just went in for a look.
(DOG WHINES)
I sort of looked
and noticed the dogs are gone,
and I thought, "sh*t!"
(DOGS BARK)
Where are the dogs?
I wonder where they are.
Next moment... (MIMICS DOG)
sh*t!
(DOG SQUEALS)
All hell broke loose, and we run,
running towards the dogs.
It was in-in some bush,
the dogs had it.
(PIG SQUEALS)
It stood up and it stood up.
It was huge.
We both stopped behind the tree
because we didn't know
which bloody way it was gonna go.
Knocks Gerard over
and, um, has a real good go
at it now.
So, it was like
he's trying to go on with it first.
Nope.
I was sh1tting myself.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
I think fear is something that, um,
you can make use of,
a huge survival asset.
And, um, I think if you said
you were never scared,
um, you might fully
would be telling fibs.
But, yeah, you... you... you gotta go
and help me, mate.
I might have dragged him
out of the road
and started kicking this thing
and it's...
He's just kicking it in the head.
Gerard being Gerard,
he was a hard tough thing.
He put a, like,
an old wrestling leg lock...
leg lock or something like
that across the back of his leg.
It's on its side like that.
I grabbed the knife.
And stabbing it
through the back into the heart.
It was mostly a terrible,
terrible, um, k*lling
'cause poor bloody
took a long time for it to die.
But, yeah, that was me,
my first pig hunting experience.
It was quite, um, was terrifying.
Yeah.
Can I ask you,
do you know why dad's called Sharko?
No, I don't.
I have got absolutely no idea.
I would've... I would've got it
if his nickname was Grizzly
or something
'cause he played with the bears,
but Sharko, I'd...
No. I don't... I don't know.
Honestly don't know.
(CROWD CHEER)
It's very important for us to win
because if-if we don't win,
the series is finished
and there's only
the World Cup match.
The last game in each series
is a World Cup game,
but we're going out, uh,
all g*ns for it
and hoping we won it.
How do you see your chances
in the second one?
I think it'd be good,
you know, especially
with a supposedly
packed Carlaw Park.
You know, from what we hear,
it's, you know,
it's gonna be the biggest crowd
of all time there.
(CROWD CHEER)
Have a look
at the crowd here at Carlaw Park.
And the atmosphere here is fantastic
because the crowd is sitting
right on the boundary.
The atmosphere here is good and...
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
..let's go on with the action.
Second test at Auckland.
Carlaw Park, legendary.
Graham Lowe being
the-the master communicator
that he was had got the media
of New Zealand behind him,
a big crowd there.
I think from memory
we had three tries,
might have been more disallowed.
The video refs of nowadays
would have shown
at least one of them.
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
(CROWD CHEER)
We still had Australia on toast.
Every part of the game,
we were better.
1.5 minute to go
or something like that.
And I think the big fella
might have fumbled the footy.
Um, Australia got it.
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
(CROWD CHEER)
Wally loved running out one side,
crossing over,
and hitting players
on the other side of the ruck.
So, when Wally got the ball
and he started to move
towards where I was,
I said, "I know what he's doing.
"He's gonna find something.
He's gonna go and hit."
I said, so when he started
coming across,
I started hitting back in
knowing that he was gonna pass
the ball to someone.
And as he started to wander a pass,
all I could think about was,
I couldn't intercept you.
I'm gonna score under the post,
so I'm getting to the other side.
And while I'm thinking this,
the ball just flashes past me.
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
Straight away forward,
that is effing forward.
Marginally forward part. It-it's...
I doubt... I doubt
whether it was forward.
No, brainer
that it was a forward pass.
It's obvious
'cause he's turned sideways
and he's literally gone this way.
Absolutely.
And it happened right in front
of the touch judge.
Touch is right there.
Referee is right there.
Good as gold.
And John Ribot scored
the match-winning try
from a clearly forward pass.
At the time, I don't think
anyone in the Australian media
wanted to admit that it was forward,
but everyone knew deep down
forward pass had cost the Kiwis.
It was heartbreaking
for New Zealand.
Truth be known,
he should never have
got the opportunity.
If-if we'd have kicked the ball,
it would have been done deal.
The third test
will be played next week here at...
The ground was something
that I've never experienced...
I've never seen
ever before or since.
The atmosphere was-was flat
at the end of the game.
It was like
we should have won this game.
We deserve to win this game,
but we didn't win this game.
There were some celebrations
going on for us
but, uh, it was one of those ones
that we got out of jail.
They felt
they'd let the country down,
they'd let the team down,
let themselves down.
That...
I mean, it was oozing out of them.
That it was oozing out of them,
and it was coming to me.
It was directed towards me.
We'd lost two games
that we should have won,
and we were thinking rugby league
was gonna get on the map,
and now, we're just...
we're just dead.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
We went through
a couple of training sessions
to start with, and then, um,
and my mind started working.
Then I knew... I knew
what we had to do.
The first thing
that was evident to me
was the lack of belief
the players had in themselves.
I knew we had to address that.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
Graham Lowe's mission,
somehow or other,
we've got to get this team back.
We've got enough test match to play.
Said we're gonna do something.
I want you to be on Queen Street.
I'm gonna bring the team there.
Reluctantly hopped on the bus,
but we're all complaining,
but Lowe says we gotta do it,
so, we've gotta go and do it.
Drove to the
bottom-bottom of Queen Street
by the ferry buildings there,
and I said, "I just want
you blokes-blokes to watch."
The players don't know
I've already run
their radio stations
and why is everyone up.
As soon as we hop off the bus,
just straight away, the...
like magnets,
people just coming out to us.
And the crowds just grew
and grew and grew.
And there was, like,
thumbs up and yahooing
and calling out people's names.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
A miracle happens.
The smiles were back.
The-the joy was back.
And the belief
within the... within the group
just grew enormously.
I remember saying that to the group.
If we're as good
as we thought we were,
we, um, we would've won both games,
but we weren't.
So, it's about time
we started training hard.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
I just knew in my mind,
I knew in my heart,
no matter who we were playing,
we were gonna flog them.
I just... I just knew it.
(CROWD CHEER)
It's D-Day, Carlaw Park, Sunday,
the acid test
for the Graham Lowe method.
He's done his bit.
Now, it's over to his men.
"Remember,
O most gracious Virgin Mary,
"that never was it known
"that anyone that fled
to your protection,
"implored thy help,
or sought thy intercession,
"was left unaided.
"Inspired by this confidence,
I fly to thee,
"O Virgin of virgins, my Mother.
"To thee do I come,
"before thee I stand,
sinful and sorrowful.
"O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
"but in thy mercy hear
and answer me, "Amen."
(SINGS ANTHEM)
Instead of coming out
and doing a haka,
another master strike.
They ran out and formed a line.
I can't believe this happened.
(CHUCKLES)
It's one of the moments in life.
(CROWD CHEER)
And in a line,
they all run towards
the domain terraces,
all applauding,
hands above their heads.
They turn around, they go back,
and do the same
to the old wooden railway stand
on the other side of the ground.
You just haven't seen
a pre-game atmosphere like it.
And we were,
um, blessed on that day,
and everything just clicked for us,
and it was... it was
a whale of a game.
It was a-a magnificent venue.
It was Carlaw Park at its best
with the fantastic supporters.
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
Against that backdrop, kick-off.
Mark Graham's got the ball.
You're kidding.
Oh, it's not gonna be our day again.
Imagine what he's thinking.
If someone had to run over and, um,
patted me on the head
and said, "It was alright,"
I'd have knocked them out.
This fella don't worry about it.
Australia running pretty freely now.
Back inside the big Steve Roach.
Lewis linking up with Steve Roach,
and he's put down heavily.
(CROWD CHEER)
In his first test match,
you'll be sh1tting bricks.
Yeah.
So, let's get a hold of this.
Put some work on it.
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
Hasler.
Look at that now, too right,
here's a good ball up for Hasler.
Hasler loses it now.
Now, it comes out.
Oh, there's a mistake for Hasler.
He's not there long.
Well, that's a mis... a mistake
that shouldn't happen inside the 22.
Mark led.
Mark led the way just
at his long striding height
and just offloading the ball,
leading the defence.
Here's a shot at towards the line,
gets an offload inside
the little man, Clayton Friend.
(CROWD CHEER)
The Kiwis are in. They're up 6-0.
(CROWD CHEER)
Clayton Friend
switches the point of the attack.
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
(CROWD CHEER)
12-0. This is unbelievable.
The Australians
don't look like scoring,
and this team
is looking disjointed now.
They're off the game.
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
(CROWD CHEER)
And then there's to coup de grace.
Owen Wright holds the fence up,
pops a ball, jams it all the way
through the hole,
passed Mal Meninga, said "Try."
18-0.
(CROWD CHEER)
Scored 18-0.
The world champion Kangaroos,
the greatest sporting team
with the greatest sporting record
ever, scoreless.
And I think it was the first time
Australia had been held to nil
in a test match
for almost seven decades.
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
It was a really, really good day
to be a-a Kiwi supporter
and a... and a Kiwi
rugby league player.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
And then Kevin Tamati
brings the players in,
managed to clear some space,
and there's the team.
They do a victory haka
in front of the railway stand.
(PERFORM 'KA MATE' HAKA)
The most amazing end
to a brilliant series,
and it felt like a series victory
and never will be,
but it finished on such a high
with such a wonderful performance.
Can I ask you,
why is he called Sharko?
Well, I got a funny feeling it
has something to do with his nose.
Um, but seriously, I'm not too sure.
Um, when-when I got to North Sydney,
all the Norse boys are calling
him Kai Wai instead of Kiwi.
I'm going, "You can't,"
you know, especially
with the Aussie twang, Kai Wai.
Um, I said,
"You can't call him that.
-"I'm a Kiwi too, mate."
Well, the 2018
NRL Hall of Fame inductees
will have been whittled down to 25.
It's gonna be further condensed
to-to just six tonight, Billy Moore,
and, that'll be announced
on NRL 360.
While we've got you here...
Yep.
..there are a lot of those blokes
in that 25
that you played alongside.
So, we've asked you
to just think of two
that you would put
into the Hall of Fame tonight
when it's announced.
Who have you come up with?
(CROWD CHEER)
Well, this is one of my heroes.
The Bears, um,
obviously, New Zealander,
the great Mark Graham,
a generational player,
and the beginning
of the-the New Zealand
to become the powerhouse
we see today,
Mark Graham
was at the forefront of that.
Um, so, I don't think
you can underwrite
how great he was as a player
because it's great
to be a great player
with stars around you.
But when you're great,
with all due respect
to the North Sydney team
of the '80s,
when there's no-one else around you
and you're leading from the front
and making the team competitive,
that is amazing.
(CROWD CHEER)
Referee Barry Gomersall
from Australia.
Dean Bell running it up
for the Kiwis.
First test, Great Britain
beat the Kiwis, steeped in folklore.
Ferocious crowd
just baying for Kiwi blood.
Mark was playing
one of his best games
you could ever...
It was one of those magic times
for him.
He was at
his absolute striding best.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
I suppose it's well known.
You stop Mark Graham,
you stop New Zealand.
Playing it himself again.
Mark Graham. Yes! Yes!
(CROWD CHEER)
And the Poms went after Mark.
There was actually an incident
where referee was distracted
and planned attack.
The Kiwi's right up on attack now
with so much confidence.
Mark Graham again.
And you just saw this black flash
come flying across the ground.
Des Drummond come off the wing,
and the third man in and...
Hit Mark in the head.
The crowd's certainly getting
their money's worth in this game.
Just seen an elbow going there
by Des Drummond to Mark Graham.
That wasn't really called for.
Des was a renowned
karate black belt.
He has got a knock here.
It looks as though he's got...
Mark didn't let me look at him
and, uh, and that
he ushered me off straight away.
So, I would suggest
that he's probably known
he's reasonably badly injured,
um, but doesn't want anyone
to see it.
It's tough being able to do your job
regardless of what
they're doing to you.
It's tough being able to
put up with pain
and-and still, you know, produce
at least a six or seven out of ten,
you know.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
Dad, can you tell me
about the first time you realised
you could handle pain?
Oh...
The, uh...
So, we're down the backyard.
So, we'd have a big backyard
at home.
A mate of mine was down there,
and I was showing him
how to build a tree hut.
And we've done it all,
and I've got up,
and I was jumping up and down
on the floor
to make sure it was safe.
Someone put up the stakes
on a little twig
and it wasn't gonna last.
So, I pushed my mate off
so that he'd went clear
and then it just collapsed
underneath me.
And, uh, when I landed,
I landed on my feet
and he was sort of looking at me
frozen in time
with his eyes wide open.
And I went to talk to him
but I couldn't open my mouth
because it was taken...
It went up into his chin
and went right through.
So, he's got up
and he ran screaming up to mum,
"Mrs Graham, Mrs Graham,"
and she's come running down.
And as she's running towards me,
obviously, there was some blood.
It was terrible 'cause the blood
was spurting. (LAUGHS)
She's praying out loud
as she's saying the Hail Mary
and she's running towards me.
And I thought
it was all I-I was done.
Um, but then, you know, I just...
The minute
she lift my head up and it...
(EXHALES)
..it came out and it was good.
Mum was never very good with blood.
And she fainted.
And then the next minute,
who comes out
the kitchen door but dad?
The old man didn't like having
to take me to hospital much.
He said if he had to take you
down to Middlemore Hospital again,
he's gonna give you a thrasher.
And he said, "Gas,"
which is my nickname.
"Gas, where's your mother?"
And I said,
"Oh, she's out here, Dad."
Because he couldn't see her.
He said, "Where out there?"
And he's walked around
and he saw mum fainted
on the ground.
"Huh!" he goes.
I was terrified the old man
was gonna give me a flogging.
"You are having a bath.
You are getting changed properly,
"and then I'll take you down
to the hospital."
He made me have a bath
and get dressed and bandages all up,
and we went down the... to the
emergency ward in the hospital,
and we sat there for hours.
Because he didn't come in
from a sports injury
or a car accident or anything,
looking pristine,
beautiful hair slicked back,
they waited for about four hours
in the hospital.
Finally, the doctor came out
and he said, "God!
Not fair.
Why you sit down there
for so long with that?"
And they said, "You should've
just come straight in."
And I was, yeah, told your dad,
but I wasn't going
to have to say that,
not to my old man anyway.
(CROWD CHEER)
I think this captain
too may not want to go off.
Glenn comes off and he says,
"Lowie, you're gonna have
to get Mark off.
"He's gone for the tour.
"He's got a fractured cheek."
I think the orbital bone
was the one that broke.
Anyway,
my head just sort of swell up,
um, and I was as angry
as hell about that.
That was just the beginning of it.
(CROWD CHEER)
There was a horrendous incident.
Something like a four on one tackle
came down onto Mark's ankle,
just shredded his ligament.
I heard something pop.
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
Lowie,
probably in one
of the toughest things
he's ever had to do.
Well, you have
to lead the team back out.
And he looked at me and he said,
"It's not that, Lowie.
"Something snapped in my ankle."
And we just... As it turned out,
he had a broken ankle.
If they see you run back out
of that tunnel
for beginning of the second half,
they'll drop their bundle
because they-they think
they-they've taken you
out of the game.
No matter what the doctor says,
you have to lead the team back out
because if you don't,
we can't win this game.
I always felt very honoured
to be left out there
when I was injured.
The bravery, the courage of the man,
he did that for his country.
He strapped it up and he jabbed me
and went out to play.
And the last comforting words
he gave me were,
"We have an ambulance waiting
in the car park
"when you finish so, we can
take you straight to the hospital."
Oh, thanks, Doc. (CHUCKLES)
So...
(CROWD CHEER)
Went back out
and-and tried to play but...
We still managed to win the game,
and-and he soldiered on,
but he was busted.
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
(CROWD CHEER)
One of the most stirring memories
that people
who-who recall that game have
is the English crowd
standing as one.
(CROWD CHEER)
An enormous ovation
from the crowd as he comes off.
He certainly wasn't right
at the end of the first half.
He's not known
as the greatest rugby league player
from New Zealand of all time
for no reason.
He's a Kiwi.
They don't make people like
that anymore.
Gladiators breaking their bones
in a stadium for our pleasure,
doing it so, they can challenge
themselves.
It's...
it's a different world,
different time.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
I knew my childhood
had a lot to do with me
surviving that game
and-and being able to play
with the pain that I was in.
And I, um,
I went to hospital after the game.
And in the meantime,
I'd rung-rung mum and dad.
And, um, dad answered
the phone and, um,
I said, I was trying to explain.
I said, "Dad, you know,
I don't... I don't think
"I could have made
it... couldn't have done
"what I did today
without you being my father."
And dad went,
"Alright. Thanks, mate.
"I'll get your mother."
So, there was no, um...
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
It was hard
with him not being there.
My parents split up and, um,
I...
I...
I... I definitely felt that
I had to... I had to
be the man in my father's stance
and take care of my brothers...
best as I could.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
Dad,
did your father
ever go to your games?
Uh, I can't ever really recall that,
Lukey boy, I gotta say.
Um...
again, um...
I'm sure he was... he
was proud of... proud of me
of the achievements
and stuff like that, but, um...
I was never sort of aware of him
or mum ever coming to the footy.
I'm sure they
must've... they must've, but, again,
it didn't bother me
because I wasn't doing it for them.
I was doing it for-for me
and my team and my club.
You know, it was... it was...
I would've sure...
thought there would've been
far more enthusiasm
shown by Mark's dad towards
where he was in his career
than-than what-what
I ever saw personally.
It might... it might be
privately to Mark, I don't know,
but I never saw any enthusiasm,
not-not once towards Mark's career.
(CROWD CHEER)
Thank you, Peter.
Well, there is certainly
an atmosphere here.
The crowd on the other side
looking straight across.
Dad had had angina from about 1974.
Dad had always had
a... a... a dicky heart.
So, he progressively
got more unwell.
There were times when he would
have what we called a-a turn.
He said he'd had an indigestion,
but he'd had it
for a couple of days.
He went to the doctors.
The doctor ran a couple of tests
on him and said,
"Geez,
you're having a heart attack."
When the doctor said
he needed him to go to hospital,
I'll get the ambulance,
he wouldn't go in the ambulance.
He said, "Well, shut up.
I can drive down."
So, he went and got
in his car and drove down.
And sat down waiting
in the waiting room, ER,
and this went on and on,
and in the end,
they said,
"Where's the patient today?"
And he said, "This is me."
Well, the results
were just horrific.
What do you call it?
He was...
He was unconscious
for quite some time,
and then he... then he just passed.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
Yeah.
I hadn't been living in New Zealand
or at home for quite some time, so.
He had a great respect
for his father.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(RAIN POURS)
After finally putting paid
to Britain's World Cup
chances last week,
the Kiwis are confident of victory
against Australia in the final.
(CROWD CHEER)
And the mind games
have been on ever since,
with the visitors keen to tout
the Kiwis as favourites.
Oh, they're-they're
the best New Zealand side
I believe they've ever had.
And it's very strong.
Its preparation has been very good.
It's splashed Aussie Week
this week in Auckland.
I can't believe it.
And referee Graham Ainui
will be the man caught up
in it tomorrow.
I certainly would be naive
for me to say that
nothing will happen.
I'm anticipating
something might happen
in the first 10-15 minutes.
The first scrum will be a tester,
I think, a little settler.
But the second scrum, w*r.
It'll be on.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
We're in a World Cup final,
and we're against Australia,
but it's being played here.
Australia was top of the table,
but they agreed to play
the final in New Zealand.
And it's so big,
Carlaw Park can't fit people in.
It's gotta be at Eden Park.
We're going to rugby's church.
We're going to the historic site.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
The Australians name
a formidable team,
but they come to Auckland
and they decide to play mind games.
It's not often
that we're the favourites.
They're the underdogs.
(CROWD CHEER)
It's in a magic place here
this afternoon.
The Australians
would have to be a little nervous
about this, I think.
They then just played us
with the-the underdog role.
(CROWD CHEER)
Of course, 50,000 people,
and I think 49,500 of them are,
of course, Kiwis supporters.
Just keep giving the Kiwis a round.
Build them up.
A sign their rating is perhaps
the best ever they've put together.
There's no doubt, I think,
that some of the Kiwis
believed it as well.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
Right at the start,
Wally Lewis makes a mistake.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
The following 20 minutes
went quite pear-shaped
for-for New Zealand,
ably supported
by a really inept referee.
Got sucked in
to have a Papua New Guinean ref
who penalised me
for feeding the ball
in the first scrum feed,
and that set the tone.
(CROWD CHEER)
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
Incorrect feed.
Clayton Friend.
There was a b*mb put up
by the Australians,
which nobody touched,
bounced back, Kiwis retrieved it.
(CROWD CHEER)
Another goes through the back door.
Fumble though. Taken by the Kiwis.
For some bizarre reason,
Graham Ainui called it a penalty.
It became evident very early
that he was out of his depth.
(CROWD CHEER)
24-0.
But what he's not doing,
he's not keeping his markers
immediately behind one another.
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
Penalty's given
within easy kicking range.
Another scrum penalty.
The Aussies score a try.
It's just not happening for us
at all.
(CROWD CHEER)
This is Langer, and now Roach,
and back to Langer,
and back to Lewis.
They come with a blind side play.
Lewis gets in the way to Pierce!
Pierce to Langer.
Langer goes in and scores.
We're actually aiming up
in the collisions,
and we're making a ground
and what not,
but nothing's going right.
And people are, as you would expect,
looking to Mark to change it.
(CROWD CHEER)
Slips the ball out to Mark Graham.
Mark Graham...
Mark's taken to by blocker Roach.
He clearly been told by Don Furner,
the coach,
"Gotta take Mark Graham out
of this game."
A little bit of help with it
from his Balmain mate, Benny Elias.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
We call it the chopping block.
We're gonna put someone's head
on the chopping block.
It's not very nice but...
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
Not capable
of really contributing at the level
he needs to in the game,
but he soldiers on.
On an early tackle,
friend from dummy half,
but knocked
on by captain Ding Bell.
So a scrum will go down.
It'll be an Australian loose head,
an Australian feed.
Wally breaks his arm
trying to tackle Tony Iro.
I wish I didn't go in.
I knew I'd broken my arm
straight away.
He kept playing.
I went into dummy half
to pick up a ball and pass it,
and... (CHUCKLES)
the arm sort of went backwards.
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
Just kept playing.
Just proving
what a sort of tough competitor is.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
Well, you can see it there.
He can hardly throw the ball.
But here's Mark McGaw,
turns it back to O'Connor.
They get it on to Shearer.
Shearer stepping.
Here's Langer,
Langer with a chase...
Beautiful work from Australia.
(CROWD CHEER)
They got themselves
to a 21-0 lead at half time.
We struggled big time. Yeah.
We struggled big time.
(CROWD CHEER)
The tone was set
with the way we played it.
And I think it was all part of just
the build-up in-in the media
and the fact that
maybe we gave ourselves
a few-few too many pats on the back.
In hindsight, we were set up.
We were set up for a fall.
No Australian rugby league team,
national team should ever go
into any game as underdogs.
We fell for it. They flattered us.
They had a plan. We walked in.
We got sucker punched
and it wasn't the greatest result.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
Played nowhere near their potential.
I saw a mechanical team.
When we got on the field,
we weren't collective enough.
Mark should have captained
that-that team.
He was punished for having a year
of self-imposed exile.
They wouldn't give
the captaincy back to him.
If I was still captain,
I was still playing,
and there was a World Cup Final,
irrespective...
Mark Graham was in the team.
For me, Mark Graham was my captain.
We had a new coach, obviously.
It wasn't Graham.
And...
yeah, it was a very different
sort of...
different setup.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
If-if I'm abs... totally honest...
I was envious that I wasn't there.
(CROWD CHEER)
I-I wanted to be part of that.
(CROWD CHEER)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
The Prime Minister of New Zealand,
David Lange,
giving it to Wally Lewis.
And it's a proud Wally Lewis
with an arm
that were heavily bandaged.
I don't think any of us
then knew that that was it for Mark.
Um...
probably if we understood the extent
of his injuries at that time
and what he was going
through behind closed doors...
I had... I had a lot of hard footy.
Um, I'd, um, I've been targeted
plenty, and, um...
just, you know...
In such a really sad way for Mark
to finish
his inter-international career,
a really sad way.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
I think it's difficult
for a boy going through pubert...
turning into a man not to have...
their father around.
I know it was hard for me.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
I... You know,
it was terrible time, obviously.
I don't know what I...
where I was, to be honest.
Might have done something
to do with studies,
school, film school, something.
I remember you calling me
in the middle of the night.
I was living in Auckland and...
Paul was away.
Everyone was asleep except
for my, um...
My... my... my brother's light was on.
You could...
Yeah. You could see behind the door.
It was a little closed.
You could see the light was on.
I thought that was quite strange.
Yeah.
I, um...
It's, like, 11:00 at night.
What's, you know,
what's... what's... what's
Matty's light doing on?
I, um, I remember
I opened that door and...
and seeing...
I-I saw him hanging in there.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
And you-touching his...
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(CROWD CHEER)
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
And he was cold.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
Matty, Matty, hold that, mate.
OK.
Go on then, mate. Thank you.
OK, you champions, where are you?
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
Like in the movies,
you think you're gonna get there
in time for something.
You could do something
to save people.
You can't.
I mean, I'll have to be gone.
I mean I'll have to...
Took a lot... a lot of...
lot of, um...
took a lot of me.
Yeah.
And I-I remember saying...
I remember thinking,
"Geez, hope you're alright, Luke."
And I remember...
How did you feel about it, mate?
You know, like, you found him.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(PANTS)
I kind of, uh,
blanked everything out.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
And... and... and what you just said
is how I deal with things.
I just don't think about them.
I-I just don't, you know,
except when I'm praying,
I never think about it.
And that's how he...
that's how he gets...
That's how is my method
of getting through stuff, you know?
The second I thought
you're gonna... you were gonna win
but at the end...
we won.
(LAUGHTER)
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
(AEROPLANE WHOOSHES)
I was in my own world
and I didn't see any signs...
and you don't get a second chance.
Do you blame yourself for his death?
Every day.
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
I got invited to the Fight for Life
with Dean Lonergan,
and he pissed at me for months.
And I said, "Bro, I can't box.
I've never boxed in my life."
And when he told me
I was fighting Mark Graham,
I said, "Oh, Jesus."
League versus Union punch
ups raised $500,000 for a charity
dedicated to preventing
youth suicides.
Last night,
just in the phone donations,
it was a minimum of 127,000.
He was a tough guy
on the football field
and broke nearly
every bone in his body.
It was certainly something that
I was more than willing to,
not because I think I can box,
but, you know, certainly
if we could raise
some money for awareness
and help people,
by all means, you know.
Man, what a tremendous...
I was terrified
getting into the ring but then
I was very pleased
that Buck didn't knock me out.
(CHUCKLES)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
(BELL DINGS)
Yeah, It's a good-good thing
to be part of.
(CROWD CHEER)
What does this mean to you, mate?
Well done out there.
Thanks, mate. Uh, look.
Everybody here's a winner tonight.
Everybody's sitting there,
they're making it a success.
Probably,
there's an audience at home,
but this is to raise some money
for all our kids.
Congratulations, Mark. Well done.
Thank you.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
I live in Gladstone
because no-one... no-one knows me,
and I like that.
You know, you said before,
why didn't I go back to New Zealand?
You know, I've always been there.
Could've done something.
Like-like, I did something.
I've been there and done that.
And I mean, I'm-I'm pleased
that you're doing it.
And-and the only reason
I would sit here
and do this with you
and if someone else had asked me,
I'd have gone "No."
You know, I've got no interest in
being on television.
Um, I am of the belief that
we all are given certain talents,
and the reason
I'm sitting here with you
is because I believe in your talent,
and you believe your talent is this.
And if I can help you in any way,
shape or form,
that's what fathers do.
Mark absolutely adored dad.
He just looked up to him so much.
He respected him so much.
I suppose like many of us,
particularly boys do,
we try and do things to try and gain
our father's approval.
He wanted to make Dad proud of him.
Did your father ever say to you
he was proud of you?
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
(BACKGROUND COMMENTARY)
Dad cut all the things
out of the NRL.
He got that big magazine thing
that came out once a month
or once a week.
I think he might have
started scrapbooking
stuff at that stage.
And every single thing about
Mark was in the-the book.
He stuck it in.
Dad did say, you know, to-to people,
"That's my son.
"I'm really proud."
But he never told Mark that.
It's-it's sad because...
you-you need to be able to share
that when you're alive, don't you?
You need to be able to share
those sort of things.
And-and through
some misguided thing,
I think that
you-you take yourself on
a... on a journey that you don't feel
that you're able to share something.
I would think so.
So, let's begin with
our first Kiwi inductee,
Mark Graham.
(APPLAUSE)
Voted New Zealand's Player
of the Century in 2007,
this fearless forward
earned his reputation
as one of the toughest second rowers
to ever play the game over
an eight-year career at the Bears.
But it was at test level that
Mark showed his true leadership.
He captained the Kiwis 18 times,
inducted as the New Zealand
Legend of League in 1995,
and his former sparring partner,
Steve Blocker Roach,
welcomes him
to Australia's Hall of Fame.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Graham.
Thank you, Yvonne.
It's a great pleasure
to be here tonight, obviously,
to be standing in a room full of
rugby league royalty.
It's a great privilege.
Wouldn't be remiss of me not
to thank all those people
that helped me
attain this wonderful honour,
and that'd be the coaches
and staff and my parents.
My family, the good lord,
and especially Graham Lowe
who's had a-a huge influence on me
and-and my footballing life.
And I've got not much more to say,
but thank you very much.
It's been a great honour. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
I know Superman isn't real...
but Dad will always be him to me.
So, Dad, how did you get
the name Sharko?
(SOFT MUSIC)
And my son was, like,
one of the greatest
rugby league players in the world
or greatest anything in the world
or something.
You-you don't sit and talk about
that with your dad?
No. Not really, mate. No.
It was just because
it was just footy.
You know? It was more important...
I think it was more important
to my dad that I was a good person.
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Sharko (2025)
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