Hear how a boy born in Sydney's Inner Western suburbs, blooded into a diehard Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs rugby league family, plying his trade in both league and union as a teenager, spends a decade and a half at the powerhouse Canterbury Leagues Club in Belmore during the Super League War, the Bulldogs Salary Cap Scandal, and of course the madness of their 2004 grand final victory, before becoming the C.O.O. of Wests Ashfield League Club.
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We also segway into the Sideline Story of Bruce Walsh, David's late father, a prominent figure in the rugby league community in the 1980s for pioneering unique training techniques to develop athletes during rugby league's transition from semi-professional to full-time professional. An Australian Olympics weightlifting coach and strength and conditioning coach under the legendary Warren Ryan and Roy Masters, Bruce Walsh was a well respected man who inadvertently revolutionised the game of rugby league.
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David Walsh's knowledge and experience within the greatest game of all is insightful, engaging and an absolute pleasure to listen to.
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"You're listening to The Sideline Story: the platform for all rugby league identities to voice their journey; their sideline story"
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Introduction
03:20 - Born into the rugby league family
08:56 - Bruce Walsh's Sideline Story: Australian Olympics Coach turned S/C coach for Wests Magpies and Balmain Tigers
19:40 - Concord Burwood Wolves (league) vs. St Patricks Rugby Club (union)
29:08 - Hired by Canterbury Leagues Club (1997, the Super League War), the powerhouse of Sydney
35:51 - NRL forms in 1998, listening to the radio in the roulette area during the prelim final.
41:04 - That meeting before the salary cap scandal in 2002
49:47 - The Bulldogs play "their grand final" in 2002
53:40 - "I found the grand final trophy on the floor of the human resources office" (2004 grand final victory)
1:01:50 - Hired as Wests Ashfield C.O.O.
1:05:08 - Rugby League politics at board level
1:09:43 - Playing Rugby Union with St Patricks Rugby Club and Petersham RUFC as a 49yo.
1:11:29 - Quick fire questions / Meeting Wayne Bennett
1:24:55 - "David Walsh, Why did you want to share your Sideline Story?"
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Podcast mixed by Daniel Tassone using Garageband.
Podcast distributed to all major listening apps using Anchor.
Music credit for this episode: 'Lockdown' (royalty free) [prod. by Pold and Baribal] via Youtube Audio Library.
Introduction credit to the National Rugby League (NRL)
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Logo designed by Tahlia Zaccomer
© The Sideline Story: Rugby League Podcast, 2021.
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Proudly sponsored by The Rusty Penny Brewing Co.
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