Sport writers and their perks

EACH weekend The Chronicle sport team jumps on its Saturday Soapbox and voices its opinion on some pressing sporting issues.

This week the team talk about brushes with sporting fame.

Jason Gibbs: Obviously this sports gig has it perks.

And it’s not just the fact we get to watch and talk about sport all the time.

We get to write about some pretty special local athletes, teams and clubs and their special achievements.

Occasionally we also get to meet our sporting idols and or superstars.

Yesterday was one such day for me.

As I’ve mentioned numerous times I’m an avid Melbourne Storm supporter and yesterday I met one of our greats – Israel Folau.

Personally it was a fantastic albeit brief experience.

You build up a mental image of these guys in your head thankfully for me Israel was exactly what I ‘expected’.

Humble, softly spoken, grounded and giving of his time.

A wonderful ambassador for his sport.

Glen McCullough: THE best part of my job is the people you get to meet and work with. I’ve been lucky enough to have numerous encounters with Australian and international celebrities over the years.

But let me tell you some of the best people I get to rub shoulders with are at here at home on our own race tracks and sporting fields.

After about 25 years of writing about high achievers and battlers alike, I’m still a little starstruck and intimidated in their presence.

When it comes to interviewing people my great friend Pat O’Shea and I were always on the same page.

Pat believed it was a privilege for us in the media to have the chance to speak with high profile people — not the other way around.

We should always remain appreciative that people take the time to speak with us.

It should never be taken for granted.

I don’t want to be dropping too many names, for fear I’ll dud someone.

But I must say acclaimed cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers gave me one of my most enjoyable interviews.

And I always find Australian tennis stalwart John Fitzgerald a pleasure to meet and chat with.

But at the top of my list would be John Singleton who I found the most affable and interesting character to work with during his visit to Clifford Park in 2000.

Madolyn Peters:.

The first brush with fame that springs to my mind was reporting on the Queensland Maroons Fan Day where I got to meet a lot of the State of Origin team.

I also got to interview Mackay’s Dane Gagai who is just as awesome off the field as he is on.

I’ve sat in a Formula 3 car, held two Olympic gold medals, reported on the North Queensland Cowboys and Gold Coast Suns which I’m extremely grateful for.

I also had the opportunity to chat with one of my favourite authors John Marsden.

But the best part of my job is hearing people’s stories, writing about a juniors’ dream of playing in the AFL and following his journey to being drafted.

You can’t help but feel connected to the teams you report on week in and week out so I also love being able to build relationships with our local sporting personalities which is my claim to fame.