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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