It’s the Year of the Pig – a sign of good fortune and a cause for celebration when one half of your breakfast show is NRL cult hero Mark ‘Piggy’ Riddell.
‘Piggy’ and his Macquarie Sports Radio breakfast co-host Mark Levy yesterday threw a Year of the Pig Party.
Almost 100 lucky listeners from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne gathered at PJ Gallagher’s Irish Pub, Entertainment Quarter, Sydney to carry on like pork chops as they celebrated with Piggy and enjoyed the Not Safe For Radio stories from a bunch of his mates.
For weeks the open line on Macquarie Sports Radio went into meltdown, with listeners prepared to share a lot about themselves to win their way to the party.
● Porky pies – the biggest lie you have ever told, was hard to judge because how were we to believe stories from confessed liars?
● Greatest Sporting Achievements – was won by a listener who claimed to have invented the classic cricket chant ‘Ooh, Aah, Glenn McGrath I said Ooh Ahh Glenn McGrath!’
● And if you need further evidence of the depths Macquarie Sports Radio listeners would plumb to secure a ticket to the party, impersonating a pig should do the trick. Cue oinks, squeals, and grunts of shameless desperation for cheap laughs.
The guest list was rich in sporting pedigree and included former NRL players Anthony Minichiello, Brett Finch and Jamie Soward , AFL stars Jimmy Bartel and Nick Davis , Continuous Call Team colleagues Darryl ‘The Big Marn’ Brohman and Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield , 5 time Olympian Andrew Gaze , triple world champion boxer Jeff ‘The Marrickville Mauler’ Fenech , plus many others.
Triple AFL Premiership winner and 2007 Brownlow medalist Jimmy Bartel spends an hour with Levy and Piggy every morning (9.00am – 10.00am) and felt while his good reputation is being tarnished by his daily association with these two ‘gibberers’, he may as well get a free lunch out of it.
Comedian Mick Meredith had the party in stitches with a rapid-fire set of jokes and songs, and the voice of Sydney racing Darren Flindell nearly brought the house down with a phantom call of Winx’s upcoming retirement race.
That’s where the Winx poo comes in.
If you have ever wondered what Winx has for breakfast, the answer was in the lucky door prize… some of the wonder mare’s race winning poo. Winx has so far won 32 consecutive races. Imagine the roses the door prize winner will be able to grow in his garden with this power poo.
What Year of the Pig Party would be complete without a pork roast?
Only, in this case it wasn’t a humble loin feeling the heat. Piggy has plenty of colourful yarns from his playing days both on and off the field, and some of Australia’s biggest sports stars, including his former teammates, couldn’t resist the opportunity to return serve. Let’s just say that Brett Finch knows quite a lot about ‘the Pig’.
As a special addition to the sillyness, Piggy and Levy recreated the try that won the hearts of footy fans, when larrikin Piggy jumped into the stands and applauded the try he had just scored. See it here.
Gee - sounds like the AM version of Triple M's "No BS Lunch"