Two young men of 16, best mates and both called Ben, were hanging out at the school they attended. One said to the other:
“When I have my own radio show, you’re going to do a segment every week with me.”
Nearly two decades later, Ben did indeed have his own radio show, a drive program on Sydney’s 2GB. They were still best mates but the other Ben had moved to become a jackaroo in the Northern Territory, before turning his hand to auctioneering as a stock and station agent working across Queensland. None the less, those words as kids came to fruition and the Friday segment, Man on the Land, kept the two in touch and brought a broader conversation to the program.
Ben Fordham and Ben Dobbin, or Fordo and Dobbo to use the Australian vernacular, are still best mates. Both are top in their time slots and respective markets, Ben on 2GB Breakfast and Dobbo on Triple M Brisbane Drive, in the most recent radio survey. But the above, as an example of radio’s power of connection, mateship and storytelling, is one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of retelling.
2011 saw the unbelievable and tragic flooding of the Western Downs of Queensland which left Dobbo, his young family and the broader community in a perilous financial position. Ben travelled up to the region to cover the floods for Channel 9‘s Flood Appeal as well as to support his mate. Dobbo stole the show that night, and through his connections with the Fordham family, which led to a role on the network’s NRL show, Dobbo was put in touch with Richard Barker and Rex Morris at Triple M, where his on-air career began. He’s been with SCA ever since.
However, this interview came about because of the recent Xtra Insights survey of Mt Isa. While the SCA station Hit 102.5 was top, the Resonate Network’s 4LM in particular had a blinder and Rex, who was the first (besides Ben) to see something unique and special in Dobbo, shared how proud he was of the results for Dobbo’s Rural Queensland Today which airs at 9am across the Resonate Network.
I was late to the party on this program apparently. I caught up with another member of Queensland radio royalty, Spencer Howson, who is currently doing a PhD with Griffith University studying the importance of local radio to listeners in regional Australia, a topic I’m particularly invested in. I mentioned Rural Queensland Today to Spencer, thinking I was introducing him to something he wasn’t aware of and Spencer made clear to me the significance of the program to the people of regional Queensland. It mattered.
Resonate Broadcasting came about after the acquirement of the former Macquarie Regional Radio Network. The new owners were Rex Morris and the Dobsons, Guy and his wife Sally. Rex and Sally wanted to create specialist programming that spoke to the near 40% footprint of Queensland their new stations covered. The idea for Rural Queensland Today was born, then it was just finding the right host. Rex knew this perfect bloke he’d hired over at Triple M….
That was 10 years ago, and 4320 episodes. That number blew Dobbo’s mind. He couldn’t wait to tell his wife. And he was quick to heap praise on SCA for never getting in the way of this show that means so much to him and his listeners. Monday to Friday, from 9-10am, Dobbo puts together and presents Rural Queensland Today and gives a voice to a part of regional Australia that is increasingly denied one through traditional media.
He then also presents the Triple M The Rush Hour drive program across Queensland with Elliott Lovejoy from 4-6pm, is a veteran sports commentator for the network now and does the weekly wash up of results with the Sunday Sin-Bin. There’s also The Inside Ball podcast he does with coaching legend Kevin Walters with twice weekly episodes. It is a lot.
When I say that to Dobbo he replies:
“I love working. I love being on air. I love calling football. Some people go to work because they have to, I love it. I remember as a kid I used to listen all the time. I would listen to Stan Zemanek at night at boarding school. Arch Tambakis before that. I listened to Peter Peters and Greg Hartley as commentators. Lawsy, Hadley, I just loved radio. There’s just something about it.
I grind hard and that comes at a mental cost. I’m fried at night. But I just bloody love it. Everything I do I’m grateful for.”I get to call rugby league and talk about rural issues, my two biggest passions in the world I have influence on.
The hard work has got me here. Nothing is given, but I’m so bloody lucky.”
If there’s anything Dobbo loves more than his work it is his family, his wife and his five kids. They pepper our conversation. He’s got twin boys who just turned three. His wife is a divorce lawyer who has the same work ethic and understands how much making time for his older kids matters.
Radio, and the kind of hours he keeps, is brutal on one’s health. Towards that Dobbo was putting aside time to train for a triathlon. While riding his bike in in September 2024 he swerved to avoid a snake and hit a pole. He thought he’d dislocated his shoulder, but it was much worse than that, a broken neck and fractured C6 & C7 vertebrae.
Dobbo, as he was waiting for the ambulance, imagined he’d be back on air the following day, but instead there was extensive rehabilitation (the only aftereffects is some limited mobility in one hand – extraordinary given the circumstances) and counselling, which was a unexpected blessing in allowing him to work through his past.
This is a man who is grateful in every sense of the word, but still highly driven to further leave the world a better place.
We talked about what success means. There is a sense that Dobbo seeks to repay everyone who has ever believed in him or put him forward for a role with prodigious output. Rex, the Fordham family, Jamie Angel, Ken Wood, Ewan Giles, Matt O’Reilly, Charlie White, his family.
Something I realised afterwards is how amazing he is with names and places. He was thrown into the deep end as a football commentator but said to me:
“My first game was in April of 2013, I think it was round four. Brisbane Broncos versus the Titans, commentating with Wendall Sailor and Gordon Tallis. I was given six games to commentate alongside two of the best at Triple M, Dan Ginnane and Anthony Maroon.
I’m not going to say I was good. I was appalling. But somebody believed in me and backed me. That’s what Triple M have always done.
You see how wonderful they’ve been with Emma Lawrence. They let people grow and get better. She’s going to be a superstar at commentary.
I’m still learning. Do I find it difficult? Not as hard as selling 5000 head at the Dalby saleyards in the middle of a summer.”
It’s more than that though. In the movie Erin Brockovich there is a scene where Erin takes down the big corporate team who are brought in to help the case against Pacific Gas and Electric Company. They challenge her on gaps in her research. She says it’s all in her head. They say she can’t possibly remember all 600 or so claimants’ personal details. She then rattles off phone numbers, addresses, whole family’s names.
Dobbo at one point got lost in the bush, I can’t think of a better word to describe it. He told me about places and people whose stories have impacted him. He’d said to me earlier that he wants to be the voice of the bush, and he is. He carries those communities on his shoulders and can speak for them clearly, without notes and with heart.
There’s a Gold Coast survey out this week where I’ll be checking out the drive results on Triple M Gold. The GC is pretty close to where Dobbo calls home now. For a man who doesn’t care too much for the radio data, I wanted to give he and Elliott’s Rush Hour drive program one further shout out on their behalf.
Both were casualties of SCA’s decision to have Marty Sheargold do Drive for all Triple M stations in NSW and QLD in 2025. I’m not going to rehash what happened there, except to say that by the end of April Dobbo and Elliott had taken over in Queensland. They’ve just notched up a year on air together.
Ratings wise, they’ve gone from a 9.7% Survey 1 2025 to 13.5 and top of the pack in Survey 2, 2026. And, the NRL and AFL seasons only commenced during the survey period.
Dobbo is of course happy, but realistic that you just never know what the next one is going to look like. He points behind to a jersey he has framed from the NFL team the Cleveland Browns.
“They are the worst franchise of all time but I just love them, like I love the bush and radio. I love the Browns. Whatever happens, that doesn’t change.”
He’s right. That 16 year old kid with his best mate looking ahead to what could be their radio careers would be so proud of him.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo. Email [email protected]