Darryl Gregory Brohman OAM (born 22 June 1956), also known by the nickname of "The Big Marn",[4] is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1980s, now best known as a commentator and media personality. Brohman played professional league for the Penrith Panthers, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the Queensland rugby league team. At present, he is working for 2GB on its Continuous Call Team broadcasts, on The Footy Show and makes guest appearances on the Australian version of the ESPN show Pardon the Interruption. In the summer, he plays a small role in the nationally syndicated radio program entitled Summer Weekend Detention which broadcasts from the Sydney studios of 2GB on weekends during the summer months.
.jpg) Brohman in 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Darryl Gregory Brohman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 22 June 1956 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Prop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
editBrohman attended Wavell State High School in Wavell Heights, one of Brisbane's northern suburbs, and completed his Senior year in 1974.
Personal life
editBrohman has a partner Beverly, and they have two children, daughters Lizzie and Ruby.
Playing career
editBrisbane
editWhile still at high school, Brohman played first grade for Norths in Brisbane's competition and was developing into a skillful, ball-playing forward with a good kicking game. He was awarded the Norths Player of the Year in 1976 and won Brisbane's Rothmans Medal as the league's best and fairest player in the same year, joining John Brown, Steve Calder, Neville Draper and lookalike Darryl Duncan as winners of the award from the Norths club.[5]
Sydney
editBrohman then moved to Sydney and played for the Penrith Panthers, from 1979 to 1983 (being the club's captain from 1982 to 1983[6]) and again from 1986 to 1987, and the Canterbury Bulldogs in 1984 and 1985. Brohman played two State of Origin matches for Queensland in 1983 and 1986.[7][8] Brohman amassed 95 tries during his playing career making him one of greatest ever front rowers to grace the field.
In his Queensland debut in the opening match of the 1983 State of Origin series at Lang Park in Brisbane, Brohman had his jaw broken by an elbow tackle from Les Boyd, which saw him sidelined for the rest of the season.[9] At the time, Brohman had been tipped to make his Test début in the series against New Zealand starting three days later, and would have been the Panthers' first international had this eventuated. That honour later went to hooker Royce Simmons in 1986. Ironically, the player who came off the bench for Queensland to replace Brohman, Manly-Warringah's Dave Brown, played well enough in the game to be selected in the front row for the test against the Kiwis at Carlaw Park. Brohman later sued Boyd over the incident and the matter was settled out of court.
Brohman returned to the playing field for the 1984 NSWRL season with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, where his skills as a talented ball-playing forward under the leadership of Steve Mortimer helped the club to their Grand Final victory over the Parramatta Eels. His last match was for Penrith Panthers in the 1987 Reserve Grade Final win over Manly-Warringah at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Two of Brohman's teammates in the Panthers Reserve Grade side that day included future Australian internationals Mark Geyer and Mark Carroll.
Post playing
editAfter he retired from playing, Brohman took up coaching for two seasons. Firstly, he coached the Brisbane Broncos' reserve grade side in 1988, before returning to Canterbury in 1989 to coach their reserve grade team.[10] While in Brisbane he lived rent-free at the home of Gus Gould in Brisbane.[11]
In 2006, he was nominated as the one of front rowers in the 40th Anniversary Penrith Panthers "Team of Legends"[12] but lost out to Terry Geary (8 seasons – 1969–76) and Tim Sheens (13 seasons – 1970–82).[13]
Brohman was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in the 2020 Australia Day Honours for "service to rugby league."[14]
Media
editBrohman later had a career in the media where he has worked for several radio stations across Sydney. Brohman's media career includes stints at 2KA, ABC Local Radio, 2UE, 2SM and once before at 2GB. He was a host on the Nine Network's The NRL Footy Show from 2010 to 2018, including hosting the "Small Talk" segment, until the show was cancelled after 25 years on air. Brohman has been part of the menswear chain Lowes's advertising campaigns, which also feature other former Rugby League players.[15]
References
edit- ^ Rugby League Project
- ^ Yesterday's Hero
- ^ Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
- ^ Rothfield, Phil (1 August 2010). "The Big Marn's brave face". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
- ^ "Club History and Awards". Norths Devils Rugby League Football Club. Retrieved 7 January 2007.
- ^ "Club Statistics – Penrith Panthers". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2007.
- ^ "Darryl Brohman's State of Origin appearances". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 11 February 2007.
- ^ "Darryl Brohman's State of Origin statistical breakdown". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 11 February 2007.
- ^ Gallaway, Jack (2003). Origin: Rugby league's greatest contest 1980 – 2002. University of Queensland Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-7022-3383-8.
- ^ "Player profile of Darryl Brohman". Canterbury Bulldogs. Archived from the original on 30 July 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
- ^ "The Big Marn leaves the boys in stitches over ALL-TIME story: Turn It up | NRL on Nine". YouTube. 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Full list of nominees for Penrith Panthers Team of Legends". Penrith Panthers Rugby League Football Club. Archived from the original on 11 February 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2007.
- ^ O'Neill, Matthew (5 October 2006). "Penrith's 40-year team announced and 2006 Panthers awards". Rleague.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2006. Retrieved 11 February 2007.
- ^ Stehle, Mark (25 January 2020). "Australia Day Honours 2020: Full list of recipients". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- ^ "NRL Footy Show axed by Channel Nine due to poor ratings after 25 years on air". ABC News. 2 October 2018.