An ‘old school’ rugby league player has found a new career.
Garry ‘Gazza’ Wilson played from 1982 to 1993 for Eastern Suburbs, South Sydney, and Western Suburbs: he gained a reputation as a front row ‘enforcer’, played three Origins for NSW and one Test for Australia, but didn’t win any NSWRL premierships.
After retiring, Gazza jumped on the Channel 9 commentary team and the Sydney Footy Show until 2000, before commentating on radio on-and-off since 2003.
Though Gazza’s comfortable media career was thrown into turmoil when his radio contract wasn’t renewed for the 2025 season. After a frantic summer trying to find a new radio gig, and even trying to get back on TV through 9 or Fox Sports, Gazza had to accept his media career was done.
“The boss said he let me go because I’m not ‘modern’ enough. I spend too long talking about the ‘good old days’ and comparing the current game to when I played,” Gazza said. “But what’s wrong with that? I argued that I’m using my experience to bring colour to the call, but the boss said that younger viewers think I’m a dinosaur and that I dismiss most penalties as ‘too soft’. How many first grade games have those jokers played?”
Gazza was considering walking away from footy until inspiration hit him on a night out.
“The missus and I went to the local RSL one Saturday night back in February. They had some no-name ex-footy player doing a comedy routine about his playing days. The missus said he was a fictional character making fun of old players and their stories, but it gave me an idea.”
With the help of his agent, Garry created a company – Gazza’s Footy Yarns.
“I don’t know s**t about business, but I had an idea and my agent Carl did the rest. And the missus did the social media stuff.”
With his shows starting in April, Garry has been busy writing his routine, digging deep to find his funniest footy stories.
“Carl made sure that it’s an adults only show, because some of the stories are a bit blue. As they should be. Sensitive woke snowflakes should stay away.”
