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The podcast every sports fan will love

Content warning: This article discusses alcoholism, anxiety and depression.

Ordineroli Speaking is a podcast hosted and produced by Australian sports journalist Neroli Meadows. Neroli has used her 15 years of journalism experience to connect with some of the most well-recognised sports stars in Australia.

Through Neroli’s calming, down to earth nature, she is able to get athletes to speak about some of the most personal challenges in their life, details which have been kept from the public for many years.

“Sportspeople are human. I find when you give them a safe space, they often let their guard down, and have some pretty important things to say. Compelling stories of people acknowledging they weren’t coping, trying to get over the feeling of failure, some are coming to terms with the tragedy.” – Neroli Meadows.

 

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With 19 episodes and counting, Neroli shares the stories of current and retired athletes over a variety of sports and helps us understand why the athletes are who they are today.

Sam Stosur, Nathan Lyon, Natalie Medhurst, Glenn Maxwell and Emon Sullivan are just a few of the incredible sports stars that feature on the podcast.

After listening to the first episode I was hooked, and I realised there weren’t many questions off-topic for the guests and it’s because Neroli creates such a safe space between her and the interviewee.

Whenever I see the featured sportspeople on tv or social media, I immediately think about their podcasts episodes and what challenges they’ve faced as everyday humans.

But for me, it has been episodes with Adam Treloar, Peter Siddle, and Dale Thomas which have stuck with me the most. Tough upbringings, ignoring their emotions and ongoing mental health battles are all prevalent topics through their respective episodes.

These successful athletes express nothing but pure emotion in their stories to Neroli, and by the end of most of the episodes, it feels as though you were just talking with a close friend or family member.

 

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Adam Treloar 

In this episode, star AFL midfielder Adam Treloar speaks about his battle with anxiety in his life and coming to the realisation that footy doesn’t define him.

Neroli starts the episode off by saying “I’ve always found you a really interesting person to interview because as a journalist often when you ask people hard questions they get defensive, that’s human nature to do that. Whereas with you over the years every time I’ve interviewed you, I almost feel like I have to talk you back because you’re so damn hard on yourself.”

I was so intrigued by these words of Neroli, because I feel like it resonated something within myself and I knew whatever was coming further in the interview would be similar.

Later in the conversation, Neroli asks about Adam’s anxiety and how it started, and he responds by saying he believes that he was brought up with it, despite it being diagnosed much later in his life.

Never knowing his father, and growing up with a single mother who had little money, we quickly understand how true his previous statement is.

For me, I loved this, because I had no idea that this was Adam’s background, from the outside he just looks like an average Australian man, but Neroli has the power to give him a voice, and speak about who he really is and who he wants to be.

Neroli:  Does it build a sense of resentment or anger in you when you’re a young man and your dad has picked up and left? 

Adam: Yeah it does, because I feel like I miss out a little bit, I miss out on well one, having a role model. Kim and I are going to be parents in March… and I just think I’m going to do everything I can, whatever happens between Kim and I, it does not matter. She is the love of my life and I will be with her for the rest of my life, but if something were to ever happen [between Adam and his partner], I will move heaven and earth for my daughter.”

The way Adam speaks you can just sense how much emotion is carried through what he is saying, the absence of his father has created a motivation in him to achieve so much greatness.

Adam also shows a huge passion and love for footy throughout the interview, and it makes you appreciate him and understand how hard he has worked to be where he is as a player.

For someone who regularly watches AFL, I’ve now found myself cheering for Adam every time I watch him play, regardless of whether I’m going for his team or not which I think speaks for itself.

Even though Adam is someone you may never meet, this podcast has the ability to make you feel like you do know them, and you’re able to gain so much respect and love for the athletes.

 

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A post shared by Adam Treloar (@adstreloar)

Peter Siddle

The former Australian test cricketer shares his story of being sober for the last eight years, and why he gave up drinking. Before the episode even begins, Neroli introduces Siddle, and as the audience, you can sense it is going to be an extremely deep and personal conversation between the two through Neroli’s tone of voice.

As a huge sports fan myself, this episode gave me an insight into Peter Siddle that I had no idea about. He talks about his battle with alcohol on weekends for the first time, and how he found himself constantly blacked out after nights out, waking up not even knowing where he was or how he got there.

Throughout the episode Neroli is able to question Siddle about his drinking habits, why it was so important for him to give up alcohol, and how he almost lost the relationship with his now-wife.

The following exchange between Neroli and Siddle is what really had me grasped into this episode:

Siddle: I remember I drove one time. I’d parked at a mates house… I’d been out at a bucks, out all night [and] thought it would be a good idea to drive home. So I drove all the way to where I was living in an apartment building in Parkville.

Neroli: How long of a drive was that?

Siddle: It was probably 50 minutes across town.

Neroli: Far out. You’re lucky you didn’t kill someone.

As hard as this would’ve been for Siddle to share, I love how he did. Knowing that if he can tell his story that other people might listen and get help. It took a lot of bad drunken decisions for him to realise enough was enough, but through his interview, he is willing to share it. I think Neroli’s honest reactions, accompanied by the sense of understanding and comfort helps Siddle do that.

 

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A post shared by Peter Siddle (@petersiddle403)

Dale Thomas

Dale Thomas, known as ‘Daisy’ is a retired AFL star that speaks to Neroli about his battle with mental health through his professional career with the sport and external pressures.

Dale became really popular with the public after opening up about his mental health battles on the reality show ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ 2020 season.

After watching the show and Daisy over the years I was so excited to hear this podcast episode, and it was even better than I thought it would be hearing his story.

 

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“No matter what, I just couldn’t seem to break it.” Daisy said. “It seemed like I just couldn’t escape it and it was just burying me inside… You do a preseason of six months, you give your all and you think this is it, this going to be my year. One article, purely for clickbait and traction, it’s just like well here it goes again.”

Dale talks about his battle with mental health and being caught in the headlines at the back end of his career, I loved how open he was about his health, and wanting to help others not go through that.

Daisy makes some very powerful statements through his interview with Neroli, and you can tell through his tone of voice how much they impacted his life through his emotion.

“All you wanted was to play AFL footy, and then to get there and do it, your dream of kicking goals and people knowing you I guess. To live the dream and then almost not appreciate it or really dislike what it actually is, was a weird thing to conceptualise because that’s all I dreamt of.”

It’s moments like this through the podcast that Neroli is able to get these powerful insights from the athletes. When Daisy talks about his love for footy growing up, and how much joy it bought to him it was incredibly sad to then hear the impact that the world around him was having on his mental state.

“Footy was always meant to be the one thing that was great and enjoyable, and it probably became the biggest bearer of shit in my life.”

I don’t think I’ve ever heard such raw conversations from such high profile athletes in Australia which is why I enjoyed this podcast so much.

I admire Neroli’s ability to give the athletes such a safe space to talk in, and her relationships with each athlete that enables her to ask some really challenging questions.

 

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A post shared by Dale Thomas (@dthomas_39)

I loved every minute of this podcast and the people involved in it. With more episodes to come, I can’t wait to listen to them and to see who is on the show next. It’s so impressive how Neroli has created this podcast and has had so many incredible people take part.

If this story brings up issues for you, there are people you can talk to. 1300 22 4636 deals with mental health. If you don’t want to talk, you can access their website. You can also talk to Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14 or access their website. 

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