Sportscafe is Australia’s (and NZ’s) sports entertainment show - covering NRL, AFL, cricket, netball and everything else you can think of - as well as the biggest moments in Aussie sport every week. Hosted by Big Bash legend Chris Lynn, State of Origin star Connor Watson and Tayla Montoya, with former All Black Marc Ellis causing trans-Tasman chaos and on-screen producer Ric Salizzo trying to hold it all together.
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Connor breaks down the Roosters' qualifying final loss to Penrith, what has to change against Cronulla on Saturday night, and where Sam Walker's recovery is at.
Plus the crew debates the Sydney Sweeney betting ad, meets a 17-year-old who kicked the winner two weeks running, and our debate about the greatest sports movie of all time goes off the rails.
Timestamps:
Chapters
00:00:00 Teaser
00:00:59 Connor Watson on the Panthers loss
00:04:54 Do-or-die against the Sharks
00:08:46 That pregame praying video on the NRL account
00:10:28 Joey on the Warriors: "I'm fine"
00:14:38 The Sydney Sweeney betting ad debate
00:20:10 Riley Carter: two clutch kicks, two weeks
00:26:24 Who'd you pick for the grand final pregame?
00:30:18 Greatest sports movie of all time
00:39:11 Chris Lynn on Cricket Australia's privatisation push
9 Sept 2026
Laurie Daley on NRL Finals & Do The Warriors Get Special Refereeing Treatment?
Laurie Daley joins us three days out from finals week, with a read on the premiership race, the Blues' Origin decider, and an answer on whether he'd ever take an NRL head coaching job.
Then Joey lays out an officiating theory about Mt Smart and The Warriors that's going to cost him a few friends in Auckland. Fair question or sour grapes?
Connor Watson on captaining the Roosters for the first time, the hospital pass that flattened his own halfback, and the off-season dinner he now owes him. Sharni Layton on Australian Survivor, the Commonwealth Games campaign she gave up to film it, and what happens to an athlete's identity after retirement.
Plus the Aussie squad for South Africa, the NFL landing in Melbourne, and three clips from the depths of the internet.
7 Sept 2026
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: The Otara Kid Who Became A Warrior
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck joins Marc Ellis and Ric Salizzo on Herbie for Sportscafe Legends.
He's played for the Roosters, the Warriors, the Kiwis, Toa Samoa, the Blues and the All Blacks. This is his last NRL season before a two-year deal at Wakefield Trinity - and with a knee reconstruction behind him, he's watching the Warriors' run from the sideline rather than the field.
Roger talks about growing up in Otara, being coached as a kid by Eric Rush, ringing Rushy to tell him he was leaving rugby for league, and why he picked 12 when he came back to union.
Timestamps:
Chapters
00:00:00 Cold open
00:00:43 Welcome to Herbie
00:02:11 League fitness vs rugby fitness
00:02:53 Why he chose 12
00:04:31 Learning the game at first receiver
00:05:29 Eric Rush the junior coach
00:07:58 The phone call to Rushy
00:08:44 Why league suited him
00:09:53 Community and 40 memberships
00:10:59 The pathway out of school
00:12:05 A premiership in his second year
00:12:40 When he knew he had a gift
00:14:15 Getting knocked back
00:15:06 Blazers, kit and choosing union
00:17:32 Coming home to the Warriors
00:18:11 Saying no to mum and dad
00:21:39 Heroes: Rushy, Carlos, Benji
00:22:11 Eric Rush and the water slide
00:23:37 Watching this Warriors season injured
00:24:45 Two ACLs and the next surgery
00:25:36 All Black 1204
00:27:11 Wakefield, and letting go of the plan
00:30:41 His brother, LeBron and a PlayStation launch
00:34:15 The Herbie project
00:34:52 Otara was a village
00:36:42 What the travel cost him
00:39:15 What's changed at the Warriors
00:41:23 What it takes to win a premiership
Who has been a guest on Sportscafe-ish
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Scott Barrett
Scott Hansen
Trent Boult
Michael Campbell
Andrew Trimble
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
419,108,275
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
321 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 65 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
46
Social presence
97
YouTube
93
Engagement
67
Pitching Sportscafe-ish
Guest appearances
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