Backstage with Cooper & Matty Johns
#88 | Steve 'Blocker' Roach | Origin Battles, Unwritten Rules & Balmain's Greatest Run
31 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
No, so like I was just saying, yeah, I built all that. Because when I first, I went to TAFE straight out of school and I learned to be a carpenter.
Blocker, blocker. He was lucky to finish year 12.
Chapter 2: What was Steve 'Blocker' Roach's experience in State of Origin?
Seriously. Yeah. Mate, it has not. Look at those hands. Mate, the hands have never seen a hammer.
Chapter 3: How did fighting play a role in Rugby League during Blocker's career?
See, you've got fighting hands.
Well, not really. I've got a couple of broken thumbs. You know when you hit them a little bit high on the forehead?
You've got to go a little bit lower if you're going to... I actually don't know what that's on there.
Blocker's got fighting hands.
Cooper's got wanking hands. And not for myself.
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Chapter 4: What memorable stories does Blocker share about his teammates and coaches?
Say no more. You know when you stop playing and there's just no calluses from weights anymore? So when I rub, like sometimes when I'm in the middle of the night and I sort of rub my own leg, it does feel like a lady's hand. Not the point that I was trying to make.
What do you do, mate? Double down, lay on the arm for 20 minutes, make it numb.
Chapter 5: What was the significance of Balmain's performance in the mid-80s?
That's right, make it numb.
Yeah, makes it feel like short.
Or if you want this, let someone else. I'll find someone. Double dust, right. You're all classed out. Stephen Blocker, Roach, mate, welcome.
Thank you.
Thanks for the invite.
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Chapter 6: What happened during the 1989 Grand Final that impacted Blocker's career?
Mate. We appreciate you coming over. Pleasure. Yep. We're going to talk about a lot of stuff, State of Origin, your experience in State of Origin. But off the top, we were just talking. We got some of the Cessnock-Gowanus photos of Gary Johns. And you had a great story. You actually played a trial game against the Cessnock-Gowanus.
I did.
Chapter 7: How did Blocker cope with retirement from Rugby League?
I was only a boy. I think I was about 20, and I played against Willie Terry. You remember Willie Terry, the coal miner? He signed his signature on the top of my forehead several times.
Chapter 8: What insights does Blocker provide about his time on The Footy Show?
Lump, lump, lump, lump, lump, lump, lump, lump, lump. I was thinking, yeah, oh, yeah. I'm thinking, jeez, you know. Maybe I should have went back when I was 25 or 26 and said, do it now. So was Gary the coach? Yeah, Gary was the coach, yeah. An old sandboy. An old sandboy, yeah. And I think Newell Pringle and that went up and played. They ended up going up.
The next couple of years, they grabbed the great Newell Pringle, first bloke with the orange Adidas boots, with the orange stripes and the black boots, you know, the tiger boots.
They looked sensational. Well, I'm saying, Cooper's just been a gerund gone and ā And we'll just talk. I was telling him last night how strong the Wollongong competition and Newcastle competition used to be. Mate, they were only half a step down from NRL.
Similar upbringings and everything too, the people in Newcastle and the people in Wollongong. I reckon that's why they've got a great affiliation. They're the same sort of people, hard workers, coal miners.
And then like in the mid-'80s, me and Andrew used to go in the sheds. Remember, we'd come down and watch Mick Schofield play and Don Schofield, his dad, would take us into the sheds after the game.
That's right, and I remember coming out in the nude and that and these little whippersnippers there. Oh, you actually remember meeting them as kids? Yeah. One of them was looking at me, Morton.
I know which one. Joey's always been a cop watcher.
And then I call him the Cessnock cop watcher and no one knows what I'm talking about. Mate, he's lucky Elrie wasn't there.
Oh, Jesus. Oh, my God. I know you had the experience as kids, but was there a crossover at all in careers? Because you retired in 92? I finished in 92, yeah. When did you debut?
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