Sport & Life with Sam Kekovich and Leon Wiegard

In this heartfelt tribute, we sit down with Leon Wiegard—Olympian, sports administrator, businessman, and beloved voice behind the mic. From his early days in Abbotsford to his move to Kew, Leon’s story is one of grit, generosity, and enduring impact. He represented Australia in water polo at the Olympic Games, led Fitzroy Football Club as president during pivotal years, and helped shape the sporting community through founding the Olympians Club of Victoria and presiding over the prestigious Vingt Cinq Club.As Leon faces recent health challenges, this episode celebrates his legacy in sport, business, and friendship. With warmth and candor, Leon reflects on the highs, the hurdles, and the humor that have defined his extraordinary life.

We chat with Sydney 2000 Gold Medalist Scott McGrory. Scott won Gold in Sydney for the Madison and is now a commentator for the Channel 9 broadcast. Scott chats about his career and memories of Sydney on the back of the recent documentary series celebrating the games and his victory.

We chat with former Suns boss Tony Cochrane about his journey in life and sport. Tony opens up about the difficulties in the infancy days of the Suns and how they developed recent success in the AFL. Tony also talk about the incoming Tasmania side and what this means for the rest of the competition.

We chat with GWS Captain and all round great bloke Toby Greene. Toby's played 261 games with GWS and we chat with him about his career with the club, in particular the early days to where they are now. We also reflect on the 2025 AFL Grand Final and how many more flags Brisbane have in their squad.

We chat with former jockey and three time Melbourne Cup winner Damien Oliver. Damien won 129 Group 1 races throughout his career, and we chat with him about his journey and recovery from his serious fall back in 2005. We then preview the 2025 AFL Grand Final to wrap the show.

It's the business end of the AFL finals so we decided to do a deep dive into the weekend of Preliminary Finals, and give our tips on who will be competing in the final weekend of September.

We chat with 2x Premiership player and former State Politician Justin Madden. Justin played from 1980 to 1996 starting his career at Essendon, then playing most of his career and Premierships with the Blues. Post football Justin moved into State Politics in 1999 as a Labor candidate wrapping his tenure in 2014.

We chat with the 1984 Olympic Champion Jon Sieben who famously won the 200m Butterfly at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Jon defeated West Germany's Michael Gross 'the albatross' who stood at 200cm tall with a 225cm wingspan. We chat with Jon about his career and how his life change after winning gold.

We chat with one of Australia's finest actors Gary Sweet. Gary famously played Sir Donald Bradman in the 1984 mini-series 'Bodyline.' We chat with Gary about his career and some of his iconic roles, and why the Don didn't speak to him after playing him on tv.

Emma Booth is an Australian Paralympic equestrian. She has represented Australia at both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics. Emma chats about her career and near fatal accident back in 2013, which left her a paraplegic and how from that she got back on the saddle, following her Olympic dreams.

We chat with the NRL's greatest ever coaches, Wayne Bennett. Wayne chats about his journey in Rugby League and how his humble beginnings in country QLD led to his almost 50 year career in coaching. We chat about some of Waynes greatest players he coached and the secrets to his success.

With a huge week in the world of sport, Sam and Leon chat about all the major headlines including the sacking of Melbourne Demon's coach Simon Goodwin and reflections on North Melbourne's 1975 Premiership.

We chat with Brisbane Co-Captain and Brownlow Medal winner from 2020 and 2023 Lachie Neale. Lachie talks about his journey from Fremantle to Brisbane and how his Brisbane side is travelling leading into the 2025 finals series.

We chat with one of League's greatest ever props Glenn Lazarus. We chat with Glenn about his career which spanned across three clubs the Raiders, the Broncos and the Storm. We also chat with Glenn about his stint in the Senate and relationship with Clive Palmer.

We chat with professional para surfer and former professional para cyclist Matt Formston. Matt chats about his sporting career including his inspiring story showcased on Netflix titled "The Blind Sea."

We chat with former St.Kilda and Carlton player Val Perovic. Val played 77 games for the Saints from 1973-79 and a further 97 games for the Blues from 1980-1985. We chat with Val about his career, and where do the Blues go from here given their horrible campaign in 2025.

We chat with one of Australia's best known journalist and cricket expert Robert 'Crash' Craddock. We chat with Robert about his 40 year career and some of his biggest stories including the infamous betting scandal with Hansie Cronje. We also chat about his time on the show 'The Back Page' and his best memories from the program.

Geoff Lord is an Australian businessman and investor, best known as the founder, chairman, and chief executive of the Belgravia Group. He also served as a Hawks director from 1986 to 1992 and President from 1993 to 1995. He also founded the Melbourne Victory football club and was their chairman from 2004 to 2010. We chat with Geoff about his career in sport and life and some of the key factors behind his success.

We chat with former league start and Melbourne Storm inaugural CEO Chris Johns. Chris played with St.George and the Broncos in the 80s and 90s and then was part of the inaugural setup of the Melbourne Storm. We chat with Chris about his journey in league and how he helped setup a newly formed team in Melbourne.

We chat with Bill Perry of the London Tavern Hotel who was recently honoured with the Nikakis Benchmark Award. The award recognised the top publicans of their class across Australia. Bill gives us an insight into the industry and what it takes to run a successful venue in the modern pub era.