New film highlights the life and career of the man named New Zealand’s greatest ever rugby league player.

In the 1980s my Dad and I would often sit on the hill at North Sydney Oval on a Sunday afternoon and watch the Bears. They didn’t win a lot and actually neither of us were North Sydney fans but we had a soft spot for the team in red and black. Unless they were playing our beloved Balmain Tigers we cheered them on and joined the supporters around us in blaming the ref when they came up short.

Having played and coached, my Dad knew a bit about footy, so when he made a comment on a player I listened. One day he told me Mark Graham was the perfect rugby league player – well built, tough and athletic with good ball skills. If you were building a prototype player for the sport it would be Mark Graham.

After that I watched the man, apparently nicknamed ‘Sharko’, more closely and enjoyed what he offered in the brutal unforgiving arena that was rugby league at the time.

When I heard Mark’s son Luke had made a documentary called Sharko about his idol, his version of Superman, it was a no brainer to get the two of them on to our podcast for a chat.

There is a lot of footy content in the documentary as you would expect when featuring a man who set the Brisbane and Sydney rugby league scenes alight and dominated at international level for the Kiwis when he wasn’t being targeted by opposition players hoping to send him off on a stretcher.

However Sharko is as much about families, divorce, father/son relationships and tragedy. There’s something a bit sad and at the same time uplifting about the documentary. Mark is a man of few words offset by his aura and presence. When he talks it’s meaningful and worth hearing.

“In film making you’ve got to find stories you believe in,” Luke told Everything Rugby League Podcast.

“Just like everyone else we look up to our fathers more than anyone. My father to this day is my idol. It’s pretty cool having someone who happens to be one of the greatest rugby league players of all time as your father. I wanted to celebrate him as well as celebrate rugby league.”

“I think football is like a microcosm for life. You are going to have ups and downs. You are going to have chances to win, chances to lose. You’re going to be tested throughout the process. Sport is an amazing way to connect with an audience visually.”

New Zealand Player of the Century and NRL Hall of Famer, Mark Graham, represented the Kiwis in 29 Tests and made 146 appearances for the North Sydney Bears along with his junior club Otahahu, Brisbane Norths and Wakefield Trinity in the United Kingdom.

“I really enjoyed playing at the Bears,” Mark told the podcast.

“They were my friends. That’s the reason I played because I was playing with my mates. I had plenty of offers to go elsewhere but you know they were my friends. To this day if I go to Sydney I can go and stay with any number of them.

“I was fortunate to play with lots of good players. You can’t look good unless someone else is giving you the ball in the right spot.”

For more insights into the soon to be released Sharko documentary and Mark Graham’s remarkable life both on and off the field listen to the Everything Rugby League Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify