Having a blast: Footy player-turned-shotfirer Wayne Richards

Rugby league fans know the name Wayne Richards – especially if they live in New South Wales' Hunter region.

Back in the ’90s, he clocked up six seasons with the Newcastle Knights, including being part of the 1997 premiership-winning team. But after hanging up his boots in 1999, he decided to tackle a new career – working for Glencore in coal mining.

Born in Tamworth and raised in the Hunter , Wayne was always interested in footy. Playing all of his junior footy with the Singleton Greyhounds up until 1988, he was scouted by the Knights, who were actually at a game to watch his brother Steven play.“So I got to the Knights by riding on Stevens coattails,”.

He made his first-grade debut in 1991 at the age of 21, coming off the bench against the Gold Coast Seagulls. “Just being involved with those senior players and the players you see on TV was special,” says the former second rower.

“And the good thing back then was that most of the boys were from the bush and they just really loved their footy. It wasn't a money thing; they were just there to do their best and enjoy themselves.”

After transferring to the Illawarra Steelers for the 1995 and 1996 seasons, Wayne started entertaining retirement. But fate would step in.

“My manager gave me a call and said Mal [Reilly, coach of the Knights] was interested in having a talk with me,” Wayne recalls. “I’d always respected him, so I thought I'd go along just to see what he had to say.”

The following year, in 1997, Wayne was part of the first Newcastle team to win the competition. “I went from probably going to get a delivery business to winning the premiership, so it worked out pretty well.”

He would stay at the Knights for another year before heading to play with South Sydney in 1999 – his final season.

Upon retirement, Wayne found himself questioning exactly what life would look like after football. “I didn’t have a trade or anything, so I thought, ‘Well, my brother's in the mining game. I had a good talk to him and decided to go in that direction.”

Following a few jobs around NSW, in 2010 he joined Glendell Coal Mine, which is located about 100km northwest of Newcastle, before transitioning over to MGO (Mount Owen/Glendell Operation) in the last couple of years.

Working as a shotfirer means Wayne spends a lot of time on the ground. “The fundamentals of being a shotfirer are really loading a blast and firing it, and to do that, safety is priority - No Plan / No Work competent and well trained shotfirers, initiation equipment and bulk explosives,” he says.

“But the biggest thing when it comes to a day of firing is getting clearance right – making sure everyone's out of the blast exclusion zone.”

As far as day jobs go, it sounds like a pretty cool one – something Wayne readily admits. “I love it,” he says. “It’s a good bunch of blokes.” 

And it seems there are a lot of similarities between football and mining, especially when it comes to mateship and teamwork.

“If you haven't got a good culture and good values, you’re going to struggle as a team. It doesn't matter if it's in sport or business, everyone's got to be pushing in the same direction,” says Wayne. “And that's what I found at Glencore. There's plenty of training, plenty of encouragement. It's very procedure-driven environment when it comes to safety as well.”

As much as Wayne likes his job, rugby league will always have a special place in his heart. “I love my football,” he says. “I'm probably not as excited about the game these days just because of the way things are refereed and the rule changes, I must be getting old – it's a completely different game to what I used to play. But overall, I still love the game and I hope the Knights go well this year. There are some good sides out there, but I’ve always got confidence in the boys.”