Manly legend breaks silence on alleged Hadley ‘bullying’
Retired Manly-Warringah rugby league star turned football commentator John Gibbs has broken his decades-long silence by claiming he was “treated like a dog” by broadcaster Ray Hadley during their days together on 2UE’s rugby league commentary team.
Retired Manly-Warringah rugby league star turned football commentator John Gibbs has broken his decades-long silence by claiming he was “treated like a dog” by broadcaster Ray Hadley during their days together on 2UE’s rugby league commentary team.
In an exclusive statement provided to this column, Gibbs addressed for the first time in 30 years the alleged repeated harassment he experienced under Hadley who finds himself now
at the centre of workplace bullying allegations from former and current staff.
“I’ve been following the bullying allegations against my former colleague Ray Hadley with great interest,” Gibbs wrote in his statement to The Sunday Telegraph. “I’m surprised it took so long to emerge as the bullying has been evident for as long as I’ve known him!”
Gibbs confirmed that after retiring from rugby league in the mid 1980s and joining 2UE around the same time, he and former taxi driver Hadley were paired on the radio station’s Continuous Call commentary team and together called rugby league matches twice a week, taking 2UE’s league coverage to the top of the radio ratings in the 1990s.
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Despite the success, in 1998 Gibbs submitted his resignation to management claiming years of harassment by Hadley.
“I submitted my resignation to (2UE) management when I could no longer tolerate the harassment. The final straw was over a press conference I was asked to attend but couldn’t,” he said.
In an excerpt from his 1998 letter of resignation to 2UE bosses — some of whom were later poached to work at a newly ascendant 2GB under new owner John Singleton — Gibbs wrote of the psychological battleground the radio station’s sports department could be under Hadley, then promoted to the role as 2UE’s Sports Director.
“I am treated like a dog, verbally abused and told I’m a failure on air,” he wrote in his 1998 letter.
“I was informed in no uncertain terms that my job was saved by the Sports Director (Ray Hadley). I respect this is not the actual scenario but the mere inference and suggestion, while intended to intimidate, is in actual fact repugnant and belittling.
“I can no longer tolerate this kind of harassment by the Sports Director.”
Gibbs, who also hosted a weekday sports show, Sports Today, with Peter Bosley on 2UE, stayed another year after management persuaded the popular caller not to resign.
He finally quit a year later in 1999, submitting a new letter.
In an excerpt from the 1999 letter he wrote: “Bullying, intimidation, lying and manipulation are attributes others can now deal with.”
Gibbs, who friends and fans know as “Gibbsie”, moved to 2GB in 2000 to call live football after 2UE lost the rights to the rugby league. It was a welcome “release … from the bullying environment”.
He was midway into a three-year contract at 2GB when management contacted him to tell him Hadley had been signed to the station. Hadley joined in December 2001, becoming the host of his own program in the morning slot.
Though he told Singleton he was prepared to work again with Hadley, Gibbs agreed to have his contract paid out and left, going back to 2UE in 2002.
The well-regarded commentator, who counts former Manly teammate Paul “Fatty” Vautin as
his best friend, has also made regular appearances on Channel 9’s The Sunday Footy Show and ABC radio over the years. (2GB insiders have told this column that Hadley at one time carried a football card of Vautin in his wallet, almost like a “voodoo doll”).
At 62, Gibbs is still getting call-ups to work for ABC radio and has for years called the schoolboy rugby league with commentator Andrew Voss on 9 and Fox Sports.
Gibbs said that after watching the reports concerning Hadley’s bullying allegations emerge in
the past two weeks, he felt compelled to speak.
Inspired by his late father, who used to say bad things happen “when good men do nothing”, Gibbs claims that over many years he had seen younger staff, in fear for their jobs, belittled and reduced to tears by Hadley.
“After seeing and hearing others struggling with ongoing anxiety and mental health issues, I felt compelled to tell a little of my own story in the hope of saving others from being traumatised and suffering bullying in the workplace.
“Although some episodes of the reported bullying happened many years ago, it does not in any way diminish the lifelong effect it can have. You can’t just walk away from jobs, particularly in the media, as opportunities are limited.
“At the time I couldn’t do more, but if this saves one person from a life of misery then I’ll be proud. Like me, if you were subjected to this kind of behaviour you can seek assistance and tell someone because there are people who can help and it is difficult to cope alone.”
Hadley did not return this column’s request for comment.
annette.sharp@news.com.au
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