League's man of principle back on the telly
* by Geoff Shearer
* From: The Courier-Mail
* February 12, 2011 12:00AM
LEAGUE star Ben Ikin will make a return to TV next month following his much-publicised walkout from Channel 9 nearly two years ago.
The former Bronco and State of Origin player will join the guest panel for the new National Rugby League show One Week At A Time, which starts next month on Ten's digital sports channel OneHD.
Ikin famously turned his back on a lucrative league-coverage contract with Nine in June 2009 after butting heads with the network over how A Current Affair intended covering the collapse of his father Alan's removal and storage business, crippled by the global financial crisis.
"I made the decision pretty quick; but it wasn't probably as dramatic as everybody had thought," Ikin said on Friday about the resignation.
"I just made a principle-based decision on what had transpired."
ACA and its rival, Seven's Today Tonight, both reported on the multimillion-dollar business collapse, with TT securing an exclusive interview with Ikin's father.
Alan Ikin was declared bankrupt and was fined $1500 in Southport Magistrates Court in September last year after pleading guilty to passing dishonoured cheques. No conviction was recorded.
He moved to Brisbane's inner western suburbs last year to forge a new start, only to lose all his possessions in last month's floods.
"The sad thing for Mum and Dad is that after everything they've been through ... that they moved to Brisbane for a fresh start and only two or three months after they arrived, the floods came through - the house was completely under - and took everything they owned," Ikin said.
"But they're getting on with life. Dad's back in work and so's Mum; trying just to do what they can to move forward."
Ikin, his wife Beth and their four children also suffered through the floods, with their Rosalie home going partially under.
"I caught a jet ski to the second level of my house when the water was at its highest," he said, adding that the clean-up had at least been a heartening experience.
"I couldn't believe how quickly it happened because of the amazing work from all the volunteers.
"It was one of the positives to come out of it. The generosity of complete strangers who had come from suburbs away to help clean up.
"I had people from the Sunshine Coast on a Gerni (high-pressure washer) in my house, and two guys who I'd never seen before in my life got to Mum and Dad's the first thing in the morning and were the last to leave come Sunday night. It was incredible."
While he is still contracted to radio group Triple M, Ikin said he was looking forward to being back in front of the television cameras.
"I was disappointed when I left because the guys at Nine in the sports department - in particular the rugby league blokes - were really good people. I was having a great time and in my own special way got to stay involved with rugby league, which I love," he said.
"This opportunity with Ten gets me back in the game from a television perspective."
It will also pit him against Queensland's greatest foe - NSW State of Origin coach Ricky Stuart.
"I didn't play a hell of a lot against Ricky but, being a passionate Queenslander, I decided to take the job, as much as to get back into the media as to get inside his head in the lead-up to Origin this year," Ikin joked.
"Adam Hawse is the host. Ricky is on every week and I and Adam MacDougall from Newcastle Knights will alternate each week.
"That probably will step up to a more regular situation once Ricky goes off to Origin 'cos he'll be consumed by that," Ikin said.
Week At A Time, OneHD, premieres March 14, 9.30pm
