Steve Haddan has built a reputation for excellence across the widest range
of skills and disciplines.
As a comedian he has forged enduring relationships with the movers and
shakers of corporate Australia
who’ve acknowledged Steve as the go-to man when the job has to be done, with
class.
His 20-year stint as an on-air presenter and sports journalist with the Nine
Network was an accomplishment of which
he is immensely proud, so too his achievements as a best-selling author and
award-winning radio host.
Steve is a creative thinker, proactive, a team player who
with dedication and empathy has forged a richly textured and eclectic
career.
Toowoomba born and bred, after completing studies in
journalism, drama and Australian History at the University of Queensland in
1980, Steve spent two years as a professional actor, starring in major
productions with the La Boite and Queensland Theatre Companies. In 2003,
Steve shared the stage with fellow alumni from the RQTC, Oscar winner
Geoffrey Rush, at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, giving a show
stopping performance as his alter ego “Molly” Meldrum at a gala tribute to
commemorate the career of the company’s long serving Artistic Director, the
late Alan Edwards.
After his stint with the RQTC, Steve embarked on a four-year
career with Xerox, becoming one of the company’s top salesmen.
In 1985 he won the American Chamber of Commerce Xerox Australian Salesman of
the Year Award. At the same time he was moonlighting as a stand-up comic. In
1985, in a series of show-stopping appearances on Network Ten’s hugely
popular variety show “Star Search”, an earlier incarnation of the
“Australian Idol” concept, Steve cloned an uncanny impression of rock guru,
“Molly” Meldrum and achieved national stardom. A run of appearances on
Nine’s “Hey it’s Saturday” and Seven’s “Celebrity Family Feud” saw him take
his amazing talents as a comic impressionist to the next level. Steve
immediately became one of the country’s most sought after corporate
performers, engaged by the most demanding blue chip entities.
In a two-year stint as a comedy writer and on-air performer
with FM 104, then boasting the largest per capita audience in Australian
radio, he landed the Australian Federation of Radio Broadcasters “Raward”
for the Best New Talent on Australian metropolitan
radio in 1989.
In 1990 he authored and self-published “The Power’s Bitter
History of the New South Wales Rugby League Finals”
– the first ever history of what is now the National Rugby League. It was a
runaway best seller.
Another two editions followed with over 17,000 books sold. During the NRL’s
centenary year in 2008,
Steve produced a third edition “The Finals: 100 years of National Rugby
League Finals”, again a huge success.
In 1992 he joined the Nine Network, hosting the morning
variety show “In Brisbane Today” with Fiona McDonald.
It was the beginning of a formidable career lasting from 1993 to 2010 where
he worked as a sports presenter and journalist with Nine News. In 2010,
Steve developed a breakthrough workplace education programme – the Head
Heart & Body Master Class – which in its first year trained over 1200 staff
at QR National, the Nine Network, Lend Lease and ANZ Private. In January
2012, 18 months after finishing at Nine, he was asked by the Managing
Director Ms Kylie Blucher to return to the station and deliver his
ground-breaking Master Class to all 120 full-time staff. It was the first
blanket training the station had undertaken since 1993.
In 2016, Steve completed the first ever history of the
Brisbane Rugby League, “Our Game: The Celebration of Rugby League
1909-1987”. The book was a triumph inspiring renewed interest in a seemingly
lost corner of the game. Four years later, came his most popular book,
“Wally Lewis: My Life”. In partnership with The King, Steve told the
incredible story of the world’s most popular Queenslander, with access to
the Lewis families’ breathtaking personal archive of records and
photographs.
Steve’s next book, due for release in 2023 is “The Greatest
Game: The National Rugby League 1908 – 2023”,
the most comprehensive history of the competition ever undertaken.
Meantime Steve’s bookings as a comedian, after-dinner speaker
and master of ceremonies continue to build.
His clients all demand, and receive, the very best in quality entertainment.
Steve’s strengths are simple: he’s good, he’s funny, he shows
up and he gets the job done.
His attention to detail and love of his work are indisputable – he knows the
business and is dedicated to establishing long-term relationships with his
clients.
There is not a major corporation in Australia which hasn’t at
one time utilised the services of this impressive performer.
If it has to work, Steve Haddan is your man.
