Darryl Brohman says his six-month battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is over after six rounds of chemotherapy, crediting his recovery to good luck and strict follow-through with doctors’ advice.
When Darryl Brohman finally heard the words he had been waiting for. it wasn’t the kind of news that comes with a highlight reel. The 69-year-old footy icon and TV personality has revealed his six-month battle with blood cancer is finished after he emerged from several gruelling chemotherapy treatments.
Brohman’s announcement stunned the football world when he went public with his Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis in November last year. Now, after “a few weeks” of waiting, he says the result has come back clean.
“The threat of cancer is gone,” Brohman said after he got the green light a few weeks ago. He credited his recovery to “good luck” in avoiding a more severe version of the disease, and to doing “everything that I had to do.”
“I went by what my doctors said, and did everything that I had to do,” he said. His treatment involved six lots of chemotherapy, administered three weeks apart. “I was very tired from,” he added, describing what it felt like to push through round after round.
From the beginning, Brohman said both his GP and his specialist told him it was a condition that could be treated. “But right from the start both my GP and my specialist said to me it was very treatable.”
When you get told you have cancer, Brohman remembered, it lands with a sudden weight. “When you get told you have cancer, obviously it’s a kick in the guts a little bit,” he said. But he also held onto the message that if he was going to get cancer, it “was probably not a bad one.”
“They said, ‘If you’re going to get cancer, it’s probably not a bad one.’ So I took that as a positive.”
Even when he felt unwell, he said he never let the fear fully take over. “Even though I was flat, I always knew I was going to be OK … I just roll with the punches.”
One of the moments that stayed with him came after the diagnosis went public. Brohman told News Corp that he “got a little bit teary” when he was flooded with messages of support from right across the footy world.
“I got so many texts from people who I didn’t even know knew me,” he said. “I didn’t know people cared.”
The early days of the fight were shaped by a different kind of uncertainty. Brohman revealed he’d been “a bit crook for the last six weeks or so” when he first told people what he’d been facing. He also explained that he started treatment shortly after going public, saying: “I have started treatment. I start chemo on Monday. and there’s about a 21-day period between the chemos and there are about six or seven that I’ve got to do.”.
Before the diagnosis was confirmed, there was the symptom that finally pushed him to get checked. “I was a bit crook in the stomach and I just felt a bit heavy and I just went and got tested. ” he said. He estimated he’d been tested “about seven or eight times. ” with medical teams needing to “form an accurate opinion of what it was.”.
Today, Brohman has returned to his commentary work with 2GB’s Continuous Call Team. But the impact of the treatment has also changed what he feels comfortable committing to.
He said his days of going on tours to events like the NRL’s season-opening matches in Las Vegas “might be over,” adding, “I’ve learnt I’m happy to be alive.”
For a man who once brought the footy world to life with his voice, the most enduring headline isn’t about a game at all. It’s about hearing—after months of chemo and waiting—that the threat is finally gone.
Darryl Brohman Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma chemotherapy Penrith Panthers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Footy Show 2GB cancer all-clear Australia sport
Good news I guess?? Hope it stays gone.
So he did chemo for 6 months and it’s “clean” now… man they make it sound simple. My cousin had something similar and it came back later so we’ll see.
Wait is non-hodgkin’s lymphoma the same thing as leukemia? I get confused because everyone says “blood cancer” like it’s all the same. But if it’s gone that’s awesome. Also “good luck” makes it sound like it depends on the universe not just treatment.
Chemo three weeks apart for six rounds… that’s basically just repeating the same thing until it works right? I mean I’m glad he’s clear but why do they say “green light” like it’s a traffic signal. Also I saw the headline and thought they meant he got cleared for playing footy again, like medically approved to get back out there. Cancer updates always make me nervous, hope he’s actually done-done.