NBN presenters Paul Lobb and Natasha Beyersdorf have been at the desk for a decade

That's a great effort by the pair. But thinking about news presenters does tend to make us think of the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

If there's ever a movie about the NBN news team, we're pretty sure Paul would be happy for Will Ferrell to play him and that Natasha wouldn't be opposed to Christina Applegate portraying her.

Topics hears that when Paul started talking trash one day in the newsroom about how he was a better anchor than Tash, she said: "I will have you know that I have more talent and more intelligence in my little finger than you do in your entire body, sir."

OK OK, that was actually Veronica Corningstone [Applegate] giving Ron Burgundy [Ferrell] a dressing down.

Paul and Tash would never clash like that. They're mates.

In any case, Leonardo DiCaprio and Scarlett Johansson would make much more suitable actors to play the roles of Paul and Tash in the aforementioned feature film, which may or may not happen. If it does, Tom Hanks should play Ray Dinneen.

Newcastle journalist Michael Cain won plaudits in the sporting world for his exclusive interview in Zagreb with former Socceroo Mark Viduka.

The interview, titled Mark Viduka Uncovered, aired on ESPN during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown. The story hit at the right time, prompting other former Socceroos to speak up in the media about the state of the game.

Not long after Michael's story was aired, Football Federation Australia named 11 "experienced and learned minds in Australian football" in a developing committee that included Viduka.

Michael did the interview with Viduka last December before the pandemic hit.

"Gaining Viduka's trust before heading to Zagreb was the toughest bit," Michael said.

"He gave me bombshell after bombshell."

Viduka accused former Socceroo teammate Lucas Neill of undermining his captaincy and spoke about his feud with Harry Kewell.

"They didn't speak at all off the field for a long period of time," Michael said.

Viduka described how Elton John dedicated a song to him at a concert in Manchester. While on the same trip, he spoke to Manchester United about a possible transfer from Leeds. And he recounted his struggle with depression when he first signed for Celtic in Scotland.

"Thank god ESPN took a punt on the story. SBS and Fox Sports didn't even want to look at it - or even ask what he said," Michael said.

ESPN has nominated Michael for a gong at the Sport Australia Media Awards.

Currently, he's reporting casually for ABC Newcastle and Central Coast, after leaving Channel 10.

"I'd simply had enough of chasing NRL players. I don't miss it."