Aaron Woods, Beau Ryan, Natarsha Belling to replace Mark Geyer and Mick Molloy on Triple M breakfast show

Aaron Woods has thanked the NRL legend he is replacing for some sage advice as Triple M revealed its new Sydney breakfast line-up.

The recently retired NRL prop will join another former NRL player turned media personality, Beau Ryan, and Triple M news presenter and journalist Natarsha Belling.

The trio, who are replacing the show headlined by Mark “MG” Geyer and Mick Molloy, after Geyer was unceremoniously sacked from Southern Cross Austereo earlier this month, will start their show on January 20.

Woods, who played for five clubs, NSW and Australia, during a storied career, said Geyer gave him some great advice during his playing days.

“He just told me to never stop doing what I was doing, don’t say no to anything and keep showing up,” Woods told The Daily Telegraph.

“I have never forgotten that. MG, along with Matty Johns and Gus Worland, helped me so much.

“He was the first person I sent a text to this morning.”

Geyer wished Woods all the best with his new career.

“He just said, ‘congratulations brother, enjoy the ride, it’s a fun one,” Woods said.

NRL stars are a mainstay of breakfast FM radio in Sydney with Greg “Brandy” Alexander on SEN with Andrew Voss, Laurie Daley on Sky Sports, and Cooper Johns, son of Matt Johns, on KIIS.

Ryan has had stints on the Kyle and Jackie ‘O’ Show and on Triple M, so he is prepared for the cutthroat nature of breakfast radio, and Woods said he was thrilled to be reunited with him off the field.

“My whole family love Triple M and my nan would always have it on the stereo at home. To work with my ex-teammate Beau Ryan will be awesome,” Woods told Sky News.

Listeners learned Geyer had been let go only when he failed to appear on air on November 20, despite his co-hosts making no reference to his absence on-air.

Geyer’s sacking came two weeks after SCA announced that Geyer’s co-host, comedian Mick Molloy, would return to Melbourne to host the city’s Triple M breakfast show in 2025.

In announcing the move, the station neglected to mention anything about Geyer’s future.

Geyer joined Triple M in 2009 and has hosted breakfast shows with the likes of Stuart MacGill, Gus Worland, Matty Johns, Jess Eva, Chris Page, Ray Warren, and, until this month, Mick Molloy, Cat Lynch, and Natarsha Belling.

Before he was a stalwart of the Triple M airwaves, Geyer was an NRL star, playing for both the NSW Blues and Australia. He was also a member of the Penrith Panthers’ first-ever NRL premiership in 1991.

Triple M’s Mick and MG in the Morning show recorded a slight rise in the seventh radio ratings survey last week. The breakfast show’s 5.1 per cent audience share helped it leapfrog its sister station 2DAY FM’s show (with 3.7 per cent).

The Triple M show increased its cumulative listenership by 21,000 people to 271,000.

The changes come as SCA shuffles its decks and makes multiple talents redundant before the new year.

Veteran Triple M content director Rex Morris found himself without a job recently when SCA made his position moot.

Triple M daytime presenter Brendan Annakin has found himself in a similar position. He announced his redundancy on Instagram last week, writing: “The curtain has been drawn on my 12 years at Triple M.”

“Thank you if you ever listened in Sydney or Brisbane, especially to Dead Set Legends,” he wrote.

Media personality Gus Worland is also exiting Triple M after 16 years, which he announced to his afternoon Rush Hour listeners a month ago.

In July, another NRL star-turned-presenter, Wendell Sailor, announced his retirement from Triple M.

As well as exits, SCA has been rejigging its on-air roster.

Melbourne comedian Marty Sheargold, a Triple M favourite, will soon have his afternoon program — airing from 3pm to 6pm — syndicated to Triple M Sydney in 2025.