Meet the team
Postcards, a half-hour show on Victoria, Sundays at 5.30pm on Channel 9 presents vignettes of our beautiful state. The show highlights great places to visit and things to do, and generally shows off the treasure trove that is Victoria.
Find out a bit about the people who bring you the stories:
Giaan Rooney
With her trademark million-dollar smile firmly in place and an Olympic gold medal and world record to her name, swimmer Giaan Rooney is in winning form. She has been destined for greatness since her stunning 200-metre freestyle victory in 2001 at the World Championships in Japan, at the age of 20.
Rooney burst onto the international scene at the age of 15, winning gold in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. She demonstrated her versatility at the Sydney Olympics, finishing with two silver medals from the relay events.
Arguably her greatest achievement to date came as a member of the 4x100-metre medley relay team which won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. As the lead swimmer, Rooney clocked a new Australian 100-metre backstroke record, and a little over three minutes later became an Olympic champion and world record-holder as the team smashed the time set by the United States during the Sydney Olympics.
The Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games brought her two silver medals, in the 50-metre and 100-metre backstroke, after her record-breaking form at the 2005 Telstra Australian Championships. The same year saw Giaan sign with Channel Nine.
Since retiring from the sport, the public has seen another side of Giaan’s talents on screen. Giaan’s numerous on-screen roles have included being a contestant on Dancing On Ice, weather presenter on Today, presenter on Nine’s What’s Good for You, Getaway and Postcards, reporter and commentator on Nine’s telecast of the World Swimming Championships, co-host of Wide World of Sports and host of Battlefronts.
Additionally, with a love for horseracing, Giaan was a natural fit to be part of Nine’s broadcast of the Caulfield and Moonee Valley Spring Racing Carnivals since 2007.
Shane Crawford
One of the AFL's most marketable players, Shane Crawford is a genuine superstar.
Originally from Finley in New South Wales, Shane received his football grounding at Assumption College and has developed into one of the AFL's premier players.
In 1999, Shane was made captain of Hawthorn and after leading the Hawks to consecutive finals series in 2000 and 2001, he returned to his Brownlow best with the All-Australian selection in 2002 and club best and fairest in the same year. In 2003 he again won club best and fairest narrowly missed out on his second Brownlow win.
Off the field, Shane works with Channel Nine appearing on The Footy Show, and various other programs. He is a well-seasoned media performer, having hosted children's programs such as Screema and Footy Frenzy on the Fox Footy Channel.
He is recognised nationally and is regularly rated as one of the most attractive players in the AFL by female fans.
Shane continues to be a highly sought after athlete off field with many companies benefiting from their association with him.
While Shane Crawford is most known for his off-field talents, he is also one of Channel Nine’s favourite stars and now has another opportunity to broaden his media and travel experience with Postcards.
Glen Moriarty
After leaving school and studying at Box Hill TAFE, Glen embarked on a career in hospitality only to find it was not for him. While in the process of working out his future, he took on an odd job delivering a second hand fridge which led to the start of his modelling career. The lady who answered the door uttered those famous lines, "Have you ever done any acting before?" and signed him to Cameleon Casting.
In 1999 Glen joined the Nine Network as a model on Sale of the Century. At age 24, he utilised his European passport, and spent several months travelling and modelling through Europe. Upon returning to Australia Glen studied Acting at The Victorian College of the Arts and went on to feature in The Secret Life of Us and numerous television commercials.
With modelling experience both in Australia and internationally, in 2002 Glen landed the role of co-host and mentor on Search for a Supermodel, before joining the Postcards team in 2004.
With 12 years experience as a model, actor and professional photographers assistant, he has now stepped behind the camera himself. Currently in his fifth year as a presenter on Postcards, Glen has become more actively involved with the show as a producer the last three years. This experience helped Glen expand his producer/presenter knowledge last summer as he joined the team at A Current Affair in a guest reporting role.
Glen has also co-hosted Channel 9’s live telecast of the New Year's Eve fireworks in Melbourne.
A keen surfer, photographer and traveller, Postcards is the perfect vehicle for his television career.
Grant Hackett
Swimming legend Grant Hackett joined the Nine Network's Postcards team in 2010.
Hackett, arguably the world’s greatest long distance swimmer, joins fellow Olympic champion Giaan Rooney on the show this year.
Hackett joined Nine as a sports presenter after retiring from the pool with a record that perfectly suited his nickname, “Captain Fantastic”. Over three Olympics (2000, 2004 and 2008) he accumulated three gold medals, three silvers and a bronze – to go with four golds and three silvers from the Commonwealth Games.
He is the most decorated Australian swimmer in FINA World Championship history with 18 medals, 10 of them gold. He is the only swimmer to win four consecutive world titles in the same event (1500-metre freestyle), and he set world records in the 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle.
He was honoured with Telstra’s Swimmers’ Swimmer of the Year Award in 2008 after entering the Sporting Hall of Fame with The Don Award in 2006 and being showered with other accolades in 2005, including the Australian Middle Distance and Long Distance Swimmer of the Year awards.
Hackett joined Nine in 2008, as a regular on the health program What’s Good For You and Wide World of Sports. Away from television, he is pursuing studies for an executive MBA degree.
Lauren Phillips
Lauren Phillips is carving her way to be one of television's most loved presenters. After landing a presenting role on Postcards in April 2008, Lauren's fun loving personality and natural ability quickly made her household name.
As well as her continuing role on Postcards, Lauren's is also the fashion and entertainment reporter on A Current Affair. Since she began that role in 2007, Lauren has interviewed some of the biggest international stars and covered some of Melbourne's biggest events.
Born in Melbourne, she attended Wesley College. During her school holidays, her family would spend time abroad fostering her love of travel.
Lauren is close to completing her Bachelor of Media and Communications at RMIT and juggles her hectic media and study schedule with part time work at a Public Relations firm.
Comfortable in the fashion space, Lauren has just been announced as the National Ambassador for MYER and the face of NF by Nicola Finnetti. As well as featuring in their catalogues, her role extends to hosting events and attending fashion parades.
She is also the National Ambassador for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, a cause she holds very dear to her heart.
Pia Miller
One of Australia’s most well known models, Pia joined Postcards in 2010.
The Chilean-born Pia Miller got her start in modelling as a 14-year-old when she won the Dolly Cover Girl Competition. This was the launch-pad to an impressive career that has led to her starring in campaigns both locally and internationally. Miller's success as a model has allowed her to travel to some of the world's most exotic locations including the Florida Keys and the Maldives.
Miller completed her schooling at Windsor and went on to complete an acting course at the Australian Film and Television Academy, graduating in 2008. She is currently studying acting at Film Space, which she will continue on top of her new commitments.
In 2007 she married Melbourne footballer Brad Miller, and they are now enjoying raising sons’ Isaiah and Lennox. Family is very important to Miller, who shares a close bond with brother Jesus and sister Paz. She admits they all live within minutes of each other, and that all their children are very close.
Miller loves to spend her time cooking, travelling and watching the footy, saying, “I’m not afraid to let the South American in me come out at the ‘G!”
These passions, along with her vibrant personality, will be sure to see her fit right in with the rest of the Postcards crew.
Brodie Harper
Born and raised on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Brodie Harper began as a presenter on Postcards in early 2007. She is no stranger to being in front of the camera, with more than six years of modelling experience and television commercials behind her.
A television commercial shot in NZ gave Brodie a taste for travel, so when she was approached by the producers of Postcards to audition for the show, she jumped at the opportunity to spend time seeing and sampling her home state.
Away from the cameras, Brodie likes to spend time with her friends and family hanging out at Victoria’s beaches and wineries. Another constant in her life has been her commitment to helping children – most recently, as a World Vision child sponsor. With her family having always sponsored a World Vision child, it was only natural for Brodie and her husband, Heath Meldrum to sponsor their own child from Uraiwan in Thailand.
Perfectly suited to a travel show, Brodie keeps active and fit with plenty of outdoor sport, including walking and running. As well as seeing so much of Victoria when filming for Postcards, she is also keen to travel abroad as much as possible.
