The Tricky Brickies

By Emma Sun
BRICKLAYER Mark Pratt had to leave his family holiday in Thailand early to film for Rok Adventure, a competition that screened on TV last Saturday.
The self-confessed family man from Mt Burnett was torn when he received the news.
On the one hand he was ecstatic about his team, the Tricky Brickies, being chosen for the show. On the other hand, he didn’t want to leave his family.
“They said in the application that we had to start filming on a certain date, and I’d still be in Thailand for the family holiday. But I told them if I got in I’d fly back a day and a half early without my family,” Mr Pratt, 41, said.
“They called me a few weeks later and said, ‘mate you better book tickets, you’re leaving Thailand early’.”
“I go on a family holiday about once a year. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go on TV, and to do that with two of my friends who happened to work for me too, I was absolutely pumped.”
His sacrifice was well rewarded – he and his workers Daniel Rutter of Berwick and Trevor James from Narre Warren North won the competition and took home a brand new Volkswagen Amarok ute.
Rok Adventure was an hour-long show that saw the Tricky Brickies battle it out against the Three Wise Monkeys from NSW in a five-day adventure competition.
They travelled from Bondi to Broken Hill and competed in a range of challenges, from extreme four-wheel-driving in the Blue Mountains to building sheep yards in Orange.
Mr Pratt, who runs MLC Bricklaying and works for Fairhaven Homes based in Narre Warren, said it was a wonderful experience, which made up for what he didn’t get to do when he was younger.
“The best thing I took away from the experience was that I got to travel a part of Australia I would probably never have got to see with two mates,” he said.
“I left home at 15, was engaged at 18, bought a house by the time I was 20, and I’d never ever done any of those road-trips with a couple of mates, so when the opportunity arose, I thought it was perfect – a guys road-trip across central Australia.
“The fact I can take a week from being a family man, go away, have a bit of fun with two mates and possibly win a really good car, that’s what made it the most enjoyable.”
He thanked everyone, including his employer and he and his team-mates’ families, for their support during the filming and was glad they were able to have such an amazing experience.
“It was definitely worthwhile, those things don’t always come up, though I’d do it again in a heart beat,” he said.
“Do I think anything else will come out of it, definitely not – there’s no career in television for us.”