You've Just Scored Yourself a First Edition!

Well, here we are. Smoko Mail’s been quietly ticking along in the background for a bit now, and some of you signed up what feels like ages ago. But this right here is officially issue #1. So give yourself a pat on the back for being here from the start. Good on ya!

Some of you might already be signed up to a stack of newsletters, and that’s great!

But for plenty of you, this might be your first crack at getting your news and goss through email. If that’s the case, cheers for taking a punt on us.

I’ve been around construction and trades for the past ten years. In that time, I’ve met all sorts: sparkies, chippies, plumbers, labourers, some old bloke named Smithy who was real good with a sledgie, you name it.

Sure, we can be a bit gruff, and sometimes a bit rough around the edges. But we’re sharp in our own way. And it’s about time we had something built for us. By one of us.

So that’s what this is. An email packed with the stuff that actually matters to you. Each week, you’ll get work and industry news that actually makes sense, a wrap of the weekend’s sport with a look at what’s next, solid tool and gear deals, and just enough banter and memes to keep the apprentices distracted.

Righto, enough about me.

Here’s what’s coming up in today’s Smoko:

Cheers,
Liam

In Tapping, north of Perth, a local crew has finished Australia’s first multi-storey 3D-printed concrete house, and it only took 18 hours of printing to get the walls up.

The builder, Contec Australia, is run by Mark D’Alessandro, a chippy turned quantity surveyor, who got hold of a robotic concrete printer from a Dutch company called CyBe. After two weeks of training, the team printed all 15 ground-floor walls in just 10.5 hours. From slab to finish, the whole build took five months.

The printer spits out a high-strength concrete mix that sets in under three minutes and clocks in at 50 MPa compressive strength, more than three times stronger than your standard brick. It’s also cyclone-rated, termite-proof, fire- and water-resistant, and thermally efficient. No formwork, no scaffolding, hardly any waste — just one wheelbarrow of leftover material for the whole job.

Contec reckons it’ll slash labour costs, cut waste, and make it easier to build curved or custom-shaped homes, all while sticking to the Aussie building code.

So what’s the play for tradies? Could be more efficient builds, safer sites, and quicker turnarounds. But there’s a flipside too, if the tech takes off, it might mean fewer boots on-site.

What do you think? Reply to this email to have your say

Look, we’re not saying vacuums are exciting. But at Smoko Mail, we do like a clean work site, and this new Milwaukee M18 FUEL 9-Gallon Dust Extractor is a bit of a beast. Trust us. We’re not even paid to say this, we just love it.

It’s built for the filthy jobs. You can run it cordless or plugged in, and when it’s on mains power, it’ll suck up to 175 CFM. That’s solid grunt for a vac.

Running on two M18 REDLITHIUM FORGE HD12.0 batteries, you’ll get about 41 minutes at full tilt, or 78 minutes in eco mode. There’s an auto filter cleaner, HEPA filters that tick the jobsite safety boxes, and it even gives you a heads-up when airflow drops.

It works wet or dry, stacks with PACKOUT, tracks with ONE-KEY, and charges to 80% in just 35 minutes.

Not exactly thrilling gear. But if you hate dust and love clean floors, this thing’s no joke.

Got your eye on a new piece of kit? Reply to this email and let us know what it is, we might do a review for you!

AFL
After 18 seasons and 327 games, Callan Ward has called it quits on his AFL career. Most of those games (267 of them) were with the GWS Giants, where he was their very first captain back when it all began for them.

Ward’s last outing was a tough one. He tore his ACL in Round 12 of the 2025 season, and that ended his time on the field. GWS CEO David Matthews called Ward the “heart and soul” of the club, tipping his leadership, grit, and professionalism for shaping the team’s culture. Ward finishes up as the Giants’ most capped player and leaves behind a proper club legend legacy.

NRL
Plenty going on in the NRL this week, and not all of it good. Penrith copped a $50k fine after trainer Corey Bocking strolled across the field mid-conversion, throwing off the Titans kicker. He’s facing a five-match ban, with the NRL cracking down on sideline antics.

Meanwhile, over at the Tigers, Samuela Fainu and Brent Naden are under the microscope for pulling a dodgy hand gesture during a try celebration. The move’s sparked backlash from Bulldogs fans and the Arabic community, and the NRL integrity unit is now on the case. Not exactly textbook footy behavior from either camp.

F1
While Melbourne man Oscar Piastri had a decent race start at the Hungarian GP, in the end it wasn’t meant to be for the young Aussie. Settling for 2nd on the grid after getting pipped for pole position by an unexpected Ferrari driven by Charles Leclerc, Piastri soon found himself leading the race for the middle stint.

However, tyre strategy and patience won the day, with fellow McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, winning off a daring one-stop strategy on 39-lap old slicks. They go into the winter break with Piastri still leading the Drivers Championship with a 9 point margin over Norris.

On Site
Perth tradie Jim Kennington had a close call when his ute was swallowed by a sinkhole in Wanneroo. Driving through a roundabout, he felt his front tyres sink, and before he knew it, his feet were wet. He climbed out the passenger side and stood by as his dual-cab ute slowly sank into the ground. Kennington took the incident in stride, saying, “Everybody’s had a little laugh at me today.” The Water Corporation confirmed the sinkhole was caused by a burst water main weakening the road surface .

Off Site
Tom Gleeson caused a stir at the Logies after going off-script with a crude joke that left producers fuming. While presenting Best Entertainment Program, he took aim at Channel 7 for nominating itself, saying: “It’s like giving yourself a wank and saying, ‘How good was that?’” The line wasn’t in the script, and producers were caught off guard. The rest of the night went smoother, with Sam Pang getting praise for hosting and Home and Away’s Lynne McGranger winning the Gold Logie.

Well, that was pretty good, wasn’t it?

If you liked it, awesome! All you need to do is come back next week, and we’ll be ready with a bunch of fresh takes for you.

Didn’t like it so much? Well, that’s alright, we don’t always ace the first go. But, since you made it this far, it would be a massive help to let us know what you didn’t like about it. Was it too long? Too short? Didn’t have what you really want?

Just hit reply to this email and let us know what you think! And don’t worry about hurting our feelings. We’re grown ups. We can take it…I swear.

(And if you really loved it, feel free to reply and tell us why!)

Cheers,
Liam