Bruce McAvaney’s announcement that his days of calling the footy is over sure was sad to hear for all footy fans.
Any scroll through your social media feeds in the past 48 hours has been nothing but love for a very Spppecccchhiial, iconic and delicious commentator.
You just get the feeling we’re all gonna miss Bruce don’t you?
The Question now remains – just who will replace Bruce in the Channel 7 commentary box for Friday night footy?
It’s the hottest job in the Australian Football/Media/Television landscape and we’ve had the shortlist of applicants leaked to us in this exclusive report.
Brian Taylor goes Solo
BOY-OH-BOY.
WOW-WE.
LLLOYYYYDDDD
ORRRAAAZZZZZIIIIIIIOOO FANNNNTTTTASSSSSSIIIIA
DID YOU SEE THAT?
BT flys solo.
No co-commentator.
Just 100% Brissle.
Friday night is BT night featuring the footy. WOW-WE.
Basil Zempalis
Currently juggling breakfast radio, reading the sports news on Channel 7 WA and being Lord Mayor of Perth there’s no doubting that Basil could fit in Friday Night Footy commentary duties.
The great thing about Basil is that if one of his co-commentators proves him wrong, he’ll offer up a $300 voucher to Retravision.
Hamish McLachlan
Like Prince Charles waiting for Queen Lizzie to call it a day, Hamish has been waiting for this moment since he burst on our screens as the friendly host of AFL GameDay.
James Brayshaw
JEEEPERS.
Just imagine, JB and BT on a Friday night on Seven followed by JB and BT on a Saturday arvo on Triple M.
We’re all for it.
Tom Browne
Big Tommy Browne makes his way up in the world from breaking the big news, being the first one to ask a question at a presser and tweeting the tweets that only Tom Browne can to the lead role on Friday night footy.
Tom Browne has made a demo tape. You just know it.
Jason Bennett
The man has developed a reputation as an accurate, knowledgeable, enthusiastic caller who lets the football be the star of the show since being the face of the original FOX Footy channel.
Along with co-caller Nigel Carmody, Bennett’s commentary has proven popular in Seven’s AFLW and VFL broadcasts.
It seems unlikely that he’ll step up to the Friday night team, but don’t rule it out.
Rob Riggle and Matt Shrivington
Forget Jake Stringer, Shrivo is the original package.
Matt Shrivington was brought in as a replacement for Brian Taylor in Holey Moley.
Along with comedian Rob Riggle, these two have been without a doubt the highlight of the series.
A Woman
It’s only taken 60+ years of football (and sport in general) being broadcast on television for female commentators to be part of the commentary lineups.
We’ve come a long way from when the likes of Caroline Wilson and Dixie Marshall weren’t even allowed in the change rooms, and there’s still a way to go.
Kelli Underwood has come leaps and bounds since first calling AFL games on Channel 10 back in 2009
The likes of Sarah Jones, Sarah Ole, Kath Loughnan, Jacqui Felgate, Neroli Medows, Sam Lane would all make perfect hosts for Friday night footy broadcasts and no doubt transition into fine play-by-play commentators.
Jo Wotton has proven to be another excellent, knowledgeable and enthusiastic caller in Seven’s AFLW broadcasts this season.
Daisy Pearce, Abbey Holmes, and Bec Goddard are some of the best special comments people in the business in both AFLW and AFL men’s games.
You would hope we’re beyond tokenism in suggesting the new face of Friday night footy be a female, as every single person listed (and a few we may have left out) would be more than worthy/capable of taking Bruce’s spot.
Bev and the Burnout
They say the youth are our future and the future of sports broadcasting is Jacob “Bev” Bevis (The Bev Show) and Burney “The Burnout” Wong (Bunk Out with The Burnout)
The two Facebook stars regularly offer alternative calls of Friday night footy and Big Bash games.
Time to blood the kids and replace the entire Channel 7 commentary team with Bev and the Burnout.
Rick McIntosh
The voice of Victorian country Racing/Warnambool carnvial could easily transition to Friday night Footy.
Bruce McAvaney was originally a race caller afterall!
“HOW GOOD IS THE BOOL?”
“HOW GOOD IS THE FOOTY?”
Works for us.
Social Commentators from Sunrise, Today Show, SKY News, etc
Social commentators seem to be everywhere.
How does one become a social commentator?
No bloody idea, but it somehow involves being a talking head on television and somehow having an opinion on everything, usually what has been recently canceled by social media.
In a complete reversal of what is usually said in our comments section, perhaps they should stick to politics rather than sport.
Rex Hunt
Imgaine big Rexy making one of the all-time great comebacks.
BANG! THE WORMBURNER! YYYAAAAAAABBBBBBLLLLLETTTTTTTT! Higher than Joe Cocker! The fat lady singing…glorious.
Anthony Hudson
Huddo on Friday night footy with BT?
I SEE IT BUT I DON’T BELEIVE IT!
Year in, year out Huddo has been voted one of the best callers on television, Anthony Hudson being part of Channel 7’s coverage would mean he’d get to call the Grand Final, like he did when at Ten.
This is a tantilising prospect.
Dwayne Russell
For viewers that have just joined us in junk time, Dwayne is still a chance to take the top spot on Friday night footy.
It’s not the first time he’s done it either.
Longtime viewers of Friday night footy would recall that Dwayne Russell did take over as the main caller on Channel 9’s coverage in their final season back in 2006 when Eddie McGuire became CEO of the ntetwork.
Kochie
It’s not the first time a club president has been the host of Friday night Football commentating their own teams games.
Wake up with Kochie in the morning, watch the footy with Kochie at night.
Not even the Cash Cow could put a price on it.
Eddie McGuire
He may no longer be the president of Collingwood and Eddie has said he intends to scale back media roles for the time being, but you know he’s picked up the phone to Channel 7 to flag any interest.
However, Eddie being on Channel 7 just doesn’t feel right.
His stint as host and the lead caller on Friday Night Footy back in the Channel 9 days from 2002-05 was controversial when he called games involving the Magpies.
Luke Darcy
Say that again?
The 12th Man
Why not get someone who impersonates commentators for a living to just pretend to be Bruce instead?
While mostly known for doing the voice of Richie, Tony, Bill, Chapelli, Maxy Walker, Rabbs Warren and Darrell Eastlake – Billy Birmingham attempted McAvaney during the Sydney Olympics in “Bruce 2000”
Rob Sitch
Bruce is/was one of the most impersonated commentators, however, Rob Sitch pioneered his tones and mannerisms perfectly on The Late Show back in 1992.
Eric Bana
Before he was the Hollywood superstar and even Poida on Full Frontal, Eric Bana did release his own 12th man inspired footy album called “Out of Bounds”
Bana did an excellent Rex, Dennis, Darrel Eastlake and Dipper.
He didn’t attempt Bruce, but there’s no doubting Bana could do it.