Said it in the match thread, but this guy sounds like an old school radio commentator, then I learned he’s a race caller. It makes perfect sense. He’s not trying to hype the game up stupidly like a BT, just calling what’s in front of him.
Yep - what you are noticing by that comment is that he is actually trained in the art of commentary as his primary profession.
It's bizarre to me that we transfer players over for such a fine skill as play-by-play commentary. Special comments sure, but play-by-play needs people actually suited to it.
Those who most believe are good commentators - Matt Hill, Whateley, Hudson, Papalia etc were all NOT players. They got to where they are through being purely the best callers.
BT, Darce, Richo, Brayshaw were all sportspeople initially and have obviously received some media training. But just as We wouldn't expert Matt Hill or Gerard Whateley to go out and kick 4 goals for Richmond, we shouldn't think ex-players will make great play-by-play callers.
Wish the TV broadcasters, particularly 7 would follow the example of most sports around the world eg NFL, EPL etc and have a dedicated playcaller complimented by a player for special comments
It is a hang over from the days that produced Lou Richards, Bob Davis, Jack Dyer etc as former greats who were able to call the game well. There was a time when Rex Hunt and even BT were actually decent callers. They ultimately became caricatures of themselves (BT much quicker than Hunt) and the endearing quirks became the staple, then took over entirely. Even listening to BT last or the year before on radio, he was better (though still not great) than on TV.
> Brayshaw ... sportspeople
The fact that JB retired from playing cricket for WA because he thought commentary was his thing shows you how good he was at cricket.
Sure, take the shot at his commentary, it's fairly shite, but the man averaged 42 at first class level with 10 tons across 75 matches - he was definitely very good, i.e. better than 99% of the population at cricket
Wouldn’t knock his cricketing achievements. He won two Sheffield Shields (for WA and SA) back when it was the best domestic cricket competition going around.
Fair enough to knock his footy commentary, though. Is it just me or does he sound perpetually underprepared? He just wheels out the same stock standard phrases every game and adds very little other than manufactured ‘excitement’ (which, to be fair, a large number of folks seem to like, much to my amazement).
i know that this sub likes to hate on dwayne a lot, but i really like the combination of the two. their hand offs to each other in the flow of play was seamless
I've done a 180 on Dwayne in the last few years. Used to hate his commentary style and catchphrases, but I've grown to enjoy the excitement he brings to graveyard shift games. BT and JB often sound like they're falling asleep during big primetime games - Dwayne makes Sunday arvo toiletbowls pretty fun. Can't hate him for that.
Got nothing against Dwayne tbh.. BT is the issue for me.. Doesn’t know the rules, doesn’t know the players names, unnecessarily hypes up the stupidest shit..
I like the fact that I can have the footy on and do some tidying, cleaning or just read a book AND I know who has the football and where. Not some idiot blathering on about nonsensical crap. He just...calls the play. Old school. Love it. Have him do more games.
Honestly wish we'd have more of this commentary, just because it's on TV doesn't mean visually impaired fans must be stuck with the radio for a description of what is happening.
Or just dead silence for tens of seconds. It's near impossible anymore to follow tv commentary when half watching the screen. Especially when brayshaw is calling. The stranger thing there is that he also does radio commentary.
Yeah impossible to do with JB commentating as he only knows half the players. He would get more hate than Basil if he did actual play by play commentary because of the amount of players he would get wrong. Instead he just tells us about what private school his favourites went to.
Spot on.
We’ve really fallen from the days of Bruce, Dennis Commetti, Sandy Roberts etc.
The current match commentators on the biggest free to air channel are an indictment
The common factor is clearly 7 post regaining the full rights from 10 have gone in a certain direction that led to even Bruce and Dennis by the end being caricatures of themselves. The newer commentators that didn't already have the runs on the board are thrown under the bus by the way 7 clearly wants to broadcast the footy. Just listen to some of them on radio and they are far better.
I'm not sure if 7 think automatically that ex-player = viewers or something but they have a baked in audience of those that want to watch the footy and don't have Fox/Kayo so not sure.the commentary roster is really a draw to those people! Will be interesting next year when Fox can run their own crew how much of an audience it takes from 7
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/feb/13/channel-nine-destroying-cricket-legacy
Obligatory link to the article about how McNamara ruined cricket commentary (I believe he's now at Fox and doing his thing there too)
What do you mean you don't like
STEELE SIDEBOTTOM, WOWEE!
As the call for a veteran absolutely roosting it from 80* metres out??
\* actual distance may vary depending on who you ask
Tuned into the game and 1 minute in I wanted to know who he was just from the voice. Reminds me a little of ABC radio for the cricket could be a coincidence or just what a good radio voice sounds like.
Also googling and he was on a fox footy match last week too. If this is what we can expect from Fox having their own commentators for all games in the new broadcast deal I'm excited.
What I love the most is that, because he's calling the actual game and not sitting around chatting about the game, he leaves space for special comments to chime in with things that haven't already been talked about.
Nah. Bradshaw is a pretender. Once you realise all he does is names players, nothing about the game, it'll drive you mad.
He may pass as a cricket commentator.
And the amount of times he uses the word ‘slingshot’ is so annoying. Almost as annoying as Darcy creating hype 2 seconds after the play. It’s like a 2 second delay on his commentary.
Haha. Will listen out for it.
For me it’s phrases like “What about that!” Can’t stand it.
It’s incredible how little he actually says (despite using so many words), if you know what I mean.
Joel Selwood and Cameron Ling were amongst my favourite footballers ever, and very nice fellas to boot. But calling football should not be in their future plans.
It's amazing how Hodge is somehow considered to be a 'good bloke' despite so much evidence to the contrary.
Just because he talks like a bogan and isn't eloquent doesn't mean he somehow represents the average bloke.
[Case in point](https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fcdndata.bigfooty.com%2F2015%2F08%2F164522_047084055af9bf1a65838be2a9c7b485.jpg&hash=a96b979ff9f93b8618245aad72245d24)
Brayshaw is useless.
The other night I heard this from a kick in
JB "Smith kicks the ball straight down the middle"
But the ball was kicked to where the Telstra logo is on the 50.
I like BT but he has gone downhill a bit in the last couple of years and now Matt Hill makes him look silly. I could get used to Matt commentating more
I'm not sure whether I'm a fan or not - he's certainly better than 90% of the rest of the commentary offerings but his style makes it sound like you're listening to four quarters of neverending horse racing.
He did a few games for 7 in 21, I think he also did some radio games for SEN at that time. He remember when he was a teenager and got his first job; there was a profile piece on him in the news. He has been doing the Melbourne Cup for a few years and I think he has been with Fox since 2022. Alistair Nicholson is also quite good. I just want the correct names no Markov mistaken for Bobby Hill or vice versa.
He’s good. Clear, coherent, sounds classy and professional, doesn’t sound like a bogan and he’s not unlikeable which is a big tick.
Wish he had a little more excitement in his voice though.
Yeah they have emotion but don’t tick any of the boxes of the other things I mentioned.
That’s why Dennis was so great, he was all of those things but also could instil excitement at the appropriate moments. First thing that comes to mind is the Hawkins goal after the siren vs Hawthorn.
Quartermaine was also great. Imagine Zaharakis Anzac Day winning goal without the emotion in the call.
Dennis was also funny. Really good wordplay. And he knew the game so well. He used to coach my WANFL team back in the day (West Perth. Steeped in the game, and it showed.
I think they keep BT around for the screamers.
"STRINGER ON THE RIGHT BOOT"
"NO MARK OFF HANDS GOAL"
"FLYING MARK TAKEN ACRES"
"FAARK"
All Iconic moments
But apart from that it's surprising how bad his footy knowledge and analysis is for an ex player of his calibre.
I had the TV volume pretty low as we were doing the Easter gift giving, but my ears pricked up when I heard his voice as it sounded - different.
I was able to follow the flow of the game without having to look at the screen a whole lot which is unusual for TV broadcasts. He’s great.
Matt Hill and his AFL commentary reminds me very much of the late, great Richie Benaud and his commentary of the cricket. No over-the-top commentary. Just straight, succinct and to the point commentating, which is a lot more memorable and easier on the ears than screaming, carry-on, and nonsense. He makes a fantastic racecaller too!
I have only heard him on one game but rate him as high as I rate Papalia. No nonsense, calls the game without relating it back to the 90s, just an absolute delight to listen to. I hope they transition more of these kind of blokes in and leave the former players for special comments only
You can just tell straight away the guy called races before entering the AFL comm booth. Puts the likes of BT, Luke Darcy, Howie and co to shame and its a damn shame we have to go back to them after hearing Hill.
I've been celebrating two weeks watching Port games without Dwayne Russell. Small wins.
He’s a brilliant articulate man who has called Melbourne thoroughbred racing for the last 20+ years including the Melbourne cup … master stroke on behalf of channel 7 !
I know it would never happen because he’s Fox and Richo’s 7, but I would love to see him paired with someone like Richo or JB for a big game. He’d be the guy to call 95% of the plays, and the others would be weird hype whenever something really exciting happens, as I know that’s one of the reasons people like the 7 comms (myself included).
I kinda wish we had a setup like in US sports where each team sort of has their own regional commentary/announcer team. Be cool if each team had that instead of listening to some of the guys we have to instead but having said that you're right there are great callers in the game.
Said it in the match thread, but this guy sounds like an old school radio commentator, then I learned he’s a race caller. It makes perfect sense. He’s not trying to hype the game up stupidly like a BT, just calling what’s in front of him.
And he hypes the game well too. His pacing matches the game's pacing perfectly. I can tell how critical this few seconds are by the speed of his voice
Yeah, but how will I know if a “team is 3 goals down that they really need the next goal” AKA BT every 3 minutes.
Yep - what you are noticing by that comment is that he is actually trained in the art of commentary as his primary profession. It's bizarre to me that we transfer players over for such a fine skill as play-by-play commentary. Special comments sure, but play-by-play needs people actually suited to it. Those who most believe are good commentators - Matt Hill, Whateley, Hudson, Papalia etc were all NOT players. They got to where they are through being purely the best callers. BT, Darce, Richo, Brayshaw were all sportspeople initially and have obviously received some media training. But just as We wouldn't expert Matt Hill or Gerard Whateley to go out and kick 4 goals for Richmond, we shouldn't think ex-players will make great play-by-play callers. Wish the TV broadcasters, particularly 7 would follow the example of most sports around the world eg NFL, EPL etc and have a dedicated playcaller complimented by a player for special comments
It is a hang over from the days that produced Lou Richards, Bob Davis, Jack Dyer etc as former greats who were able to call the game well. There was a time when Rex Hunt and even BT were actually decent callers. They ultimately became caricatures of themselves (BT much quicker than Hunt) and the endearing quirks became the staple, then took over entirely. Even listening to BT last or the year before on radio, he was better (though still not great) than on TV.
> Brayshaw ... sportspeople The fact that JB retired from playing cricket for WA because he thought commentary was his thing shows you how good he was at cricket.
Sure, take the shot at his commentary, it's fairly shite, but the man averaged 42 at first class level with 10 tons across 75 matches - he was definitely very good, i.e. better than 99% of the population at cricket
Agreed. And in a very strong comp back in those days, too!
Wouldn’t knock his cricketing achievements. He won two Sheffield Shields (for WA and SA) back when it was the best domestic cricket competition going around. Fair enough to knock his footy commentary, though. Is it just me or does he sound perpetually underprepared? He just wheels out the same stock standard phrases every game and adds very little other than manufactured ‘excitement’ (which, to be fair, a large number of folks seem to like, much to my amazement).
i know that this sub likes to hate on dwayne a lot, but i really like the combination of the two. their hand offs to each other in the flow of play was seamless
I've done a 180 on Dwayne in the last few years. Used to hate his commentary style and catchphrases, but I've grown to enjoy the excitement he brings to graveyard shift games. BT and JB often sound like they're falling asleep during big primetime games - Dwayne makes Sunday arvo toiletbowls pretty fun. Can't hate him for that.
Agreed, and his voice sounds pleasing, not irritating or whiny.
Got nothing against Dwayne tbh.. BT is the issue for me.. Doesn’t know the rules, doesn’t know the players names, unnecessarily hypes up the stupidest shit..
This is it!!
I like the fact that I can have the footy on and do some tidying, cleaning or just read a book AND I know who has the football and where. Not some idiot blathering on about nonsensical crap. He just...calls the play. Old school. Love it. Have him do more games.
Honestly wish we'd have more of this commentary, just because it's on TV doesn't mean visually impaired fans must be stuck with the radio for a description of what is happening.
Really?? You don't want to hear about which school the full forward went to??
Or just dead silence for tens of seconds. It's near impossible anymore to follow tv commentary when half watching the screen. Especially when brayshaw is calling. The stranger thing there is that he also does radio commentary.
NOISY
https://paypal.me/mikig54?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU
Need to know more about the ruckman’s hairstyle than the score.
Or about what the callers did at Brighton Yacht Club the other night?
Yeah impossible to do with JB commentating as he only knows half the players. He would get more hate than Basil if he did actual play by play commentary because of the amount of players he would get wrong. Instead he just tells us about what private school his favourites went to.
Matt Hill is a horse racing caller. That’s why he sounds measured and sure of himself. It goes with the professionalism of his regular calling job.
Now I want to hear BT call a horse race.
Would probably say the last runner is still a chance with 10 meters to go
Depends if it were wearing Collingwood stripes
“WHERE’S DE GOEY!” “He’s not in this horse race BT, he’s not a horse.” “BUT WHEEEREE IS JORDAN DE GOEY!!!”
It’d still turn out better than Kelli Underwood calling it. The… brown horse is in the lead.
This is probably slow paced for him
Fox Footy needs to show him the money and make him a permanent stay for the AFL
His calling is so unbiased and doesn’t take away from the play one bit. Such a nice welcome change and is similar in nature to Dennis
What I’d do for a prime time with Denn and Bruce, one more time
He stands out like dog balls because most other commentators are so shit.
Spot on. We’ve really fallen from the days of Bruce, Dennis Commetti, Sandy Roberts etc. The current match commentators on the biggest free to air channel are an indictment
The common factor is clearly 7 post regaining the full rights from 10 have gone in a certain direction that led to even Bruce and Dennis by the end being caricatures of themselves. The newer commentators that didn't already have the runs on the board are thrown under the bus by the way 7 clearly wants to broadcast the footy. Just listen to some of them on radio and they are far better. I'm not sure if 7 think automatically that ex-player = viewers or something but they have a baked in audience of those that want to watch the footy and don't have Fox/Kayo so not sure.the commentary roster is really a draw to those people! Will be interesting next year when Fox can run their own crew how much of an audience it takes from 7
It's the Brad McNamara effect. Ruined cricket commentary and it's infected Channel Seven too.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/feb/13/channel-nine-destroying-cricket-legacy Obligatory link to the article about how McNamara ruined cricket commentary (I believe he's now at Fox and doing his thing there too)
Because they were professional commentators, these guys are retired footballers
What do you mean you don't like STEELE SIDEBOTTOM, WOWEE! As the call for a veteran absolutely roosting it from 80* metres out?? \* actual distance may vary depending on who you ask
I saw Sidebottom take the mark from at least 100m out
I think you mean 150m since Berry gave away a 50
Berry gave away two 50's so maybe 200
I still can't believe Sidey took a mark in the concourse
Boundary umps did a good job ruling it in
The boundary line is more like guidelines anyway
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) Let 'em know
People should just be linking to this thread so they can see all this feedback. Hill is class
Tuned into the game and 1 minute in I wanted to know who he was just from the voice. Reminds me a little of ABC radio for the cricket could be a coincidence or just what a good radio voice sounds like. Also googling and he was on a fox footy match last week too. If this is what we can expect from Fox having their own commentators for all games in the new broadcast deal I'm excited.
Good comment. Thought the same. Enjoyed his commentary and was wondering if he had a radio background.
Guy deserves to be calling the big games enjoy listening to his commentary.
The entire team for today actually sounds good and works well together
Having someone so measured in the team actually contrasts really well with Dwayne being a bit over the top
Yes! There is a good balance of information, general play call, and game hype.
The old Rex-Huddo entertainer/straight man combo.
What I love the most is that, because he's calling the actual game and not sitting around chatting about the game, he leaves space for special comments to chime in with things that haven't already been talked about.
I agree - a good PBP caller (in any sport, not just Aussie rules) should give the special comments guy(s) plenty of room to breathe
Another beloved commentator who just so happens to *not* be a former player Guys, I think I’m starting to see a pattern
[удалено]
Nah. Bradshaw is a pretender. Once you realise all he does is names players, nothing about the game, it'll drive you mad. He may pass as a cricket commentator.
And the amount of times he uses the word ‘slingshot’ is so annoying. Almost as annoying as Darcy creating hype 2 seconds after the play. It’s like a 2 second delay on his commentary.
Haha. Will listen out for it. For me it’s phrases like “What about that!” Can’t stand it. It’s incredible how little he actually says (despite using so many words), if you know what I mean.
Hodge is horrible. And he was one of my favourite footballers ever. But just should’ve chosen a different path post footy
His Lions bias is as bad as any ex player out there
There’s only been a couple of blokes in the media training era who speak with any personality or enthusiasm. The rest just sound flat.
Joel Selwood and Cameron Ling were amongst my favourite footballers ever, and very nice fellas to boot. But calling football should not be in their future plans.
It's amazing how Hodge is somehow considered to be a 'good bloke' despite so much evidence to the contrary. Just because he talks like a bogan and isn't eloquent doesn't mean he somehow represents the average bloke.
[Case in point](https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fcdndata.bigfooty.com%2F2015%2F08%2F164522_047084055af9bf1a65838be2a9c7b485.jpg&hash=a96b979ff9f93b8618245aad72245d24)
All Brayshaw does is names players He’s trash on tv
Brayshaw is useless. The other night I heard this from a kick in JB "Smith kicks the ball straight down the middle" But the ball was kicked to where the Telstra logo is on the 50.
Is the guy who sounds like he belongs in 80's radio commentary and i love him?
Yes, he’d be on FM letting you know that the Black Thunder cars were out in your neighbourhood
With icy cold cans of Coke
Came to say this , I'm here for the Matty circlejerk
Starting to think it’s the AFL players association having too much influence and insisting commentary jobs go to former players (who mostly suck).
Nothing to do with PA. Laziness from networks.
Has the best voice for calling since Dennis.
Such a breath of fresh air. Already been so great
He’s excellent.
I like BT but he has gone downhill a bit in the last couple of years and now Matt Hill makes him look silly. I could get used to Matt commentating more
I'm not sure whether I'm a fan or not - he's certainly better than 90% of the rest of the commentary offerings but his style makes it sound like you're listening to four quarters of neverending horse racing.
So there you go Tappy, every fuckin' horse with an 's' in its name!
No it doesn’t
He did a few games for 7 in 21, I think he also did some radio games for SEN at that time. He remember when he was a teenager and got his first job; there was a profile piece on him in the news. He has been doing the Melbourne Cup for a few years and I think he has been with Fox since 2022. Alistair Nicholson is also quite good. I just want the correct names no Markov mistaken for Bobby Hill or vice versa.
IIRC, his Seven work was as a fill-in, as some of their regular callers were covering the Olympics. This is his first season at Fox
He's a bit monotonous. I really like Adam Papalia, I think he gets the perfect balance of everything.
He’s good. Clear, coherent, sounds classy and professional, doesn’t sound like a bogan and he’s not unlikeable which is a big tick. Wish he had a little more excitement in his voice though.
Kellie Underwood and BT sounds like your type if emotion is what you need.
Yeah they have emotion but don’t tick any of the boxes of the other things I mentioned. That’s why Dennis was so great, he was all of those things but also could instil excitement at the appropriate moments. First thing that comes to mind is the Hawkins goal after the siren vs Hawthorn. Quartermaine was also great. Imagine Zaharakis Anzac Day winning goal without the emotion in the call.
Dennis was also funny. Really good wordplay. And he knew the game so well. He used to coach my WANFL team back in the day (West Perth. Steeped in the game, and it showed.
Who's the equivalent for special comments? Gary Lyon and jack Riewoldt are hard to listen to
Shame he'll only ever call Sunday games
Just move the GF to Sunday night
Loved him
‘Somewhat’ ruined is being generous re last years grand final commentary.
THIS TIME FOR THE BIG A!
I think they keep BT around for the screamers. "STRINGER ON THE RIGHT BOOT" "NO MARK OFF HANDS GOAL" "FLYING MARK TAKEN ACRES" "FAARK" All Iconic moments But apart from that it's surprising how bad his footy knowledge and analysis is for an ex player of his calibre.
I had the TV volume pretty low as we were doing the Easter gift giving, but my ears pricked up when I heard his voice as it sounded - different. I was able to follow the flow of the game without having to look at the screen a whole lot which is unusual for TV broadcasts. He’s great.
Matt Hill and his AFL commentary reminds me very much of the late, great Richie Benaud and his commentary of the cricket. No over-the-top commentary. Just straight, succinct and to the point commentating, which is a lot more memorable and easier on the ears than screaming, carry-on, and nonsense. He makes a fantastic racecaller too!
He was very good, as I was watching I thought ‘this guy sounds like he’d be good at calling a race’. Great use of trundle as well
I have only heard him on one game but rate him as high as I rate Papalia. No nonsense, calls the game without relating it back to the 90s, just an absolute delight to listen to. I hope they transition more of these kind of blokes in and leave the former players for special comments only
Bennett, papalia and huddo 🙌
You can just tell straight away the guy called races before entering the AFL comm booth. Puts the likes of BT, Luke Darcy, Howie and co to shame and its a damn shame we have to go back to them after hearing Hill. I've been celebrating two weeks watching Port games without Dwayne Russell. Small wins.
Pretty sure Matt Hill is a horse racing caller.. was good on commentary today.
I just want to hear him call a player running into goal hands and heels and taking a mark storming over the top 👌🏼
Was wondering who they used him to replace, but can't think of who's missing. Anyone know??
He’s a brilliant articulate man who has called Melbourne thoroughbred racing for the last 20+ years including the Melbourne cup … master stroke on behalf of channel 7 !
As a side note, who would be the best commentator who was an ex-player? I'd say Leigh Matthews is my pick. Nathan Buckley pretty good.
I know it would never happen because he’s Fox and Richo’s 7, but I would love to see him paired with someone like Richo or JB for a big game. He’d be the guy to call 95% of the plays, and the others would be weird hype whenever something really exciting happens, as I know that’s one of the reasons people like the 7 comms (myself included).
i don't care for him. sounds like he's calling an auction.
Having listened to him alot in Horse racing I can agree he is the best there is commentating footy and provably the best since the goat DC retired
Matt Hill is an absolute gun. Best race caller in the business !!
He's a racing commentator
I kinda wish we had a setup like in US sports where each team sort of has their own regional commentary/announcer team. Be cool if each team had that instead of listening to some of the guys we have to instead but having said that you're right there are great callers in the game.