Channel Seven has been adamant that there will not be a direct replacement for Bruce McAvaney as the face of their football coverage, but who will step up and take his spotlight?
The Sounding Board Podcast has been closely following this topic for a while now as well as the contenders vying to be the next leader of the broadcast.
Craig Hutchison and Damian Barrett have gone through the four names in the race and how they will be impacted by McAvaney’s sudden departure.
Not in the race:
Basil Zempalis
Hutchison: “The mayorship has cost him. I think he was good enough, Basil, but he perhaps didn’t think he was in race.”
Barrett: “Well, he’s out because he’s the mayor (of Perth).”
The contenders:
Brian Taylor
Barrett: “Brian wouldn’t like this situation, I would’ve thought, because he doesn’t know the outcome.”
Hutchison: “I don’t think his role changes. He’s going to be calling Friday night no matter what happens and I don’t think he should even stress about it. He’s been as warm as he can be. The global warming of Brian has been by-and-large a successful product. We’re seeing the cuddly bear more than we’re seeing the angry bear.”
Hamish McLachlan
Hutchison: “Hamish has had a different strategy to the chair. Hamish has MC’d 60 lunches (Channel Seven Managing Director) Lewis Martin has attended in the last two years. He’s taken the back route to the chair by going the MC route and his best friend is Lewis Martin’s EA (executive assistant).”
James Brayshaw
Hutchison: “James has been trying to shed the Triple M skin.”
Barrett: “They’re different people the one we have on Saturday on Triple M to the one we see on Friday night on Channel Seven.”
Hutchison: “Somewhere along the line, Lewis has gone, ‘we can tone that down a bit’, and James has taken that and run a mile.”
Luke Darcy
Hutchison: “‘The Duke’ is in the background, he’s ‘House of Wellness’-ing his way through the business and I wouldn’t rule him out at some stage.”
Who will be the face of the Ch7 footy broadcast going forward?
— The Sounding Board (@SoundingBoardEp) March 1, 2021
The conclusion
Hutchison: “If I’m a betting man, Hamish is the host pre-game.”
Barrett: “So the first camera is on Hamish?”
Hutchison: “Yep, pre and post (game) … and I think the preferred team will be James and Brian on the Friday night and there’ll be a little flex here and there interstate. So they won’t commit hardcore to that, they’ll leave themselves the out on those two, but that would be the natural fit wouldn’t it?”
Barrett: “I would think so, but I don’t have any intel on it.”
Listen to the full episode below