Bruce McAvaney to carry Thomas Seymour Hill trophy onto Adelaide Oval for SANFL Grand Final
The legendary broadcaster grew up dreaming of running onto the Oval on SANFL grand final day.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Bruce McAvaney said he always dreamt of running onto Adelaide Oval on SANFL grand final day.
Now the legendary South Australian broadcaster is about to get the chance “in a way I never expected’’.
“As a sports-mad kid growing up in Adelaide the SANFL played a huge part in my life and means so much to me, its players were my heroes,’’ McAvaney said after being announced as the SANFL’s 2023 premiership cup ambassador.
“To be able to be out on Adelaide Oval on grand final day, with my hands on the cup, is going to be a great honour, a huge thrill.’’
McAvaney, the voice of football who this year was inducted into the Australian football Hall of Fame, will have the honour of carrying the Thomas Seymour Hill premiership trophy onto Adelaide Oval prior to Sunday’s grand final between Glenelg and Sturt.
He recalls growing up in the late 1950s when Port Adelaide won six consecutive premierships and then witnessing South Adelaide's famous 1964 flag and the Sturt dynasty, when it won five consecutive premierships from 1966-70.
“Glenelg was challenging Sturt late in that run of five premierships (losing to it in the 1969 and 1970 grand finals) and now we are sort of reliving a bit of that with the two clubs playing on Sunday,’’ McAvaney said.
“When you think of some of the players, when I grew up Lindsay Head was probably the great player of South Australia, but my hero was Haydn Bunton Jnr, and then within a short time (Barrie) Robran, (Russell) Ebert, (Malcolm) Blight, (Paul) Bagshaw, it doesn't get any better than that and those memories for me are as vivid today as they were then, so that’s what shaped me and had a profound effect on me as a person and a broadcaster.
“Then I got the opportunity to call SANFL footy with Robert Oatey and a team that included Ian Day and Peter Marker and that was really the beginning of the opportunities that I’ve had since, so I owe a lot to the competition and be in this position now is a real privilege.’’
McAvaney, who lives at Glenelg and will be a special guest at Sunday’s grand final luncheon at Adelaide Oval, has tipped a close grand final.
“I think Glenelg has to be a slight favourite but who knows because one team (Sturt) has played three consecutive matches and the other has had a bit of a break so we are not going to find out until Sunday afternoon, but I do believe it will be close,’’ he said.
“It’s going to be a hot final, we always remember those, and I think the last 10 minutes could be as thrilling as the last 10 minutes last year (between Norwood and North Adelaide) and if that’s the case we’re in for one heck of a ride.’’
‘It’s okay to sit this one out’: Gory Rohan injury shocks ESPN
Pictures of Gary Rohan returning to training with staples in his head a week after surgery on a fractured skull has left followers of US sports giant ESPN gobsmacked.
A nana’s tears for Port star living out his dreams far away from home
A Port Adelaide star has thrived since moving over from Geelong, but it’s been a much tougher time for his beloved nana back in their Victorian home town.