Sunday Shout: Matt Hill on the differences of calling racing and AFL

Calling either AFL or the races, Matt Hill’s voice can be heard regularly across the country. But although he’s wary of doing too much, he still has bigger fish to fry in the sports world.

With his trusty 28-year-old binoculars in hand, Matt Hill is carving out a career of calling excellence that has rapidly entered the world of Bruce McAvaney.

Hill, 44, is heard in our homes on a weekly basis via his calling of either football or races, and while conscious of overkill, he hopefully still has some bigger fish to fry.

JA: I listen to people who enter the media and sometimes cringe at their delivery. Did you have voice training?

MH: Yes, with a private tutor named Frank Depinna, and Gary Mac’s radio school when I was 15. Frank taught me to speak from my stomach, not my nose. A lot of work has gone into what I’ve done over the time.

Hill has become one of the most recognisable voices in Aussie sport.

JA: Are there similarities in calling footy and racing?

MH: Yes, in both I make sure I see the participants before a game or race. But in racing I’m on my own, whereas football I’m part of a team.

JA: Do you have favourites to call?

MH: Players who can run and are unpredictable, such as Bobby Hill. Or a Toby Greene. In racing I loved the way Jimmysstar stormed home to win the Oakleigh Plate, or Atorious in the Blue Diamond.

JA: Have you had bad moments?

MH: It’s an art-form and as such I’m that hard on myself if I get a player’s or horse’s name wrong. I will take a day or two to get over it. Maybe that has helped me become who I am today. I would say 90 per cent of what I say, I would like to change in some way. We all search for the perfect call, which will never happen.

It’s live and we are living on the edge which is a big attraction of the job.

JA: Is there a sporting event you would particularly like to call?

MH: Gout Gout or any Australian winning Olympic gold and definitely calling a Kentucky Derby. I’ve done the Grand National in England seven times for the BBC, but the Kentucky race is so special.

JA: How many pairs of binoculars do you go through?

MH: My 15x60 Carl Zeiss pair I bought from a camera shop in Flinders Street for $4000 when I was 16. They are my best friends and have travelled the world with me. I saved money to buy them from calling at non TAB meeting for a few years.

JA: Do you bet?

MH: Not on football games because we can’t but I do love a small bet on the horses, or on the dogs and the trots when I’m not working.

JA: Did you have sporting heroes as a kid?

MH: When youngsters were putting super models and footballers on their walls, I wanted to be Greg Miles and Bruce McAvaney.

JA: Was there a favourite Winx moment?

MH: Probably the Turnbull when she looked in trouble and on the line I said something like “no, they can’t beat her, they just can’t beat her”. Raw and off the cuff which is always best.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

When Carlton ruck Marc Pittonet laid his boot into leather on Thursday night to let rip the best torp of the season, it shocked AFL fans across the country.

He’s not widely known for his skills by foot – averaging more handballs than kicks across his 76-game career – and his 10 goals across 10 seasons is nothing to write home about.

But when he launched the torpedo more than 60 metres after the siren to slot the unlikeliest of goals, you would think he was off to an American college to punt balls.

Carlton ruck Marc Pittonet goes bang after the siren

While Pittonet has no plans to move sports any time soon, the ability to spiral a torpedo certainly runs in the family.

He has two cousins, Harry O’Kelly and Seamus O’Kelly, who have both played college football as punters in the US.

Harry had a five-year career (2017-21) at James Madison University in Virginia, where he won three conference championships, while Seamus played five years (2019-23) at Texas State University.

HUTCHY’S LATEST MOVE

Craig Hutchison’s purchase of racing station RSN, helped by proceeds from his clever acquisition and sale of the Perth Wildcats, will naturally lead to some on-air changes.

Could it also see SEN change its frequency from 1116 to 927 for better reception, just as 3AW did some years back when shifting from 1278 to 693.

The Benaud-Worrell trophy sounds good to Jon Anderson.

TIME TO HONOUR RICHIE

Given cricket series often play for trophies bearing two surnames (Border-Gavaskar, Chappell-Hadlee) why do Australia-West Indies games only carry the name of the legendary Sir Frank Worrell?

Surely Richie Benaud would be appropriate to join Sir Frank, given the pair combined as captains to help produce one of cricket’s greatest series in 1960/61.

A pair of Royal Melbourne members picked up a playing partner on the east course last week who at age 81 had just been made an was a honorary member after returning from Florida.

Introduced as Graham, the friendly octogenarian clearly could play a bit, which is not surprising given Graham Marsh won 70 tournaments during his stunning career.

Originally published as Sunday Shout: Matt Hill on the differences of calling racing and AFL