Ch7 commentator roasted over cruel Nick Riewoldt sledge

A high-profile AFL commentator’s season has got off to a tough start after coming under for fire for sledging colleague Nick Riewoldt.

Poor Brian Taylor can’t catch a break with the high-profile commentator coming under fire for a cruel sledge towards Nick Riewoldt on Sunday.

The Channel 7 star was calling his first game of the season as the Giants gave Collingwood a wake-up call with a 52-point thrashing at Engie Stadium in Sydney.

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It was also the first time Taylor and St Kilda legend Riewoldt had called a game together on Seven, and the Collingwood great couldn’t resist sticking his boot into his new colleague.

Late in the last quarter, Tim Membrey was run down from behind by GWS captain Toby Greene when the Magpies forward had been running into an open goal square.

Greene’s desperate tackle was reminiscent of the most brutal moment of Riewoldt’s career when he was famously run down from behind by Collingwood’s Heath Shaw in the 2010 AFL Grand Final Replay.

Riewoldt could clearly see the drive-by about to unfold and begged Taylor not to bring up the sensitive subject.

You can watch the moment play out in the video above

Toby Greene came up behind him like a librarian. Photo: 7Plus.

The passage of commentary began with caller Alister Nicholson describing Membrey’s missed goal as a “disaster” for the Pies as Greene was awarded a free kick for holding the ball.

Then Riewoldt stepped in.

“Don’t. Don’t say it Brian. Don’t. Don’t say it,” he said.

Taylor cheekily responded: “What’s it like to get run down in the goal square?”

Riewoldt then made a groan of mock-anguish before Nicholson said: “Well, this is meant to be a friendly environment to welcome Nick Riewoldt into and you go there BT”.

Nicholson went on to say: “Day 1. Right between the eyes.”

As point out by some fans on X, at least Taylor had the grace not to use the iconic phrase used by Dennis Commetti during the 2010 incident when he said: “Heath Shaw came up behind him like a librarian”.

Nick Riewoldt runs into an open goal, only to have his kick smothered by Heath Shaw.

Brutal.

Seven shared the exchange on its official 7AFL account on X, and the post stirred up debate with some fans appearing to disapprove of Taylor’s sledge.

“If this is what 7 is dishing up I’m happy for fox’s scoreboard to cover the entire screen,” one X user posted.

“Sort of c**p that has people turning off, changing channels”.

It is a particularly combative moment in the footy media industry with Seven and Fox Footy running separate commentary teams for the first time.

There’s also been plenty of debate about the new scorebaord graphics used by the two networks, with some suggesting the new scoreboard displays are more invasive than during the 2024 season.

Taylor’s commentary has been another major talking point.

“FOX (scoreboard) could be black and white as long as I never have to hear Brian Taylor ever again,” one person posted on X.

Another wrote: “Everyone commenting on the new scoreboard, can we all just agree it’s nice to be able to watch a Friday night game without BT’s commentary”.

One X user posted: “How good is Friday night footy without BT”.

One angry X user wrote: “Switched off @7AFL to @kayosports, can’t handle BT getting a fat everytime Collingwood touch the ball already...and its only the fitst game!! God help us”.

Nick Riewoldt, Brian Taylor, Kane Cornes, Rebecca Maddern, Bruce McAvaney, Abbey Holmes, Dale Thomas, Chad Wingard, Luke Hodge and Matthew Richardson

Fox Footy will have its own commentary for every game each round this year under a new broadcast agreement, and the network brought out the big guns for the prime time slot on Friday.

Anthony Hudson and Gerard Whateley called their first Friday night came together as Hawthorn defeated the Sydney Swans by 20 points at the SCG to kick off the season.

Channel 7 also had a new look commentary team on Friday with James Brayshaw and Nicholson calling the action with Dale Thomas and Matthew Richardson on expert commentary.

Kane Cornes also made his live-action debut on his new network.

Taylor will be commentating Thursday night games on Seven alongside Hamish McLachlan.

Thursday night’s clash between the Brisbane Lions and Geelong was postponed due to Cyclone Alfred.

Fox Footy viewers will have Matt Hill and Mark Howard calling Thursday night games this season.

Originally published as Ch7 commentator roasted over cruel Nick Riewoldt sledge