Craig Hutchison opens up about his tough call to mate James Brayshaw
LAST week James Brayshaw and Craig Hutchison had a few friendly beers. Five days later “Hutchy” rang Brayshaw to ask, did he mind if he took his job.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News . Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Hutchy’s plan to get match fit for the Footy Show
- James Brayshaw departs Channel Nine after contract breakdown
LAST week, James Brayshaw and Craig Hutchison had a few friendly beers.
Nothing out of the ordinary was discussed over dinner. The Footy Show newshound Damian Barrett, was also there. It was a few mates shooting the breeze.
Little did they know that five days later “Hutchy” would ring Brayshaw to ask, did he mind if he took his job.
On field, AFL is a tough game. Off field, the world of Melbourne’s sports television is bare-knuckled brutal.
“It was a complete bolt from the blue,” Hutchison told the Herald Sun in his first interview since being named the new Footy Show co-host alongside Rebecca Maddern. “But it’s one of those things when it lands in your lap and they already have a new path. It’s too good an opportunity to say no to … albeit in circumstances that weren’t ideal.”
It wasn’t easy, but the first thing Hutchy did after he got a call from Channel 9 Melbourne boss Ian Paterson was to phone his buddy Brayshaw.
“My thoughts on Sunday were more with him rather than with me,” Hutchison said. “James is a first-class guy and a good mate, so it made it easier to say yes to the job when he was so supportive.”
The first call last Sunday came from Paterson to tell Brayshaw his time at the network was up.
Brayshaw got the news while he was at his dad Ian’s picturesque home at Goode Beach, in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It was more than a shock — it was a body blow.
Brayshaw’s claim to fame was playing state cricket.
His dad was a WA cricket legend and he knew his son had been hit in the short ribs with the verbal equivalent of a Dennis Lillee bouncer.
Brayshaw was said to be asking for $500,000 a year to continue as The Footy Show co-host. There is the usual fog of war around salary and rumours about his contract demands are rife. Was Brayshaw miffed co-host Bec Maddern was on a paycheck of about $430,000 and he wanted more? Or was Nine fed up about hearing of so-called meetings with Channel 7 and that Brayshaw was sniffing around Dennis Cometti’s commentary gig?
Former Richmond and Collingwood player Brian Taylor picked that one up. Cometti, the best footy caller in the business, was supposedly on $850,000.
There is no doubt The Footy Show co-host’s demands for a one-night-a-week seasonal show were stratospheric. Brayshaw’s ego had gone into the interstellar space. His ludicrous asking price in a more-than-tough financial climate was begrudgingly accepted by Nine.
But whispers he was also shopping around at Fox Footy saw a gentlemen’s agreement with Nine scuttled last Sunday. As well as setting the bar too high, he wanted to do less. That was never going to fly.
Whether the fall came because of one or all of the above, the drawn out contract negotiations between Nine and Brayshaw simply broke down after 11 years in the job.
Unlike Eddie “Everywhere” McGuire, Brayshaw was never going to get a multi-network contract across the line. Those shoes will never be filled.
Brayshaw — like many TV personalities — is polarising. Some, like former Channel 9 supremo
Jeffrey Browne back him all the way, saying he is passionate and great TV talent.
“James Brayshaw is an excellent presenter and host and I am disappointed that it appears he hasn’t been able to come to terms with Nine,” Browne said last night.
A long-time Kangaroos staffer said the former North Melbourne chairman, who handed the reins at Arden St to ex-Australian soccer boss Ben Buckley at the end of last season, was a great guy to work with. He said Brayshaw was instrumental in turning the club around and was a great spokesman and figurehead for the Shinboners.
Not everyone is flattering. Former North director Peter de Rauch once famously described Brayshaw as just like a “teddy bear who you put on your bed. It doesn’t do anything. It’s just decorative”.
It’s also no secret former Footy Show host Eddie McGuire and Brayshaw don’t see eye-to-eye.
There is no question Brayshaw can be prickly.
His flashy tastes (Mercedes cars and top-of-the-range watches) put off a few of the old guard. But it also provided a chance for some good-natured ribbing on air.
Then there are stories about why he was left out of Nine’s cricket commentary this summer. Brayshaw can be stand-offish and some would say the writing was on the wall when he made a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance at the Channel 9 Upfronts in Melbourne, where major announcements are made to advertisers, less than three weeks ago.
He smiled through gritted teeth at photographers and journos alongside his now former Footy Show colleagues Billy Brownless and Maddern before disappearing. He is still part of the Triple M boys’ club and will co-host The Rush Hour with Brownless every weekday from 4-6pm.
But his tenure at Nine is up after Patto pulled the red carpet out from under him.
“I’m not privy with why James didn’t want to do it, or why they didn’t want him to do it, or what happened,” Hutchison said. “What happened, happened. It hit my desk after it happened. I had a chat to him afterwards because I wanted to make sure he was OK.”
It’s brutal out there in the contact sport of big-time TV, but at least they’re still mates.
Brewery puts name on global sporting stage
It’s the little brewery that could. A South Gippsland craft brewer is putting its name on a motorsport event with a global audience of more than 100 million people.
West Gate Tunnel build set to close key Docklands route
Brace for more traffic pain linked to the West Gate Tunnel project with a key route in the Docklands set to close.