Patrick Carlyon: Footy commentators must simply be the best at their game
Reports of an AFL “social inclusion clause” in its TV deals is jarring because football coverage isn’t meant to be an equal opportunity chance — there can only be one abiding requirement to do the job.
Patrick Carlyon
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It’s a tough gig being an AFL footy commentator.
You stand to be as maligned as footy umpires.
Everyone has a view on your work, and the less someone likes it the louder they will express it.
Let’s instead talk about footy commentators we do like.
Such as Daisy Pearce, whose insights match any of the older gentlemen with whom she shares a commentary box.
Or Sarah Jones, who hosts Fox Footy with humour and grace.
Or Eddie Betts, who brings a lightness to the panel when his colleagues start applying the sciences of a space shuttle launch to the game.
These people belong in football coverage, not because they are female or Indigenous, but because they’re rather pleasing to watch and hear.
They enhance the game.
Some commentators do not – no doubt you can and will name them.
We’ve seen many commentators come and go over the years, not necessarily because they were bad, but because they were less than excellent.
Football commentary is not a safe place. Nor should it be.
Of necessity, it is a highwire act of unpredictability and instinct, a perch that demands centimetre perfection, to mangle a catchphrase of the best-ever commentator, Dennis Cometti.
This is why reports of a so-called “social inclusion clause” of the AFL in its TV deals jar as they do.
It’s been called a ban on white men only behind a desk. Which didn’t seem like a problem, at least for those of us who look out for the likes of Daisy, Sarah and Eddie.
Football coverage is not supposed to be an equal opportunity opportunity.
Most of us – white, black, male, female or non-binary – would suck at it.
That’s why there can be only one abiding criterion for a TV football gig.
To be the best.
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