Best and worst of AFL commentary round 21
IT’S a simple four-letter word. So why couldn’t the Fox Footy commentators get this young Cat’s name right?
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THE Fox Footy callers struggled to get this young Cat’s name right. Dermott likes Nathan Brown’s line in the sand moment and Chris Scott goes WHACK again.
DUSTY’S ‘SH. T, WHAT NEXT?’ MOMENT
Here’s the best and worst of footy commentary.
We get it — he’s Irish
GEELONG fans got a glimpse of dashing half-back flanker Mark O’Connor on Saturday against Hawthorn, and would’ve noticed an interesting cultural fact during Fox Footy’s commentary.
Despite his first name being spelt M-A-R-K, it seems to actually be pronounced “The Irishman”.
Dwayne Russell avoided the traditional pronunciation of “Mark” and opted to call him “The Irishman O’Connor” for the entirety of Saturday’s game, while Eddie McGuire followed suit and even threw in a joke about Irish people drinking a lot.
Jonathan Brown, on special comments duty, also opted for the “The Irishman” and provided this truly original insight: “The Irishmen seem to kick the ball well.”
This would’ve been very insightful to all the footy fans who’ve never heard commentators calling a game in which Zach Tuohy, Conor McKenna or Pearce Hanley were playing.
Scott’s must watch pressers
ONCE the domain of his twin brother and his views on the Etihad Stadium roof, Chris Scott has made the post match press conference fun again.
Last week Scott took aim at Richmond, saying “they need a lot to go right for them to win it”.
This week it was Geelong great Bill Brownless in Scott’s crosshairs.
Brownless labelled some in the Cats midfield group “lazy”.
It didn’t go down well with Scott, who scoffed at that assessment:
“Billy Brownless was it? Talking about the midfield? Yep, gotcha.”
If Scott doesn’t rate a key forward’s opinion on the midfield, it stands to reason that Brownless won’t rate Scott’s views on forwards … only fiery back pocket types.
Stuck in the ‘80s
DERMOTT Brereton’s tactical knowledge of the modern game is second to none. But if you think he’s abandoned his ’80s roots, you must’ve missed his commentary on Fox Footy following Nathan Brown’s cheap shot on Essendon’s Adam Saad.
“Browny made a cheap shot … and he picked off Saady. And some people won’t like it, and we don’t like it,” Brereton started.
“But at least they’re standing for something, and that’s aggression … mentally they’ve said no more, we’re going to fight.”
After last week’s Andrew Gaff saga, it seemed the days of taking a stand by belting blokes into next week were over. Apparently not.
Let’s hope junior footballers take Derm’s comments with a grain of salt.
Media performer of the year?
NATHAN Buckley has won plenty of love this year by not taking himself too seriously as a media performer.
He showed on the weekend why sometimes journalists shouldn’t be taken seriously either. This is what unfolded when a journo, who will remain nameless, asked about young gun Jaidyn Stephenson.
Journo: “I think he’s played every game. How is that possible, as a first-year player?”
Buckley: “What you do is you play the first game, and then you play the second and then you end up playing right through to this round, mate.”
Carey nails a prediction
IN 63 games of AFL, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti had never kicked more than four goals in a match.
But for some reason, Channel 7’s Wayne Carey woke up on Friday morning and had a feeling that was about to change.
“McDonald-Tipungwuti will do something he’s never done before. He’ll kick five goals tonight,” Carey told Seven’s pre-game show.
It turned out he was right. We’re putting it down to a fluke. But if he nails another prediction this week, we won’t be ruling out witchcraft.
The King of footy jargon
DAVID King confuses some viewers with his deep analysis of footy.
He also confused just about every English speaker on the planet with this comment, which he let fly during the Brisbane Lions v Collingwood clash.
“How you attack has to complemate how you defend.”
That better not become a new term that slips into the footy lexicon.
West Coast’s handy win
AS West Coast players mingled on Adelaide Oval after their victory over Port Adelaide, Fox Footy’s cameras caught a few flashing hand signals which looked very similar to the one flashed by Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley earlier this season.
Hinkley celebrated the Power’s Showdown victory in round eight with a series of wild gestures to suggest his team was now on the right side of the win/loss ledger in that fixture.
If we were punters, we’d be betting the Eagles’ were using the Hinkley method to celebrate their recent record against the Power in Adelaide.
Off the Boyle
FORMER Australian sprinter Raelene Boyle looked right at home on the AFL 360 panel last week — until she dropped this line.
“I’ve got a soft spot for Hawthorn. I worked for many years with Peter Crimmins,” Boyle told Whateley.
“And I’ve known Dermie and Dunston for years.”
Raelene mustn’t watch Bounce.
Credit where it’s due …
YOU take the good with the bad when it comes to Dwayne Russell, and his one-liners are pretty damn good.
After Patrick Dangerfield won a contest while totally outnumbered and out of position, Russell summed it up perfectly.
“What Dangerfield can’t do … can’t be done.”
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