Tom Browne resigns: The contenders to replace Channel 7’s leading newshound

Tom Browne has shocked Channel 7 and the wider media landscape by handing in his resignation – so who takes over? Here are the leading contenders, including a surprise candidate.

Channel 7 has a ready-made replacement for Tom Browne with Mitch Cleary his anointed successor as chief football reporter.

But the intrigue lies in who the network will get on board to help fill the void left by Browne as Cleary’s off-sider.

It was revealed by Media Street on Monday that Browne had handed in his resignation to Seven and will walk away at the end of the 2023 season.

He is moving to Sydney for family reasons and taking a job as a video content producer with Swans chairman Andrew Pridham’s MA Financial Group.

There are a number of candidates throughout the football industry who Seven are likely to look at.

Former Fox Footy reporter Tom Morris has slowly introduced himself back into the media with SEN and certainly ticks the boxes in terms of on-air experience.

SEN host and reporter Sam Edmund would be high on the wish list along with AFL website young guns Josh Gabelich and Sarah Olle.

Tom Browne has walked away from Channel 7.

Could Tom Morris replace him? Picture: Ian Currie

Seven has previously looked at bringing over the highly regarded Western Australian Ryan Daniels and could revisit that scenario while another WA product Kate Massey has impressed coming over as a maternity leave replacement for Abbey Gelmi.

While longtime sports reporter Andrew McCormack would also be considered.

A left-field candidate could be Xander McGuire, the son of former Channel 9 boss Eddie.

Xander has been working part-time in the Ch 9 sports department over the past 12 months and there are many who are predicting he has a bright future in the media.

It might be good for him to get away from his father’s shadow at Nine and there is a parallel with Browne’s early career. He got a job at Seven when his father, Jeff, was the managing director of Channel 9.

Others who could come into consideration are Fox Sports’ Drew Jones and David Zita.

Cleary has been a rising star since joining Seven in late 2021 as a replacement for Mark Stevens, who left the chief football reporter role to take up what was a short-lived stint at the Liberal Party before now finding himself in a dual role at the Victorian Nationals.

Xander McGuire interviews Tom Hawkins.

The combination of Cleary and Browne has been a major winner for Seven with the competitiveness between the pair providing much amusement throughout the AFL media landscape.

Browne, who was also a regular on Triple M, has been one of the most successful and controversial figures in the game over his 12 years at Seven.

Last week he broke the story about Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge breaking his hand on the whiteboard during a half-time speech.

He also was first with the news regarding the timing of the Gold Coast’s dismissal of coach Stuart Dew.

Browne is never from the headlines himself and earlier in the season clashed with fellow journalist, the Age’s Marc McGowan, in the Carlton rooms after a game over comments made on social media about Ch 7 commentator Brian Taylor.