Eddie McGuire all class during Western Derby call

Eddie McGuire showed off his showed his trademark flair and charisma to give WA football supporters the coverage they so rightfully deserve.

“It’s a pleasure to be here, because this is one of the great games in AFL football.”

After a week of headlines and interviews, media mogul Eddie McGuire was all class and professional as he called his first Western Derby in his illustrious career.

The 54-year-old was assigned to lead Fox Footy’s coverage of the 49th Western Derby, causing a debate amongst West Australians, who had voted him the most annoying in a footy survey last year.

But after overcoming a small feud with the State Government over whether they were making best use of Optus Stadium for the economy and tourism, the Collingwood president showed his trademark flair and charisma to give WA football supporters the coverage they so rightfully deserve.

McGuire almost made a hiccup by calling the derby a “darby” just before the first centre bounce, but he held his inner-Victorian at bay and for a few moments showed he could have even made a good Sandgroper had he spent a little more time in the great State.

After this, McGuire was seemingly faultless, lifting Eagles supporters out their chairs as he called their young speedster Jack Petruccelle kick the first goal of the game and bringing calm to the clash which at times was dour.

McGuire had clearly spent the flight from Tullamarine doing his research and wasn’t afraid to show off his knowledge, rattling off statistics aplenty, even coming up with how many behinds Michael Walters had kicked during his career as the small forward missed an early opportunity.

He was full of praise for the reigning premiers, constantly referring to them as the champs, despite the Eagles beating his beloved Collingwood in last year’s decider.

As always, McGuire had his critics, with people on social media questioning his lack of enthusiasm and overuse of the words “magnificent” and “beautiful”, but those nitpicking would be hard tasked to question whether he was on his A-game during the big moments.

As Fremantle brought the game within just a few goals in the third quarter, he lifted the barometer and began to give to pull out all the adjectives to describe what was quickly becoming a tight derby.

McGuire’s next appearance at Optus Stadium may now not been until July 12, when the Eagles host Collingwood in the grand final re-match in front of the prime time of Friday night football.

Originally published as Eddie McGuire all class during Western Derby call