By Jon Pierik
Prominent AFL broadcaster Craig Hutchison has joined Seven and will go head-to-head against his old show, as award-winning journalist Sam McClure rejoins The Age in the latest moves in the sports media industry.
Hutchison said it was an honour to return to Seven, where he will host a new Monday night agenda-setting AFL panel show next season.
In an off-season of AFL media upheaval, Hutchison quit Nine and Footy Classified to accept an offer to join Seven’s beefed-up football offering under the guidance of new director of sports Chris Jones.
Craig Hutchison will return to Seven in 2025.Credit: Nine
Hutchison, who will turn 50 next month, will host The Agenda Setters on Monday nights, where he will be joined by fellow Seven signings Nick Riewoldt and Kane Cornes. This show will go head-to-head with Footy Classified.
“Seven is the home of free-to-air AFL, and has an unrivalled history, legacy and contribution to AFL football. These new shows will shape and set the agenda of the weekday discussion of football, which is at the heart of the game,” Hutchison said on Wednesday.
“The media and opinions around the game is the zeitgeist of what fuels Australian football, and we will bring the game’s biggest names to the table and call it as it is. And on a personal level, to return to Seven where I spent many years earlier in my career is an honour.”
Hutchison’s move comes as The Age prepares to welcome back McClure in a new role as a senior sports affairs reporter, working across AFL and breaking news on major sporting events and organisations.
McClure, who as the journalist behind The Age’s Scoop column has proved to be one of the best news breakers in sport journalism, will begin his new role from January to coincide with the Australian Open.
McClure first joined The Age in 2016 and resigned from a full-time role in 2022. In his return to the masthead as senior sports affairs journalist he will cover the big stories in AFL and explore the stories and the people behind major sporting events, including the Australian Open tennis and the Formula 1 Grand Prix, and their part in Australia’s sporting landscape.
“It’s truly an honour to come back to The Age and work alongside Australia’s best journalists,” McClure said.
Sam McClure (centre) is returning to The Age.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
“The Age holds a particularly special place in my heart given my father Geoff’s history with the masthead. To be able to follow in his footsteps means more to me than I’m able to put into words. I’m looking forward to getting my teeth stuck in and what better way to start than with the Australian Open.”
The role will allow McClure to continue working across a wide range of media assets, amplifying his work and reaching a diverse audience. Patrick Elligett, editor of The Age said: “I am thrilled to welcome Sam McClure back to The Age on a full-time basis. Sam is, undoubtedly, one of the best newsbreakers in sports journalism, which he has shown consistently in recent months through his Scoop column.”
Hutchison left Seven 18 years ago, having been a major AFL news breaker for the network.
Seven’s upgraded slate of shows will also feature a Tuesday night version of The Agenda Setters, which will include Cornes and, as yet unnamed fellow panellists.
Age columnist Caroline Wilson, who also quit Footy Classified, produced by Eddie McGuire’s Jam TV, may join this show when her restraint clause expires midway through next season.
Jones and Hutchison have a long history, and Hutchison’s tentacles extend further than just hosting. As the chief executive of Sports Entertainment Group, the company’s Rainmaker television production arm will help to produce the programs. There will also be a Wednesday night AFL interview program on Seven, Unfiltered, to be hosted by Hamish McLachlan.
“The Agenda Setters on Mondays and Tuesdays will be appointment viewing, and together with Rainmaker, we’ve assembled an incredibly experienced production team for this show to complement our unrivalled on-air line-up,” Jones said.
“Unfiltered on Wednesdays is going to take us behind the curtain and give fans the opportunity to learn more about the person behind the athlete.
“From mid-week footy analysis headlined by new signings Kane Cornes, Craig Hutchison and Nick Riewoldt alongside our existing group of AFL experts, to light-hearted footy content midweek, all before the first bounce on Thursday night footy, there has never been a more exciting time to be an AFL fan.”
Seven’s upgrade will include more robust game-day coverage, while the straight-shooting Cornes, a former Port Adelaide premiership player and leading analyst, has already been used on Seven’s news, which has a new face of sport in Melbourne as Rebecca Maddern replaces long-time sports host Tim Watson.
Nine, the owner of this masthead, continues to work through its new line-ups for Footy Classified, which will air on Mondays and in the new timeslot of Tuesday next season. Nine has already announced the key signing of Essendon great James Hird.
Foxtel’s Fox Footy, which will now have its own commentary team at all matches as part of the new $4.5 billion broadcast deal, has also made a splash, luring media veteran Leigh Matthews from Nine and Shaun Burgoyne from Seven, while now having Gerard Whateley as a game caller.
Back in the media: James Hird will appear on Nine’s Footy Classified next season.Credit: AFL Photos
In other major moves, former Richmond star Jack Riewoldt will replace Garry Lyon as host of Fox Footy’s Monday night’s flagship program On the Couch next season, while Lyon and Whateley will front the nightly AFL 360.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.