Surprising reaction to ugly claims over Eddie McGuire’s son’s AFL media jobs
Eddie McGuire’s son has landed himself two plum AFL media jobs as part of a footy shake up, and the response has been surprising.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Channel 7 has unveiled its line-up for AFL coverage, with plenty of new faces joining the network for season 2025 including the son of Eddie McGuire.
Kane Cornes is Seven’s big name recruit after the Port Adelaide 300-gamer joined from Channel 9, as did Craig Hutchison and Caroline Wilson.
Seven launched their coverage on Wednesday, unveiling several marquee signings.
Watch the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership season opening double-header LIVE from Las Vegas on Kayo, SUN 2 MAR 10AM | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
Nick Riewoldt has joined Seven in his return to the footy media following a stint in America with his young family. The St Kilda great is expected to provide his analysis at halftime and post-match.
Also making the move to Seven is young reporter Xander McGuire. The 22-year-old worked as a sports reporter for three years at Nine but will now be in competition with his father Eddie after returning from a six-month study sabbatical in Scotland.
Xander will be part of Seven’s Friday night team, with chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary to feature on the network’s beefed up coverage of Thursday night games.
Xander will also host AFL.com.au’s The Round So Far along with AFLW premiership winner Kate McCarthy and journalists Riley Beveridge and Josh Gabelich.
The rising star, who won the Clinton Grybas Award for best emerging talent at last year’s AFL Media awards, has quickly earned respect in the media landscape for his newsbreaking and smooth delivery.
McGuire’s other son Joe last month won a national college football title in the US playing for Ohio State University.
Many footy fans defended Xander from nepotism claims after his new role was announced.
Rhett Bartlett, the son of Richmond legend Kevin Bartlett, wrote on X: “The criticism some are posting here for Xander is unwarranted. Easy to bag him cause of famous surname (trust me, I should know).
“Despite your nepotism arguments, one still has to be passionate, strong work ethic and good at your job and the fact he’s into his 5+yr proves that.”
One fan posted: “The Xander McGuire slander is no good. Yes, the kid was born on 3rd base. Yes door’s have opened for him. But he works hard and has a nose for a story and presents well. And seems a good young fella.”
Cornes will be a busy man in 2025. Never short of an opinion about the game, he will have plenty of media platforms to voice them on.
Sunday nights is shaping up as a major new battleground between Seven, Nine and Fox Footy.
Cornes, who previously appeared on The Round So Far, will now appear on a new Afl.com.au Sunday night show called ‘First Up with Kane Cornes’, which is being filmed from his pool shed.
Cornes, who splits his time between Melbourne and Adelaide during the season, will be going up against David King on Fox Footy’s First Crack as they give their immediate reactions to the round of footy.
First Crack will be hosted by Jay Clark with King and Leigh Montagna analysing the round that was.
King and Cornes host SEN Breakfast two days a week together.
Along with appearing on the Agenda Setters and his expert commentary duties, Cornes will give his rapid fire wrap of the weekend in a Channel 7 show called Kane’s Call on Sunday night.
Over on Channel 9, the weekend’s action will be dissected on Sunday night Footy Furnace show featuring Tom Morris, James Hird and Jimmy Bartel.
Former Port Adelaide and Hawthorn player Chad Wingard will join Seven as an expert commentator for select games throughout the season
Brian Taylor and Hamish McLachlan will be the play-by-play commentators for Thursday night games, sitting alongside experts Kane Cornes and Luke Hodge.
James Brayshaw and Alister Nicholson will be the commentary duo for Friday night games. Matthew Richardson and Dale Thomas will provide special comments.
Fox Footy will have Matt Hill and Mark Howard calling Thursday night games, while Gerard Whateley and Anthony Hudson will team up in a blockbuster pairing for Friday night matches.
Cornes, Wilson, Hutchison, Riewoldt, Thomas and Hodge will appear on new analysis show The Agenda Setters on Monday and Tuesday nights, which is set to be in direct competition with Nine’s Footy Classified.
Eddie McGuire will host Footy Classified on Tuesday nights. He has his fingers in pies on both sides of the fence with his production house JAM TV set to produce two new shows for Seven.
Broadcasting icon Bruce McAvaney is returning to Seven to lead the coverage across Sunday nights and marquee matches after being part of last season’s finals series.
Seven’s new AFL shows include The Agenda Setters, Unfiltered, Extra Time, Sunday Footy Feast, The Wash Up, Kane’s Call and Full Sweat – a documentary behind the scenes of the Hawthorn Football Club – along with fan favourite The Front Bar.
This week Fox Footy unveiled its star studded line-up of commentators and experts for season 2025.
For the first time, Fox Footy will have its own dedicated commentary teams and bespoke graphics over every home and away match in 2025, including in the two marquee Thursday and Friday night timeslots.
The network is also turbocharging its Saturday coverage, considering Fox Footy – available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel – will be the only place to watch live AFL on a Saturday in Victoria and Tasmania for every round of the home and away season, and nationally for the first eight rounds.
Garry Lyon will co-host AFL 360 with Whateley, with Jack Riewoldt stepping into the On The Couch hosting chair alongside rotating experts Buckley, Brown, Lewis and Montagna.
A new year also means new on-air faces at Fox, with Hall of Fame legend Leigh Matthews, premiership coach Adam Simpson, four-time premiership star Shaun Burgoyne and triple premiership Cat Tom Hawkins to provide expert commentary on games.
Originally published as Surprising reaction to ugly claims over Eddie McGuire’s son’s AFL media jobs
Top pick’s setback for Opening Round
The top 10 pick who was “100 per cent in the frame” for an Opening Round debut is now racing against the clock to be fit.
Bombers ‘really clear’ on expectations: Merrett
Superstar midfielder Zach Merrett will captain Essendon for a third season and he believes the club is developing a clearer identity.