A couple of nights ago, Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin’s 13 goal haul against North Melbourne in 2012 was replayed on Fox Footy.
It was breathtaking to relive Franklin at his scintillating best. Goals from outside 50, from the pocket, from directly in front, he was doing it all.
Despite that, the biggest highlight to come out of the game was the commentary of Anthony Hudson. He sounded genuinely excited as Franklin headed into ‘unchartered territory’ with the goals mounting.
When Franklin kicked his 12th, his voice breaking, Hudson screamed, “Sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy the show!”
When Franklin kicked his 13th goal, Huddo’s excitement was at breaking point, “Thirteen, Thiirteeenn! Can you believe it?”
His call of the final goal has become more talked about than Franklin’s amazing day. It added to the moment by creating an enjoyable rhythm to the beauty of what was unfolding before us.
That is was great commentary does, it adds to the moment and does not distract from it.
Anthony Hudson, while not always getting it right, has made many memorable moments even greater with the commentary he has added.
When Nick Davis kicked the winning goal for Sydney in the 2005 semi-final against Geelong (the club Hudson supports), he produced arguably his most famous call, “Davis, Nick Davis. I see it but I don’t believe it.”
Earlier this year he described Brisbane’s win over Geelong as “the miracle on grass”, beautifully summing up the moment.
Commentators don’t always get the moment right though.
Earlier this year Eddie McGuire was calling a game between North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs when Robert Murphy went for a run by stepping around Jamie Macmillan.
Eddie thought it was Andrew Swallow then corrected himself, realising his mistake, but by that point Robert Murphy was kicking for goal and the moment had seemingly passed; Murphy’s great goal diminished slightly because of the quality of the call.
Of course he got it absolutely right when calling Richard Douglas’ third quarter goal for Adelaide against Hawthorn earlier this year, when McGuire got very excited as the margin was cut to five points.
Commentary is an acquired taste. Commentators one person loves, the other will hate.
Dennis Cometti appears to have avoided this, almost universally admired as the best commentator in the game.
I am firmly in the Dennis boat, not so much for his one-liners – during a game I’m too concentrated to notice most of them (I will pick up one or two) – but because of the uninterrupted way he calls the game, commenting on both the big and intricate moments of a contest, his voice lifting with the excitement of a crowd.
Bruce McAvaney has the ability to polarise like few others and while he can ask a few too many questions (can’t he?), there is something about his voice that keeps me listening. Very few commentators can do excited better than Bruce.
His call of Lewis Jetta’s goal in last year’s preliminary final a case in point:
“Usain Bolt couldn’t get him now, and Jetta puts on another one. That is just so exciting!”
In my view, AFL commentary is of a high standard. Where it suffers is the blatant bias certain commentators exude. Commentators are at times so blatantly biased they can be unlistenable.
As much as I love Paul Roos (I’m a Sydney Supporter and owe him everything for delivering us the 2005 premiership), they should keep him far away from Sydney games.
Robert Walls should be kept away from any team he ever coached or played for. One can only thank the footy gods for Foxtel’s decision to keep Eddie McGuire away from Collingwood.
Sam Newman infamously criticised Port Adelaide during the 2004 grand final.
The best commentary is capable of lifting an audience with it. Adding to the excitement of the moment, the roar of the crowd, the jubilation of the players.
They won’t always get it right, but when they do it makes a great moment even greater.
daniel anderson
Roar Rookie
i find the ABC Local Radio announcers ( Gerard Whateley, Adam White, Quentin Hull, Alister Nicholson, Francis Leach, Matt Hill,Peter Walsh, Matt Clinch,Clint Wheeldon, Corbin Middlemas,Rob Cross, and Kelli Underwood to be much better than Channel Seven because they stick to calling the game
col e
Guest
Siren sounds, so it's half time THEN. Hello??
col e
Guest
absolutely sick of macca's rhetoric questions. Didn't he, wouldn't he, couldn'nt he, put him out to pasture with the horses. Dennis, master of the obvious.
Gecko
Guest
Depends whether you want eloquence and excitement or a thoughtful analysis. McAvaney and Huddo know all the players' names and choose all the right words. But if you really want to understand the game, ex-players like King, Brereton and Healy are among the best. Even Darcy and Richo come up with more analytical observations than McAvaney and Huddo. The best commentary teams have a combination of 'professionals' and 'analysts'.
Doug Deep
Roar Pro
"Very few commentators can do excited better than Bruce." I can't stand his growling when he's calling what he thinks is an exciting passage of play. It just doesn't sound believable to me. I also can't stand the way he delivers his call starting slowly, deliberately stalling mid-word to try and build excitement. And let's not get into the terrible banalities like "The two numbers 32s, eh?" Really, WTF do countless mindless observations like that add to the call? Actually, I just can't stand Bruce. He's 10-15 years past it. If Channel 7 had any nous—clearly they don't given Luke Darcy, Matthew Richardson and Mark McVeigh are in their employ—they would have called time on Bruce's AFL calling career a long time ago. Huddo is good though, I do agree on that!
Franko
Guest
Perhaps not Dan, out of the bubble, get out of the bubble of AFL more, broaden horizons etc. There are many great commentators in the world, AFL has one or two, the general standard in my view, on a world scale, is low. The coverage by the BBC of the cricket is first rate, Martin Tyler covering the football as well is fantastic, the coverage of the tennis here is pretty good, Sue Barker was outstanding when she was on, ABC Grandstand as I mentioned are very very good, there are plenty of good ones about, I don't believe BT, Richo, Darcy, David King, KG Cunningham and the rest of the boys club fall in to that category.
Franko
Guest
Trying to steer clear of being ‘lame’. Could it be the same reason that Spotless Group provide catering at AFL games? Difficult to tell what comes first though, the chicken or the egg.
Dan
Guest
We get these guys quite a bit in S.A too, don't rate any of them except Dermott, he knows his stuff but can get a bit carried away with, as you said, prattling on like he's sitting with mates at the pub.
Dan
Guest
Funny thing about McLachlan is that I find him to be a far superior caller on radio than on television, I wouldn't be surprised if channel 7 had given the Saturday Afternoon/night callers instructions to try and make jokes/humorous observations more often, to somehow appeal to a 'greater audience', would go some way to explaining why Brian Taylor is half the commentator he was when working at Foxtel/Triple M.
Dan
Guest
Get out more? So he can get out and watch more sports telecasts? Didn't think that one through did you sunshine.
Stavros
Guest
Enlighten me as to why Hamish McLachlin is there. Please don't say something lame like his brother demanded that he be given a job.
the hunter
Guest
Am I the only one or do others wish for Sandy Roberts to return?
Steve J
Roar Guru
If you think commentary is quite good you should try being a Freo fan. You switch on the TV excited to be watching Freo again, only to find Tony Shaw, Matt Campbell, Dwayne Russell, Dermott Brereton grinning back at you, or Gerard Healy. Welcome to sporting hell! Immediately you know that these clowns will get it wrong again and end up sounding like a bunch of blokes at the pub talking about stuff they'd rather be doing that watching Freo. They consistently get players names wrong - either mispronounce or just the wrong bloke, cheer for the opposition (Campbell and Russel are the worst). It's enough to make you want to cry or wish that you could select from different commentator combinations to listen to. Would be nice if there was someone who gave a damn about the game they were watching, or knew that their job was to add to the images for the public's benefit. Not just while away a few hours chatting to their mates.
Griffo
Guest
I remember when digital television was first being spoken of there was this idea of being able to choose the camera shot you wanted when watching sport. Since then i've always thought that for football I would like to see a camera shot that covers half the field at a time. That way if you watch it on a big screen you can see where most of the players are in relation to the guy with the ball. The person operating that camera would attempt to keep the ball in the middle of the shot or slightly to the defensive side of the shot for the team with the ball. TV coverage at the moment really highlights why it is always better to be at the game
joe blackswan
Guest
Richo and BT are particularly bad, they both dribble on about utter rubbish sometimes...and are highly opinionated, and often just plain wrong. You really do notice how many bad commentators are retired footy players.
cmac
Guest
Why are there so many "miracle goals". They can't all be miracles.
Bob
Guest
On the cameras for a moment, what gets me is on some occasions where a player or players do something special, we get the player running to the bench and no replay - whats that all about. I like BT, suprised how good Lingy is, hate D Russell (he hates WCE) Dennis probably is the best
Dympba
Guest
try living in Canberra where if you aren"t lucky enough to get the ABC call (mostly Swans/GWS games, the odd early game on a Saturday)you have to rely on the TV call......Eddie calls like he is in the outer, the others particularly ex players call like they would be if they were playing its a joke....Do you really think Dennis is that good nah he is as manufactured as Hudson and co! Bruce maybe annoying but he is trying to call it, Leigh Matthews greatest player ever(not in my books, he would have been on the sidelines for months with the way he played, dirty), Dermott its all about me, BT looks like a man that is sad he has to line up with RIcho, Luke Darcy reminds me of the kid at school who did everything/said everything he thought would impress the principal(eg AFL as he wants to go places).....give me ABC anytime at least they show respect to the elders (Sellers,Stan)seek out their slant on the game, allow them to call it as they see it....give me 360 on fox Robbo/Gerard the odd couple but they arent controlled by the AFL media mafia!
vocans
Guest
The commentators tend to overuse superlatives. Not every goal is the greatest. It's like when crowds applaud a snick four to fine leg or deep third man - not on for professionals really. The camera work is basically pretty good but there's room for improvement. Others here have mentioned the camera being too close. The pan is important if you really want to know what's going on in the game. Soccer, partly because of the size of the pitch, does this very well, and would be much less of a spectacle if we couldn't view the build-ups and defences organizing themselves. Footy strategies and tactics are probably less familiar with its fans (something commentators and TV in general could do more about) but they are a crucial part of the game, and seeing the options and work off the ball could be better provided for. Often it's the work well before the goal that is remarkable and the goal just finishes off as in a drill, but we get to see the drill, not the creative bit. Directors could keep their eye out for suitable pans for replays and not always go in close.
Franko
Guest
"Bruce, Dennis, Huddo are probably the best callers," Agreed. I find it interesting that Bruce and Huddo never played at a high level and Dennis I don't think even got to 100 games. Having said that Hamish McLachlan is one of the worst around, but I guess we all know why he is there.