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I've completed my top 50 here is the top 25, be warned 18 onwards really struggling and into the dregs

1. Garry Lyon

Is researched, thorough, easy to listen to. Yes has his moments but still the number 1 when it comes to Footy Media

2. Matthew Lloyd

Opinionated but not too far over the top. Willing to have a crack but also give praise. Opposite of his on field persona

3. Sam Edmund

Doesn't come across smug, can articulate well and breaks stories as well, one of the best these days

4. Leigh Montagna

Can call games and do special comments, has got better every year on radio and TV

5. Sarah Jones

What a pro, rarely makes a mistake, hosts and boundary rides and excels at both

6. Anthony Hudson

Great caller, can bring excitement to any match and well researched

7. Nathan Buckley

Settled into the media really well, like Lloyd willing to have a crack but also give praise where it is due

8. Jonathon Brown

Is getting better every year, can go a bit over the top at times but good when around other good presenters

9. Mitch Cleary

Adapted really well to TV when I didn't think he would at all. Been a great reporter for 7

10. Daniel Cherny

Good reporter, can miss it sometimes and be a bit biased but on the whole a good one

11. Jimmy Bartel

Improved since leaving 7, found his commentary of games on TV average but good with a point of view on something

12. Tim Watson

He isn't bad with special comments, needs more of a go than his son gets that's for sure

13. Brian Taylor

Yes he gest names wrong a lot of the time but can bring excitement to ay game he calls

14. Abbie Holmes

Rarely makes a mistake, very good on the boundary, like to see her get a go doing special comments

15. James Brayshaw

Great play by play caller, perfect for when a game is close.

16. Paul Haselby

Heard him a few times doing special comments, very underrated, love to see him get more of a go on TV

17. Kath Loughlin

Great presenter, rarely makes a mistake, would be interesting to see her do special comments

18. Nat Edwards

Much better when not working to a script, getting better every year, voice can at times be annoying

19. Cameron Mooney

Under utilised I reckon, could do more special comments or maybe boundary riding is just his thing Don't over complicate it

20. Luke Hodge

Could barely speak at the start, mumble mumble mumble, got much better since on radio and TV

21. Gerard Whately

The hypotenuse of the cromulent modifier of serpuflication. See I can say big words too. Some made up. Is well researched though

22. Daisy Pearce

Overrated by the woke brigade but isn't a bad special comments person to have

23. David King

Speaks really well, has dialled it back a bit since other bigger flogs have emerged

24. Dale Thomas

Bit of a dope, but not bad during games on commentary, offers nothing during the week though

25. Nathan Brown

Would be number 1 on this list if Nathan was as good as Nathan thinks he is. Not a great commentator.
 
Uncle_Leo said:
I've completed my top 50 here is the top 25, be warned 18 onwards really struggling and into the dregs

1. Garry Lyon

Is researched, thorough, easy to listen to. Yes has his moments but still the number 1 when it comes to Footy Media

2. Matthew Lloyd

Opinionated but not too far over the top. Willing to have a crack but also give praise. Opposite of his on field persona

3. Sam Edmund

Doesn't come across smug, can articulate well and breaks stories as well, one of the best these days

4. Leigh Montagna

Can call games and do special comments, has got better every year on radio and TV

5. Sarah Jones

What a pro, rarely makes a mistake, hosts and boundary rides and excels at both

6. Anthony Hudson

Great caller, can bring excitement to any match and well researched

7. Nathan Buckley

Settled into the media really well, like Lloyd willing to have a crack but also give praise where it is due

8. Jonathon Brown

Is getting better every year, can go a bit over the top at times but good when around other good presenters

9. Mitch Cleary

Adapted really well to TV when I didn't think he would at all. Been a great reporter for 7

10. Daniel Cherny

Good reporter, can miss it sometimes and be a bit biased but on the whole a good one

11. Jimmy Bartel

Improved since leaving 7, found his commentary of games on TV average but good with a point of view on something

12. Tim Watson

He isn't bad with special comments, needs more of a go than his son gets that's for sure

13. Brian Taylor

Yes he gest names wrong a lot of the time but can bring excitement to ay game he calls

14. Abbie Holmes

Rarely makes a mistake, very good on the boundary, like to see her get a go doing special comments

15. James Brayshaw

Great play by play caller, perfect for when a game is close.

16. Paul Haselby

Heard him a few times doing special comments, very underrated, love to see him get more of a go on TV

17. Kath Loughlin

Great presenter, rarely makes a mistake, would be interesting to see her do special comments

18. Nat Edwards

Much better when not working to a script, getting better every year, voice can at times be annoying

19. Cameron Mooney

Under utilised I reckon, could do more special comments or maybe boundary riding is just his thing Don't over complicate it

20. Luke Hodge

Could barely speak at the start, mumble mumble mumble, got much better since on radio and TV

21. Gerard Whately

The hypotenuse of the cromulent modifier of serpuflication. See I can say big words too. Some made up. Is well researched though

22. Daisy Pearce

Overrated by the woke brigade but isn't a bad special comments person to have

23. David King

Speaks really well, has dialled it back a bit since other bigger flogs have emerged

24. Dale Thomas

Bit of a dope, but not bad during games on commentary, offers nothing during the week though

25. Nathan Brown

Would be number 1 on this list if Nathan was as good as Nathan thinks he is. Not a great commentator.
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Overall a very good list but just cannot, under any circumstances, have Brian Taylor at number 13. As you rightly mention, gets far too many names wrong for arguably the AFL's highest paid commentator. His excitement is also often manufactured - eg the trailing team gets two quick goals to narrow the margin to 52 points with 10 minutes to go and he starts the "They are coming! They can still win this!" garbage that treats the audience like fools.
 
TheJanuaryMan said:
Overall a very good list but just cannot, under any circumstances, have Brian Taylor at number 13. As you rightly mention, gets far too many names wrong for arguably the AFL's highest paid commentator. His excitement is also often manufactured - eg the trailing team gets two quick goals to narrow the margin to 52 points with 10 minutes to go and he starts the "They are coming! They can still win this!" garbage that treats the audience like fools.
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I get it, at his best in finals really when he has all the info and games mean a lot more.

Also you should see the bottom 25... goodness me.
 

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getaroundit said:
I notice your profile mentions you are from Adelaide. Are there any decent ones involved in local footy there - eg SANFL or the local AFL guys?
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A mate of mine Chris Kendall does a pretty good job, but generally I don't listen to commentators, I tend to blank them out. I would say, I don't mind Tim Giniver in his assessment of players and teams.
 
Partridge said:
I don't mind Papalia in Perth (for ex-players, Pavlich and Schofield are pretty restrained too). Has insane ideas like just calling the game and not barracking for either team.

No chance we'll hear him in a final anytime soon.
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I used to like Karl Langdon in Perth for pretty much the same reasons.

Generally, I find most commentators annoying, especially TV ones because of their propensity to state the bleeding obvious. They tell me player X has the ball. Don't need to know what I can see for myself. Save that stuff for radio commentary.

I don't know what he's like now because I rarely listen, and he appears to annoy a lot of people, but I found Brereton's commentary to my liking because he liked telling us where he thought the ball would go, what's happening ahead of the play. He wasn't always right, but he did paint a picture.

I find most commentators think that because they have a microphone they need to be talking, and trying to tell people how much they know about the game. I prefer the Richie Benaud approach, no need to talk unless you can add to the picture.

I'd also like to hear more in the way of teaching kids who are watching. You see some players with terrible techniques when kicking for goal, they miss, and no forthcoming explanation as to what they did wrong.
 
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it's technically my sunday, and i'm really bored.

here's a tier list no-one asked for.

at the moment, visible footy journos:

a tier:
  • dan cherny, well-researched, good writer, great twitter work, knows a lot about cricket as well
  • sam edmund, great newsbreaker, not much of an ego, good radio host.
  • jake niall, very knowledgeable, focused and interesting. great on the age's podcast.
b tier:
  • cal twomey, not a natual on-screen guy but an exceptional researcher
  • riley beveridge, same as cal, seems a better host but not quite as good in the research department.
  • russell jackson, has written some incredible stories but occassionally i think his research is a bit exclusionary and blinkered.
  • mitch cleary, comes across as a nice guy, good reporter, works well on tv.
  • david zita, comes across as a top bloke and covers tribunal expertly, just need to see more of him.
  • marnie vinall, very good writer, interesting viewpoints on women's footy and football from a more nuanced position
  • peter ryan, good writer and always has an interesting interview in the age.
  • sarah black, varied knowledge of football, great presser questions.
  • jay clark, interesting if not a bit beige, has decent chops on radio.
  • nat edwards, a good host and is passionate about her footy, just sometimes gets a bit droney.
  • ryan daniels, i rate him highly but he's missed a few too many times on stories.
  • andrew wu, like most fairfax guys he's super knowledgeable and writes well - his cricket stuff is probably better suited.
  • rohan connolly, i love some of his takes, i just wish he'd log out of twitter every night at 6pm...
c tier:
  • sam landsberger, do not agree with many of his takes at all.
  • sam mcclure, good journo from the newsbreaking/beat writer perspective but gets far too stuck in the content factory side of things.
  • mark robinson, used to be a very good journo/newshound but his work on fox is cringeworthy
  • tom morris, well-connected and very good journo who unfortunately has the drawback of being an enormous, irredeemable campaigner.
  • jon ralph, seems more a talking head than a journo, takes are often out of touch these days.
d tier:
  • caro wilson, incredible newsbreaker who unfortunately has had a shocker of late, needs to pull her head in sometimes.
  • tom browne, consistently wrong, nepo baby

commentators that I've listened to recently:

a tier:
  • tim lane, incredible voice, cadence and knowledge, the best there is.
  • anthony hudson, those lines, that voice... always gets the big moments right.
  • adam white, unmatched cadence with his calling, works well with other talent, a brilliant caller
b tier:
  • alister nicholson, better on radio than telly but has great pacing and knowledge.
  • gerard whateley, very good caller but seems out of touch with the listener.
  • jason bennett, research unmatched and great understanding of the art.
  • adam papalia, always has a handy line, great ability to go up the levels, just doesn't have a recognisable voice for mine.
  • corbin middlemass, a very solid radio caller and knows how to bring up the quality of the broadcast.
  • james brayshaw, seems bored these days to be truthful but nails the moment, generally.
  • jack heverin, has a great voice and passion for the art, just wish he was better used.
  • matt clinch, great voice and great knowledge of the game, all the abc guys use their talent well and he's no exception.
c tier:
  • jess webster, doesn't have great levels to her voice but her play-by-play is serviceable.
  • leigh montagna, has potential, i just couldn't pick his voice out of a line up to be truthful.
  • brian taylor, grumpy old man who has his moments, should be better.
  • nathan brown, serviceable but hard to pick out of a line-up.
d tier:
  • dwayne russell, always has a line but his over-the-top nature kills me, not my cup of tea.
  • luke darcy, just doesn't seem to have any rhythm or passion to his calling.
  • kelli underwood, not a bad voice and i liked her on radio but her calling is getting worse all the time, fox's style doesn't suit
 
Heres my bottom 25

26. Tim Gossage

Has good moments, is a good presenter and decent commentator but so biased
27. Campbell Brown

Don't mind him on the VFL commentary but thats where he needs to stay
28. Craig Hutchison

Doesn't do as much anymore due to ownership of CrocMedia, good presenter, thats about it. Best thing he does is the Sounding Board podcast
29. Caroline Wilson

Also dialing it down these days, off to Holland for a month every year is interesting, imagine if someone else did that? Rarely breaks a story anymore
30. Tom Morris

Gigantic flog, can break a story but is full of himself
31. Dwayne Russell

Horrific commentator but his midday madness show is what it is, surprisingly better doing that
32. Damien Barrett

Conflicted as they come now, his sliding doors piece is pathetic and flips and flops, still amazingly better than others
33. Mark Robinson

Can still write a decent story. Thats where it ends. Embarrassing on 360
34. Matthew Richardson

Says nothing. Absolutely nothing and is boring. The opposite of what he was as a player
35. Hamish McLachlan

His stories he tells during commentary are nauseating. Bring commentator, not a bad presenter
36. Billy Brownless

Harmless but a fool. How has his career lasted so much longer than Doug Hawkins?
37. Tony Jones

Full of himself, tries to insert himself into a story. Thinks he is someone. He isn't. Only got his job because of Lou Richards
38. Gerard Healy

Borderline senile. Is he still on the All Australian team committee? Will he want Nic Nat on the team again? His thoughts at the start of sports day every day at 5:30 is painful
39. Dermott Brereton

Just goes on and on and on and on. His standing in football has dropped significantly and thats a good thing
40. Luke Darcy

Average commentator, hopefully goes off to politics soon. Full of himself too. Say that again? Full of himself too.
41. Nathan Jones

Its a great occasion when he can actually get a sentence out without fumbling, how has he got a job?
42. Kane Cornes

When he isn't negative he isn't actually too bad, unfortunately thats about 2% of the time. Click bait flog
43. Adam Cooney

That show on after a Friday night game might be the worst thing ever made, once again. not sure how he has a job.
44. Eddie McGuire

Remember when he broke stories? Wasn't painful? Wasn't biased? It was nearly 3 decades ago
45. Tom Browne

What a very strange individual Tom is. Being shown up on Channel 7 now, not really sure where his career goes from here but it can't progress surely
46. Andy Maher

Just get the question out mate. Also a bandwagoner. Also the saviour of womens sport, just ask him
47. Andrew Gaze

On a footy show and on SEN, basket case, literally
48. Kellie Underwood
The worst play by play caller in the land. Makes mistakes, voice is awful. Not one redeeming feature
49. Sam McClure

Sam insufferable and dumb. Tries to play with hte big boys and just loses his way. " Can you run that past me one more time?"

50. Jobe Watson

Jobe can barely speak, I don't know how he continues to have a job and is the worst of the lot. Also a drug cheat.
 
Top 10 favourites (heavily based on the podcasts I listen to)

Gary Lyon
Tim Watson
Sam McClure
Damien Barrett
Mitch Cleary
Sarah Ollie
Eddie McGuire
Tom Morris
Richo
Abbey Holmes
 
OhDustinMartin said:
  • ast.

commentators that I've listened to recently:

a tier:
  • tim lane, incredible voice, cadence and knowledge, the best there is.
  • anthony hudson, those lines, that voice... always gets the big moments right.
  • adam white, unmatched cadence with his calling, works well with other talent, a brilliant caller
b tier:
  • alister nicholson, better on radio than telly but has great pacing and knowledge.
  • gerard whateley, very good caller but seems out of touch with the listener.
  • jason bennett, research unmatched and great understanding of the art.
Click to expand...
Yes, Lane is the best there is but he these days gets a lot of "B" day games. Can't agree with Nicholson, when there is something big happening his voice gets as weak as. Granland you missed, fantastic caller. Matt Hill too.
Journo's/reporters? Meh
Don't mind Nat Yoannides, rough as guts but has heart and pretty obviously likes a good time 😉
 
Which one's do you like/dislike and which do you think have made a positive difference to AFL and brought in some good spark?

I did like McGuire and he was good for the club. But I had no idea he was such a racist prick. We got a flag so we don't need him. No one needs that s**t period.

I did like Rex Hunt. But he does and di get carried away. '' kouda-fighda-mides '' lol. He had some gold quotes. Jebbadiah something or rather.

Mick Malthouse. I enjoyed him as a special commentator and his wrote ups. I always respected him.

Garry Lyon I could give 2 *s about. Him and that Brownless saga. Dog.

Shane Crawford was good but that got too far fetched all that Hank Bulger s**t. A piss take in the end.

Buckley's good. Even if he didn't want us to win a flag. He said he was happy. Yeah nah. I don't think so. He wanted to lose. Enjoy what he has to say though.

I love Jonathon Brown. He's a good bloke. I love when he ripped into those maggots that poured beer on him during finals 2-3 seasons ago. They wouldn't do it face to face because he would absolutely plaster their faces allover the pavement.

B.T even if he's high pitched commentary can cook me at times. He's better for the game with him in it. As opposed to out of it.

Jason Dunstall but I never watch that POS Show bounce. Hideous. But J.D is a fair guy and has great knowledge. Brilliant Full Forward.

Bruce and Dennis were the best commentators ever to grace our game. They can't be replicated. There won't be any as good as those ever again. I'd love for B.M to come back. He's head and shoulders above the dull, over the top show ponies that we have today. Hamish is good as he calls it for what it is and doesn't go overboard and cream his pants like the other muppets. I've seen some hate on him from many. Well if you knew better, you'd be doing better. But you aint.
 
I can’t say many of the current commentators are very good. Would really like to mute then so I can just listen to the crowd and game sounds.

Problem is we have people like BT thinking he’s adding to the spectacle when he’s really just annoying and making it worse.
 
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PowerfulPies2023 said:
Which one's do you like/dislike and which do you think have made a positive difference to AFL and brought in some good spark?

I did like McGuire and he was good for the club. But I had no idea he was such a racist prick. We got a flag so we don't need him. No one needs that s**t period.

I did like Rex Hunt. But he does and di get carried away. '' kouda-fighda-mides '' lol. He had some gold quotes. Jebbadiah something or rather.

Mick Malthouse. I enjoyed him as a special commentator and his wrote ups. I always respected him.

Garry Lyon I could give 2 *s about. Him and that Brownless saga. Dog.

Shane Crawford was good but that got too far fetched all that Hank Bulger s**t. A piss take in the end.

Buckley's good. Even if he didn't want us to win a flag. He said he was happy. Yeah nah. I don't think so. He wanted to lose. Enjoy what he has to say though.
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Surely Bucks wanted the Pies to win for his sons to witness a premiership.


Dennis C is like the Michael Jordan of commentators. His dulcet tone and flow plus witticisms will never be replicated or at least not for a century. Wish he just carried on even as a special comments man only, he was always more insightful than the expert guys when he threw in his two bob.
 
Many of us today watch old replays and talk about how great the likes of Lou Richards, Peter Landy, Sandy Roberts, Bruce McAvaney, Dennis Cometti etc were back in the day.

Just think in 20-25 years, people will look back and see countless highlights with Brian Taylor and James Brayshaw hollering through them.

Not exactly a legacy to look back on with pride.
 
TheJanuaryMan said:
Pure play by play: Adam Papalia, Anthony Hudson, Jason Bennett.

Special Comments: Dermott Brereton, Jason Dunstall
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You have basically nailed this for mine, although I would swap out Brereton for Garry Lyon.

Brereton lacks sincerity and manufactures overcomplicated analysis in what comes across as a poor attempt to appear smarter than everyone else. I must say I am surprised you rate him with those other decent TV talents.
 
GroggSquad said:
You have basically nailed this for mine, although I would swap out Brereton for Garry Lyon.

Brereton lacks sincerity and manufactures overcomplicated analysis in what comes across as a poor attempt to appear smarter than everyone else. I must say I am surprised you rate him with those other decent TV talents.
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I think that's just Brereton's style. While he doesn't use 10 words when 30 will do, his pure analysis of the game is such that a casual observer can understand what he is driving at. Despite having not played for nearly 30 years, he still maintains a very sound knowledge of current players and tactics, unlike a Gerard Healy, whose in-depth knowledge of current players can get exposed under waffle.
 
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