Toast RIP Drew Morphett

[Grave Danger]

The voice of The Winners, Drew Morphett, passed away suddenly last night, apparently watching the footy with a glass of red in hand. By all accounts he was a genuine 'good bloke' and loved by all who knew him. I liked him as a commentator too.

Sports broadcaster Drew Morphett dies aged 69

VETERAN sports broadcaster Drew Morphett has died, aged 69.

Morphett, who retired last year, was found by wife Karen at their Pakenham home late last night.

It is believed Morphett had been watching the AFL match between Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/vi...k=fdfcdbbbd09e4b899c3037e09cf61d87-1503707110

 

[Magpiespower]

RIP Drew Morphett.
Never missed The Winners every Sunday, 5pm.
Back when it was the only time we saw the VFL on TV.
Pretty much made him "the face of the VFL" outside Victoria.
Probably no more fitting way for him to go than watching a game on the box...

 

[raptalia]

A significant voice on the ABC broadcasting cricket and football. Alan McGilvary, Norman May, Drew Morphett and Lindsay Hassett were all familiar voices calling Test cricket in the 1970s and early 1980's. Later in the 1980's Morphett became a familiar voice with Channel Seven. He is remember as the host of The Winners but his broadcasting CV went much wider than that.

A sudden and untimely passing.

 

[philreich]

Very sad news.

RIP Drew.

 

[Magpiespower]

Love his quote from a few years ago, which still holds true for so much footy commentary...

"These days, and I am not meaning to denigrate the current callers, but they are doing radio calls for television. You don't have to be saying: 'He looks up, the kick's on its way'. That's not television commentary – you can see the kick is on its way. We were more into what you believe is classic television commentary, rather than just wall-to-wall words."​

 

[Grave Danger]

 

[jac147]

A class act. He ranks with the likes of Bruce and Dennis. RIP

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Drew was a Sydney boy who in the very typical ABC sports department way sent its northern state radio broadcasters to southern states to learn to broadcast footy. He went to Perth and Gordon Bray who would become the voice of Rugby went to Hobart at around the same time. He fell in love with the game and left rugby league behind..I used to love watching the Winners and always liked the difference between the very serious ABC type Tim Lane and the very enthusiastic and fun loving Drew. As I grew older I worked out it was probably his Sydney rugby league background that made him different to the more serious Victorian and South Aussie type callers.

I still remember him calling the cycling at the LA Olympics. Even though the Soviet and Eastern Bloc athletes boycotted Australia struggled to win medals away from the pool. In the cycling the yanks turned up with this new NASA designed space age carbon fibre bikes with disc wheels and the tear drop helmets. Nobody had ever seen anything like it.. A young Dean Woods won silver in the Individual Pursuit and whilst Drew was enthusiastic in his call he was not going to win but when Australia came up against the US in the Teams Pursuit final and when they lost a rider in about the 3rd lap to a simple broken strap, it was obvious that a bit of Aussie hard grit was going to beat the NASA space age US team.. Drew's call was at his most enthusiastic and infectious best.

As I got older I didnt enjoy his TV commentary as much as I used as the game got more complex but his calls and analysis stayed simple but his radio calls always maintain its quality of vividly describing the action.

Vale Drew.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

RIP Drew Morphett.
Never missed The Winners every Sunday, 5pm.
Back when it was the only time we saw the VFL on TV.
Pretty much made him "the face of the VFL" outside Victoria.
Probably no more fitting way for him to go than watching a game on the box...

View attachment 408064

I would have said this but you beat me to it. RIP Drew.

 

[TeeKray]

My favourite sports broadcasters are those who have an infectious love for the sport and aren't just in it for themselves and their own ego. Drew was definitely the former rather than the latter. RIP!

 

[glitch01]

Like so many here watched him on The Winners growing up.
Also loved his cricket commentary.
A lot have current commentators could have learnt a lot from him!!


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[tribey]

Had the multi-lateral old school knowledge and attention to detail of Tim Lane without being as bland as a poolside cocktail.

 

[1954]

Like many I was an avid watcher of the winners, and in my opinion Drew Morphett was 2nd only to Dennis Cometti as a quality footy commentator, daylight ran 3rd.

RIP Drew

 

[John the Butcher]

Absolute shock to wake up this morning to the news.
RIP

 

[Contested Marx]

Ah sad.

He had a distinctive Old school sound and generally balanced to listen to. Had a professionalism lacking in commentators nowadays but still maintained a personality.

I hope it wasn't Bruce getting all gravel voiced last night being the last thing he heard before passing

 

[Portmagpies36]

My favourite sports broadcasters are those who have an infectious love for the sport and aren't just in it for themselves and their own ego. Drew was definitely the former rather than the latter. RIP!

Great summary of Drew Morphett the face of the VFL when I was 10, 40 years ago.
Great commentator of cricket and so many other sports RIP Absolute legend .

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Listened to the ABC footy pre game program Saturday Agenda and lots of great stories from colleagues. Fun and Mischievous were the words that best described him both at the microphone and away from it. Great shock to all his colleagues and was fighting fit and had a trip to Europe planned in a couple of weeks time. Footy finals weren't going to stop him from having some fun in Europe. You can listen to some of his famous calls and interviews across many sports and the panel discussion at the sound cloud link below. One thing I forgot to put in my post above, I mentioned that he was a Sydney rugby league boy, but as Mark McClure said he never played a game of footy in his life before becoming a great broadcaster of the game.

Written article about Drew
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-...ster-drew-morphett-dies/8845126?section=sport

 

[Coobk001]

Must say, in the 90's as I started to pay attention to the VFL/AFL, him and Sandy Roberts were the iconic voices of the VFL. Sad day for the game.

 

[raptalia]

A sad passing but what a way to go, a glass of red, a quick demise while watching the footy. Sure beats vegetating in a nursing home.

 

[Macca19]

Was a big fan of Drew. My favourite radio commentator.

 

[robbo1981]

Was a fav of mine as well was a great commentator very distinctive voice. Not a bad way to go but still sad to hear RIP m8.

 

[LFC2010]

Was shocked when I heard this news this morning.

Really gonna miss listening to his cricket commentary on ABC.


RIP

 

[rogerjames]

69 is way too young. I also enjoyed his commentary and friendly style. RIP

 

[Greasyrhys]

Shocked to hear about his untimely passing.

RIP Drew

 

[Muunky Tuunk Man]

RIP Drew Morphett.
Absolute first class commentator who I really enjoyed listening to.
Was shocked to hear of his passing.