Whateley leaves ABC for SEN

Does some talkback on 774 from time to time, I'm sure he'll be fine. He's no KB or finey, he won't be setting agendas to deliberately drag in the bottom of the barrel to rile them up and pull them down.

 

Will be interesting to see how if this changes the way Whateley covers sport as there have been times when I've wondered if his style was real or just to suit his employer. I am not totally surprised to see him seek a new challenge as there were times last season where he seemed flat.

 

I'm sure ABC would take him back. How many times has Leach gone to and from the ABC.

 

The ABC would take him back, the sports media world is pretty small so as long as he departs on good terms then I don't see that door closing.

 

Yep. Gerard surely has the runs on the board to be able to dictate his future in the industry to a certain extent. The best radio caller in the business by a long way.

 

A huge get for SEN.

That Friday night team is going to be very hard to beat. Whateley, Huddo, and Lyon

 

Is huddo going to be happy being demoted

 

Yeah agree, this is a strange one. If he wants more money then surely making the transition to TV with a full time calling gig on Foxtel (or even 7) would be better suited?

 

Perhaps Hutchy is going to be making bids for Australian broadcast rights for major international sporting events and lured Gerard with that.

I know in a lot of instances the ABC is now relegated to a 2nd tier broadcaster but I thought one of the draws for a sportscaster was the fact that as the National Broadcaster, they tended to send teams away for international events. Perhaps with budget cuts the ABC will just take someone else's feed and have their team sitting in a studio in Australia somewhere.

 

If he'd left Offsiders 5 years ago I'd have been sad. But now I'm happy to no longer watch his grandpa complaints and ludicrous talk about ******* horse racing.

 

Sure, but this is a side ways move. I’d imagine if he wanted to move to TV for commentary either network would have him.

I’m not a fan of Whateley, but he’s easily better than half the TV commentators.

Either way, he’s the natural replacement for McAvaney when he retires.

 

With Bryan Martin retiring, there could be other horse opportunities on SEN as well.

 

Might make SEN breakfast worth listening to. Have all the buffoons who blabbered away this year been moved on? I know Ox has been let go in the afternoons, and Rompingwins was leaving mornings (both good calls).

 

Talk about a surprise to start the year! I literally didn't see it coming. He was very, very close to leaving ABC radio at the end of 2011 to join 3AW, so if the offer is there, he can be tempted. I have some sympathy with ABC though - two quality broadcasters - Gerard Whateley and Neroli Meadows have moved on in the last year or so and the quality isn't there in my eyes to replace them. Not what the national broadcaster would like but so be it as i haven't listened to them for over a year.

Where this leaves ABC is anybody's guess. Gerard replaced Drew Morphett on their cricket coverage a couple of years ago but was probably going to end up being their voice of cricket to replace Jim Maxwell who in my view is finished. Alister Nicholson who has called footy and cricket alongside Gerard and is nothing special. Whateley gave them a good 13 years or so of service but they're going to struggle to replace him. Now that Gerard Whateley and Neroli Meadows aren't there anymore, there's no selling point for me to contemplate listening to them again anytime soon.

 

Croc Media may have a go at the next Cricket radio rights which might work well for him as well.

I wonder if he will do any calling for AFL nation.

 

Huddo and Gerard are very close friends so i doubt Huddo will be overly downcast. He'll probably enjoy calling with a close friend.

 

Didn't Tim Lane also leave them recently?
That's a few long term veterans they've lost.

 

I'm not exactly 100% certain on when Tim Lane left them. I believe he scaled back his commitments early this century and let them for good in 2009. I stand to be corrected though.

 

I tipped the footy each week with Gerard on Lindy Burns' Drive show on 774 on Fridays over the phone from my home in Chicagoland a few years back. I also had the pleasure of tipping with him at ABC studios and even once outside the MCG. He is a genuinely nice guy. Very professional. Best in the business.

 

That's the major problem the ABC going to have to deal with.

Who do you get to call the AFL, seeing that most of the best callers are with the commercial networks like 3AW or SEN? And who is going to be the chief cricket caller when Jim Maxwell retires? Peter Donegan perhaps? Or maybe Jason Bennett?


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