FOR weeks you’ve heard it approaching. You’ve overheard people in the lunch room speaking in what sounds like a foreign language – all injuries, pre-season form and fantasy leagues. You’ve tried to avoid the sports section of the newspaper each day, but that’s hard when football-related stories (like Liam Jurrah’s brush with the law) hit the front page.
This week, it all reaches saturation point as the AFL season returns. Just to clarify, it actually started on Saturday night with a harbour city clash between Sydney and new kids on the block GWS Giants. But that was just a preview of what’s in store this weekend, as four teams with rabid supporter bases – Carlton, Richmond, Collingwood and Carlton – take to the ’G.
This season marks the first under the new billion-dollar broadcast rights deal. Foxtel will feature all nine games live each week (local pub owners will be rubbing their hands together with glee at the business they’ll make from those not willing to shell out a minimum of $50 a month for pay-TV), but pleasingly the free-to-air coverage has vastly improved. Seven will now screen all Friday night games – including this week’s preliminary final rematch – live against the gate, instead of forcing footy fans to sit through an episode of Better Homes and Gardens. The network has expanded its commentary team to include Mick Malthouse, Brian Taylor, Luke Darcy, Cameron Ling and Brett Kirk; alongside its already established A-grade crew of Bruce McAvaney, Dennis Cometti and Co. Over at Fox, the call team is headed up by former Ten host Anthony Hudson and Eddie McGuire, who premiered his new discussion show EMT (Eddie McGuire Tonight) earlier this month.
But if 27-odd hours of footy a week isn’t enough, you can always gorge yourself silly on the many panel shows on offer. Foxtel’s AFL 360 has jumped from one day a week last year to four days a week in 2012 and Seven’s family friendly Sunday morning program AFL Game Day is back.
Even the networks that don’t have broadcast rights are in on the act – Ten’s popular Before the Game is back, as is Nine’s perennial The Footy Show and late-night effort Footy Classified, plus One HD’s The Game Plan.
Add it all up – and even without factoring in Foxtel’s 24-hour Fox Footy channel – that’s well over 60 hours a week of action, discussion and analysis. Phew! Good luck trying to avoid it all over the next six months.
