00:00:00
Speaker 1: Been looking forward to this all week. Next week on Wednesday night, we're going to get to see the wonderful documentary, Centimeter Perfect, about one of the greatest who have ever done it. Perhaps the greatest who have ever done it. The wonderful Dennis Committee, who for so long created the greatest partnership in commentary with our next guest, Bruce McIverney. Bruce, good morning to you.
00:00:20
Speaker 2: You too, Will and Stacey. I hope you enjoyed as much as I've enjoyed being part of it, Will. It was a Incredible experience for all of us at Channel 7 and I'm very proud of the end result. I've seen a rough, rough cut of it and I can't wait for next Wednesday night.
00:00:36
Speaker 1: When did you first call together, Bruce, you and Dennis?
00:00:40
Speaker 2: In the 1990s, I reckon it would have been. Mid-1990s, I reckon, or early 1990s. So it's a long, long time ago. And he was this lanky guy out of Western Australia who I knew was a very good footballer and had done a lot of cricket for the ABC at the time and He already had forged a reputation and, yeah, that beautiful voice and a beautiful man, as I found out over the years. Yeah.
00:01:06
Speaker 3: Well, tell us about what he was like behind the microphone. We all, of course, knew him as the great commentator he was, but to you, I imagine, a close friend, and what was he like?
00:01:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, Stacey, look, we started as colleagues and finished as friends, which I reckon is the ultimate compliment. He was quirky. He was always quirky. We had a... funny relationship. When I say funny, it was a deep relationship, but Dennis would travel from Perth and I would travel from Adelaide to Melbourne. We did this for about 20 years of calling Friday night football. And we'd stay at the same hotel and we'd go down to the MCG and call the game. But only twice a year we would really catch up and we'd do that at a breakfast on a Saturday morning, sort of strategically third of the way through and two thirds of the way through the season. Then we'd yap about our families and where we were at and what our sort of understanding of the season was and how the anxieties we might have had about getting older and still doing it. So we shared these sort of things over the years. So we had that sort of relationship where we didn't plan anything when we were on air together. We didn't check one another's notes. We didn't know what the other one was really thinking. And yet it worked so well, I think, in the end. So, yeah, we had a very meaningful relationship. It was quite profound. And, you know, it grew as the years went on. My wife, Annie, got to know V. Dennis' wife, Will, and Mark, Dennis' son, we've got to know Will, and Ricky, his daughter. So they became family friends in some way.
00:02:33
Speaker 1: Like the great teams you guys called, it just became apparent to everyone that listened and enjoyed footy that you guys were such a wonderful team together. I'm intrigued by the development of that too, Bruce. You'd called sport for a fair while by the time you got together. Was it apparent to you immediately that there was a special sort of chemistry there, or do you feel like it took some time to develop?
00:02:56
Speaker 2: I think it took time, Will. We were both proud commentators when we got together and there was probably a feeling that, you know, I'll continue to do it my way and Dennis was so different to me. So I think it took a little while, but as that journey continued on and that time that we spent with one another in a broadcast box, I got to understand what made him tick and I realised how hard he had to work to be Dennis. Now, I know how hard I have to work to be, you know, competent. And he, I realize, went through the same sort of processes as me. What I loved about him and what I hope he loved about me was our teamwork and that we had one another's back. Now, you know, you work with people. You two guys are working together on radio. You know that, you know, you're not always going to agree with one another. There are times when you don't think that, you know, what somebody might have said is exactly what, but you do have to be a team and you have to have one another's back and there's all sorts of ways of sort of discussing those sorts of things on air and we got to learn that with one another and I knew that I could trust him completely. You know, you can be... Over the years in my career, and I know for you guys it'll be similar, you're both experienced, there's a difference between enjoying one's company and completely trusting somebody. And with Dennis... I had both. And he had both with me. And that, I think, is the ultimate compliment, when you can completely trust somebody.
00:04:30
Speaker 3: Well, we're definitely looking forward to seeing the documentary next Wednesday, the 23rd of September at 8.30pm. But, Bruce, we couldn't have you on 5AA this morning without talking to you about the Sandville Grand Final this weekend, first time since 78 that Sturt and Norwood have gone head-to-head. And you were obviously involved in Sandville commentating for such a long period.
00:04:52
Speaker 1: That was your first year?
00:04:56
Speaker 2: Look, Stacey, I started calling in 1980, actually, 81. So that 78 Grand Final was extraordinary. Really? I was working for 5DN in 10th Street, opposite Channel 9 at the time, you know, calling races and dogs and trots, et cetera. So, you know, an amazing match. I grew up a Norwood supporter. I idolized Hayden Button Jr., who was, you know, coaching Norwood as a 19-year-old. Can you believe it? Captain coach. So Norwood were my team. You know, Sturt were the unbeatable team in that year, and it was the most incredible. Isn't it hard to believe that these two wonderful clubs, with all the success they've had, They've only played in 1941 and 1978 in Grand Finals.
00:05:38
Speaker 4: This is crazy.
00:05:39
Speaker 2: I mean, here we have a third Grand Final. I think there's every chance of more than 40,000 to the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. It's going to be a beautiful day. Two great teams. Norwood start favourites. They have to. You know, they've had the week off again and they beat Sturt by three goals in that previous match. But the Double Blues have got a bit of momentum up. So, you know, it's going to be a great occasion for the SNSL to state footy, so I'm really looking forward to it. The AFL also has two fascinating prelims. We all wanted the Crows to be in there. They're not, but two absolutely wonderful matches on the weekend, so a lot of footy.
00:06:16
Speaker 1: Do you think we might see a scenario, Bruce, where we see both of the qualifying final losers end up playing in the grand final?
00:06:24
Speaker 2: Every chance will, isn't there? Look, I think the Dockers... could Sydney do it without their captain and without those other boys? I mean, it seems hard to believe they could keep going, but I think the Dockers will probably win. Look, Hawthorne and Brisbane, you know, most people are going to pick the Lions, and I can see why, but I think that's an absolute toss of the coin. But I think there is every chance that, you know, those teams that lost in that second week now of the finals, not the first week because the Wildcats might be the two teams that play off. But look, it's been a great season.
00:06:55
Speaker 4: It really has.
00:06:55
Speaker 2: And hopefully we get We've won a close grand final. We haven't had a lot of them lately, and there's nothing worse. You know, I can speak for Dennis, who's not here. There's nothing worse than a blowout in a grand final after halftime.
00:07:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right. It's hard work maintaining the emotional investment at that point. Bruce, when you look at the games like this weekend, so say, just picturing MCG, Hawthorne, Brisbane, huge event, prelim final. At this point in your career, do you look at that game and think, oh, crikey, I'd love to be calling it?
00:07:24
Speaker 5: Or.
00:07:26
Speaker 1: Do you look at it and think, oh, that would be a lot of work?
00:07:32
Speaker 2: God, I'd love to be calling it, Will.
00:07:34
Speaker 1: I thought you might say that.
00:07:38
Speaker 2: I'd love to be calling it. Do you know what?
00:07:41
Speaker 5: I had a fair go.
00:07:42
Speaker 2: But no, no, I must say the first five minutes of these big matches, these finals matches and grand final, is the word FOMO? Yeah. Okay, I've learned that one. I have a lot of FOMO.
00:07:58
Speaker 1: Well, we miss you and Dennis. Bruce, it was a privilege to get to listen to you guys over so many years. So thank you, and we can't wait for the doco next Wednesday night.
00:08:07
Speaker 2: It's a pleasure. All the best, Stacey.
00:08:08
Speaker 5: You too, Will.
00:08:09
Speaker 3: Bye-bye.
00:08:10
Speaker 1: Bruce McInerney. So 7 o'clock, sorry, on Channel 7 next Wednesday night, the documentary is Centimeter Perfect. I think it's going to bring back a lot of wonderful memories for Football fans who enjoyed the two of them worked together for a long, long time. 8.30pm, 7 and 7 plus.
00:08:27
Speaker 3: We forgot to tell Bruce we've inducted him.
00:08:29
Speaker 1: Into his Hall of Fame.
00:08:30
Speaker 3: Into our own Hall of Fame.
00:08:31
Speaker 1: Should we play our Hall of Fame?
00:08:32
Speaker 3: We created one for him.
00:08:34
Speaker 1: Well, he's in every other one. Sports Australia, the TV week, Australian football, SA football, racing, SA sport, SA Hall of Fame. We thought, let's do it the opposite way around. Let's create a Hall of Fame here at 5AA that we can put Bruce into.
00:08:47
Speaker 5: Bruce McEvaney. He's one of Australia's most decorated sports commentators, having recently been inducted into the South Australian Football and Thoroughbred Racing Halls of Fame.
00:09:02
Speaker 3: The very special Bruce McIverney.
00:09:04
Speaker 2: Bruce McIverney.
00:09:05
Speaker 1: Bruce McIverney.
00:09:06
Speaker 4: This alongside his previous honours including the AFL, Sport Australia.
00:09:11
Speaker 5: And TV Week Logies Halls of Fame. It's a beautiful thing.
00:09:16
Speaker 4: And now... Perhaps his most prestigious award, introducing our newest inductee to the 5AA Hall of Fame, Bruce McEvaney.
00:09:27
Speaker 1: Not just our newest, our first.
00:09:29
Speaker 4: Our first.
00:09:30
Speaker 1: Our very first.
00:09:30
Speaker 4: And only.
00:09:31
Speaker 1: What a way to get started. That's excellent. Congratulations, Bruce. Congratulations, Bruce. Always love chatting with him.
Speaker 1: Been looking forward to this all week. Next week on Wednesday night, we're going to get to see the wonderful documentary, Centimeter Perfect, about one of the greatest who have ever done it. Perhaps the greatest who have ever done it. The wonderful Dennis Committee, who for so long created the greatest partnership in commentary with our next guest, Bruce McIverney. Bruce, good morning to you.
00:00:20
Speaker 2: You too, Will and Stacey. I hope you enjoyed as much as I've enjoyed being part of it, Will. It was a Incredible experience for all of us at Channel 7 and I'm very proud of the end result. I've seen a rough, rough cut of it and I can't wait for next Wednesday night.
00:00:36
Speaker 1: When did you first call together, Bruce, you and Dennis?
00:00:40
Speaker 2: In the 1990s, I reckon it would have been. Mid-1990s, I reckon, or early 1990s. So it's a long, long time ago. And he was this lanky guy out of Western Australia who I knew was a very good footballer and had done a lot of cricket for the ABC at the time and He already had forged a reputation and, yeah, that beautiful voice and a beautiful man, as I found out over the years. Yeah.
00:01:06
Speaker 3: Well, tell us about what he was like behind the microphone. We all, of course, knew him as the great commentator he was, but to you, I imagine, a close friend, and what was he like?
00:01:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, Stacey, look, we started as colleagues and finished as friends, which I reckon is the ultimate compliment. He was quirky. He was always quirky. We had a... funny relationship. When I say funny, it was a deep relationship, but Dennis would travel from Perth and I would travel from Adelaide to Melbourne. We did this for about 20 years of calling Friday night football. And we'd stay at the same hotel and we'd go down to the MCG and call the game. But only twice a year we would really catch up and we'd do that at a breakfast on a Saturday morning, sort of strategically third of the way through and two thirds of the way through the season. Then we'd yap about our families and where we were at and what our sort of understanding of the season was and how the anxieties we might have had about getting older and still doing it. So we shared these sort of things over the years. So we had that sort of relationship where we didn't plan anything when we were on air together. We didn't check one another's notes. We didn't know what the other one was really thinking. And yet it worked so well, I think, in the end. So, yeah, we had a very meaningful relationship. It was quite profound. And, you know, it grew as the years went on. My wife, Annie, got to know V. Dennis' wife, Will, and Mark, Dennis' son, we've got to know Will, and Ricky, his daughter. So they became family friends in some way.
00:02:33
Speaker 1: Like the great teams you guys called, it just became apparent to everyone that listened and enjoyed footy that you guys were such a wonderful team together. I'm intrigued by the development of that too, Bruce. You'd called sport for a fair while by the time you got together. Was it apparent to you immediately that there was a special sort of chemistry there, or do you feel like it took some time to develop?
00:02:56
Speaker 2: I think it took time, Will. We were both proud commentators when we got together and there was probably a feeling that, you know, I'll continue to do it my way and Dennis was so different to me. So I think it took a little while, but as that journey continued on and that time that we spent with one another in a broadcast box, I got to understand what made him tick and I realised how hard he had to work to be Dennis. Now, I know how hard I have to work to be, you know, competent. And he, I realize, went through the same sort of processes as me. What I loved about him and what I hope he loved about me was our teamwork and that we had one another's back. Now, you know, you work with people. You two guys are working together on radio. You know that, you know, you're not always going to agree with one another. There are times when you don't think that, you know, what somebody might have said is exactly what, but you do have to be a team and you have to have one another's back and there's all sorts of ways of sort of discussing those sorts of things on air and we got to learn that with one another and I knew that I could trust him completely. You know, you can be... Over the years in my career, and I know for you guys it'll be similar, you're both experienced, there's a difference between enjoying one's company and completely trusting somebody. And with Dennis... I had both. And he had both with me. And that, I think, is the ultimate compliment, when you can completely trust somebody.
00:04:30
Speaker 3: Well, we're definitely looking forward to seeing the documentary next Wednesday, the 23rd of September at 8.30pm. But, Bruce, we couldn't have you on 5AA this morning without talking to you about the Sandville Grand Final this weekend, first time since 78 that Sturt and Norwood have gone head-to-head. And you were obviously involved in Sandville commentating for such a long period.
00:04:52
Speaker 1: That was your first year?
00:04:56
Speaker 2: Look, Stacey, I started calling in 1980, actually, 81. So that 78 Grand Final was extraordinary. Really? I was working for 5DN in 10th Street, opposite Channel 9 at the time, you know, calling races and dogs and trots, et cetera. So, you know, an amazing match. I grew up a Norwood supporter. I idolized Hayden Button Jr., who was, you know, coaching Norwood as a 19-year-old. Can you believe it? Captain coach. So Norwood were my team. You know, Sturt were the unbeatable team in that year, and it was the most incredible. Isn't it hard to believe that these two wonderful clubs, with all the success they've had, They've only played in 1941 and 1978 in Grand Finals.
00:05:38
Speaker 4: This is crazy.
00:05:39
Speaker 2: I mean, here we have a third Grand Final. I think there's every chance of more than 40,000 to the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. It's going to be a beautiful day. Two great teams. Norwood start favourites. They have to. You know, they've had the week off again and they beat Sturt by three goals in that previous match. But the Double Blues have got a bit of momentum up. So, you know, it's going to be a great occasion for the SNSL to state footy, so I'm really looking forward to it. The AFL also has two fascinating prelims. We all wanted the Crows to be in there. They're not, but two absolutely wonderful matches on the weekend, so a lot of footy.
00:06:16
Speaker 1: Do you think we might see a scenario, Bruce, where we see both of the qualifying final losers end up playing in the grand final?
00:06:24
Speaker 2: Every chance will, isn't there? Look, I think the Dockers... could Sydney do it without their captain and without those other boys? I mean, it seems hard to believe they could keep going, but I think the Dockers will probably win. Look, Hawthorne and Brisbane, you know, most people are going to pick the Lions, and I can see why, but I think that's an absolute toss of the coin. But I think there is every chance that, you know, those teams that lost in that second week now of the finals, not the first week because the Wildcats might be the two teams that play off. But look, it's been a great season.
00:06:55
Speaker 4: It really has.
00:06:55
Speaker 2: And hopefully we get We've won a close grand final. We haven't had a lot of them lately, and there's nothing worse. You know, I can speak for Dennis, who's not here. There's nothing worse than a blowout in a grand final after halftime.
00:07:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right. It's hard work maintaining the emotional investment at that point. Bruce, when you look at the games like this weekend, so say, just picturing MCG, Hawthorne, Brisbane, huge event, prelim final. At this point in your career, do you look at that game and think, oh, crikey, I'd love to be calling it?
00:07:24
Speaker 5: Or.
00:07:26
Speaker 1: Do you look at it and think, oh, that would be a lot of work?
00:07:32
Speaker 2: God, I'd love to be calling it, Will.
00:07:34
Speaker 1: I thought you might say that.
00:07:38
Speaker 2: I'd love to be calling it. Do you know what?
00:07:41
Speaker 5: I had a fair go.
00:07:42
Speaker 2: But no, no, I must say the first five minutes of these big matches, these finals matches and grand final, is the word FOMO? Yeah. Okay, I've learned that one. I have a lot of FOMO.
00:07:58
Speaker 1: Well, we miss you and Dennis. Bruce, it was a privilege to get to listen to you guys over so many years. So thank you, and we can't wait for the doco next Wednesday night.
00:08:07
Speaker 2: It's a pleasure. All the best, Stacey.
00:08:08
Speaker 5: You too, Will.
00:08:09
Speaker 3: Bye-bye.
00:08:10
Speaker 1: Bruce McInerney. So 7 o'clock, sorry, on Channel 7 next Wednesday night, the documentary is Centimeter Perfect. I think it's going to bring back a lot of wonderful memories for Football fans who enjoyed the two of them worked together for a long, long time. 8.30pm, 7 and 7 plus.
00:08:27
Speaker 3: We forgot to tell Bruce we've inducted him.
00:08:29
Speaker 1: Into his Hall of Fame.
00:08:30
Speaker 3: Into our own Hall of Fame.
00:08:31
Speaker 1: Should we play our Hall of Fame?
00:08:32
Speaker 3: We created one for him.
00:08:34
Speaker 1: Well, he's in every other one. Sports Australia, the TV week, Australian football, SA football, racing, SA sport, SA Hall of Fame. We thought, let's do it the opposite way around. Let's create a Hall of Fame here at 5AA that we can put Bruce into.
00:08:47
Speaker 5: Bruce McEvaney. He's one of Australia's most decorated sports commentators, having recently been inducted into the South Australian Football and Thoroughbred Racing Halls of Fame.
00:09:02
Speaker 3: The very special Bruce McIverney.
00:09:04
Speaker 2: Bruce McIverney.
00:09:05
Speaker 1: Bruce McIverney.
00:09:06
Speaker 4: This alongside his previous honours including the AFL, Sport Australia.
00:09:11
Speaker 5: And TV Week Logies Halls of Fame. It's a beautiful thing.
00:09:16
Speaker 4: And now... Perhaps his most prestigious award, introducing our newest inductee to the 5AA Hall of Fame, Bruce McEvaney.
00:09:27
Speaker 1: Not just our newest, our first.
00:09:29
Speaker 4: Our first.
00:09:30
Speaker 1: Our very first.
00:09:30
Speaker 4: And only.
00:09:31
Speaker 1: What a way to get started. That's excellent. Congratulations, Bruce. Congratulations, Bruce. Always love chatting with him.
