Channel 7 commentator Bruce McAvaney admits to nerves after returning to AFL duties

Bruce McAvaney admits to some pre-match nerves after returning to the AFL commentary box last weekend.

“It was a great experience. I didn’t know what to expect because it was a late decision to be involved,” McAvaney told The Nightly in the lead up to this year’s grand final.

The legendary Australian broadcaster returned to Channel 7’s AFL coverage last weekend for the first time since he stepped away from full-time commentary at the end of 2020.

And while the legend isn’t going to call the grand final between Sydney and Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday, he will play an instrumental part in the coverage in a key hosting role once again.

For a long time McAvaney was the voice of the biggest football moments, many of them in iconic grand finals.

And McAvaney didn’t skip a beat on his return to the broadcast, channelling the emotion of two preliminary finals as part of the pre and post-game coverage alongside some of the best experts in the game.

“For one, the request didn’t come in from Seven until a week or so before and then I thought about it for a little bit. I thought ‘well I haven’t done it for four years and what’s at stake and am I capable of doing it’. All those things go through your head.

“It was above and beyond what I expected. That close connection of working on a game, that joy of working on a game with colleagues that were very much just about the same people — with maybe the odd exception — as I was doing it four years earlier.

“I came in at a pretty good time in a full house in Sydney with the Swans up and about. And then one of the outstanding preliminary finals at the Melbourne Cricket Ground the next day.

“It’s fantastic. It reminded me of how much I love the game and what fun it is to be involved.”

McAvaney is anticipating a decider “for the ages”.

“You always think that the team that has the easier run has an advantage. The Swans won 13 of their first 14 games this year and Brisbane have won 13 of their last 15,” McAvaney said.

“So one team did it early, had a bad patch and then came good again. The other team had an awkward start to the year and has charged home.

“I honestly think it’s so close to call that I don’t feel like I want to call it. I’m not saying it will be a draw, I’m saying I think it will be very close. And I’m hoping I’m right.

“I think it’ll be of a very high standard and I think it has the potential to be a grand final for the ages. So let the best team win.”

McAvaney said the week leading into the game was full of drama and intrigue which set up the big game.

“The whole focus is on this one game ... all the love goes in one direction, so it’s a complete focus on this one match,” McAvaney said.

“You realise the stakes are enormous. The difference between a win and a loss is lifechanging and it stays with these players for the rest of their lives.

“The win is a dream fulfilled, the loss is a shattered dream and you try to pick up the pieces.

“There are so many permutations, so many things to think about both in the present and the past and maybe the future. The focus is all on one game.”

McAvaney will be among the celebrations when he gets to interview the winners as part of the post-game coverage — a part of the job he described as a joy.

“Not because you’ve had any involvement in terms of participating in their performance or success but it’s just effervescent. It’s contagious. It’s beautiful,” McAvaney.

“When you’re sitting shoulder to shoulder with somebody who’s done something that we’re not going to forget for a long, long time. They did something heroic or changed the game or just been part of it. You’re getting them at the best part of their sporting lives. It doesn’t get any bigger or better.

“To be speaking to those people is an absolute privilege and honour. It’s a joy of the job and I do look forward to it.

“I was in the Sydney rooms on Friday night and that was wild. And then the Brisbane rooms on Saturday night and that’s the same sort of thing.

“It is a real honour really, a privilege to have that opportunity and it’s not one you take lightly. You realise that very few people can experience this and you’re in a wonderful position. So make the most of it, try to do a reasonable job and enjoy it.

“You don’t forget it, it stays with you those moments. No matter how old you are and how many you’ve done they’re so exciting and that will never change.”

Channel 7’s coverage will begin at 9am on Saturday morning and will run right through until 7pm. The game is live and exclusive to Channel 7 with bouncedown at 2.30pm.