Triple M Footy
‘Game Day Porch Thoughts’
As a teenager living in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, VFL Park was, in many respects, an extension of my own backyard.
During the 80s, come most Saturday afternoons, my best mate, Frank and I would paint our faces yellow and brown, proudly don our heavy brown duffle coats, strap on our stack-hat helmets and jump on our bikes to ride the few kilometres to VFL Park to watch our beloved Hawks play.
Although I was a ‘proud, passionate and paid-up’ Hawthorn Football Club member during the late 90s, I never missed a home game until my life suddenly changed following the arrival of our first-born child.
Like any hawk with clipped wings, I was forced to the sidelines. Going to weekend games had suddenly become out of bounds, and I needed to find another way to remain connected and keep the brown and yellow running through my veins.
After my second child was born two years later, I was close to hanging up my boots. I needed to be part of the live footy action on a weekly basis. On the FM dial, I found a group of passionate guys who kept me at the game from home for years. “A meat pie with sauce, thanks!”
Now in its 18th season, the Triple M Footy Show returns this coming Friday night at 6pm, bringing us live and entertaining coverage of the round-one clash of the 2014 Premiership Season. The mighty Collingwood Pies take on the Fremantle Dockers at Etihad Stadium.
With a mix of engaging personalities, including some the game’s most celebrated and decorated players, media and club representatives, 15 years on, when I venture off to the city these days to watch the mighty Hawks, I always take my iPod.
In the Great Southern Stand at the ‘G’ or somewhere up high (yet a lot closer to the on-field at Etihad), no matter which of their talented on-air team members has their microphones switched on, I’m one happy piggy (sorry Jason!)
On behalf of their live listeners, members of their online community, their legion of loyal fans around the country and expats tuning in from countries including the United Kingdom and New Zealand, I caught up with some of the 2014 team members and asked them why they love calling the footy on their Triple M Footy Porch.
MMM Porch Thoughts
Garry Lyon: "If you can no longer play the game at the elite level, the next best place to be is in the Triple M commentary box. The environment reminds me of my playing days - without the physical wear and tear, but with plenty of emotional carnage."
Danny Frawley: "I love calling footy on Triple M, as we can be ourselves whilst still delivering a great product. Triple M footy is all about being insightful, irreverent, entertaining and above all, having total respect for the greatest game on earth. That is why MMM RROOOCCCCKKKSS Footy."
Wayne Carey: “Because it's like going to a game of footy with my mates and talking about the game I love.”
Jason Dunstall: "I love calling the footy on Triple M because I find myself taken along for the ride, just like our listeners. A unique blend of footy intellect, humour, enthusiasm and entertainment with a variety of personalities...that's my sort of call!"
Luke Darcy: “You can’t ever replace playing the game, but Triple M Footy is as close to the inner sanctum as it gets. Calling the game with the best in the business while sitting in the best seats in the house is the most fun you can possibly have at work!”