This was the only football (AFL or NRL) Nine could show without delay during the regular season. Most of the time though it would be interstate matches, most also involving Victorian clubs. To my knowledge, apart from Anzac Day in 2004, Essendon and Collingwood never featured in those Sunday early games.
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Except as @Avatar5991 said, most games were on delay. You couldn’t go back to that nowadays.
I did like Nine’s presentation from that era for both AFL and NRL matches.
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Collingwood vs West Coast Eagles, 2004.
Courtesy: james brown
The opening theme (with the thumping drums and electric guitar) was discontinued as the Friday Night Football opener in 2005/06 but retained for the Sunday Football opener in those years.
This was one of the few Collingwood games that Eddie McGuire called when Nine had the rights (though he stepped down in 2006 upon becoming Nine CEO); apparently a conflict with Tim Lane was what saw the latter quit on the eve of the 2002 season. Had Lane stayed, McGuire wouldn’t have been permitted to call this match.
On this same night, the northern markets received a one-hour delay of the Bulldogs vs Sydney Roosters NRL match, during which the Olympic torch paid a visit to the Olympic Stadium on its Australian leg of the torch relay. The match itself was won by the Bulldogs 40-12, with then-Rooster Justin Hodges sent off in the second half.
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I was talking more about the quality of the broadcast and free to air availability versus whether they were live or not.
3 games on Nine, 2 on TEN, plus 3 on Fox Footy. Far better than the 3, sometimes 4 on Seven now
The delays weren’t that bad anyway, about an hour or so? Better than the silly 165 minute delay that occurs now in SA and WA on FTA because of the deal with Fox Footy.
In 2002 when Nine got the rights, STW-9 used to air WA home games at 4.30 with news at half time, after Seven previously showed it all before the news. Then the following year in 2003 they switched back to 3pm. National Nine News used to rate well on Sundays in Perth.
I can remember in 2002/2003, Collingwood and Essendon had all their games on free to air on Nine and TEN.
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That’s worse, teams should have a more even coverage on TV, based partially on ladder position. Its like us in NRL land complaining about the Broncos being on TV all the time when they were down near the bottom of the table in 2020 simply because they were the only Brisbane team.
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The only WA home match between 2001 Round 20 and 2012 Round 23 that was shown on FTA (2003 Round 6 Fremantle vs Essendon) in Victoria was delayed in Western Australia at 4:30 pm. Also 2002 saw some Pies and Dons matches had Fox as the host Broadcaster. 2003 saw only one Pies match that was Fox produced and that was in Round 13 against the Western Bulldogs.
Also to note, I think 2004 saw Nine Perth permanently switch WA Sunday home matches (All were Fox produced) were brought to 3:00 pm with WA Saturday Home matches (All matches were also Fox produced) brought to 4:00 pm on Ten with news at Half Time.
And, Fox’s Sunday AFL coverage during 2002 and 2003 would feature Dennis Cometti and/or Mark Readings for Fremantle/West Coast matches and Kym Dillion for Adelaide/Port Adelaide matches given those matches were simulcast on Nine Perth/Adelaide
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Kangaroos vs West Coast Eagles, Round 15 2005.
Courtesy: Liam Whiteley
The song used during the opening titles and the transitions to the ad breaks is “See You at the Show” by Nickelback.
That evening, the northern states received a one-hour delay of the NRL match between the Parramatta Eels and St George Illawarra Dragons, in which then-Dragons captain Trent Barrett and Eels hooker PJ Marsh got into a bit of a scuffle…
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I have zero memory of West Coast being that far ahead of everyone in 2005 (Ladder at 3:19:10)
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To that point of the season West Coast had won 13 of their first 14 matches, the sole loss being against Collingwood (which was at the bottom of the ladder at the time) in round nine. The Eagles had emerged as a genuine contender for the flag, but some poor late-season form (lost three of their final four regular season matches) saw them finish second, behind the Adelaide Crows.
Most of us then know what the outcome of that year’s Grand Final was…
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They only lost out on the minor premiership by % but as you said they had a very poor run of form during the last 5 weeks of the season cost them and the other sides caught them. Though West Coast would win the minor premiership the following season.
I still can’t watch that moment.
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Adelaide vs Carlton, Round 10 2005.
Courtesy: Jeff Albertson
The match was delayed by half an hour in Adelaide, presumably so it could feed straight into the West Coast Eagles vs Port Adelaide game that took place immediately after, but also due to contractual obligations. It was shown live elsewhere.
After this match, Melbourne got the Essendon vs Western Bulldogs two-hour condensed highlights broadcast, while the northern states got the NRL match between the Manly Sea Eagles and Penrith Panthers in which the Sea Eagles came from 26-6 down to win 36-26.
Also in this round, the St Kilda vs Sydney Swans match on Ten proved to be a turn-off in Sydney (if I remember correctly, a cooking show on SBS outrated it) such was the Swans’ terrible performance. It was after this that Robert Walls said the Swans couldn’t win the flag. He’d be proven wrong four months later…
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I was at that match, Not good viewing for Port fans as West Coast gave them a good hiding that day.
Stephen Quatermain and Tim Lane also slated their style of play during that telecast as well.
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I actually listened to that match on Triple M. Don’t remember much about it, but if I remember correctly Mark Beretta was part of the radio coverage providing updates on the NRL matches being played that evening (which, for the record, were the Sharks vs Eels and Roosters vs Raiders).
It ended up being a terrible weekend for the red-and-white teams in Melbourne, with St George Illawarra losing to the Melbourne Storm by 24-16 the next day.
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It was The Iron Chef… I remember that about the ratings too!
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In fairness wasn’t that quite popular in the early-00s
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Channel Nine’s very first AFL telecast in 2002 was a Wizard Cup match between St Kilda and Melbourne. This is believed to be the only match Eddie McGuire and Tim Lane called together, as the latter suddenly quit just a day before the premiership season began.
Courtest: St Kilda FC AFL Archive
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Dermott Brereton and Dwayne Russell doing Nine’s AFL coverage in 2005. Borh are on Fox Footy in 2023
Credit: Jeff Albertson
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I don’t think any from Nine went to Ten or Seven, they either exited TV or went to Foxtel. Save for BT, but he went to Foxtel first in the 2007-2011 deal.
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Dennis Cometti returned to Seven when they got the rights back, while Peter Larkins also moved to Seven in 2012. Don’t know what he did in between though
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But he was originally at Seven for 15 years before Nine, so I don’t really consider it the same. Nine had a lot of first timers on at least TV or for AFL telecasts.
Yeah him and Adam Hamilton (TAB) used to feature on the telecasts prominently, then just disappeared. I think with the latter Seven’s wagering sponsor changed to “CrownBet” which also brought back Matthew Campbell from his days as spokesperson for Sportsbet(.com.au) on Ten’s AFL, while also calling for Fox Spor
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