Channel 7 has gone for some big names, key experts and rising stars in their team to host the Commonwealth Games, starting on Friday AEST.
While 7 Plus will have every event covered via the streaming app, Swimming is destined to become the most watched event on Australian screens and Ian Thorpe leads the way again, a year after he was the standout pundit for the Seven team at the Tokyo Olympics.
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Thorpey’s analysis won rave reviews for his efforts in Tokyo and we can expect plenty more of his excellent in-the-moment punditry and his considered chats with host Hamish McLachlan.
Thorpe, race caller and Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas are joined at the pool by swim champion Cate Campbell, who reflected on her new gig after leaving competiton.
“Being on the other side of the microphone excites and terrifies me,” she told News Corp. “I know what’s at stake. I know how fragile these moments are, how one question can make or break an athlete.
“I know that in moments of heartbreak, there is no ‘right’ thing to say, but there definitely is a ‘wrong’ thing to say. And I know in moments of joy, the best interviews are when athletes feel comfortable enough to be themselves (think of Kaylee McKeown’s ‘F— yeah!’ moment after her win in the 100m backstroke at the 2021 Olympic Games). Those are the moments which will go down in Australian sporting folklore.”
Full list of commentators by sport
Athletics: Bruce McAvaney, Tamsyn Lewis-Manou, David Culbert, Jason Richardson, Matt Hill.
Boxing: Jon Harker.
Cricket: Lisa Sthalekar, Alison Mitchell
Cycling: Scott McGrory, Kate Bates, Paul van der Ploeg, Matt Carmichael, Phil Liggett, Curtis McGrath.
Gymnastics: Liz Chetkovich.
Hockey: Alister Nicholson, Georgie Parker.
Netball: Catherine Cox, Sue Gaudion.
Rugby: Gregory Clark, Tiana Penitani.
Swimming: Ian Thorpe, Cate Campbell, Basil Zempilas.
Hosts: Hamish McLachlan, Abbey Gelmi, Matt Shirvington, Emma Freedman, Johanna Griggs, Abbey Holmes, Ryan Daniels and Trent Copeland.
While swimming is a key Games sport we know The Roar readers will keep a keen eye on the rugby 7s and T20 cricket.
At the sevens, Greg Clark – who called the Fijian Drua Super Rugby matches on Stan this season, will continue his long history calling the sevens competition, alongside New South Wales NRLW player Tiana Penitani, a former Aussie sevens rugby representative.
Penitani has plenty of experience as a caller in world sevens events and for an excellent insight into who she is as an athlete and a person it’s well worth checking out this story she did with our sister publication AthletesVoice.
Penitani led Australia to the gold medal in Rugby Sevens at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, having a year earlier become the youngest player ever to represent Australia at a Rugby World Cup in the 7s tournament in Russia. After missing the Rio Olympics with injury at the last moment, Penitani switched to rugby league.
Tiana Penitani. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images
With women’s cricket on the schedule, 7 has opted for two of the best commentators around in Alison Mitchell and former player Lisa Sthalekar.
The former Australian women’s cricket captain was named Australian Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2007 and 2008 and is a former ICC world player of the year.
At the track and field, McAvaney will be joined by Tokyo experts Tamsyn Lewis-Manou and David Culbert.
A long jump finalist at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and two-time silver medallist at the Commonwealth Games, Culbert has excelled as a multi sport commentator.
Lewis-Manou, a three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, has emerged as an excllent foil to McAveny for track events.
The cycling commentary team is also stacked with legendary caller Phil Liggett joined by Scott McGrory, Kate Bates, Paul van der Ploeg, Matt Carmichael, and Curtis McGrath.
McGrath is an Australian para-canoeist and former soldier who took up canoeing competitively after both of his legs were amputated as a result of a mine blast while serving with the Australian Army in Afghanistan.
He won gold in the Men’s KL2 at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Unlike the Olympics, para sports are fully integrated into the schedule.
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