The late Tony Charlton, who called a dozen VFL grand finals and three Olympic Games, said sporting commentators should “produce words like bubbles in champagne”. There have been some sublime sporting commentators in this country. But no one in Australian broadcasting turned words into bubbles like Dennis Cometti. Few could match his repertoire of wit, timing and verve. And few were so professional, so versatile, so fully dedicated to their craft, so capable of meeting the moment.
In many ways, Cometti was an outsider. Yes, he’d played and coached in the WAFL. But he wasn’t a legend of the VFL who transitioned into commentary. He wasn’t from the eastern seaboard. He wasn’t some nuggety, phlegmatic former player. He looked like an Oscar Wilde character. He sounded like a man who’d just back-announced Boz Scaggs on the radio. He had to prove himself to audiences who’d never heard of him, and who weren’t used to such dulcet tones calling VFL football.
