Brian Taylor
Taylor in July 2019
Personal information
Full name Brian Wayne Taylor
Nickname(s) "BT", "Bristle", "Barge", "Roaming Brian"[1]
Date of birth (1962-04-10) 10 April 1962
Place of birth Pinjarra, Western Australia
Height 191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 91 kg (201 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1980–1984 Richmond 043 (156)
1985–1990 Collingwood 097 (371)
Total 140 (527)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1986 Victoria 1 (5)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1990.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Brian Wayne Taylor (born 10 April 1962) is a former Australian rules footballer and current Australian Football League (AFL) commentator on television for the Seven Network. He played with Richmond and Collingwood from 1980 to 1990.

Playing career

Taylor was 16 when recruited from Mandurah, Western Australia, to the Richmond Football Club.[2]

The moustached Taylor, known as "BT" and "Bristle", began his VFL career with Richmond in 1980. He was a full-forward at the same club as the prolific forward Michael Roach, which limited his playing opportunities and resulted in Taylor asking to be transferred to Collingwood after the 1984 season.[2] Taylor played 43 games and kicked 156 goals at Richmond. His height was 191 cm and his weight was 102 kg.

In 1985, Taylor joined Collingwood. He kicked 100 goals in 1986 to win the Coleman Medal. Due to repeated knee injuries, he retired from playing in the AFL at the end of the 1990 season at 28 years of age.[2] He had played 97 games for Collingwood, kicking 371 goals.

Taylor has admitted that early in his career, he had a problem controlling his aggression and was involved in some physical, comical incidents.[3]

In 1991 Taylor became playing coach of Prahran in the VFA. In 1992, after he had kicked 16 and 9 goals in the opening two rounds, his knee gave way and he retired from playing after finishing that season with 64 goals. Continuing as coach, he again took the Two Blues to the finals. He retired as coach shortly before the 1994 season due to media commitments.[4]

Statistics

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Led the league after season and finals
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1980 Richmond 211002130—0.00.02.01.03.00.0—
1981 Richmond 215551472110—1.01.02.81.44.22.0—
1982 Richmond 211571251102313378—4.71.77.31.58.95.2—
1983 Richmond 216191641236433—3.22.76.83.810.75.5—
1984 Richmond 211661441252414990—3.82.87.81.59.35.6—
1985 Collingwood 921803716842210111—3.81.88.02.010.05.3—
1986 Collingwood 9201006319236228135—5.03.29.61.811.46.8—
1987 Collingwood 91860281214516679143.31.66.72.59.24.40.8
1988 Collingwood 921733813637173104103.51.86.51.88.25.00.5
1989 Collingwood 911492785231085844.52.57.72.19.85.30.4
1990 Collingwood 9696217281221.51.03.51.24.72.00.3
Career 140 527 289 1015 268 1283 710 30 3.8 2.1 7.3 1.9 9.2 5.1 0.5

Media career

Towards the end of his playing career, Taylor was approached to write a weekly column in the Sunday Herald newspaper. He kept a diary throughout the 1990 season, publishing it as Black and White: The Taylor Diaries.[2]

On radio, Taylor started out with 3UZ in 1991 before becoming was the lead commentator for the Triple M commentary team from 1997 when the station became the first FM radio station to broadcast Australian rules football matches.[2]

In 2010, he joined 3AW's football commentary team as chief football caller, replacing Rex Hunt who had moved to Triple M to call football on Saturday afternoons.[5][6] Taylor called the Friday night and either the Saturday or Sunday afternoon game for 3AW, alternating with Tony Leonard subject to commitments with the Seven Network. Taylor's five-year contract with 3AW ended at the conclusion of the 2014 football season and was not renewed. 3AW's General Manager, Shane Healy, stated that Taylor "would focus on his TV career and that 3AW would move forward in 2015 without his involvement".[5] It was later confirmed Taylor would re-join Triple M to call Sunday matches. In 2016 he also appeared on The Saturday Rub alongside James Brayshaw, Danny Frawley and Damian Barrett.[7]

Taylor in 2010 working for Fox Sports.

On television, Taylor was an AFL commentator for the Nine Network from 2002 until the station lost the broadcasting rights in 2006 to the Seven Network, he mainly called Sunday matches with Brayshaw and Garry Lyon. He remained with the station as a panellist on The Sunday Footy Show until 2010 while also being the host of AFL Teams and calling a Sunday match on Fox Sports from 2009 to 2011.

From the start of the 2012 season, Taylor started calling Saturday night matches for the Seven Network and remained in the role until the end of the 2016 season.[8]

In 2017, Taylor replaced the retiring Dennis Cometti joining Bruce McAvaney as a commentator of Friday night while also doing Sunday afternoon games for Seven, while remaining calling Saturday afternoon games for Triple M.[9]

Also in 2017, Taylor started a segment during the Channel Seven coverage called "Roaming Brian". During this live segment he roves around in the winning teams' change rooms collecting ad-lib interviews with players. Often catching them off-guard, Taylor manages to get some candid, off-the-cuff comments from players, coaches, relatives, and other AFL identities, which provide some entertaining moments for viewers. Players are usually willing to be interviewed, though in 2018 he was rebuffed by Richmond's Toby Nankervis.[10]

Controversy

On 12 July 2014, during the Seven Network's Saturday Night Football preview, Taylor called Geelong player Harry Taylor a "big poofter" – a colloquial, homophobic slur. The incident was widely condemned and Taylor apologised at half time.[11][12] He was stood down from his role of broadcasting a match the following afternoon on radio station 3AW.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Brian Taylor | AFL | International Speakers Group". internationalspeakers.com.au. 5 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Murfett, Andrew (21 May 2009). "Still calling it as he sees it". The Age. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "AFL – Bryan Taylor goes nuts". Archived from the original on 5 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  4. ↑ Stephen Linnell (10 March 1994). "Clubs likel to reject favours for Fremantle". The Age. Melbourne. p. 26.
  5. 1 2 "Brian Taylor's five-year career at 3AW is over". The Age. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  6. ↑ Rex Hunt leaves 3AW after shock offer from Triple M
  7. ↑ Football commentator Brian Taylor returns to Triple M
  8. ↑ Channel 7 reveals its new star studded team – Herald Sun
  9. ↑ "Taylor gets the call to replace Cometti". The West Australian. 4 December 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "AFL 2018: Toby Nankervis snubs Brian Taylor during 'Roaming Brian' | Fox Sports". Australia: Fox Sports. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "AFL commentator apologises for on air 'gay slur'", The Age.
  12. ↑ "Calls for Seven to sack AFL commentator over gay slur", TV Tonight.]
  13. ↑ "Brian Taylor stood down by 3AW after 'poofter' slur".
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