Bruce McAvaney is feeling, in his words, a “kaleidoscope” of emotions. At the time of our interview, it’s just been announced that the legendary sports broadcaster is being saluted with his own award at this year’s TV WEEK Logie Awards – the Bruce McAvaney Award for Best Sports Presenter.
“I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all, but I realise the enormity of the moment,” Bruce, 73, tells TV WEEK. “It is an honour but also humbling.
“You say to yourself, do I really deserve something like this that’s going to be forever, because I think about all the brilliant broadcasters Australia has produced. It’s such an honour.”
At the risk of sounding a touch morbid, Bruce says it will be “lovely”, once he passes on, for his children and grandchildren to know he was acknowledged in such a way.
Bruce has enthusiastically called sport for 50 years – first in radio and then on television. His voice is synonymous with horse racing, athletics and AFL among other sports.
But if anyone is thinking the broadcaster might be getting ready to hang up the microphone, think again.
The man dubbed ‘Mr Olympics’ admits he’s in a “different stage” of his career (he has stepped away from calling regular AFL matches), but retirement is not on the agenda. At the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, it was obvious Bruce’s passion for sport was as fervent as ever.
“I’m looking for some adventure,” he tells TV WEEK. “I still have the same anxieties, the same nervousness and I still get the same thrill as I always did.”
In professional sport it’s about how you prepare for the big game. For Bruce, preparing to call an event is like “studying for an exam”.
“I base my broadcasting around facts and figures,” Bruce explains. “I found early on that the more you know about anything, the more interesting it becomes for you and, therefore, it gives you an opportunity to use some things at the right time. It’s like a security blanket.
“I’ve always said to myself that when I don’t have the enthusiasm to do the preparation, I’m going to give the job up – and I’ve still got that enthusiasm.”
Looking over his brilliant career, it’s hard for Bruce to pinpoint just one highlight. But twist his arm and he’ll tell you it was Cathy Freeman’s extraordinary gold medal-winning performance in the 400m at the Sydney Olympics.
He’s incredibly proud to have played a “small role” in arguably Australia’s greatest sporting memory.
“[His wife] Annie and I knew Cathy before she won that gold medal and we’d call her our friend,” he says. “We stay in contact with her. But I realise that, while Cathy could have done it without me, I couldn’t have done it without her!
“I really believe that the race was a pivotal moment for the country in a sporting, social and cultural sense.”
Interestingly, Bruce, who was inducted into the TV WEEK Logie Hall of Fame in 2022, was nominated for the very award that carries his name. He was nominated for his SBS coverage of the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. The other nominees in the category were Danika Mason, James Bracey, Eddie McGuire, Jelena Dokic and Ricky Ponting.
“That was strange,” he says of the nomination. “All I can say to that is that Seven allowed me to work with SBS and were very supportive. I feel proud that they thought the work was good enough to nominate me.”
And in sport, at least, competing in a race named after you is not unheard of. As Bruce points out, champion mare Winx won the Winx Stakes in 2018.
In typical Bruce fashion, he’s effusive when speaking about his fellow nominees, especially Eddie, whom he’s known for 40 years. The pair worked alongside each other in the early 1980s at Network 10… when a young Eddie would eagerly fetch Bruce cups of tea.
“He’s lived on that story for a while,” Bruce laughs. “At occasions such as the Logies, he will bring out the old line: ‘Bruce, how do you like your tea? White with one?’ We’ve had a lot of fun with that over the years. He’s a good friend.”
Another close friend was fellow sports commentator, Dennis Cometti, who died in March this year, aged 76.
“I still believe there was a little bit of me that went with Dennis,” Bruce says. “That’s how connected I felt to him. It was a huge personal loss.”
When Bruce was diagnosed with lymphocytic leukaemia in 2014, it brought his own health into sharp focus.
“I’ve had some down times with my health, but I’m now on medication for leukaemia,” he says.
“I’m very fortunate because I’ve got something that I can continue to work with and that hasn’t prevented me from still enjoying my life to the full.”
When he’s not commentating on – or preparing to commentate on – sport, Bruce enjoys a very “normal” life with Annie, with whom he shares adult children Sam and Alexandra. Earlier this year their beloved family dog, Frankie, passed away, which “rocked” both of them.
“If you’d asked me a month ago what I most like to do, I would’ve said there’s nothing much better than Annie and I taking our dog along the beach for a walk,” Bruce says.
Bruce knows his parents, Betty and Roy, who passed away in 2004 and 2009 respectively, would’ve been thrilled about the award named for him. When he was just five, Bruce announced to his parents that he wanted to call the Melbourne Cup – and they encouraged him to pursue his passion.
“I’d like to have another hour with them right now,” he says. “I miss them a lot. They would’ve loved this award. My father probably would have said, ‘Gee, I’m a bit surprised by that,’ and my mother would have said: ‘You deserve it, son.’”
Catch up on The 66th TV WEEK Logie Awards on 7Plus.
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