Almanac (Working) Life: Sometimes I Forget

 

Sometimes I forget that I worked at Channel 7.

 

It was a long time ago, 1982 and 1983. During my last year of High School, 1981, with no particular ambition for my future, I wrote a letter to all the TV and radio stations in Melbourne, advising them I was interested in sport, music, and films and asking if they had any opportunities.

 

I didn’t pass my final year so any thoughts of going to University went out the window. Not that I particularly wanted to follow that path. Back in those days when you didn’t know what you wanted to do, you could sit an exam for the Public Service or one of the banks. I did both, Public Service and the Commonwealth Bank, in that order.

 

The Public Service came a-calling first. I attended an interview, after which I was told I had a job with the State Insurance Office, starting the following week. At the tender age of 18 I actually didn’t even know what insurance was.

 

The Commonwealth Bank did interview me and I eventually received an offer of employment but by then I was ensconced on the 7^th floor of 480 Collins St, working full-time and heading next door every Friday lunch-time and after work, to the Menzies Tavern, whose proximity to the office far outweighed the quality of the beer, with the pub rather unkindly dubbed ‘the chew and spew’ by a co-worker, however accurate it might have been. Thursday lunch-time was often spent at the Mitre Tavern, where the beer tasted fresh and cold and was a welcome change. But, you know, it wasn’t next door! I didn’t enjoy working in Insurance but it was a great social life, plus we had the opportunity to play in the Public Service football comp.

 

A few months after starting at SIO, I received a call from Dick Jones from Channel 7. He asked me to come in for an interview for a position as a ‘football monitor’.

 

At the interview, he explained that the job entailed watching a game and noting down all the highlights, the best marks and goals, great passages of play and controversial moments which would later be edited and shown on the news and on World of Sport the next day. He offered me the job on the spot and I gladly accepted.

 

On my first day, I was introduced to two men, Bill Catmull and Terry Digby, who were the other football monitors and clearly had a lot of experience. We sat in a room, lined up next to each other, Bill, then Terry, then me, and watched the games and took our notes. Bill always got the Match of the Round.

 

So here I was, aged 18, getting paid to watch football.

 

I was/am a mad Swans supporter. The Swans would ordinarily very rarely be the match of the round but because 1982 was their first season in Sydney, they were featured more than once. This caused me some problems as I would try and take a peek at Bill’s game and this often caused me to miss highlights from my game. This must have been obvious one time when they looked at my notes because the following week the Swans were on again and Bill and Terry made a point of telling me to focus on my game and they would keep me updated with the scores.

 

We played Carlton in the Match of the Round and Bill calmly informed me at quarter time that the Blues had kicked a lazy 12 in the first. He interrupted me in the third quarter to tell me the Swans had kicked 7 in a row but the damage had been done and we were too far back.

 

I recall one Saturday, about 15 minutes after the final siren, I was walking down the corridor and I saw Peter Landy standing in a doorway and he let out a big, enthusiastic “G’day mate!!” I was quite chuffed and was about to reply when I noticed a man standing in the doorway on the other side and quickly worked out that the greeting was intended for him. It was only later I was thinking, he was commentating at Waverley and the game only finished 15 minutes ago, how did he get here so quickly? I subsequently found out he would get a chopper, Peter Hudson style. My other brush with fame was after another game, sitting in the office by myself, and the phone rang. I answered it and a voice said “Gordon, Peter McKenna”. My all-time favourite non-Swans player was ringing through his votes for the game he had done that day. I had to tell him I wasn’t Gordon but I was able to take down the votes for him.

 

Over the summer of 1982-83 I received a call telling me that in 1983 I wouldn’t be in the studio, I’d be going out to the grounds. There was a cameraman, a techie, and me watching a TV in the box. I remember going to the Junction Oval and Princes Park mostly.

 

During the following summer Dick called and asked if I was interested in doing the tennis. I was playing cricket then so I had to say no. And as much as I enjoyed the job, I was missing being able to watch the Swans live. Ironic, considering these days I can barely watch at all, such are my stress levels.

 

So, I rang Dick and advised him I couldn’t continue in 1984. Can you believe that? I gave up a job where I was getting paid to watch football!

 

I sometimes wonder where it would have led me if I’d stayed. I played football from 1985 onwards, when I wasn’t injured, so I’m not sure I could have done both. And Channel 7 lost the footy rights in 1987 anyway so that probably would have been the end.

 

I saw Bill Catmull on the last episode of World of Sport, they trotted him out after showing the infamous Sandy Roberts Miss Australia clip as apparently he had teed it up. I don’t know what became of Bill but a few years ago I saw Terry’s name in the credits of Footy Classified so he obviously still had a place in the game.

 

Because I sometimes forget that I worked at Channel 7, when it does cross my mind, I wonder if they ever have reunions for ex-staff. I tried Googling but nothing came up. The last time I was in Melbourne I went to the Channel 7 studios, now at Docklands, intending to ask the question. However, I was greeted by a security guard (no receptionists), who was unable to assist.

 

Maybe my name is on a list somewhere, filed away in a dusty cabinet, never to see the light of day. Thinking back now, I never bothered to put that job on my resume when, in reality, it was the highlight of the first half of my working life.

 

 

Read more from Glenn Here.

 

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