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 The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

. He played with Richmond and Collingwood from 1980 to 1990.

Playing career

He was only 16 when recruited from

Mandurah Mandurah () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 107,641 as of the 2021 census. Mandurah's ...

, Western Australia, to the Richmond Football Club. 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 legendary

Michael Roach Michael Roach (born December 17, 1952) is an American businessman, spiritual leader, and former Buddhist monk and scholar who has started a number of businesses and organizations, written books inspired by Buddhism, and translated Tibetan Buddhis ...

. This limited his playing opportunities, and so he asked to be transferred to Collingwood after the 1984 season, having played 43 games and kicking 156 goals. 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 The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer ...

. Due to repeated knee injuries, he retired from playing in the AFL at the end of the 1990 season at 28 years of age. He had played 97 games for Collingwood, kicking 371 goals. Early in Taylor's career, he has admitted he had a problem with controlling his aggression, which he was involved in some remembered physical, comical moments. But stated later in his career, he improved at controlling his aggression. In 1991 Taylor became playing coach of

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

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.

Statistics

, -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1980 , style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 2 , , 1 , , 3 , , 0 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 3.0 , , 0.0 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 5 , , 5 , , 5 , , 14 , , 7 , , 21 , , 10 , , , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 2.8 , , 1.4 , , 4.2 , , 2.0 , , , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1982 , style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 15 , , 71 , , 25 , , 110 , , 23 , , 133 , , 78 , , , , 4.7 , , 1.7 , , 7.3 , , 1.5 , , 8.9 , , 5.2 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 6 , , 19 , , 16 , , 41 , , 23 , , 64 , , 33 , , , , 3.2 , , 2.7 , , 6.8 , , 3.8 , , 10.7 , , 5.5 , , , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 21 , , 16 , , 61 , , 44 , , 125 , , 24 , , 149 , , 90 , , , , 3.8 , , 2.8 , , 7.8 , , 1.5 , , 9.3 , , 5.6 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 21 , , 80 , , 37 , , 168 , , 42 , , 210 , , 111 , , , , 3.8 , , 1.8 , , 8.0 , , 2.0 , , 10.0 , , 5.3 , , , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 20 , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 100 , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 63 , , 192 , , 36 , , 228 , , 135 , , , , bgcolor="DD6E81", 5.0 , , 3.2 , , 9.6 , , 1.8 , , 11.4 , , 6.8 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 18 , , 60 , , 28 , , 121 , , 45 , , 166 , , 79 , , 14 , , 3.3 , , 1.6 , , 6.7 , , 2.5 , , 9.2 , , 4.4 , , 0.8 , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 21 , , 73 , , 38 , , 136 , , 37 , , 173 , , 104 , , 10 , , 3.5 , , 1.8 , , 6.5 , , 1.8 , , 8.2 , , 5.0 , , 0.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 11 , , 49 , , 27 , , 85 , , 23 , , 108 , , 58 , , 4 , , 4.5 , , 2.5 , , 7.7 , , 2.1 , , 9.8 , , 5.3 , , 0.4 , -style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 6 , , 9 , , 6 , , 21 , , 7 , , 28 , , 12 , , 2 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 3.5 , , 1.2 , , 4.7 , , 2.0 , , 0.3 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=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 The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...

newspaper. He kept a diary throughout the 1990 season, publishing it as ''Black and White: The Taylor Diaries''. On radio, Taylor started out with

3UZ RSN Racing & Sport (ACMA callsign: 3UZ) is an Australian radio station in Australia. Owned and operated by thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing bodies of Victoria, it broadcasts a sports radio format to Melbourne, and to much of Victori ...

in 1991 before becoming was the lead commentator for the

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to ...

commentary team from 1997 when the station became the first FM radio station to broadcast Australian rules football matches. In 2010, he joined 3AW's football commentary team as chief football caller, replacing

Rex Hunt Rex James Hunt (born 7 March 1949) is an Australian television and radio personality, and a former Australian rules football player. He was also a veteran Australian rules football commentator known for his habit of making up quirky nicknames ...

who had moved to Triple M to call football on Saturday afternoons. 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". It was later confirmed Taylor would re-join

to call Sunday matches. In 2016 he also appeared on The Saturday Rub alongside

James Brayshaw James Antony Brayshaw (born 11 May 1967) is an Australian media personality and retired cricketer working in television for the Seven Network and radio for Triple M. For Seven Sport, he hosts and calls Test cricket during summer and Australian F ...

Danny Frawley Daniel Patrick Frawley (8 September 1963 – 9 September 2019) was an Australian rules football player, coach, administrator, commentator and media personality. He played 240 games for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football Leag ...

and Damian Barrett.Football commentator Brian Taylor returns to Triple M
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On television, Taylor was an AFL commentator for the Nine Network from 2002 until the station lost the broadcasting rights in 2006 to the

, he mainly called Sunday matches with Brayshaw and

Garry Lyon Garry Peter Lyon (born 13 September 1967) is a former professional Australian rules football player and was captain of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Since his retirement from football, he has been mainly ...

. 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 Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

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. In 2017, Taylor replaced the retiring

Dennis Cometti Dennis John Cometti (born 26 March 1949) is an Australian retired sports commentator, player and coach of Australian rules football. In a career spanning 51 years, his smooth voice, dry humour and quick wit became his trademark. Until his reti ...

joining

Bruce McAvaney Bruce William McAvaney OAM (born 22 June 1953) is an Australian sports broadcaster with the Seven Network. McAvaney has presented high-profile events including the AFL Grand Final, Melbourne Cup, Australian Open, Test cricket and both Winter a ...

as a commentator of Friday night while also doing Sunday afternoon games for Seven, while remaining calling Saturday afternoon games for Triple M. 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.

Controversy

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

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Brian Richmond Football Club players 1962 births Living people Collingwood Football Club players Coleman Medal winners Prahran Football Club players Prahran Football Club coaches Australian rules football commentators Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Australian television presenters Triple M presenters People from Mandurah Victorian State of Origin players