Timothy Lane (born 18 September 1951 in Launceston, Tasmania) is a veteran Australian sports broadcaster and journalist with 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 ...

and Fairfax. He currently calls Australian rules football ( AFL) matches for 3AW radio on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and writes for ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'' newspaper. Additionally, beginning in 2018, he is a lead commentator for the

Seven Sport Seven Sport is the brand and production department under which all sporting events on the Seven Network are broadcast. It broadcasts some of Australia's most prominent sporting events, such as the AFL, cricket, the Olympics and Paralympics, as ...

test cricket coverage. Between 2003 and 2011, he was also an AFL commentator for Network Ten. Lane is well known for commentating on a variety of sports for decades—particularly

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

—as well as AFL and as a track-and-field commentator for both the Summer Olympics and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. He famously called

Cathy Freeman Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman (born 16 February 1973) is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set ...

for

ABC Grandstand ABC Sport, formerly ABC Radio Grandstand, is a live radio sports focused commentary and talk-back program which runs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) local radio network across Australia and on one digital-only station. History Fr ...

radio at the

Sydney 2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Early career

Born in Launceston, Lane moved with his family to Devonport in 1963 and matriculated from Devonport High School in 1969. Lane then studied at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first prop ...

in Hobart, where he resided at

St. John Fisher College St. John Fisher University is a private liberal arts college in Pittsford, New York. It is named after John Fisher, an English Catholic cardinal and saint. It was named St. John Fisher College until July 1, 2022. History St. John Fisher Univers ...

, but, after failing his first year, found work at an Edgell factory before trying sports commentary. Lane began his sports broadcasting career in 1972 and was employed by the ABC in 1973, commentating NTFA Australian rules football matches.

Established media career

After some time working for the ABC in Hobart, Lane moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1979, where he has been based since. Lane began calling a wide variety of sports, including tennis,

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

and Australian rules football matches in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

and Australian Football League. He was primarily a radio commentator but also became a regular face on ABC TV, and was a key member of the coverage team for the

1987 VFL season 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, ...

when the television broadcast rights fell to the ABC. In addition, he spent time as the sports presenter for ABC Television's primetime news bulletin in Melbourne. As a commentator for such a variety of nationally (and sometimes internationally) broadcast sports, particularly for the highly popular AFL and cricket, Lane became one of Australia's best-known commentators and one of the ABC's most familiar personalities. With his broad knowledge of sports, precise descriptions and endearing personality, he became regarded as one of Australia's most accomplished sports commentators. In 1999, he was inducted into the Melbourne Cricket Ground Media Hall of Fame and is now on the panel to select future inductees. He is also a member of the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame as a legend in the media category. Lane was involved in a well-publicised dispute with the Nine Network on the eve of the

2002 AFL season The 2002 AFL season was the 106th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixt ...

. Having been recruited to Nine's AFL commentary team, Lane quit just days prior to the season's commencement, claiming Nine had refused to honour a stipulation in his contract that

Eddie McGuire Edward Joseph McGuire AM (born 29 October 1964) is an Australian television presenter, journalist and Australian Football League commentator. He is also an occasional '' Herald Sun'' newspaper columnist. He hosts Channel Nine’s Millionai ...

would not commentate alongside him in matches involving the Collingwood Football Club. Lane held the view that McGuire's role as Collingwood president put him in a conflict of interest, as his freedom to report matters regarding the club would be compromised by his requirement to keep certain inside knowledge confidential. Lane parted ways from Nine and took up a role on Network Ten's AFL coverage in 2003, where he remained until Ten lost the rights at the end of 2011. Lane resigned from his full-time role with the ABC in 2003 but continued as a part-time AFL commentator on ABC radio, usually only on Friday night games, until the end of 2009. In addition to his role as an AFL commentator for Network Ten, he was also a regular sports columnist for ''The Age'', and he usually appeared fortnightly on Jon Faine's ''Conversation Hour'' on ABC Radio across

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. At the end of the

2009 AFL season The 2009 AFL season was the 113th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixte ...

, Lane left ABC radio and joined 3AW in 2010 as a replacement for

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 moved to

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 ...

and has since retired). Lane leads the Sunday pre-match discussion and calls Saturday and Sunday games. He replaced

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 ...

(who moved to

) as a Saturday caller. He is also a commentator for Macquarie Media's cricket coverage. In addition, he called the drawn

2010 AFL Grand Final The 2010 AFL Grand Final was a series of two Australian rules football matches between the Collingwood Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. They are considered the 114th and 115th grand finals of the Australian Football League (for ...

and Friday Night matches during the 2011 AFL finals series for the station. Lane is a regular columnist for ''

'' newspaper in Victoria. In 2018, Lane joined the

as a ball-by-ball commentator on its cricket coverage.

Personal life

Tim is the father of sports writer and multi-media personality Samantha Lane and is an avid supporter of the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...

. Indicates age 56 at that time.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Tim 1951 births Living people Australian radio personalities Australian rules football commentators Australian television presenters People from Launceston, Tasmania People from Devonport, Tasmania Australian tennis commentators Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees Radio personalities from Melbourne