Brian Wayne Taylor (born 10 April 1962) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er and current

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL) commentator on television for the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

. He played with

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and Collingwood from 1980 to 1990.

Playing career

Taylor was 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 90,306. Mandurah's central business dis ...

, Western Australia, to the Richmond Football Club. The moustached Taylor, known as "BT" and "Bristle", began his VFL career with

in 1980. He was a full-forward Taylor, and he played 43 games and kicked 156 goals at Richmond. However, playing at the same club as prolific forward Michael Roach limited his senior playing opportunities; he was successful in the reserves grade, winning the VFL reserves leading goalkicker award in 1981 with 119 goals., but ultimately asked to be transferred to Collingwood after the 1984 season. 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 Laws of Australian rules football#Scoring, goals in the Australian Football League#Premiership season, home- ...

. 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. Taylor has admitted that early in his career, he had a problem controlling his aggression and was involved in some physical, comical incidents. In 1991 Taylor became playing coach of

Prahran Prahran ( , also colloquially or ), 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 population ...

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

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1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

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1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, 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 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, 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 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 of the ...

, 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 n ...

, 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 en ...

, 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 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, 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 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, 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 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, 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 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, 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 in 1991 before becoming 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 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

commentary team from 1997 when the station became the first

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...

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. A former Australian rules footballer, he became a commentator known for his habit of making up quirky nicknames for players. He has also been known around th ...

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 Anthony Leonard (born 19 December 1955) is an Australian radio presenter. Career In 1982, he joined the radio comedy team Coodabeen Champions, who were then on 3RRR. Following them to 3LO and 3AW he stayed with this team until 2002. He be ...

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 ...

Danny Frawley Daniel Patrick "Spud" 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 ...

and Damian Barrett.Football commentator Brian Taylor returns to Triple M
/ref>

On television, Taylor was an AFL commentator for the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

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 a ...

. 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 name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

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 retir ...

joining

Bruce McAvaney Bruce William McAvaney (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 and S ...

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" – a colloquial, homophobic slur. 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. Taylor was also called out by popular youtuber Penguinz0 in 2019, after interviewing the

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

Esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

Team.

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