For decades, the greatest moments in Australian rules football were described and embellished by Dennis Cometti and Bruce McAvaney, forming one of the great double acts.

If AFL commentary had a Lennon and McCartney, it would be Cometti and McAvaney.

After the former’s death, aged 76, McAvaney said sharing a commentary box and becoming friends with Cometti was “one of the greatest privileges of my life”.

When Dennis Cometti spoke, Australia listened

Dennis Cometti was known to viewers as a wordsmith who made rattled off rejoinders with ease, but behind the scenes he worked harder than anyone to carve out a place in Australia’s sporting landscape.

“On a personal level, I feel like I’ve lost something truly precious,” McAvaney said.

“We shared an extraordinary journey. We were a similar age and at similar stages of our lives, and we both understood the pressure that came with the role — the effort it demanded and the vulnerability that came with trying to live up to expectations. We leaned on each other through that. We always had each other’s backs.

“While Dennis and I started our careers as colleagues, we ended as friends, and I am so grateful for that.”

On a professional level, McAvaney said he was often stunned by the wit and intelligence of the man he described as his “ultimate teammate”.

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And while Cometti often made those moments sound spontaneous and natural, they came on the back of hours of research, study and preparation.

“When I think about Dennis, one of the first things I think about is the amount of joy he brought to all of our lives,” McAvaney said.

“How many times did he make us laugh and smile? We would sit there and think, ‘How did he think of that?’

“He leaves a legacy that is undeniable, unique, and authentic. In many ways, he was the benchmark for all of those that are following in his footsteps.

“We are a nation who prides itself in having so many of the all-time great sport commentators, and he was up there with the very best of them.

“Perhaps the most impressive thing about Dennis is that through his calling, he made footballers famous. That’s a gift.”

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While Cometti and McAvaney came up together, the late West Australian was renowned for helping out his younger colleagues.

Former players like Matthew Richardson and Jude Bolton spoke about how he guided them through the early years of their commentary journey, while former broadcasting colleague Michael Roberts said Cometti was “all about looking after you”.

Cometti signed off from TV broadcasting after the 2016 grand final, but it was not until 2021 that he finally hung up his microphone.

While commentating the final moments of Melbourne’s premiership, in his final call, he tried to hand the magical moment to Triple M Perth co-commentator Lachy Reid with 90 seconds left on the clock.

“Lachy, this is your time, away you go. You bring it home,” he said, to protestations from around the box.

“Come on, Lachy, please. I’m not calling it.”

Reid eventually relented, with Cometti getting in one last light dig about the Demons fan’s very “unbiased” celebrations on the final siren.

Tim Lane, who was just starting his broadcast career when Cometti arrived on the scene in the early 1970s, said imitating his style is tough but emulating his commitment is something everyone in the industry should aspire to.

“There’s already a generation who sought to mimic his work in a certain sense, who wanted to be sports broadcasters who sounded like Dennis Cometti,” Lane told the ABC.

“And he did have a mimicable voice and style, but there was only one Cometti.”