{"id":488947,"date":"2026-02-19T00:11:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T00:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/488947\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T00:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T00:11:16","slug":"outpouring-of-support-comes-for-sacked-channel-7-commentator-afl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/488947\/","title":{"rendered":"Outpouring of support comes for sacked Channel 7 commentator – AFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former Channel 7 commentator Jason Bennett has received immense support from the broader football community after the broadcaster was omitted from the 2026 team.<\/p>\n

Bennett wasn’t named when Channel 7 revealed its line-up ahead of the new season, whilst new recruit and Triple M star Jack Heverin was the major inclusion, joining the Sunday coverage.<\/p>\n

AFL<\/a> media personalities, such as Rohan Connolly and Nigel Carmody, paid tribute to Bennett’s time in the role.<\/p>\n

Bennett took to social media to reflect on his 11 years, spending the majority of his time in the VFL as well as eight AFLW grand finals and a men’s preliminary final.<\/p>\n

“Since I was 4 years old, my dream has been to call footy on Channel 7,” Bennett said on\u00a0LinkedIn.<\/p>\n

“Realising that dream over the past 11 years has been a great thrill, and I’m so thankful to the legion of people on both sides of the camera who made it happen and supported me along the way.<\/p>\n

“Thanks for your support and for being so very good at your jobs. It made mine easier.<\/p>\n

“I dreamt of calling with Bruce McAvaney and Dennis Cometti \u2013 my two idols growing up. I got to call with them both, and it was magical. I will cherish those memories forever.<\/p>\n

“Alongside sports broadcasting, my other great passion is sports storytelling, and I’m in discussions about some exciting documentary projects.<\/p>\n

“Much of the time previously spent on commentary will be freed up to focus on these archival projects, so if you’re a production company or network looking for compelling stories and formats across whatever sports you’re into, hit me up. I’ve got a long list up my sleeve.<\/p>\n

“I may pop up here and there to call some footy and other sports this season, with a view to returning to more regular calling in 2027 should an opportunity arise.”<\/p>\n

Bennett will continue his role as the VAFA’s Broadcast and Content Manager, spending time writing features and creating podcasts.<\/p>\n

Get set for the footy with the FREE Zero Hanger 2026 AFL Season Guide!<\/a> Packed with 150+ pages of player profiles, team previews, insights and analysis, the 2026 AFL Season Guide<\/a> is built for fans who want the full picture. Download your free Season Guide HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Channel 7 commentator Jason Bennett has received immense support from the broader football community after the broadcaster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-488947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}