As announced in December<\/a>, highly-respected former AFL coach Ken Hinkley has joined Fox Footy for 2026. Hinkley, who led Port Adelaide to four preliminary finals across his 13-year tenure, will be a prominent voice for Fox Footy\u2019s Adelaide-based commentary team, alongside eight-time All-Australian Mark Ricciuto and four-time premiership star Shaun Burgoyne.<\/p>\nFormer Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has joined Fox Footy’s team this year and will work alongside Crows legend Mark Ricciuto. Picture: RoyVPhotographySource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
The multi-award-winning AFL 360 enters its 16th season on Fox Footy, with Whateley and Lyon to dissect every angle of the day\u2019s major footy issues from Monday to Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The long-running On The Couch with Riewoldt, Brown, Lewis, Nathan Buckley and Leigh Matthews returns for another year, as does Midweek Tackle with Lauren Wood, who\u2019ll spearhead the punchy 30-minute program alongside some of the best footy journalists in the business.<\/p>\n
Bounce returns every Sunday after the footy, hosted by Dunstall with Andrew Gaze, Cameron Mooney, Ruby Schleicher, Ben Dixon and Bernie Vince. It\u2019ll be followed by First Crack, which will be hosted by Herald Sun chief football reporter Jay Clark, alongside King and Montagna.<\/p>\n
Dixon, King and Montagna will also return for First Crack Preview on Wednesday night, with star Champion Data analyst Daniel Hoyne to also provide deep footy insight.<\/p>\n
It comes after a record-breaking 2025 season, which Kayo Sports audiences grow by 19 per cent year-on-year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are incredibly proud of the way we have continually innovated coverage of AFL, offering fans every game, every round live with week-long entertainment. But what we are most proud of is the annual $1 billion we invest in Australian sports rights and production, making the Foxtel Group the nation\u2019s largest individual non-Government funder of sport,\u201d Foxtel Group chief executive Patrick Delany said.<\/p>\n
Jordan Lewis, Ruby Schleicher, Tom Hawkins, Patrick Delany, Sarah Jones and Jason Dunstall.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us it goes beyond the screen. It\u2019s about the partnerships and our nearly 25 year-long commitment with AFL has not only taken football to more viewers but our investment flows through the entire AFL eco-system \u2013 from the grassroots right through to the elite. Those funds help develop crucial pathways from the suburban and country grounds to the MCG, enhance facilities and ultimately fuel participation which saw the AFL achieve a new record of 628,000 in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe support the AFL and Andrew Dillon and his team in always looking at how we can bring new initiatives to life for the fans whether it is AFL Origin, Wildcard Round or continuing to support growth at all levels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox Sports managing director Steve Crawley declared the 2026 AFL season was shaping as Fox Footy\u2019s \u201cbiggest yet\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year was massive for the Fox Footy team. We didn\u2019t just lift our coverage \u2013 we went all in. We called every game across the round, welcomed great new voices like Matt Hill and Tom Hawkins, and gave the on-air look a fresh new feel. And the fans showed up in record numbers,\u201d Crawley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re up and about and ready to go again … We\u2019ve got the team to bring every moment of the action live to fans right around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 Toyota AFL Premiership season begins on Thursday March 5 with Sydney hosting Carlton in ex-Blue Charlie Curnow\u2019s first game as a Swan.<\/p>\n
Every match of every round of the home and away season is live with no ad-breaks during play on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports.<\/p>\n
Crows sweating on Rankine fitness | 01:07<\/p>\n
FOX FOOTY COMMENTATORS 2026<\/p>\n
Hosts<\/p>\n
Sarah Jones, Kath Loughnan, Kelli Underwood (+ calling)<\/p>\n
Experts<\/p>\n
Eddie Betts, Jonathan Brown, Nathan Buckley, Shaun Burgoyne, Nick Dal Santo, Ben Dixon, Jason Dunstall, Tom Hawkins, Gerard Healy, Ken Hinkley, Brad Johnson, David King, Jordan Lewis, Alastair Lynch, Garry Lyon, Leigh Matthews, Leigh Montagna (+ calling), Cameron Mooney, Mark Ricciuto, Jack Riewoldt, Will Schofield, Ruby Schleicher, Adam Simpson<\/p>\n
Callers<\/p>\n
Matt Hill,Mark Howard,Anthony Hudson, Corbin Middlemas, Adam Papalia,Dwayne Russell, Jess Webster, Gerard Whateley<\/p>\n
FOX FOOTY WEEKLY AFL TV SHOW LINE-UP 2026 (all times AEST\/AEDT)<\/p>\n
Monday<\/p>\n
6pm:AFL Tonight \u2014 hosted by Ruby Schleicher<\/p>\n
6.30pm:AFL 360 \u2014 hosted by Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon<\/p>\n
7.30pm:On The Couch \u2014 hosted by Jack Riewoldt, with Nathan Buckley, Jonathan Brown, Jordan Lewis and Leigh Matthews<\/p>\n
Tuesday<\/p>\n
6pm:AFL Tonight \u2014 hosted by David Zita<\/p>\n
6.30pm:AFL 360 \u2014 hosted by Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon<\/p>\n
7.30pm:Midweek Tackle \u2014 hosted by Lauren Wood, with a rotating panel featuring Jon Ralph, Scott Gullan, Glenn McFarlane, Josh Barnes and Corbin Middlemas<\/p>\n
Wednesday<\/p>\n
6pm:AFL Tonight \u2014 hosted by Drew Jones<\/p>\n
6.30pm:AFL 360 \u2014 hosted by Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon<\/p>\n
7.30pm:First Crack Preview \u2014 hosted by Ben Dixon, with David King, Leigh Montagna and Daniel Hoyne<\/p>\n
Thursday<\/p>\n
6pm:AFL Tonight \u2014 hosted by Ruby Schleicher, Drew Jones and David Zita<\/p>\n
6.30pm:Thursday Night Footy on Fox<\/p>\n
\u2014 Panel: hosted by Sarah Jones, with Jason Dunstall, Leigh Montagna and David King<\/p>\n
\u2014 Commentators: Mark Howard, Matt Hill, Jack Riewoldt and others<\/p>\n
Friday<\/p>\n
6.30pm:AFL Tonight \u2014 hosted by Drew Jones and David Zita<\/p>\n
7pm:Friday Night Footy on Fox<\/p>\n
\u2014 Panel: hosted by Garry Lyon, with Jonathan Brown, Tom Hawkins and Jordan Lewis<\/p>\n
\u2014 Commentators: Anthony Hudson, Gerard Whateley, Jason Dunstall, Garry Lyon and others<\/p>\n
Saturday<\/p>\n
From 12.30pm:Super Saturday LIVE \u2014 Fox Footy, available on Kayo SPORTS, will be the only place to watch AFL exclusively live on Saturday\u2019s nationally for at least the first 10 rounds of the home and away season* (except Anzac Day game between Essendon and Collingwood)<\/p>\n
Sunday<\/p>\n
Sunday Ticket \u2014 Fox Footy\u2019s team of expert commentators and talent bring you all the action live from around the grounds every Sunday<\/p>\n
After the footy:Bounce \u2014 hosted by Jason Dunstall, with Andrew Gaze, Cameron Mooney, Ben Dixon\ufeff, Ruby Schleicher and \ufeffBernie Vince<\/p>\n
After Bounce:First Crack \u2014 hosted by Jay Clark, with David King and Leigh Montagna.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fox Footy has unveiled its blockbuster plans and star-studded commentary line-ups for the upcoming AFL season. Fox Footy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[19102,1146,247289,638,19057,12259,68067,37350,64,63,689,55,639,7491,247287,247286,37351,100140,15830,247290,247300,1818,8011,247296,39202,35345,247284,247299,247297,26521,100133,37343,247292,247298,10145,31756,61,28450,4517,247293,1823,12149,19125,19074,681,19052,19080,91125,19087,7484,15631,39203,3465,5336,19096,31708,222615,19117,13152,162519,677,7800,47954,247285,6082,80101,19093,29653,247295,102480,247294,247288,1124,100145,85,247291,100131,19118,13154,45705],"class_list":{"0":"post-489280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-adam-papalia","9":"tag-adam-simpson","10":"tag-adelaide-based-commentary-team","11":"tag-afl","12":"tag-alastair-lynch","13":"tag-andrew-dillon","14":"tag-andrew-gaze","15":"tag-anthony-hudson","16":"tag-au","17":"tag-australia","18":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","19":"tag-australian-football-league","20":"tag-australianfootballleague","21":"tag-ben-dixon","22":"tag-bernie-vince","23":"tag-blockbuster-plans","24":"tag-cameron-mooney","25":"tag-chief-football-reporter","26":"tag-corbin-middlemas","27":"tag-crows-sweating","28":"tag-daniel-hoyne","29":"tag-david-king","30":"tag-david-zita","31":"tag-dedicated-commentary-teams","32":"tag-drew-jones","33":"tag-eddie-betts","34":"tag-expert-commentators","35":"tag-footy-commentator-tom","36":"tag-footy-journalists","37":"tag-four-time-premiership","38":"tag-fox-footy-commentators","39":"tag-foxtel-group","40":"tag-funds-help","41":"tag-games-record-holder","42":"tag-garry-lyon","43":"tag-gerard-healy","44":"tag-gerard-whateley","45":"tag-glenn-mcfarlane","46":"tag-hamstring-injury","47":"tag-investment-flows","48":"tag-jack-riewoldt","49":"tag-jason-dunstall","50":"tag-jay-clark","51":"tag-johnson","52":"tag-jon-ralph","53":"tag-jonathan-brown","54":"tag-jordan-lewis","55":"tag-josh-barnes","56":"tag-kath-loughnan","57":"tag-ken-hinkley","58":"tag-lauren-wood","59":"tag-leigh-matthews","60":"tag-leigh-montagna","61":"tag-lions-v","62":"tag-mark-howard","63":"tag-mark-ricciuto","64":"tag-match-sim","65":"tag-matt-hill","66":"tag-nick-dal-santo","67":"tag-night-matches","68":"tag-oceania","69":"tag-patrick-cripps","70":"tag-patrick-delany","71":"tag-play-by-play-commentary-duo","72":"tag-port-adelaide","73":"tag-ruby-schleicher","74":"tag-sarah-jones","75":"tag-scott-gullan","76":"tag-season-campaign","77":"tag-shaun-burgoyne","78":"tag-show-details","79":"tag-shows-details","80":"tag-south-australia","81":"tag-special-comments","82":"tag-sports","83":"tag-star-studded-commentary-line-ups","84":"tag-steve-crawley","85":"tag-tom-hawkins","86":"tag-triple-premiership","87":"tag-will-schofield"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489280","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=489280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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