RESPECTED football commentators Gerard Auld and Darryl Agnew will call time on their careers behind the microphone this weekend.
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The 3WAY FM pair will broadcast the Hampden league grand final between Warrnambool and Koroit on Saturday before giving away the roles.
Their decision, announced at the Maskell Medal count on Sunday, could bring to an end 15 years of Hampden league football coverage on the community station.
“I think it’s time. I’ve been doing it 14 years, I’m in my late 60s and I’ve had enough. It’s time to do a few other things,” Agnew said.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to do something I never thought I’d do, broadcast footy, and Gerard would be the same.
“We’ve done a pretty good job together. Put it this way, if I was coming in to broadcast with someone else, I wouldn’t be doing it.”
Agnew was the inaugural commentator when 3WAY committed to broadcasting Hampden league football in 2000.
Commercial station 3YB had brought football to the airwaves in the years prior but pulled the pin at the end of 1998.
There was no coverage of the 1999 season, which prompted Agnew and Tony Francis to convince 3WAY to fill the void in 2000.
Auld joined the team in 2003. Agnew has racked up more than 300 matches behind the microphone, while Auld has called 270.
“In those days (in 1999) 3WAY was sport-free,” Agnew said.
“They didn’t realise that football was such a big part of the community, which I certainly did when I got involved.”
The station collected Victorian Country Football League awards in its first three years of covering football, and again in 2009 and 2013.
Agnew said the team extended beyond Auld and himself — comically known as Statler and Waldorf of the Muppets fame.
“We’re fortunate to have good people in the studio who control the buttons and know what’s going on,” he said.
“We’re trying to use our technology as best we can. We’re not flash like commercial radio but we get by.
“To win a couple of awards, it’s always great to achieve those things and get recognition for something you enjoy doing.”
The 3WAY commentary team can be heard covering the Hampden league grand final on 103.7FM on Saturday afternoon.
Agnew said he was unsure who, if anyone, would replace him and Auld next season.