Dennis Cometti Explained

Dennis Cometti
Fullname:Dennis John Cometti
Birth Date:26 March 1949
Birth Place:Geraldton, Western Australia
Heightweight:190 cm
Years1:1967–1971
Games Goals1:38 (70)
Source:[1]
Embed:yes
Years Active:1968−2021
Employer:Various, including Triple M and Channel 7
Occupation:Sport commentator

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.[2] [3] [4] Until his retirement, he remained the only television broadcaster to have spanned the entire duration of the AFL national competition, serving the Seven Network, Nine Network and Broadcom. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Australia Day Honours.

Cometti retired as a sports commentator, with his last game being the 2021 AFL Grand Final, which was called for Triple M in Perth on 25 September 2021.

WAFL and VFL career

Cometti played 40 matches for West Perth. His best year in the West Australian Football League was 1968, when he kicked 63 goals playing for West Perth under Graham Farmer. Farmer wrote, ‘Dennis had just turned 19 and was well over 6 foot with the ability and agility of a co-ordinated rover. We thought we had a champion.’ In 1971, Cometti made the senior list at Footscray but, due to injuries and media commitments, was unable to make a mark and did not play a Victorian Football League senior match.[5] [6]

On his return to Perth, he played with some success in the Sunday Football League. He initially played for Wanneroo before moving to Maddington as captain-coach, leading the club to four successive grand finals and winning successive premierships in 1974, 1975 and 1976. After retiring as a player, he later coached Osborne Park and Kelmscott, winning a premiership in 1979.[7]

In 1982, Cometti was appointed coach of West Perth. The club finished third in his first year, but his tenure at West Perth was otherwise uneventful, and the team finished sixth in both 1983 and 1984.[8] Other than a brief period as chairman of selectors for the Western Australia Australian rules football team, that was Cometti's last active involvement in club football.

Commentary career

Early radio career (1968–1971)

In 1968, Cometti commenced his media career as radio announcer in Perth as a Top-40 disc jockey at radio station 6KY. Over the following five years, he worked as an announcer on 6PM, 3DB in Melbourne and 6PR, again in Perth.

He broadcast his first football match—a state game between Western Australia and Victoria at Subiaco Oval—in 1971. Melbourne station 3KZ needed a caller, and, due to a quirk of fate, Cometti volunteered to sit alongside Ian Major.

ABC (1972–1985)

He joined the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1972 where he concentrated exclusively on sport. He broadcast his first Test match in 1973 (at 23 the youngest in ABC history) and for the next 13 years broadcast test cricket alongside Alan McGilvray.[9] [10] He also called WAFL football during his time at the national broadcaster either side of his stint as West Perth coach.

Seven Network (1986–2001)

In 1986 his move to the Seven Network coincided with the formation of the West Coast Eagles in the VFL. However, because of a bitter battle over television broadcast rights that excluded the Seven Network, Cometti broadcast the first season of the expanded VFL competition on independent broadcaster Broadcom in all states apart from Victoria.

In 1988, when Seven regained the VFL television rights, Cometti immediately became the highest profile commentator of VFL/AFL matches (based in Western Australia where he presented the evening news sports segment). He stayed with Seven until 2001 as main sports anchor for Seven News in Perth, when they lost the rights to broadcast AFL matches. He was succeeded by Basil Zempilas.[10]

Along with his football and news commitments Cometti, with the blessing of Channel 7, broadcast a further 51 test matches for the Packer radio network alongside Henry Blofeld, Richie Benaud, Ian and Greg Chappel and Tony Greig.

In 1997 Cometti toured South Africa with Drew Morphett covering the three test series on the Seven Network.

In the late 1990s, he was among those to have been sent up by impersonator Andrew Startin on Live And Kicking. Actor Eric Bana was another to 'do' Cometti.

He also commentated at the Summer Olympics swimming competitions in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. When he retired Cometti had broadcast more Australian Olympic Gold Medals than any other commentator of the television era.[11]

Nine Network (2002–2006)

Cometti switched to the Nine Network in 2002 and alongside Eddie McGuire, Dermott Brereton and Garry Lyon became the channel's leading Australian rules football caller. During those five years he was voted Australian Football Media Association (AFMA) television broadcaster of the year five times (career total 11). Cometti dominated Australia-wide newspaper polls for fan popularity.

He read the sports report on the weeknight National Nine News in Perth.

Occasionally at Nine, he returned to cricket commentary and in 2003/04 called an Australia A game.

Return to Seven Network (2007–2016)

With the Seven Network regaining the rights to broadcast AFL games starting from 2007, Cometti re-signed with Seven to call games alongside Bruce McAvaney.[12] [13] Cometti also had a weekly segment on Seven News in Perth during the AFL season.

In August 2014, Cometti announced he would retire as an AFL television commentator at the end of the 2016 season. His career was commemorated on-air during Seven's coverage of the 2016 AFL Grand Final, the last AFL match he called on television, accompanied by messages of congratulations from sponsor AAMI. He commentated 16 grand finals.[14]

Later radio and newspaper career (2008–2021)

Between 2008 and 2011 Cometti was the lead AFL caller on Saturday afternoons for 3AW, initially alongside Rex Hunt and later Brian Taylor. In 2009, he also wrote a fortnightly column and weekly blogs for The West Australian newspaper.

When Cometti revealed he would be joining Triple M in 2012, he was immediately removed from 3AW's lineup to call the 2011 AFL finals series and was replaced by Dwayne Russell.[15]

Cometti called Saturday afternoon games for Triple M with James Brayshaw, Danny Frawley and Garry Lyon. He was voted the nation's top AFL radio caller in a national News Ltd newspaper poll in 2012.

After retiring from TV commentary, Cometti continued to call matches for Triple M for games in Western Australia with Lachy Reid, Andrew Embley, Xavier Ellis, and his son, Mark, as the statistician. Cometti was also involved in the Seven Network's coverage of the WAFL.[16] In 2021, Cometti announced he would be retiring from broadcasting for good after the Perth-staged 2021 AFL Grand Final.[17] In the aftermath of that game Cometti was inducted into The Western Australian Football League Hall of Fame.

An incomplete compendium of captivating Cometti-isms

Cometti is famous for his memorable one-liners, sometimes known as Cometti-isms or Comettiisms.[18] [19] [20] Cometti himself has said his humour is derived from his days trying to entertain listeners on the FM radio broadcasts of his early career as well as teenage afternoons firing off wisecracks from the hill at Perth's Leederville Oval.[21]

Here is an incomplete compendium containing a cavalcade of Cometti's Cometti-isms over his 51-year broadcasting career:[22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41]

Other work

Cometti was featured on SBS in an episode in the first Australian series of Who Do You Think You Are?, where he traced his father's Italian heritage back to Italy and his mother's English heritage back to three convicts and a freeman. The show also revealed his great-great-grandmother (although never charged) may have been involved in the deaths of two of her husbands.[44]

In 2012, he appeared in a television commercial series for Carlton Draught's Draught Pick iPhone app.

Video games

Cometti was the voice-over commentator for the AFL video game series between 2004 and 2017.[45] [46]

Bibliography

Back to the Place, Back to the Time (1997)[47] [48]

Centimetre Perfect: The Classic Commentary (2004)[21]

That's Ambitious: More Classic Commentary (2007)[49]

The Game (edited, 2012)[50]

Kick it to the Shithouse (foreword, 2012)[51]

Awards and honours

Cometti is a member of both the Melbourne Cricket Club and AFMA Halls of Fame, as well as the number-one ticket holder for the Perth Wildcats.

Dennis Cometti is the name of an Australian punk band, named in Cometti's honour.[56] [57]

Poet Mick Colliss performed a poem entitled "Centimetre Perfect" that paid tribute to Cometti on a 6NA, the radio station where Cometti got his start.[58] [59]

Personal life

Cometti was born in Geraldton, Western Australia, of Italian, English and French descent.[60] He is married to Velia. They have two children: daughter Ricki (born 1979) and son Mark (born in 1983). Mark was a professional wrestler (The Outback Silverback) in Orlando, Florida, for six years.[61]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: DENNIS COMETTI . Australian Football . 11 May 2024.
  2. News: Sharwood. Anthony. Dennis Cometti Retires: 2016 Will Be His Last Season So Here's An Early Salute To His Genius. 1 October 2016. Huffington Post. 10 February 2016.
  3. News: Dennis Cometti announces decision to walk away at end of 2016 AFL season. 1 October 2016. News.com.au. 10 February 2016.
  4. News: National Sporting Tragedy: Dennis Cometti is Retiring Soon. 1 October 2016. Pedestrian. 10 September 2014.
  5. Book: Cometti . Dennis . Centimetre Perfect: The Classic Commentary . . 2004 . 1-86508-966-4 .
  6. Cometti . Dennis . Chris Beck . Chris Beck talks to Dennis Cometti . . 1998-05-05 . 2008-12-02.
  7. News: Never on a Sunday . AustralianRules.com.au . 13 February 2009 . 3 February 2009 . Everett, Les . https://web.archive.org/web/20090228181045/http://australianrules.com.au/news/187 . 28 February 2009.
  8. Web site: WAFL Records. 2009-02-13. West Australian Football Commission.
  9. News: Author Profile - Dennis Cometti. Allen & Unwin. 2009-02-13. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110524030202/http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=311&author=336. 24 May 2011.
  10. News: Dennis Cometti's final quarter . . 29 August 2007 . 13 February 2009 . Vickery . Colin.
  11. News: Events . . 12 October 2007 . 2009-02-13.
  12. News: Cometti follows AFL back to 7. Allen Newton. PerthNow. 8 December 2008. 2009-02-13. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111002161643/http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/cometti-follows-afl-back-to-7/story-e6frg13u-1111112655639. 2 October 2011.
  13. News: AFL on Seven just got a whole lot bigger . Seven Perth . 8 December 2006 . 2009-02-13.
  14. Web site: Browne. Ashley. The final call: Cometti's amazing football journey. AFL.com.au. Australian Football League. 1 October 2016. 1 October 2016.
  15. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/3aw-to-cut-cometti-20110908-1jzvv.html 3AW to cut Cometti
  16. https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/dennis-cometti-returns-mix945 Dennis Cometti returns to Mix 94.5
  17. Web site: 2021-09-20. The voice of footy reveals grand final will be his LAST. 2021-09-22. PerthNow. en.
  18. Web site: The best Cometti-isms from an incredible career behind the microphone. 2021-09-29. www.sportingnews.com. 10 February 2016 . en-au.
  19. Web site: Nicholson. Larissa. 2016-02-09. Centimetre perfect: The best Dennis Cometti-isms. 2021-09-29. The Age. en.
  20. Web site: Dan. 2016-09-30. The Last of the Cometti-isms. 2021-09-29. The Sportress. en.
  21. Web site: CENTIMETRE PERFECT – The Classic Cometti Commentary • £15.41. 2021-09-29. PicClick UK. en.
  22. Web site: https://twitter.com/rbrettell13/status/728558986601979905. 2021-09-29. Twitter. en.
  23. Web site: 2016-09-28. Centimetre perfect: 23 classic Dennis Cometti AFL commentary lines. 2021-09-29. the Guardian. en.
  24. Web site: omaca. 2021-09-29. Geelong player pinge.... 2021-09-29. r/AFL.
  25. News: Fogarty. Daniel. 2014-09-09. Centimetre perfect: 20 classic Cometti-isms. Herald Sun. 2021-09-29.
  26. Book: Cometti, Dennis. That's Ambitious: More Classic Commentary. 2007-08-01. Allen & Unwin. 978-1-74176-289-1. en.
  27. Web site: That's Ambitious - Dennis Cometti - 9781741752755 - Allen & Unwin - Australia. 2021-09-29. www.allenandunwin.com.
  28. Web site: Heraldsun.com.au Subscribe to the Herald Sun for exclusive stories. 2021-09-29. en-AU.
  29. Web site: 2021-09-20. The voice of footy reveals grand final will be his LAST. 2021-09-29. PerthNow. en.
  30. Web site: Classic Dennis Cometti-isms. 2021-09-29. www.redandwhiteonline.com.
  31. Web site: 'Get the hearse for the curse'. 2021-09-29. afl.com.au. 8 August 2018 . en.
  32. Web site: JezAlmighty. 2021-09-29. After Nathan Lovett-.... 2021-09-29. r/AFL.
  33. Web site: Massander. 2021-09-29. Hodge tackles an una.... 2021-09-29. r/AFL.
  34. Web site: dignan_. 2021-09-29. Fevola, Betts... Tha.... 2021-09-29. r/AFL.
  35. Web site: Pahor. Ben. 2016-02-10. Best Dennis Cometti calls. 2021-09-29. Zero Hanger. en-US.
  36. Web site: Cometti-isms - Page 4. 2021-09-29. www.redandwhiteonline.com.
  37. Web site: McClure. Geoff. 2008-02-11. It Shaw is good to have you back, Dennis. 2021-09-29. The Age. en.
  38. Web site: Sundaytoofaraway. 2016-03-25. West coast are play.... 2021-09-29. r/AFL.
  39. Web site: 2007 Brownlow Medal - Sport. 2021-09-29. Whirlpool.net.au. en.
  40. Web site: dasmartchart. 2021-09-29. One game where no on.... 2021-09-29. r/AFL.
  41. Web site: Commetti-isms, Vol. 2.0. 2021-09-29. BigFooty. 28 March 2003 . en-US.
  42. Web site: 2006-03-21. Cousins fined over booze bus bolt. 2021-09-29. The Sydney Morning Herald. en.
  43. Web site: IVotedForClayDavis. 2016-03-25. One that always stuc.... 2021-09-29. r/AFL.
  44. http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/family-history/2008/01/06/1199554469071.html Family history
  45. Web site: AFL Live 2004 XBox Review - www.impulsegamer.com -. 2021-09-29. www.impulsegamer.com.
  46. Web site: Centimetre perfect: Cometti returns on new game. 2021-09-29. afl.com.au. 19 December 2016 . en.
  47. Book: Cometti, Dennis John. Back to the Place, Back to the Time. 1997. St. George Books. 978-0-86778-059-8. en.
  48. Web site: Back to the Place: Back to the Time by Cometti, Dennis: Fine Soft cover (1997) 1st Edition. Great Southern Books. 2021-09-29. www.abebooks.com. en.
  49. Book: Cometti, Dennis . That's Ambitious: More Classic Commentary . 2007 . Allen & Unwin . 978-1-74175-275-5 . Crows Nest, N.S.W.
  50. Web site: The Game. 2021-09-29. Dymocks. en.
  51. Web site: (ebook) Kick it to the Shithouse. 2021-09-29. Dymocks. en.
  52. Web site: Sport Australia honours Cometti with Lifetime Achievement . Sport Australia website . 7 February 2019 . 10 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220810075508/https://www.sportaus.gov.au/media_centre/news/sport_australia_honours_cometti_with_lifetime_achievement . dead .
  53. Web site: Misty optically... Cometti set for induction into Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Sport Australia Hall of Fame. 25 September 2019 . live. 27 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201001215136/https://sahof.org.au/misty-optically-cometti-set-for-induction-into-sport-australia-hall-of-fame/ . 1 October 2020 .
  54. Web site: Barrett . Damian . Hall of Fame makes 'centimetre perfect' call on Cometti, Magpie great . afl.com.au . 4 June 2020 . AFL Media . 5 June 2020.
  55. Web site: 2021-09-14. Cometti to call former team in final act as commentator. 2021-09-27. The West Australian. en.
  56. Web site: Dennis Cometti. 2021-09-29. triple j Unearthed. 13 September 2020 . en.
  57. Web site: Dennis Cometti. 2021-09-29. Sanity. en.
  58. News: McARDLE. JORDAN. 2016-02-24. Colliss' poetic tribute to Cometti. news.com.au. 2021-09-29.
  59. Web site: February 24. 2016 - 15:49PMPerthNow. 2016-02-24. Centimetre Perfect – A poem dedication to Dennis Cometti. 2021-09-29. dailytelegraph. en.
  60. News: Family Notices. . 26 March 1949 . 20 August 2012 . . Perth, WA . 1 . National Library of Australia.
  61. News: Dennis Cometti's boy hits the big time in the US. Anthony . DeCeglie . Alex . Sampson. Sunday Herald Sun. 15 May 2011.