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Let me start by saying what a tremendous privilege it is.
SBS has been a custodian of football in our country for as long as most of us can remember, we’ve helped establish the game, grow the game and promote the game, a mission pioneered by my great mentor and friend, the late Les Murray, his great mate Johnny Warren, and so many since.
To follow in their footsteps is an honour because people look to SBS to deliver on our charter and our mission.
It’s also a responsibility to bear, because SBS is representing Australia and everyone who is part of it, on the world stage.
Viewers trust SBS to look after football.
So, what’s it like?
Well, it’s a great deal of fun, a lot of hard work and plenty of time spent in traffic!
This World Cup is of course unique for being held in one city, which, from a broadcasting point of view, has been a huge advantage.
At the time of publication, I’ll have covered 12 games in 10 days, which means on some days travelling from the early game at 1pm in Doha, to the late game at 10pm.
On such days, we’re up at 6am for coffee and breakfast (you never quite know where your next meal is coming from…) before we get picked up around 8am and arrive at the stadium at 9am, about four hours before kick off.
My travelling crew is our team leader, the fearless Dan Casey, camera operator Edoardo Falcione, SBS commentator Martin Tyler, and our man on the ground here, Colin Davidson.
Let’s just say we’ve gotten to know each other very well indeed.
Once we’re at the game, Martin is usually straight to the commentary position to prepare for his call, while I’m brushing up on talking points for my pre-game pitchside chat.
Martin Tyler commentating for SBS at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Once the pitchside piece to camera is done, Martin is doing what he does best, calling the game, and I’m in the press seats watching and taking notes.
They’re not a blow-by-blow account of the match, but things that could be useful when we cover the teams again another time.
Is there an issue for a certain team in a certain position? Do we have a large fan attendance from a particular nation? Is someone not playing who shouldn’t be? Do I need to follow something up with some contacts later?
This is where the journalism comes in – and Martin and I will often debrief post-match and compare observations. There are so many games, you can’t rely on memory alone.
After the match, it's down to the weird and wonderful mixed zone, where Edo and I spend our time trying to convince reluctant footballers to speak to us in the immediate aftermath of either their great triumphs or biggest disappointments. Add in the language barrier and it’s quite the experience.
For Socceroos games, as the rights holder, we’re lucky enough to do the post-match interviews immediately after the game on the pitch, as well as other interviews with players as they come off the ground.
Once any material we’re lucky enough to get is sent back to our SBS HQ in Sydney, it’s back to the car, and often to another game to do it all again.
Now we’ve passed the four match days, we’ll now be heading back to the hotel, where we’ll keep an eye on the other games (taking notes of course) and also turn our minds to the next day’s game.
Dan will organise what time we need to be there and chat to Sydney about what we can provide from Doha for the coverage.
At some stage we’ll drag ourselves to bed to recharge and do it all again tomorrow.
It’s frantic, it’s fraught and it’s damn well fantastic.
To be working alongside my idol Martin Tyler, to follow in the footsteps of Les Murray, and to represent SBS and everything it stands for, all at the same time, is a dream come true, and the experience of a lifetime.
