Xander McGuire lifts the lid on AFL’s media machine

For Xander McGuire, the appeal of Seven and LiSTNR’s new AFL podcast is simple: footy fans increasingly want to know not just what the story is, but how the story came to be.

That means the conversations behind the headlines. Why a reporter used one word instead of another. Why a story suddenly changed direction. Why someone said something publicly, or conspicuously didn’t. And, perhaps most tantalisingly, who might be pulling the strings behind it all.

Speaking to Mediaweek ahead of the launch of The Breakers, McGuire said audiences had become far more interested in the machinery of sports journalism: the wording, the power plays, the source relationships and the subtle shifts that can change the meaning of a story.

“People are a little bit more interested in the mechanics of media and what goes into it, and maybe the power plays behind it, who's pulling what strings, why this person is saying that, how certain media circus shows of time actually come to be.”

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A game within the game

It’s fertile territory in Melbourne, where AFL reporting can occasionally feel like a competitive sport of its own. A carefully worded tweet can set off an afternoon of radio debate, while the difference between a player “considering” his future and being “expected” to request a trade can suddenly matter quite a lot.

That delicate tightrope walk journalists must master sits at the heart of The Breakers.

“I think that was at least what I found in the very early days, and maybe the most misunderstood element of sport journalism at times, particularly in Melbourne, is how carefully every single word in every single tweet, story, article, or TV appearance is crafted.”

Joining McGuire behind the microphone are fellow Seven journalists Mitch Cleary and Tom Morris.

The idea, McGuire explained, came from something far simpler: the trio realised they were already having the podcast without actually recording it.

“All of us had maybe talked about different stories we've done along the way, and just general media chat on other platforms. And we realised that the three of us work together, sit around, and have these great conversations all the time with one another.

“So we may as well stick a microphone in front of the three of us and just record it instead.”

The result sits somewhere between serious media analysis and three mates pulling apart the strange theatre that surrounds AFL journalism.

“I think that's where this podcast will be a lot of fun because we will have a laugh about different things.

“Half the time, as friends, we sit around discussing silly excerpts from shows and tweets, changes in tone, and why someone's saying this and why someone isn't. They're the kind of things that we want to get into in a serious way, but also in a way that has a lot of fun.”

And if that sounds suspiciously like three blokes at the pub talking footy, McGuire isn’t exactly fighting the comparison.

“I think it's pretty blokes at the pub, but a bit more of a media analysis of what's happening in footy.”