Footy legend makes major career move as he quits job for rival TV channel

Channel 9 has poached Leigh Matthews from Channel 7, with the football great ending his long-standing relationship with his local broadcaster.

Matthews, 71, has appeared on Seven as a commentator and panelist since the 1990s, but News Corp reports he will front Nine’s new Sunday night football show in the future.

He will be joined by Jimmy Bartell and football reporter Tom Morris on the new weekly show.

Nine have disbursed Matthews’ expert analysis, having won four premierships as a coach and a further four flags as a player.

He was linked with a position on the AFL Commission last year but withdrew due to the lengthy process to fill vacancies.

He also works with the 3AW commentary team.

Matthews’ new show will air live on 9Now on Sundays at 7.30pm The show will air on Nine’s main channel after 60 minutes.

Matthews, who played between 1969 and 1985, perpetrated some of the dirtiest acts of his generation, with hits on Barrie Cable, Peter Giles and Stuart Trott among the most infamous.

A king blow that left Geelong’s Neville Bruns with a broken jaw was so serious he was convicted of assault.

So it’s no surprise to hear that the star striker knew that physicality was simply the reality of playing football.

“When I played, you just realized it was a dangerous game and you hoped it wouldn’t affect you too much at the time… or later in life,” he told 3AW last time. year.

“Ten years ago, if we said that if a player suffered a concussion, not necessarily knocked out, he wouldn’t play for 12 days, that was unfathomable.

‘The game is more dangerous [despite the AFL] Trying to make it safer, because the athletes are so fit and so powerful that they are like gladiators running across the field, crashing into each other at high speed.’