Eddie credits The Front Bar

EXCLUSIVE:

Nine’s Eddie McGuire has acknowledged the success of rival AFL show The Front Bar, hosted by Mick Molloy, Sam Pang and Andy Maher.

“Mick’s persona is old school, with a Front Bar vernacular, and he can do that,” he tells TV Tonight.

“I mean, if you did some of the gags that the guys do there in what I’ll say is a ‘normal’ type of footy show, people would go nuts.

“But it’s it’s seen and understood that that’s the fun of it.”

McGuire, whose company JAM Media recently produced 30 years of The Footy Show, is particularly pleased with The Front Bar’s embrace of AFL greats.

“They interview past guys who come in and revel in the days of what old footy used to be,” he continued.

“So it’s a magnificent part of the football tapestry. Thank God it is otherwise, we’d have gone back to the old days where there was nothing else but panel shows on, (although) it is a panel show in many ways.

“We used to have segments like that on The Footy Show. The last great interview that was done with Jack Dyer was on The Footy Show and Bob Pratt and all these guys. Ironically, when Jack died, for all the years he worked on Seven he only had bits and pieces and asides but they didn’t keep a lot of that stuff. One of the best interviews he had was actually on The Footy Show.

“It’s great that The Front Bar is able to do that and go back to players who are older blokes these days. Blokes who were actually on The Footy Show.

“It’s great and the boys do a wonderful job.”