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Mark Robinson departs AFL 360

AFL presenter skips season finale leaving long-term co-host to break the news to viewers.

AFL 360 co-host Mark Robinson (pictured left) has departed the FOX Footy show after 15 years on air.

Robinson was nowhere to be seen in the season finale, leaving long-time on-air partner Gerard Whateley to confirm the news.

“Tonight, the big thank you is to Robbo.  We’ve shared 15 years at the desk together. We were brought together with almost nothing in common, other than footy. It’s a passion that bound us to each other, and also bound us to you,” he said.

“In television terms, it’s an astonishingly long time to spend together and I’ll always have the sense of gratitude for the almost 1500 shows that we’ve done in partnership together. Robbo, it’s been grand.”

His departure comes as cards continue to fall in the AFL presenting world with Caroline Wilson, Kane Cornes and Craig Hutchison all leaving Nine for Seven pastures in 2025.

Gerard Whateley is another name rumoured to be in the mix but last night he told viewers, “I’ll see you for 360 next year.”

Robinson is also chief football writer for The Herald Sun.

7 Responses

  1. Watched NRL 360 last night for one of the few times. It was impossible to listen to at times all 4 of the commentators speaking at once. Made me realize how good AFL 360 is. Early tip is Garry Lyon to replace him which will make many unhappy.

    1. I’ll be one of those unhappy ones if Garry Lyon is the one, will be odd for one as that would make the show unbalanced I think, as both Gerard and Garry are lead hosts really. Garry Lyon kind of suits his role on On The Couch, I only say that as I still miss the original host Gerard Healy 3 years on, just something about Garry that makes him just bearable to me, don’t know what it is and I don’t tune is often when I used to weekly (has to be a reason, for instance having Chris Fagan on last night)

  2. I’ll miss the duo where I get most of my footy news. 15 years is a great legacy and with Robbo’s health issues of late, calling time was the right call.
    Personally I hope they go back to 7:30 time slot.. 6:30 meant I missed many eps.
    Be interesting to see who gets the new spot opposite Gerard. Probably Jordan.

  3. It was very disappointing that Robbo wasn’t there for his farewell. Maybe they will do a “Best Of Robbo” show to fill in a slot over Xmas, when there is no AFL content to show..

  4. A unique duo who could look at the issues of the day from different viewpoints. While Robbo’s time was probably up with his ailing health it’s still sad to see the end of an era. Can’t help but think the decision not to appear last night will be one he comes to regret in time.

  5. With FOX Footy allowed to use their own commentary teams on the Games that Seven have with the new AFL Deal, Gerard Whateley is apparently going to be part of that team as well, so a big reason he’s staying.

    Going to miss Robo, however with the move from 7:30pm to 6:30pm you could see he was struggling to balance his work on the show and that at the Herald Sun, plus his health issues haven’t helped either. Jordan Lewis did well filling in for Robbo’s absences through out the year and wouldn’t be a bad choice, only thing he may need to do is learn to tone his voice down a tad (often seems like he’s yelling).

    With a little the rumours that Robbo is going to move across to the 7:30pm Mid-Week Tackle are correct, even if as part of that revolving Team, once a week will do me. With sadly the passing of Sam Landsberger in August, I can see Robbo being the one to take his spot on the Mid-Week Tackle, filling the void left of his friend and protégé, so I hope he does stay with FOX Footy.

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