Seven shocked the sports world last week with its winning bid to secure the talents of Kane Cornes.
See also: Bombshell footy trade: Kane Cornes quits Nine, signs with Seven for 2025 and beyond
There has now been a suggestion that Seven could still be recruiting for media talent to join Cornes on new footy shows to potentially screen on Monday and Wednesday nights.
The Sounding Board podcast has asked if Seven might be in discussions with Fox Footy AFL 360 co-host and SEN 1116 morning host Gerard Whateley about a TV role.
Gerard Whateley
The question was raised by Damian Barrett who is a colleague of Cornes on Footy Classified and at AFL.com.au.
The talk about another potential Seven signing came after Barrett and his co-host Craig Hutchison talked about the fallout from Cornes and his departure from Nine. Hutchison owns the business that manages Cornes and is also a colleague with Cornes on Footy Classified.
Barrett asked Hutchy: “Is Gerard Whateley going to be working with Kane next year?” Hutchy replied “I wouldn’t have thought so.”
Barrett: “I keep getting asked this.” He added that he knew Fox Footy was bidding for the services of Cornes for a role on AFL 360. “Now I am hearing that Gerard may be going from Foxtel to Seven.”
Barrett asked Hutchy is Whateley was out of contract at Fox. “I would guess no, but I don’t know,” admitted Hutchison. Hutchy added he had no idea where Whateley would be on TV next year as he didn’t manage his radio star.
Kane Cornes
There was no discussion that Whateley would end his radio work with SEN. Two years ago Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) announced Whateley would remain at SEN as the chief sports caller as he signed a new contract with the network. He first signed with SEN in 2018 on a four-year contract.
See also: Gerard Whateley to continue to call SEN home
At the time Sports Entertainment Network chief executive Hutchison said he was thrilled that Gerard Whateley will continue to welcome listeners with “Good Morning”.
“We are absolutely delighted that Gerard will continue to help lead the SEN family for years to come,” Hutchy said in 2022.
Later in The Sounding Board podcast this week, the hosts talked about the sighting of “the artist previously known as Fitzy”. Barrett and Hutchy talked about seeing the ABC’s head of capital city radio and sport, Mike Fitzpatrick, at the AFL Awards in Melbourne on Thursday last week. Fitzpatrick was a longtime head of content for SCA’s Triple M network. He was at the Awards with Triple M’s head of sports content Ewan Giles.
Listen to The Sounding Board here.
See also: Inside Seven’s Kane Cornes deal: How much are they paying? New Seven shows planned