New fixtures
Three years after Network Ten's locally-made The Western Front came to an end, WA footy fans have a new and proudly parochial local footy show to look forward to each week.
Seven Perth's The Footy Fix starts, appropriately, just ahead of Sunday's Western Derby, with new recruit Mark Readings - who recently switched to the station after 23 years over the road at Nine - hosting the Friday night show on 7mate.
"It's so appropriate that we kick off The Footy Fix on a derby weekend because it's a game that stops the State and we'll be able to look ahead to what might unfold on Sunday afternoon," Readings beams, clearly chuffed about his new role.
"We'll have Mark LeCras and Chris Mayne as special guests and talk about any issues of the week, so we'll hopefully give our Eagles and Dockers fans a little extra information they might not ordinarily get."
While hosted by Readings, The Footy Fix will include a rotating bench of panellists including Seven Perth sports reporters Adrian Barich and Ryan Daniels and _The West Australian _'s sports journalists Mark Duffield and Steve Butler.
"The Footy Fix is going to be WA's only local footy show," the 44-year-old footy tragic explains.
"So it's something for WA footy fans on a weekly basis, with access to the local clubs that the nationals won't get. It will be a pretty serious look at footy, with a heavy local flavour and a bit of fun and entertainment in there too. We'll be light, bright and informative."
With the show going live to air after each Friday night AFL game, Readings hopes to include regular guests from the Eagles and Dockers plus news from the WAFL ahead of the weekend's round of footy.
"Coming off the back of Friday night football, we'll recap the match that just preceded and we'll focus largely on WA footy and any footy issues. We've got a good cast of studio members and personalities who'll help us get a quality product off the ground."
While Readings is excited to finally talk footy on a network that has the rights to show the footy, his split with Nine was an acrimonious one after falling out with management.
"It wasn't something I planned but I'm pretty happy to make the shift ," Readings explains of the switch.
"I've had a good 23 years at Nine but from now on they're the mortal enemy."
Readings, who also calls the AFL home games on 6PR and the Foxtel Cup on Foxtel, said Seven management was "very enthusiastic" to get him across for sports reporting roles on Seven News and Today Tonight.
"You'd be mad to knock back the opportunity," he said. "Seven is the No.1 station in town by a mile and has been for so long. So it was a no- brainer. To put it in footy terms, it's like I've traded to the reigning premiers, and I'm rapt to be in the same stable as Baz, Dennis, Barra and the guys."
So what do Basil Zempilas, Barra and Dennis Cometti think of the new guy from Nine getting his own show on Seven? "Hah!" Reading laughs. "I'm sure the boys understand I'm not stealing any of their territory. Believe me, I know where I stand in the pecking order; I'm the new kid and I'm happy to be there. And I'm really eager to make The Footy Fix work well and be a fixture on the network for years to come."
