SAM NEWMAN
AFL FOOTBALLER & COMMENTATOR
Sam Newman attended Geelong Grammar School, where his father was a teacher. He made his debut for Geelong in 1964 when he was 18 years old. Early in his time at Geelong he acquired the nickname “Sam”, by which he is now well known.
During his career (1964-80) with Geelong Sam Newman captained the club and also won two best and fairest awards (1968 and 1975). During the first semi-final against Collingwood in 1967, Newman suffered a serious injury which forced surgeons to remove part of his kidney. He was also selected as an All-Australian player in 1969. He played for the Victorian state team eight times. He retired in 1980, having polled 100 Brownlow Medal votes throughout his career. In 2002, he was inducted into theAustralian Football Hall of Fame.
In December 2005, Sam Newman was appointed as ruck coach for the Melbourne Football Club to mentor players such as Jeff White, Mark Jamar and Paul Johnson.
On 6 July 2010, Sam Newman played in a charity match playing for Victoria in the annual EJ Whitten Legends Game. Newman kicked four goals from four kicks and three marks to be named best on ground, despite his team losing to the All Stars by seven points.
Media career
Sam Newman joined radio station 3AW as a football commentator in 1981 and continued with the station through until the end of the 1999 season, he also appeared on World of Sport on Channel 7 for seven years from 1981-1987. He was a panel member of The Sunday Footy Show from 1993-1998.
Sam Newman has been on the The Footy Show (AFL) since it first aired in 1994 on the Australian Nine Network.
His other media appearances have included the Sunday sports show Any Given Sunday in 2005, World of Sport, The Sunday Footy Show and also co-hosting the short lived Sam and The Fatman with Paul “Fatty” Vautin. On radio station Triple M, Newman previews Friday night and Saturday afternoon matches. He formerly provided special comments during AFL games on Triple M, as well as 3AW previously.
From April 2010, he was a part of the MTR (Melbourne Talk Radio) lineup, providing opinion and participating in talkback between 9.00 am and 9.30 am, during the Steve Price breakfast programme. Newman quit the station in January 2012, after the breakfast producer censored Newman’s profanity.
Sam Newman has been involved in several incidents of public controversy. He is considered deliberately controversial. Most notably Newman, Garry Lyon and Channel Nine were sued for defamation. Channel Nine removed Newman from The Footy Show for several weeks.