Immortals of Australian Rugby Union

Gordon Bray was renowned throughout Australia for more than four decades as the ‘Voice of Rugby’. He is one of our longest serving sports commentators having started with the ABC in 1969 as a specialist trainee. His name is still synonymous with televised rugby union and his distinctive commentary style remains as much a part of the Australian game as a George Gregan tackle or a David Campese goose-step.

A talented schoolboy scrum-half, Bray spent three seasons in the first XV at Homebush Boys’ High, captaining the side to a premiership in his final year and represented Combined High Schools before joining Eastern Suburbs DRUFC. Later, as an accomplished referee, he was appointed to 199 games by the NSW Rugby Referees Association.

Gordon called his first rugby test match on radio for the ABC in Bordeaux in 1976. Since then Bray has called more than 350 test matches. In 1980 he succeeded the legendary Norman May as the ABC’s rugby union commentator on television and called every milestone victory by the Wallabies over the next 40 years, including both Rugby World Cup triumphs. After 25 years with ABC Sport he moved to commercial television and spent 16 years at the Seven Network and 10 years at Ten.

Renowned for his versatility, Gordon covered 10 Olympic Games after making his Commonwealth Games debut at Christchurch in 1974. Bray is the author and editor of seven books on Rugby Union including best sellers From The Ruck and The Australian Rugby Companion. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2005, is a past recipient of the prestigious Penguin Award for sports broadcasting and is an ambassador for Legacy Australia. Prolific author and newspaper columnist Peter FitzSimons has described Bray as ‘more than a sporting icon, Gordon is no less than the soundtrack of our sporting lives.’