While most fans simply assumed former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley would be lining up in the mainstream media calling football sooner rather than later, Channel 7 boss Kerry Stokes recently seemingly put a line through recruiting 'Bucks' to his footy broadcast team, saying there's currently not a place in the squad for the AFL Hall of Famer.
"We have Australia's strongest commentators bench already, so he will have his work cut out to get a spot," Stokes told The Herald Sun's Tony Sheahan.
Of course, Stokes is referring to the broadcast team of Brian Taylor, James Brayshaw, and Hamish McLachlan, and special comments/analysis of the likes of Wayne Carey, Luke Hodge, Matthew Richardson and Daisy Pearce.
Now, as any football fan on Twitter will tell you - Friday night football with BT and JB isn't always the acclaimed, premium product Channel 7 is trying to sell.
Week after week the broadcast team is ridiculed on the social media platform, with the major complaint being that Taylor and Brayshaw, specifically, spend more time on entertainment and stories than actually calling the game for the viewers.
It might be time for Channel 7 to start listening to it's audience more.
In fact, one of the major complaints of recent times has been the reluctance to hear further from the likes of Hodge and Pearce - newer faces in the team who perhaps understand the nuances of the modern game a little better for a deeper analysis - in favour of the historical "boys club" that both TV and radio have relied on for years.
On the "football adjacent" 2 Guys 1 Cup AFL Podcast, comedians Wil Anderson and Charlie Clausen mentioned Stokes' Channel 7/Buckley comments in passing, on a recent episode.
"We've got too many good commentators here, we've got BT and JB. We don't need somebody coming in here who actually knows anything about the game, ruining it for the shit we've got going on here," laughed Anderson, an avid Western Bulldogs fan.
"They don't need some epidemiologist wandering into the QANON paradise they have over there in the Channel 7 commentary box..." the comedian exclaimed, using recent political and sociological discussion to highlight the dissonance between the broadcast supply and public demand.
It might be time for Channel 7 to start listening to it's audience more.
We've already seen throughout this season and last, FOX FOOTY has given more opportunity to the emerging Kath Loughnan, while Nick Riewoldt and Jason Dunstall have emerged as the true elite television analysts, focusing on premium football content and discussion, rather than solely relying on the more 'old school' commentary of Anthony Hudson, Gerard Whateley et al.
Maybe it's time Channel 7 followed suit?