3AW’s Bruce Eva: “I was told at school that I had the gift of the gab”

When sports-mad Bruce Eva was in year eleven at Melbourne’s Haileybury College, he experienced one of those classic ‘sliding doors’ moments.

The late, great sports presenter Stephen Phillips – himself a former Haileybury student – had come to the school to deliver a talk about a typical day at World of Sport, the legendary, long-running Sunday morning sports program on Channel Seven.

“It sealed the deal for me,” says Bruce.

“I’d already worked out I wasn’t going to be able to play sport at the highest level. I thought, I’ve just got to somehow be involved in this industry.”

The 3AW host – now a leading sports broadcaster and commentator himself – is chatting to me on the latest episode of the Food Bytes with Sarah Patterson podcast, which drops this Thursday.

Bruce began his media career as a cadet journalist at Melbourne’s Herald and Weekly Times.

“All my background is in print journalism, but radio was always a passion,” he tells me.

“I still do a fair bit of writing, but I’ve been radio for twenty years now, and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

“I was told at school that I had the gift of the gab – I was doing mock race calls in drama in years ten and eleven.”

Bruce joined Melbourne’s SEN 1116 in 2004, where he spent almost four years as a host and sports presenter.

In 2009, he landed at 3AW and has been there ever since. Footy, boxing, cricket: You name it, he can call it.

And right now, in the thick of AFL finals action, Bruce is in his absolute element.

If you’re a Melburnian, you’ll know it’s a time when footy transcends sport. It becomes the news. It’s more of a religion than a competition.

Fresh from calling last week’s Hawthorn-Port Adelaide heart-stopper, Bruce is still coming down to earth.

“It was one of the most exciting games that I’ve ever got to call, with such an exciting finish.”

Bruce says the passion and excitement associated with being in radio commentary box is hard to describe.

“A lot of ex-players, when they go into the media, particularly with radio calling, some of them say it’s the closest thing they can get to those arousal levels, in terms of being involved in the game … that’s if they’re not coaching, of course.”

“So yeah, it’s a terrific time of year,” says the Saints tragic.

But heaven forbid we peak too early. We’ve still two more weekends to go yet!

Which prompts me to ask Bruce: How does he feel about the recent trend of Australian radio broadcasters referring to the AFL Grand Final as ‘The Big Dance?’

“I try to avoid that,” he chuckles, as we chew over the expression usually associated with American college basketball.

“I’ve picked up on that, Sarah, in recent years … not that I engage a lot on social media, but it does grind a lot of people’s gears.”

“I’ll keep note of that now!” he laughs.