Presenter Garry Lyon left Channel Nine after 23 years "for the lure of commentating on Fox Footy," according to Jackie Epstein of the HERALD SUN. In a "blow" to Nine's "Footy Classified" program, Lyon will be joining retired Australian rules footballer Nick Riewoldt in a new Fox Footy lineup next year. Lyon said, "You don't make those decisions lightly. I've had such a great time there [Channel Nine] and they've been good to me and gave me the opportunity straight out of playing. To call footy on telly again is something that turned the whole decision and my thinking anyway." Lyon will "take a break for a few months." He said that "despite speculation to the contrary," he would continue as host of SEN's Breakfast show and call "at least one game a week" for the sport's station (HERALD SUN, 11/28).
WILSON DEPARTS: The Age's chief football writer, Caroline Wilson, is stepping down from the role she has performed for the past 19 years. She will remain with The Age as a regular Australian Football League columnist and as a panelist on the Real Footy podcast, but said that the time was right for her to reduce her workload. Multi-award winning journalist Jake Niall will rejoin The Age as chief football writer in the new year. He previously worked at The Age for 20 years before moving to Fox Sports almost two years ago. Wilson has won two Walkleys, the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year award and the Harry Gordon prize as the Australian Sports Journalist of the Year (The Age).
