Bounce (Australian TV series)


Bounce, formerly known as Before the Bounce and After the Bounce, is an Australian light entertainment television series focusing on Australian Rules football. The show, currently airing on Fox Footy, takes a comedic look back at the previous week in the Australian Football League. First aired in 2007, the show is currently hosted by former footballers Jason Dunstall and Cameron Mooney.

History

Originally called Before the Bounce, the show was broadcast on Friday nights before the opening game of the round. The original hosts were Dunstall, Frawley, journalists Gerard Whateley and Damian Barrett, and former footballer Billy Brownless. In 2011, the show's name changed to After the Bounce and it moved to Sunday nights, normally immediately after the final game of the round. Whateley hosted the show for the final time in 2011, before his other show, AFL 360, was extended to be broadcast four nights per week in 2012 with the launch of the new 24/7 AFL channel Fox Footy. When co-host Damien Fleming left Australia to cover the Australian cricket team's tour of the West Indies in March 2012, he was replaced by Andrew Gaze. For 2014, the show's name was changed again, this time to simply Bounce, and it moved to Wednesday nights at 8.30pm following AFL 360. In 2015, it returned to the Sunday night timeslot following the final game of the round, but retained its title of Bounce. The show also became sponsored by Holden.
Following the 2015 season, Alastair Lynch left the show in order to spend more time with his family. He was due to be replaced by former stand-in presenter Nathan Grima, who had recently announced his retirement from the AFL. However, in February 2016, Grima announced a comeback to football, signing with the Essendon Football Club as a top-up player due to the club's supplements controversy. As such, it was later announced that former footballer Cameron Mooney would join the series, with Barry Hall to also join the series for the 'Yesterday's Heroes' segment. In April 2016, Gaze announced that he would be leaving the show after the show on 24 April 2016 to take up a role as head coach of the Sydney Kings in the National Basketball League. Gaze would remain on the show on a part-time basis, in rotation with other guest panellists including the return of Fleming, former footballers Brian Lake and Robert DiPierdomenico and comedians Julian Schiller and Tegan Higginbotham amongst others. This format would continue in future seasons.
The 350th episode of Bounce aired on 23 June 2019.
On 9 September 2019, Danny Frawley died in a single-car accident. Bounce did not air for the rest of the 2019 season, however a special episode appeared a week later in his memory.
Approaching the 2020 season, it was announced Bounce will return with Dunstall remaining as host, Gaze increasing his presence in the show, and Mooney, Sharni Layton and Bernie Vince resuming their roles as other members on the panel. The Golden Fist Award will be renamed "Spud's Golden Fist" as a continuation of Frawley's legacy.

Hosts

Presenters

Current

The winners of the Golden Fist Award are listed below. The annual award is given to the defender that accumulates the most votes from Danny Frawley across the season. The award was sponsored by Cbus from 2013 to 2015; now it's sponsored by Mrs Mac's Pies.
YearWinner/sClub
2012Ted RichardsSydney Swans
2013Josh Gibson and Brian LakeHawthorn FC
2014Scott ThompsonNorth Melbourne FC
2015Alex RanceRichmond FC
2016Alex RanceRichmond FC
2017Alex RanceRichmond FC
2018Jeremy McGovernWest Coast Eagles

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