More than 10 years on from Brett Kirkโs bizarre โThanks Basilโ rant during his TV commentary debut, the Sydney premiership player has finally spoken about the viral video, confirming what we all suspected: He was NOT taking the piss.
So famous is this incident among football circles that it was voted the best moment of the AFL era by a legion of hardcore fans earlier this month. Kirk, who admits he didnโt have any training before jumping behind the microphone, can now laugh at himself.
โI have a giggle because my son and all his mates, they know it off by heart. They throw a fair bit of stick around it,โ Brett Kirk, now a Sydney Swans assistant, told Triple M.
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โI walk around the boundary and someone yells โThanks Basil.โ Itโs funny โ I was fair dinkum!
โIt was the first time the Saturday arvo crew were together, so I thought Iโd do something different here other than talk about the weather and teams in the rooms, and have a bit of yarn. Iโve copped a bit of stick over time, but I actually wasnโt taking the piss at all, itโs fair dinkum.โ
Unsurprisingly, Brett Kirk didnโt last long as a boundary rider. He was back in the thick of coaching soon after. But his spiel has stood the test of time in online forums across the country.
Kirk added: โI knew it was my first cross with the Saturday afternoon team, I had a little bit of a think about what Iโd like to do and then just threw it out there.โ
Young social media sensations Shepmates quizzed Hawthornโs Tom Mitchell, St Kildaโs Jack Steele, and Brisbaneโs Lachie Neale before the Brownlow Medal on Sunday night, and all three AFL stars remembered large chunks of Kirkโs rant.
On the 10-year anniversary in April, Basil Zempilas โ the man who crossed to Kirk in the rooms โ recounted that fateful Saturday afternoon in 2012.
โNot a day goes by when somebody doesnโt message me on one of my inboxes on social media with the โthanks Basilโ and the whole script,โ Basil said on Triple M Breakfast with Basil and Xav.
โFor that reason I think, Iโve never really wanted to watch it.โ
Somewhat unfortunately for Kirk, the younger generation of fans only know him for this off centre spiel. He was, however, an excellent footballer. He won two best and fairest awards at Sydney, was selected in the All-Australian side, and played 241 games.
The lesson? It doesnโt matter how well you play football if you do something weird on TV these days.
