LEGENDARY broadcaster Bruce McAvaney has spoken of the family sacrifices that were made as he pursued his decorated career behind the microphone for more than 30 years. 

He also spoke about his ongoing health challenges, saying he's feeling as good as he has in years, despite recently beginning a new treatment for his cancer that was diagnosed 10 years ago. 

McAvaney, now 71, was the voice of the AFL's biggest games from the early 1990s until 2016, when he stepped away from regular commentary.

He told hosts Nat Edwards and Sarah Olle on the Between Us podcast about the challenges that he and his family faced as he travelled around the world for work, detailing the impact on his wife Annie and their two kids.

"I guess the bottom line is what sort of relationship have you got with them now? I travelled a lot," McAvaney said.

"I did rely so heavily on Annie because she also is in the media and has got all the talent in the world and ability in the world, so she had to sacrifice a lot for me and I look back on it now and feel like I was probably, a bit single-minded, driven, driven, and I did miss a lot.

"I missed a lot of weekends, and I missed a lot of fun times and a lot of non-fun times. I've got a great relationship certainly with Alex and Sam, son and daughter. It's not easy and I'd have to ask them.

"I think as you get older it gets less a problem and I think you look back on it and think those sacrifices were made but I do feel as if I could've been a more giving husband and father than I have been and was. That's my obsession with work."

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Away from footy, McAvaney has called Melbourne Cups, covered the Olympics and much more.

The broadcasting great spoke about his struggles after being diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) in 2014.

"I've only started medication in the last nine months. Up until then I was able to just go through blood tests every three months and see a haematologist every six months and just monitor it," McAvaney told hosts Sarah Olle and Nat Edwards on Between Us this week.

"It had some effect on my immune system and tiredness but it's only this year that I've had to go to treatment, but that treatment is four tablets a day so how lucky am I? I don't have to go into a hospital and sit there for five or six hours at a time once a week.

"But when that reality hit, it was, 'Wow, OK,' and then there was a period of, 'Would I still be able to work or will I still have the energy to do things and what should I do and how much do I cut back' so you do take stock.

Bruce McAvaney speaks after being inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame on June 27, 2023. Picture: Getty Images

"Fortunately, I still felt pretty healthy, I had a couple of dips, had some struggles, but I was able to still feel pretty good so it hasn't had a really detrimental effect on my lifestyle too much, to the point where I don't think about it, until I drive in to get the results of my tests and then I give it some thought, then I sit there and talk to the haematologist. I've had some great help with that. It was a punctuation point, for sure, and it could've gone one way or the other and how fortunate I am seeing I've lived with this now for over 10 years."

Asked how he was feeling, McAvaney said: "I feel good. I feel energetic. I feel good. I'm feeling as well as I have for many years."

Widely regarded the best AFL commentator of modern times, McAvaney spoke about being an inner critic and analysing his own calls.

"It drives you mad. You never get over it. The mistakes last for a lot longer than the good feelings and people think, 'Oh, wow, why do you do the job?' Because we love it and it's such a challenge.

"Every Friday night, let's say Friday night footy because I did a lot of it, I'd go back to the hotel room and I'd think of all the things I wished I'd said and then think of all the things I did say and wish I hadn't. Some nights were better than others, but you are your best critic. Social media these days is very different, but I've always felt like you know yourself, you know when you've done a good job.

"No one's perfect and I've certainly never had the perfect call, not in my opinion and I certainly know I haven't, but I always know that the disappointments in my broadcasting life have lingered a lot longer than the great moments. That's just the way it is for most of us."

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