Early career
McLachlan began working in sports management in 1998, where he worked with Elite Sports Properties (ESP). [1] As general manager of the Events and Entertainment Division, he was involved in a number of different sporting events, including the 2000 Summer Olympics, the 2002 Winter Olympics, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
In 2004, McLachlan became a director of the Australian Football Hall of Fame and Sensation exhibition in Melbourne which was placed into administration two months after opening due to severe debt. [1] He had previously co-founded Spyglass Management, which was awarded the licence to operate the Hall of Fame. [2] In November 2004, the Federal Court of Australia described Spyglass Management as "hopelessly insolvent", with "many creditors, whose debts in aggregate exceed $26 million". [3]
In 2008 McLachlan began working at the Seven Network on their summer of tennis, interviewing live and filming pieces with players on the courts, including at the Australian Open which he did every year until the network lost broadcast rights after 2018. In 2011 McLachlan became a host presenting the afternoon sessions and in 2013 took over from Johanna Griggs as anchor of the coveted prime time sessions, she herself had replaced Matt White in 2009 following him becoming presenter of Today Tonight.
Some months later at Seven, McLachlan started hosting his new sports program AFL Game Day , a new Australian Rules Football review panel television show on Sunday mornings.
He also took up a role at Triple M radio as a match-day commentator, calling Saturday-night and Sunday-afternoon AFL matches. [4] He also co-hosted the 2009 and 2011 Brownlow Medal 'Blue Carpet' ceremonies with Seven News presenter, Rebecca Maddern, and fellow Seven Sport presenter, Rachel Finch, respectively.
The same year, he called the Spring Racing Carnival for Triple M. [5]
Outside of Australian rules football and horse racing, McLachlan is involved in calling polo matches. [6] He also owns Ten Goals, a small media and production described as specialising in "sports broadcasting, commentary, hosting and multimedia presentations". [7]
In 2012, McLachlan became part of the Seven Network's AFL team, initially as co-commentator of Saturday afternoon matches with Basil Zempilas. [8] In 2015, he began calling Sunday afternoon matches with Dennis Cometti (and later Brian Taylor), only for matches played in Melbourne (as AFL Game Day , which he hosts earlier in the day, is produced at Seven's Docklands studios). [9] McLachlan eventually went on to also host the network's Friday night telecasts, with a pre-game and post game analysis alongside expert commentators. In 2021, McLachlan moved to co-commentating Saturday night matches alongside Luke Darcy and Thursday night matches with Jason Bennett from 2022.
In 2016, McLachlan created controversy and received criticism following an on-air incident when he was pushed away by fill-in weather presenter and Miss Universe Australia, Monika Radulovic, as a result of him flirting and embracing with her during a live cross to the Magic Millions horse racing event. He later apologised to Radulovic and viewers on air. [10]
He is also a key presenter on the network's horse racing coverage since the mid-2010s, reporting at the Melbourne Cup Carnival until losing broadcast rights after 2018 and on the various other horse racing carnivals during the calendar year, mainly in New South Wales and Victoria, such as Autumn and Spring, with events at Randwick Racecourse and Caulfield Racecourse.
In 2016, Hamish joined the Seven Network's Olympics coverage for the first time (having not been part of Beijing 2008), as prime-time host at Rio 2016.
He has written for the Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne. [11]
In 2018, McLachlan is currently co-host sports entertainment series Australian Spartan . [12]
In February 2018, he hosted the Seven Network's prime-time coverage of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
In April 2018, McLachlan hosted the network's prime-time Gold Coast Commonwealth Games coverage, Seven's biggest event since the Beijing 2008 Olympics, averaging as high as over 2.1 million Australian viewers.
McLachlan also hosted the prime-time coverage of the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
In 2024 he will still cover some marquee events for Seven, such as key AFL games and horse racing meets, despite his overseas 'sabbatical' to Europe with his family.
Personal life
McLachlan is originally from North Adelaide, South Australia, and attended St Peter's College and the University of Adelaide, where he graduated with a degree in commerce. His older brother Gillon McLachlan was Chief Executive Officer of the AFL between 2014 and 2023.
He is married to Sophie and has three children, Milla, Indi and Lexi. [13]
In 2020, in an AFL-sanctioned mini-series called Last Time I Cried, McLachlan revealed that his baby Milla was born with West Syndrome and given a 10% chance of surviving without severe brain damage or succumbing to her affliction. Milla had to be given steroids orally four times a day for 31 days. These were steroids so strong and painful that they aren't even given to animals. [14] After six months, Doctor Jeremy Freeman of the Children's Private Medical Group told McLachlan that he was confident that Milla would make a full recovery, which she did. [15] [14]
In 2024, McLachlan took extended leave from his work duties, moving overseas with his family to France, reported as a "lifelong sabbatical dream" of his.
