Veteran sports broadcaster Drew Morphett spent many years as a ABC presenter. An emotional Ian Cover paid tribute to Morphett on ABC radio's Coodabeen Champions program on Saturday morning. "There will be a sombre mood over the media boxes today," Cover said.

Morphett started his career in 1966 as trainee in Sydney. He specialised in AFL, cricket at the ABC on both television and radio, but he was an all rounder, covering many sports at Olympic Games. Drew Morphett at Warrnambool after a horse he owned had a win. Credit:Damian White/Warrnambool Standard He also hosted The Winners, an institution on ABC TV during the 1980s, and The Winners Rebooted in recent years on Fox Footy. Long-time friend and colleague Tim Lane said he was deeply shocked by Morphett's passing.

Stephen Quartermain has paid tribute to Drew Morphett as his friend and mentor. "We go back a long way. Drew was always the life of the party," Lane said. Morphett, who was born in Sydney and grew up in the Cronulla region, celebrated his 69th birthday on Tuesday. Drew orphett working for Channel 7 in the early 1990s.

Broadcaster Stephen Quartermain took to social media to pay tribute to his mentor. "Vale Drew Morphett. I am devastated. A great friend, mentor and childhood hero. And one of Australia's best ever broadcasters," he said. Morphett, far right, in 1974. Broadcaster Anthony Hudson said Morphett had the ability to convey the excitement of a game without the need for hyperbole.

"We try and fill up every second - he would use the pause ... and you would panic that he had stopped speaking but that was his style," he said on SEN. "He let the crowd do its thing, the moment just wash over everyone. He was an amazing broadcaster, who had his own style, and a beautiful voice." Former footballer-turned-broadcaster Wayne Schwass also paid tribute to Morphett. "Terribly sad way to start the weekend with the passing of Drew Morphett. A great broadcaster, early mentor and wonderful person," he said on Twitter. Former Australian cricketer Damien Fleming worked with Morphett for many years on ABC radio.

"Devastated with the passing of Drew Morphett. I was lucky enough to work with the great man on cricket and footy. Loved his company," he said. In an interview with Fairfax Media in 2015, ahead of the relaunch of The Winners Rebooted, Morphett said television commentary had changed through the years – and not necessarily for the better. "I reckon we said less then. We identified the players and threw in a comment about 'getting on top, getting better the further game goes, good win there against the odds' – that sort of stuff," Morphett said. "These days, and I am not meaning to denigrate the current callers, but they are doing radio calls for television. You don't have to be saying: 'He looks up, the kick's on its way'. "That's not television commentary – you can see the kick is on its way. We were more into what you believe is classic television commentary, rather than just wall-to-wall words."

Morphett also recalled producing The Winners in the 1980s, when the tales from the time weren't confined to what happened on the field. Producing The Winners was its own adventure, including ensuring a tape was put on a plane bound for Western Australia early on a Sunday morning so ABC viewers in that football-mad state had their weekly fix of the big league on that same night. Then there was the challenge of trying to find a particular highlight on the film required for the mark and goal of the day, which could take about 40 minutes. "These days … you can do it in about two seconds," Morphett said. Sports broadcaster and Brownlow medallist Brad Hardie told Perth's 6PR radio he had become good friends with Morphett over the years, and was looking forward to calling the Fremantle Dockers' match against Essendon with him on Sunday.

"I texted him last night and he was having a bottle of shiraz - we've lost a great one there," Hardie said. "He (Morphett) was due to go out on Friday, going down a European river for 15 nights first class with Kaz. He was a first-class fella."