3 weeks ago
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Craig Hutchison came so agonisingly close to ending a tough run of luck earlier in 2025.
Every year for the past 14 years, the Channel 7 reporter has had to gift a bottle of wine to Gillon McLachlan, Andrew Dillon and former St Kilda boss Simon Lethlean, as part of a secret, long-standing wager.
And that’s not just any old bottle of wine either.
According to The Age, the group had been enjoying an afternoon at the Burleigh Pavilion back in 2010, when Hutchison had made a remark about some of the benefits that the Gold Coast were set to receive upon their entry into the AFL.
The Suns entered the league in 2011 and as part of their entry, they were handed first, second, third and fifth draft picks.
The AFL had also boosted their salary cap allowance to $1million more than the other teams in the league.
Craig Hutchison came agonisingly close to ending a tough run of luck in his long-standing wager with AFL bigwigs Andrew Dillon and Gillon McLachlan
Back in 2010, Dillon (left) and McLachlan (right) agreed to a bet with Hutchison. The bet would see Hutchison buy the other parties involved a bottle of Penfolds Grange wine if Gold Coast failed to gain a berth in finals
Former St Kilda CEO Simon Lethlean (pictured) was also included in the wager, which Hutchison has lost every year for the past 14 years
At the time, Hutchison, who is the CEO of Sports Entertainment Group, had been of the view that the Suns would enjoy immediate success, despite the club having only been established two years before their entry into the AFL.
However, former AFL CEO McLachlan, current boss Dillon and Lethlean disagreed with Hutchison and offered the Channel 7 reporter the chance to participate in a bet.
Detailing the parameters for the bet, Sam McClure writes in The Age that for every year that the Suns miss out on gaining a berth in the AFL finals, Hutchison would have to buy each of the others a bottle of Penfold’s Grange wine from its 1996 vintage.
It also appears that the quartet weren’t the only people involved in the bet, with former 3AW general manager Shane Healy and ex-AFL exec Richard Simkiss also being invited to join in on the bet.
The good news for Hutchison is that he does not have to fork out for six bottles of wine this season to fulfil his part of the bet after Gold Coast placed seventh on the ladder - the club's highest-ever finish in the league since its inception.
Prior to this season, the Queensland outfit’s highest finish came in 2022 and in 2014, where the side finished 12th in the league on both occasions.
Despite his rotten luck, Hutchison has been praised for keeping up his end of the bargain, buying each of the others a bottle of wine and footing the bill for lunch after the conclusion of each league season.
In fact, it is believed he has bought at least six bottles of wine for his friends each year for the past 14 years, which amounts to a total of 84 bottles - and that will have made a pretty big dent in Hutchison's bank account.
With a bottle of Penfolds Grange setting one back around $1,499, it is understood that the Channel 7 reporter (centre) will have forked out $175,000 over the years by having to buy his friends at least six bottles of the 1996 bin every year that the Suns have failed to make finals
Hutchison has been lauded for continuing to keep up his end of the bargain, having even flown his friends out to Adelaide on a private jet for lunch at Penfolds winery
Just one bottle of the 1996 bin will set you back around $1,499 at Dan Murphy's, so cumulatively, Hutchison could have, according to The Age, forked out around $125,916, solely on wine, over the years.
That figure does not take into account lunches or the fact that the outlet also claims that he once hired out a private jet to fly the group down to Penfolds in Adelaide for the day.
And while Damien Hardwick's side have gone on to secure a finals berth this season, there is a slight catch relating to the parameters of Hutchison's bet.
The group decided at the beginning of 2025 that it might be time to switch up the stakes of the wager, with Hutchison being allowed to pick two other teams, on top of Gold Coast to make finals if the Suns didn't.
Should those teams make finals, he’d bank two bottles of wine. If both missed out, then he’d have to fork out two bottles.
Hutchison picked Carlton and Essendon, but neither would go on to make the top eight.
And even after Gold Coast booked their spot in finals, because the Blues and the Bombers would come up short, Hutchison would subsequently fail to pick up his bottle of wine.
