'Very sad': Phil Gould's heartbreaking announcement during live broadcast

Phil Gould was clearly emotional on Thursday night when he announced the death of Bob Hawke on-air during the Melbourne Storm clash with Wests Tigers.

News of the beloved former prime minister’s death filtered through while Gould was in the broadcasting booth for Channel Nine.

As he informed viewers of the news, you could hear the sadness in his voice.

“We have some very sad news here this evening and it makes me very sad to have to say it, but some say that Bob Hawke was our most popular Prime Minister ever,” Gould said on-air.

“Sadly, he passed away today. Sad news for Australia.”

‘Wonderful man’

After the game, Gould shared some of his fondest memories of Hawke.

“He was wonderful man, I had the pleasure of meeting him on a number of occasions,” Gould said.

“I was a member of the Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney and he was a member there too. He was often out there with the same group of blokes every week having a game, loved his game of golf. Loved a beer after the game at the clubhouse.

“I remember one special moment, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea called me. I was up there and he gave me two big bags of Papua New Guinea coffee. He said, ‘Chief Hawke loves the coffee. Can you take these home for him’.

“So I took them home and dropped them into the golf club and they rang him and told him to come and get it.

“And somehow he got my number and rang to thank me and asked me to thank the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. A wonderful man, he never forgot the little man at all.”

Gould revealed how the news had rocked the whole broadcast.

“It was really sad news tonight. What I noticed was when we first got the news, even young people who weren’t very old when Hawke was around, some weren’t even born when he was Prime Minister, going, ‘Wow, Bob Hawke’,” Gould said.

“And I think that was the gravity of which that was felt.

“He was such a special character in our history, a great Prime Minister, easily one of the most popular Prime Ministers of the post-war period and he’ll be sadly missed.

“He was one of those fellas whose character and charisma transcended the political divide. I think all Australians liked Bob Hawke, he just happened to be our Prime Minister as well.”