Robert Edward Brough (born 1955) is an Australianjournalist, television presenter and rugby league coach.
Brough began his media career in radio in the 1970s as an announcer at radio station4VL inCharleville, Queensland. He then moved onto 4WK inWarwick,4BC inBrisbane and then4GG on theGold Coast, Queensland.[1]
Following on from his radio work, Brough moved into television in the mid 1980s, covering sport forABC Television in Brisbane before moving over toChannel 9 to present the sports news onNational Nine News in Brisbane until 1989.[1]
In 1990, Brough moved away from news reporting when he joined theChannel 7 in Brisbane to host the Australian version ofFamily Feud, which was seen nationally. Brough hosted the program until 1995 when John Deeks took over until its axing the following year.Bert Newton andGrant Denyer have both hosted revived versions of the program for theNine Network andNetwork Ten respectively.
In an opinion piece written for theSydney Morning Herald,Dominic Knight claimedBert's Family Feud, the 2006 version of the program, was an awful show but not just because it brought back "unpleasant memories of Rob Brough".[2]
Brough was often parodied bySteve Vizard on Seven's sketch comedy showFast Forward.
Following his job as the host ofFamily Feud, Brough moved back into news for Seven's regional Queensland affiliateSunshine Television on theSunshine Coast. Shortly after Brough joined,Sunshine Television News becameSeven News following the purchase of Sunshine Television by Seven and as such, the network's name and look changed to reflect the metropolitan Channel 7 stations.
Initially, Brough presented the local Sunshine Coast edition ofSeven News and pre-recorded two additional bulletins for theWide Bay-Burnett region and theMackay region. He then presented seven separate local editions ofSeven News each weeknight from the network's Sunshine Coast studio, which all aired simultaneously across the individual regions at 6pm each weeknight on Channel 7, and then repeated at 6:30pm on7two.
Brough was joined by Joanne Desmond as a co-presenter on theCairns,Townsville,Central Queensland andDarling Downs editions ofSeven News, and he presented the Mackay, Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast editions by himself.
In 2015, Brough fronted a campaign launched by Seven Queensland in response to the "Save Our Voices" campaign, which was a joint promotion betweenWIN Television,Southern Cross Austereo andSeven aimed at encouraging viewers to lobby the Federal Government to relax media ownership laws. The "Leave TV Laws Alone" spot that Seven Queensland ran in commercial breaks featured Brough in theSeven Local News studio claiming Seven Queensland spends more on local news than their competitors. A voice-over that follows states that Seven Queensland doesn't support the bullying by the other networks and said that viewers shouldn't be used as pawns.[3]
Brough has said that his work in the media has been influenced by television presentersMike Walsh andMike Willesee.[4]
As of 2025 he no longer presents Channel 7 local news and a variety of presenters do the different bulletins such as Joanne Desmond and Nathan Spurling. No reason has been forthcoming about this change.
While working at Gold Coast radio station4GG, Brough made an appearance in the 1984 Australian film,The Coolangatta Gold starring Joss McWilliam andColin Friels. The movie is about the annual Gold Coast sports event with thesame name. A close-up of Brough standing on the beach is seen in the movie as he plays the role of a roving sports reporter, previewing the event while holding a 4GG microphone.[5]
Brough has said it was Michael Edgley, whose production companyHoyts Edgley producedThe Coolangatta Gold, who suggested and encouraged a move from radio to television.[4]
Brough is also a rugby league coach and is currently the head coach of the Kawana Dolphins, a team that plays in the Sunshine Coast–Gympie rugby league competition, as part of the largerCentral Division ofQueensland Rugby League.[4]
Brough began coaching on the Sunshine Coast after earning a reputation as a skilled coach after establishingMountain Creek State High School's "Rugby League School of Excellence" and coaching junior sides. In 2005, after Brough ran a one-off pre-season session with the Kawana Dolphins' senior team, the club asked him to consider coaching the team permanently. Brough accepted the job and began coaching the Dolphins A-grade side.[6]
In 2013, he faced some criticism for not seeming to have a positive attitude towards his team despite the team's above-average performance during the season.[7]
In 2016, Brough's Kawana Dolphins narrowly missed out on claiming victory over the Maroochydore Swans in the grand final, losing the game 18–14. Brough said Maroochydore played some fast footy which put Kawana on the back foot, and unable to catch up.
Brough has always had an interest in rugby league. In a 1994 interview, Brough said he had always wanted to go to Sydney to play rugby league as he had always wanted to play for theSt. George Dragons. However, Brough did play some grade football in Brisbane, withEasts. Brough claims he got his love of rugby league from his grandfather who took him to the Brisbane grand final between Redcliffe (captained byArthur Beetson) and Norths in 1965.[4]
Brough and his brotherMal grew up atSlacks Creek in a little fibro house.(Fibro is a colloquial Australian term for fibre cement) Their father grew vegetables which he sold to support the family, but due to being crippled bypoliomyelitis, he had to slide around his vegetable garden on his backside while tending to it.[4]
Rob Brough's son Sam died on his third birthday in 1989, after suffering from health issues. Brough has two other children Jess and Tyson.[4]
In 2014, Brough attempted a 1,200 kilometre charity bike ride fromSydney toBrisbane. "Rob's Ride for Kids" was an attempt to raise money for the Children's Hospital Foundation in memory of his son Sam, who died 25 years prior. Due to illness, Brough pulled out of the ride without completing it but still managed to raise $16,000 for the charity.[8][9]
Brough's brotherMal Brough was a Federal Member of Parliament from 1996 until 2016. Due to his brother's involvement in politics, Brough has had to introduce numerous local news stories about his brother, including those that have detailed controversies such as Mal Brough's involvement in theJames Ashby affair.[10]