Chris Jones has always had an eye for talent and for cultivating relationships. As a cadet reporter with Leader Newspapers in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, he struck up a friendship with a young local player, Sam Mitchell. He introduced Mitchell to his future wife. Their respective careers blossomed, and Jones was last year appointed director of network sport at Seven West Media, with a mandate to overhaul its footy coverage.

It’s a change that is long overdue. Seven’s coverage has been pretty dire in recent years. The additions of Jason Bennett, Alister Nicholson and Matthew Hill – the latter arguably the best race-caller in the world – were all well received. But all too often, their colleagues have reverted to witless, mind-numbing prattle, to hyperventilating when nothing’s really happening, and to dozing when someone pulls down the mark of the year.

Production standards have also slipped. Because they paid well over the odds for the TV rights (and the former AFL chief executive Gil McLachlan played them like a harp), the host broadcasters have had to slash costs. It’s meant dizzying camerawork, directors who have never embraced the concept of zooming out, and a solitary analysis show that was, frankly, a bit of a snoozer.

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Jones was hired to address that. One of the first things he did was invite Kane Cornes over for dinner and lure him from Channel Nine. An argument could be made that Cornes is in the top three significant figures in the game, perhaps only behind Andrew Dillon and Laura Kane. If you consume even a fraction of the footy media on offer, chances are you hear two voices above all others – the first is the yahoo on the Sportsbet ads, and the second is Cornes.

Cornes is a divisive figure and a convenient person to pin all the sport’s problems on. But a lot of what he does is excellent. His play-by-play analysis shows someone who does their homework and sees the game well. His columns demonstrate a good nose for news, and a willingness to swim against the tide. He is beholden to no one in the game, except perhaps his former coach Ken Hinkley, who he adores. He’s found his niche, seized his opportunity, and shown his fellow former players that there’s more to a media career than donning tight suits and picking splinters out of their backsides.

And yet. He really does seem determined to drain everything that is enjoyable and interesting about the sport. Underpinning much of his work is a certain contempt for the modern footballer, a relish for the players and coaches who run aground. He was schooled in an unforgiving environment – physically, mentally and even financially – an era where you paid your dues, stiffened the sinews and kept your mouth shut. He is contemptuous of anything that strays from that – hence his rather tedious obsession with the length of contracts, with smiles and hugs after the siren, and with his “Top 10 Spuds” or whatever that morning’s hot take furnace is fanning.

Cornes’ new role will test him. His audience will be less rusted-on than what he’s used to. There’ll be more women, older fans and viewers who drift in and out of the sport. His biggest challenge will be striking the right balance between positivity and negativity. On Nine and SEN, he had no hand brakes. At Seven, he’s going to have to be conscious of his overall responsibility to the sport – to promote it, to not find fault in every passage of play, and to perhaps show a little more restraint when he’s talking about head knocks, long-term injuries, contract extensions or wayward young players.

Craig Hutchison, another with a longstanding professional and personal relationship with Jones, will produce much of Seven’s non-matchday programming. The last thing we need is more of these shows. But given that Fox Footy now has a mortgage on Saturday games, Seven needs a new hook. Agenda Setters, Unfiltered, Extra Time, The Wash Up and Kane’s Call all suggest a certain solemnity. But the hosts, panellists and defectors (or “list cloggers”, as Eddie McGuire called them) all bring something that’s been lacking at Seven and indeed Fox Footy – panellists willing to stick their neck out, journalists who can drive the news agenda and former players who aren’t just phoning it in.

Jones was in charge of Seven’s cricket coverage and he did a good job. He promoted new voices, hired more women, watered down the red cordial and helped make watching cricket on free-to-air TV a far less grating experience. In this role, he’s poached the right people, he’s been given an appropriate budget and he’s given every indication that the host broadcaster might actually be up to the task. For too long, Channel Seven has treated its audience with contempt. This, hopefully, is a step in the right direction.

• This is an extract from Guardian Australia’s free weekly AFL email, From the Pocket. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions