- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
As a rugby league fan who doesn’t have Fox Sports, there is nothing more frustrating than putting up with Channel Nine’s abysmal coverage of the NRL.
Fans who don’t have Fox Sports get to see only one live match per round. Not good enough for a code whose catch cry is ‘the greatest game of all’.
When the new television deal was approaching I was excited because I thought we might see more than one live match per round on free to air television.
Wishful thinking.
I hate the idea of a double-header on a Friday night. Show one match, put the other game on Saturday afternoon. It creates a family friendly slot for people to attend games and provides the opportunity for another live game.
Channel Nine should show Sunday afternoon football live. There are two reasons they show it on delay; to cram as many ads as possible and so it goes directly into Nine news.
Neither puts a priority on the footy or the fans.
As for the commentary the Nine provides, it only goes from bad to worse. I read better analysis from rookies on The Roar.
Richie Benaud has a golden rule in commentary for television; ‘Don’t just describe what is happening, the fans can see it’.
I remember reading an interview with Richie, which he said that if he doesn’t have something to add he stays silent. Maybe the Nine commentators should take this advice.
If I was to send a message to the Nine commentators it would be:
Phil Gould your argumentative, always-right and all round painful to listen to. How about you focus on your role at the Panthers? Not that we haven’t seen drastic improvement at the club since your appointment.
Ray Warren you seem to have a large fan-base, but so often you just describe what is happening. Like a footy player who has gone on too long, maybe its time to retire gracefully.
Wally Lewis, you’re a Queensland legend and seem like a great bloke, but you’re far too repetitive for a role as a primary commentator.
Ray Hadley, I still can’t understand why you got the role of primary commentator at Nine.
No insight, explain what we as fans can already see and often just repeat what Peter Sterling says. How about sticking with radio talkback?
When I do get to see Fox Sports matches or listen to the ABC radio coverage I love the way they are analytical of what is happening.
This is opposed to being repetitive, being overly critical of players for mistakes and having ridiculous arguments with one another.
Tom Waterhouse is someone who continues to polarize opinions in Australia. To Nine’s credit they responded to public outcry by removing him from the commentary team.
Seriously though, he never should have been there in the first place. I don’t have an issue with Waterhouse advertising during ad breaks, it’s called an ad break for a reason. But shouldn’t he be on the sideline during games or part of Channel Nine.
In one of those feel good ads with Ray Warren talking about Nine being the home of rugby league and the commentators walking through an empty stadium, Warren talks about the role of fans in the game.
Let’s face it. Channel Nine couldn’t care less the fans. They care about profit. Unfortunately the NRL gave them the right to do whatever they wanted when they signed the new deal.
For a channel that boasts about being the home of sport, its time to get serious about their coverage of the NRL.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.