- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Channel Nine’s commentary team has officially hit an all-time low. I am particularly referencing Phil Gould’s disgusting, traitorous behaviour – but more on that later.
The key to good commentary is impartiality and a mix of personality thrown in for good measure – and of course presenting the match accurately and excitingly. For this reason I believe Fox Sports provides superior coverage of the NRL to Channel Nine.
Warren Smith is the game’s finest commentator with Andrew Voss coming in third despite his unique (unusual) commentary style.
Firstly, the legendary Ray Warren (second) continues to sound less and less sharp per season. His calls are still excellent and he still commands good knowledge of the game, but he has been surpassed by Smith. Were it not for his heavenly voice he might not still be doing the rounds.
Secondly, what about the supporting cast? I’m going to take a stab at the wardrobe department ensemble first and foremost.
Cameron Williams (or whoever he is – and why is he involved in football broadcasting exactly for that matter?) seems to have nearly zero knowledge of the game at hand at any given time. Every Friday night this becomes apparent.
I can live with Matt Shirvington being an NRL Fox host given he seems to have a legitimate interest in the game and clearly does his research.
Williams and his navy blue/black tie leaves me questioning was he supposed to be a Blues proponent or a beacon of journalistic impartiality?
I’m aware that a tie seems like a pretty small thing to fixate upon but have a good look at Peter Sterling’s ensemble.
He wore a salmon/red tie on Origin night. One of the Blues’ greatest ever players and of all the nights to wear a reddish tie he (or wardrobe) chooses Origin night. What we were presented with at game’s end was Paul Vautin in a deep red tie and Wally Lewis in a maroon tie with Sterling in the middle wearing red.
I could live with that provided Sterling didn’t seem to have a pro-Queensland agenda for the majority of the night. Which brings me to ‘Gus’ Gould.
Has he gone off the deep end?
Last week he publicly lambasted Blues legend and present captain Paul Gallen, stating that he is “not needed” and is “past it”. Gallen has consistently been one of NSW’s best players for the past five series and last night again proved his worth.
This whole fiasco is made even more bizarre given Gus’ previous praise for Gallen and the fact that he is NSW’s most successful coach of all time.
Gus’ commentary last night was appalling. Time and again, even when clearly in the wrong, he sided with the Maroons and decisions that would favour the Maroons.
Firstly I’d like to address the demeanour of some of Gus’ comments. A small issue perhaps but it represented a continual undertone throughout the match.
At one point NSW received a penalty for a clear offside, which Gus described as ‘lucky’. Given the complaints in Origin One and the general crackdown we witnessed in Origin Two enforcement of the ten metre rule was paramount and all and sundry witnessing the match were acutely aware of this fact.
A commentator’s very role is to represent the match through their voice; a man with Gus’ experience should be able to select any number of words more appropriate than ‘lucky’ to describe a routine penalty. Of course there were a litany of other examples that undermined the NSW effort throughout the course of the match but I am getting bogged down.
Secondly the no try ruling to Greg Inglis was correct. Michael Morgan played at and stripped the ball – it went backwards, play on. Nate Myles in attempting to wrap around the torso hits the ball with his hand, the ball dropping slightly forward to the ground – accidental contact can be ruled play on.
Inglis then comes from an offside position based on Myles’ contact with the ball to pick it up, thus constituting offside – no try.
Not one member of the supposed expert commentary team actually explained this as the no try ruling, choosing to purely focus on Morgan’s strip. Instead of actually supplying some intelligent comment to the decision, Gus decided to spout off one of his loveable catch phrases: “No, no, no, no.” He then proceeded to continually state “that’s a try”, as opposed to actually giving us a reason why the try should have stood.
Gus seems to have become a caricature of himself. His focus has shifted from providing intelligent analysis of the game and instead relying on his favourite quips, unnecessary and frankly stupid banter with Ray Warren, complaining about the length of time it takes to make video referring decisions, and attempting to be controversial even if it means clearly being in the wrong.
Ultimately I blame Channel Nine and the broadcast deal for things such as the Gus Gould anomaly. With the amount of money now at stake, airing a match has become less about coverage and more about presenting a piece of entertainment.
That includes assigning roles to certain people. Brad Fittler is the loveable clown and Brett Finch is his sidekick. Every member of the panel has been given the memo to hype and glorify the game as much as humanly possible.
The amount of times I have heard the word “freakish” used in Channel Nine broadcasts this year along with the use of the phrase “the game has evolved” is insane. If I am being purely honest this season of NRL save for a few extraordinary moments – Kevin Naiqama against the Dogs for example – has been one of the most boring in recent memory.
The game now relies on structure upon structure and rehearsed play upon rehearsed play, throwing creativity nearly completely out of the equation. Sadly, that mimics the commentary that assists, as was evidenced last night.
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.