Being an AFL fan, I tend to be listening on a weekend to the likes of Bruce McAvaney, Anthony Hudson and Brian Taylor – who in their own rights are all very talented callers.
However along with the great Dennis Cometti, no commentator has captivated me more then what Ray Warren has. Dubbed “the voice of rugby league” Ray Warren has not only hooked me to watching the NRL on a weekend but also glued millions of other sports lovers around Australia if not the world to the television.
Warren has spent over half a century in the sports broadcasting industry and at 76 the man is calling still as if he were 30. What’s even more amazing is that Ray’s love and passion for the NRL has remained the same for his entire working life. In fact it may have even strengthened.
Warren’s love for calling sports originated as a young kid in Junee where he would commentate marbles rolling down a slope. Little did Ray know, that this strange activity would greatly benefit him as he embarked on becoming a sports commentator.
Originally starting off in radio, a young and enthusiastic 23 year old Ray Warren starting off by calling the Maher Cup in 1966 after leaving the ACT police force to follow his dream.
Warren spent two years travelling to towns covering the rugby and was then eventually picked up by radio station 2GB as a young race and rugby league caller. From here Ray went on to bigger and better things and in 1974 he covered his first ever television event for Channel 10.
In 1986 Warren was sacked by Network 10 after he controversially refused to go over and commentate the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles due to his fear of flying. However, despite this setback Warren joined the Nine Network in 1989 as a rugby league caller and today he still remains a caller at nine and a key part of their broadcasting team.
Ray has been fortunate enough to call a number of Melbourne Cups, Olympic Games, countless NRL grand finals and 93 Origin games in his illustrious career that has spanned for than 50 years.
Ray Warren has been officially inducted into the NRL’s Hall of Fame.
Ray Warren has added to rugby league’s theatre like no else ever before. The famous rugby league moments have almost been made famous, not by the players or the theatre but more so because Ray Warren has been the soundtrack to them.
He is and always will be the greatest rugby league caller the game has ever seen, and I personally am looking forward to Ray producing yet another iconic call in the upcoming finals series.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Its better then Fox Sports doing interviews for the next game while the current game is in progress Or Fox Sports having Dan Ginnane call a game. Or Andrew Voss talking about everything else but the game he is calling
no one in particular
Roar Guru
He commentates rugby. Rugby is the sport, league and union are different codes within the sport.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Haha Big Daddy. Exactly! I remember arguing that with a flat mate in the nineties. ‘His the only professional caller on nine. Who you comparing him against?’ I said the abc coverage who the flatmate never listened too. Lol.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi Cadfael. Totally, totally agree. From my poor memory moose was channel 7 and ten, not nine and nine have to push their guys. Sad.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Ray Warren wasn't bad but I would have preferred to see the Moose get there. He was there at the start of televising club games here. Alan Clarkson was another who could easily have got there for print media.
Nick
Roar Guru
Here you g......NO!
Adam
Roar Guru
'Don't give me that card...'
Benno
Guest
I always liked grahame heapsa hughes also they both legends in my book
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Classic comment from the moose among so many gems. Rex was the voice of the game from my youth and he would never sidestep an issue but attack it head on. Like going on camera post-game after his car had been keyed at Redfern oval of all places and challenging the miscreant to meet him in the car park. I wonder how long Rex waited? And NO, it wasn't me! LOL
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
# The Simpsons are so last millennium!
Edward Kelly
Roar Guru
Yes he was good in those days past but he totally lost me a couple of years ago when late in the season Nine finally broadcast a raiders game and he admitted that it was the first time he was seeing some players. He didn't even watch other games during the season. I'm just glad I don't like swimming as he calls that as well. Perhaps he should be known as the voice of swimming.
Nick
Roar Guru
Any smart human will be like Homer Simpson and have a card in their wallet that says "always do the opposite of what Phil Gould says".
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Well, David Lord would be pleased but disappointed all the same time that Rabs missed out on the Dally M as the game's MVP. Good onya Rabs. A true legend and worthy of the respect and recognition. Pity that "Gas" Gould and the "chuckle brothers" Fittler and Johns, the CH9 equivalent of "Dumb and Dumber", ruined the tail end of your career. You flew much higher when you were flying solo. It's a pity that had to change.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
For those fortunate to have access to Fox, it's a no brainer. Apart from Mumbler Hodges, the coverage is miles ahead of Nine. Can't stand Molan & whenever Guru Gus comments that a team is looking tired, they normally go on & win.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
Because those AMCO Cup games involved players he didn't regularly see, he used to show up to the ground, go out the back and watch the teams warm up so he could learn the players. Now he is lucky to show up 45 minutes before kick off (only so he knows what his lie reads are) and doesn't watch all the games. When your only job is to call rugby league for a bucket load of money, I would have thought it isn't too much to ask to watch 8 games of football over 7 days. Like you say he is a shadow of his former self and it is a shame.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Fully agree ‘jimmmy’, the most annoying is when the cameras suddenly (when and in most cases, we wants to watch the game) they zoom onto either a coach, player on the bench or something irrelevant and the audience misses out on the action, Ch-9 do that all the time and in every telecast.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
For entertainment the Moose was king.. who’d forget his pipe, the sheepskin jacket and the unbelievable tautology not to mention Controversy Corner…. priceless. I also remember vividly his citizens arrest of a nudist near the Mossop home at Reef Beach. The guy was taking a short cut through his adjacent garden when Rex jumped him. When interviewed after the incident he stated that “I don’t need the male genitalia rammed down my throat”
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
You are right Edward but Rabs was a great caller in his day. He is a shadow of his former self and it’s a shame he didn’t pull the pin 5 or 6 years ago. I remember him calling the Amco cup games and his genuine love of the game always shone through. As for Gus. What a depressing , negative curmudgeon he is . He is quite knowledgeable about the game and when he sticks to it he is OK but his Ref abuse and his irrelevant side tracks and angry rants, make him unwatchable.
Edward Kelly
Roar Guru
I only have to listen to Ray Warren for State of Origin and the Grand final. That is 4 times too often. Too many things in his call irritate me. He gets names wrong all the time, especially islanders, he explains basic rules during a premium broadcast, him and Gould rant on, he tries to make outrage, and his call contains too many negative comments. Warren Smith is the best at the moment, unfortunately those that only watch Nine's coverage never get to experience better calling.
Nick
Roar Guru
Point being, Steve Crawley was considering his options for moving on from Ray Warren over a decade ago. Now we all know Vossy voices an opinion about a statue, Hadley got his nose out of joint, Voss left, Crawley left and we are at where we are at today. it shows how malevolent Ray Hadley is. He'd run over his mother to get more TV time. I'm glad Channel 9 came to their senses and did away with him.