Thats my take on it.

I can't stand the guy. Not for any supposed "anti Leeds" bias but more for his insistence on reeling off banal, irrelevant "statistics". It's dull, tedious and not necessary.

His comments after the Grand Final were out of order however. For a team that supposedly "doesn't cheat" to both be in breach of the salary cap and at the centre of an RFL edict regarding player behaviour towards referees, it doesn't really say much for the rest of the league.

Course you did. Its' why you backed Saints to the tune of £50 against US in the grand Final.

Good for you.

Shame its' BS.

You were acting like a all last year both to Leeds fans and Saints fans. If that's what gets you off then great. I called you on your tishness not expecting you to have the cahones to take the bet. fair play, i backed you into a corner and you didn't bottle it.

But you still lost the £50 together with what little shred of cerdibility you ever had (if any) on here for good.

I'd be surprised if Clarke had any loyalty left towards Wigan after they sacked both himself and his father at different times in the past.

Clarke loves good, expansive rugby league and he sees that most with St Helens. I don't think it goes any deeper than that. I don't think he particularly dislikes Leeds he just prefers Saints and doesn't bother hiding it.

Got to love the statistics though.

Aside from all the one-eyed supporter nonsense, the only thing that is actually tiring is when commentators don't give credit where credit is due.

He may well think that St Helens have, over the full course of the previous two seasons, played what was in his opinion the most enjoyable rugby to watch, but when it came to the crunch they weren't good enough - they were beaten by a better team effort on the occasions that mattered most.

That's the nature of how sport works, and as a neutral commentator he ought to acknowledge this rather than appearing dissapointed in the result.

The partisan nature of the SKY team seems to me to be becoming more pronounced. Watching the Warrington vs Hull match last night all bar Barrie seemed really disappointed that Warrington had come through to win. I was highly impressed by the Warrington forwards in the second half, especially Carvell and Morley. I thought that was first class rugby but didn't get the credit that it deserved. I think it is time for the coverage to have an option to have the commentary turned off with perhaps a directional mike towards the referee. Tweedle dee and tweedle dum just irritate me now, they get more excited about shirt colours and referee decisions than the game. They are full of the same cliches week after week. I genuinely enjoy Barrie and Terry O'Connors' comments as they seem much more grounded and understanding of the players viewpoints.

Well said

You backed me into a corner? I asked for the bet, not you. It's just you were the only one who would take me up on the offer, no one else would.

You want to retract that before I link to the thread and prove your wrong, again?

In fact, you want to have a small bet on who proposed the bet?

I've always felt his bias was towards Saints, a view that was enhanced after hearing him speak at the FAE the other year, during his and Stevo's coast to coast walk.

Not really heard his comments on Friday, but if they were anything like the stuff he came out with after the Grand Final I can imagine why some could get upset.

Hemmings didn't want Wire to win, are you sure? He may have to tone it down to avoid criticisms of bias, and end up going too far towards the other team, but don't for 1 second think he doesn't want Warrington to win every game.

Beat me to it, isn't that his "local" side?