Quote: fartown since 1961 "It's ironic really but everyone thinks of Eddie Waring as 'an idiot in a pork pie hat' but he had a fantastic knowledge of Rugby League and was even a Gb tour manager in his younger days !!!!
I was lucky enough to talk to him several times and his knowledge and enthusiasm was fantastic.
But when you look back Eddie, Bill McLaren, Peter O'Sullivan, Brian Johnson, David Coleman and Murray Walker were streets above a lot of today's commentators yes some could be eccentric at times but boy did they have the respect of players and fans alike !!!
There are a few lessons today's commentators could learn from them !!'"
Very true. Eddie was a very important figure 'back in the day', both in the media and as an administrator, a fact which is often overlooked. It was disappointing that he stayed too long in the job at the Beeb [something copied by his successor] and, to a large extent became a caricature of himself, particularly when he went onto 'it's a knockout', where he became more a figure of fun than a rugby person.
