Why is it embarassing? It's RL, not QI.

But the two are not mutually exclusive. However, Peacock reinforces the stereotype that they are.

I know fellow Wigan fans who are knowledgable about all kinds of things, that doesn't mean they would come across well on TV to neutral viewers with their thick Wigan accents.

It is bad enough having Baz and Tez on sky.

True, his accent could be considered a draw back. But he is a very inspirational speaker, I think it would be easy to see past the accent.

This. Spoke to him on the phone a couple of weeks ago for an interview (which was heavily publicised on here) and although he has a kind of broad accent, he is very knowledgeable about the game

I don't believe it does.

RL is played (and watched) predominantly by working class lads from the North - it could be argued that JP represents the honesty, integrity and working class roots of the game and as such, is an excellent ambassador for the sport.

I'm all for widening the appeal of the game, but suggesting that we should hide those people involved who have a northern accent from public view is not the way to achieve it.

The Tomkins section of the 'Super Men' show was pretty embarrassing IMO. He was really wooden, especially at the start. The worst thing about it was that he was clearly making glances at a script on the table in front of him throughout the interview! Sky could have at least tried to disguise this or use a teleprompter. He did seem to relax a bit more towards the end though.

Give over! What do you expect on a show like this?

It's called a prompt sheet, and you'll find pretty much every interviewer and presenter uses them.

I thought he was very good, especially for his first spot. The interview flowed more like a conversation and both were relaxed - it wasn't just unsubtle question-answer-question-answer. He didn't seem fazed by speaking directly into the camera and was confident in what he was saying.

Compare that to Carney's first awkward efforts and Sam was good last night. Hardly embarrassing.

Eddie and stevo often have the sheet in their hands at sky games!

Sam will relax more, I thought he did ok considering its the first time he has done anything like that. He will only get better.

I agree with this. I actually thought Tomkins did very well and he and Burrow looked very comfortable. I enjoyed it. As an aside, I usually rarely watch SL Supermen but I did last night and not because of McGuire, because I wanted to see how Sam went (maybe I was a hoping a teeny bit he would be terrible).

Carney is excellent now, btw. I thought he handled the Phil Clarke issue with Mcguire bluntly, honestly and without sensationalism.

Correct, Carney is really good now. His Irish accent adds to the relaced atmosphere, you never really feel unconfortable watching him. He handled the Phil Clarke issue really well taking his own personal ties out of the situation.

I think Tomkins comes across quite well on the telebox.

He's the first person I've heard use the word 'pugnacious' to describe a fellow player.

I bet half of those calling him thick have no idea what that even means.