And i never thought i would be agreeing to that

The sooner Carney gets the main gig the better.

He struggles to string a sentence together without stumbling over his words.

I must say, I find these threads incredibly tedious.

It is though- sadly few teams will allow their players the flexibility of being a professional rugby player whilst learning or training in an alternative profession. It's quite unusual for someone to have got a degree and then further professional qualifications in an area outside of sport. Youngsters aren't able to do a-levels etc - A few players do their coaching badges or sports degrees but little outside that.

IIRC Paul Prescott did a Law Degree whilst at Wigan and the club has some kind of arrangement with UCLan.

Er, does that actually mean anything at all?

Ok, so McDermott's insight or knowledge of the game is limited to
(a) over a decade of playing at the top level of the game,
(b) most of it with Leeds
(c) over 20 international appearances
That counts as the proverbial "glittering career", without even going on to list the trophies he has won.

So what other "insight or knowledge of the game outside his own career on the field" can you possibly mean? Where exactly do you say his "knowledge of the game" is lacking? How does this lack of knowledge manifest itself, because I'm struggling to understand what you could possibly mean.

if a player with as distinguished a career as that hasn't got enough insight, then who has? And why do they have more of this "insight" than him?

Of all the people in the world (and they would have had a lot of applicants) Leeds appointed Leeds Hall Of Famer McDermott as Head of Youth Development, with a staff of 25 working under him. Not, on the face of it, evidence of any lack of insight or knowledge.

As for commentary, he isn't on the comentary team, Eddie does the commentary. McDermott provides additional comments - not commentary. there is a huge difference.

Personally I find his humorous style adds a lot. How you can say he isn't "articulate" though, is the biggest mystery. Maybe you mean he doesn't speak with a posh voice? McDermott is hugely articulate, and in other settings the problem would actually be shutting him up! Here is what Martyn Torr of the Oldham Evening Chronicle, just for one random example, made of him when he interviewed him a few years backAs we devoured our sandwiches and drank our surprisingly good coffees, I was engulfed in a torrent of enthusiasm that roared from this larger-than-life personality and almost left me exhausted. ...

He spoke with an eloquence that caught me a little unawares. Last year I had the pleasure of being master of ceremonies at a dinner where the big man was guest speaker.

I was unprepared for the sheer frankness of his talk that evening. He didn’t avoid any of the issues of his life ...

He speaks eloquently about the game, his aspirations, ambitions, family, his mentors and people like Ians Ogden and Sherratt and the late Ken ‘Tug’ Wilson who continue to influence his thinking to this day.

This gentle giant, this effusive, explosive, volcano of a man simply bursts with an effervescent energy that should be bottled and marketed. '"

Did you write this in 1997, but only just post it?

Quote: jools "It is though- sadly few teams will allow their players the flexibility of being a professional rugby player whilst learning or training in an alternative profession. It's quite unusual for someone to have got a degree and then further professional qualifications in an area outside of sport. Youngsters aren't able to do a-levels etc - A few players do their coaching badges or sports degrees but little outside that.'" Maybe thats just at the giants, i know at warrington they're very sympathetic to this sort of thing and encourage players to spend their free time wisely, hence chris hill having got his his plumbing qualification and now has that as a side business, Mark hilton (aaaaages ago) got a degree and ended up being a maths teachers locally and jon clarke , well, read for yourself www.chester.ac.uk/graduation/gra ... ton-wolves

Quote: jools "It is though- sadly few teams will allow their players the flexibility of being a professional rugby player whilst learning or training in an alternative profession. It's quite unusual for someone to have got a degree and then further professional qualifications in an area outside of sport. Youngsters aren't able to do a-levels etc - A few players do their coaching badges or sports degrees but little outside that.'" Maybe thats just at the giants, i know at warrington they're very sympathetic to this sort of thing and encourage players to spend their free time wisely, hence chris hill having got his his plumbing qualification and now has that as a side business, Mark hilton (aaaaages ago) got a degree and ended up being a maths teachers locally and jon clarke , well, read for yourself www.chester.ac.uk/graduation/gra ... ton-wolves

You misundersrood- I didn't mean they didn't do NVqs in plumbing or like Like, and yes I said Sports degrees and fitness teIning certificates-plenty have those. Giants either do plumbing/plastering/ or sports stuff as they are linked to Loughborough uni. I'm talking about alternative professional qualifications. It's not an easy thing to qualify as a chartered surveyor!

I was thinking broadly the same thing; even at lowly Wakefield, Academy lads are supported in further education - whether that be vocational stuff, or A levels - they even have an education partner to oversee this stuff and make sure the participation of the players involved is meaningful and taken seriously.

And don't the Giants have a partnership with Greenhead College - one of the finest 6th form colleges in the country?

Think you're sadly getting your wires crossed. McDermott and O'Connor are there to give Punditry advice not commentate. There's a massive difference between the two.

No he isn't! You just made that up!