After watching the first 2 games now, what is everyone's thoughts on the changes/tweeks to Sky Sports RL coverage.

Lets start with the generic rock music for the opening credits. Doesn't exactly scream action. What was wrong with Biffy? Royalties perhaps?

Touch screen analysis with Brian and Jon. Decent, touch screen in line with developments on premier league coverage and other sports.

Team line ups, player vs player on screen. Ill admit when they put the backs up on the screen and with Monaghan playing 6 I struggled instantly to make the connection with the back line with the new layout. I like the Player Vs Player line up they do later.

And probably the biggest change. The new video ref system. If im honest it looks awful. If I was a new viewer and I switched on to see two blokes in there coats trying to work a touch screen telly Id think what the hells going on. It looks amateurish. A stroke of genius last season bringing Cummings on board to explain the decision process has been put back miles by showing tweedle dum and tweedle dee making their decision followed by Ian Smiths shoddy announcement to the stadium of try or no try and why the decision was made.

I think Sky Sports RL have tried to be too clever here and fix things that definitely didn't need fixing.

Also, I don't like change.

I don't watch the build up, I don't watch half time analysis and I don't watch any post game reviews. No boots and all either for me. I hate Eddie and Stevo and the pretty much of the rest of the commentary team and the new video ref system to me is laughable at best!

I think the whole SKY set up is a joke, I watch it cause I love the game.

I like the analysis from Carney and Wells. They are good and will get better.
They are a bit more real world that Clarke's stats. Much as I like Clarke, he is becoming too much stato and not enough facts.

Eddie and Stevo are ok for me. They seem to be fazing Stevo out a bit and using other "experts" along side him which works better for me.

The ref thing they need to improve. I'll give it a chance but not sure yet

I'm surprisingly finding it quite enjoyable so far although I don't understand the point of showing the refs making the video ref decision.

Yeah I don't understand the changes to the video ref bit. It's unnecessary to actually see them. We saw the video they were seeing before anyway. All I'd have done was include the audio like on Premier Sports so you get more of an understanding as to what the video ref is thinking. It also would have the benefit of not having Eddie & Stevo wildly guessing at the outcome before actually seeing the replays.

On the plus side I like the touchscreen bit with Wells and Carney. 2 knowledgeable ex-players giving decent analysis. More of that please!

How many times did Stevo stop mid sentence last night and just.....

Time to go.

Stevo was a bit off the boil tonight... I was cringing when he tried to justify that Manu knock-on at the start. Sky's coverage was fine for me though.

I think the coverage is generally good. Carney and Wells are enjoyable to watch, and even Clarke seems to fit in a bit more comfortably.

The video ref bit? Hmmm. I can see what they are trying to achieve, and it was improved from last week, but still work to do. Out of curiosity, did they announce all of the decisions to the crowd as last week? I don't remember hearing them, but i wasn't listening intently so i could be wrong?

As for Eddie and Stevo, i don't hate them as much as some. But where they do irritate me is in their massive over-hyping of certain players. It seems Luke Walsh will be this seasons flavour. Yes he had a good game, but to hear them two, you would think it was the second coming of Wally Lewis. Give him the MOS now, he's clearly a shoe in for it.

Bring Andrew Voss in as he did a cracking job during the World Cup.

I can't stand Squiffy Bumhole, they're wet rock even Blackpool would refuse, but the new music sounds like something from a highlights show of 80's Midlands Rallying on MotorsTV. It's awful.

I see they took my suggestion on board and put the refs in the smaller square.

Give it a week and it will be dropped.

PS did the announcements for the TRY's come over the speaker systems for the crowd last night?

We're only two games in and I've already had enough of the 'commentary' on Sky.
I think about 80% of the time they are just debating each and every decision made by the referee, not forgetting to jump over to that idiot Stuart Cummings to see what he thinks. Lo and behold 99 times out of 100 he agrees with whatever decision the ref made, how about that?

Why can they just not CALL THE GAME. Did nobody at Sky even bother to watch the world cup games? Andrew Voss is just leagues apart as a commentator because he just focuses on what is actually happening on the pitch, rather than try and drum up controversy over ref decisions.

I just hate the way they commentate on Sky, just awful.

Summarised perfectly.

I'm no fan of Sky's commentary on any of their sports platforms. It's often too loud, too in-yer-face and way too chavvy. It appeals to those of a meat-headed, bigoted and drunken nature who are equipped with little to no intellectual capacity to form their own opinion.

Sky commentary is invariably agenda driven too. Minor incidents are often turned into a continual screaming torrent of brainwashing hyperbole which is then tagged as either fantastic, significant or shocking.

I just wish Phil Clarke could say something without making it sound like he's making an earth shattering point that can not be disputed. He needs to lighten up.