I have to say that I'm not convinced by this ever growing opinion that the Sky commentary team are all anti Wire.

Maybe it's because RL is not my first sport.
I moved to Warrington 15 years ago and have been supporting Wire since then, but my first loves are Football and NFL.
So maybe I just don't see it because I'm a little removed than other more passionate fans on here.

However, when I watch the live games on Sky I just don't see it.
Yes they go on and on about Wigans injury list every time they play, but this is not just against Wire. They do this whoever they play.
Yes they always look for controversy in every match even when it isn't there, but they do this consistently in every live game, not just when Wire are playing.
Yes they get names wrong, rules wrong, decisions wrong etc etc and yes they come across unprofessional when they try to back up these errors and argue their case, but again, this happens in all the televised games, not just against Wire.

As for the idea that they support every team who play Wire, this simply isn't true.
And again, maybe this is because in the 15 years I've been supporting Warrington, they've mainly been contenders every single year (a bold claim I know pre-Smith) so I haven't been use to them being an underdog, but what I see is a very common commentator trait where they big up the underdog when they do well against the odds.

I was up late the other night watching Andy Murray in the US open against some Italian fella.
The Italian against all the odds was giving Murray a good game and only just lost the 1st set and then won the second set before being blow away in the final two sets.
Now this is an individual sport and Murray was clearly the guy the british commentators were favouring, yet all they talked about throughout the match was how wonderful the Italian was playing and how much effort he was putting into every shot.
They never once mentioned Murray's effort, but rather how badly he was playing and focusing on the amount of unforced errors.
Now I don't believe for one second that the commentary team wanted Murray to lose. They were simply excited about the fact that this unfavoured Italian was giving Murray a game when it should have been a walk in the park and because they expect perfection from Murray all the time, they focused on all his mistakes rather than what he was doing well.

This is all I hear when I watch us on the telly.
The commentary team know we are expected to beat the vast majority of teams in the Superleague and therefore most games we play we are favourites and the opposition underdogs, so they do get more excited about the opposition doing well than they do when we do well, but that is just something that comes with being one of the top teams.

Now I know people will counteract this with Leeds and Wigan examples because they are also top teams and you'll argue that they are not anti Wigan or anti Leeds, but I hear them doing the same things in their games when the underdogs are doing well.

But here's the thing, if you actually stop focusing on all this anti Wire mentality for a second and listen to them, they are constantly talking about how good Wire are and bigging up players like Currie, Hill, Westwood, Sandow etc.
And yes, even the clear Wigan fan Phil Clarke gives us praise all the time when its deserved. Can't stand the guy myself but give him his dues, if we are the best team in Super League he'll say it. He'll also point out our weaknesses as well, but what do you want? Do you want them to only praise us all the time?

I just think that for certain fans, unless the Sky team talk about Wire with the same passion we have for the team in every game and agree that every decision the ref gives for us is right and every decision against us is wrong, then they'll never be happy and always think they are anti Wire.

Hi Eddie, welcome to the forum.

IMO, it stems back from the World Cup in 2008 when Tony Smith was England coach.

I can't remember who was the on-pitch interviewer after the semi-final but he basically laid blame for the poor showing at Tony Smith's failure to integrate the Saints and Leeds players into a team and aimed at him not being able to cope with the divisions in the team.

Tony Smith's face when he said that was one of pure disbelief and he replied by saying something like "I'm really disappointed you've said that, we've worked really hard as one for this World Cup but just weren't good enough, I'm actually really angry you've come out with that" and back to the studio the s all pretty much said that they were right to ask the question because the fact that Danny Maguire had shorts and t-shirt on when James Graham wore a suit meant that Tony Smith had no control over the squad.

Tony Smith has never engaged with Sky much since. He doesn't tend to give anything away at all with them and doesn't look any of them in the eye in interviews at all. Oh, with the exception of Angela Powers (but she is a Wire after all). But look at the difference with him and the BBC team. He has eye contact with them, smiles, engages in conversation much more.

But I think Sky have a bit of an axe to grind still with Tony Smith and it doesn't help that Saints Eddie absolutely detests Wire anyway. Listen to the tone of his commentary at times when we score a try, he sounds like he's just been told his house got blown over in a stiff wind.

Brilliant!

Stevo was an absolute disgrace during the Catalans game. Desperately begging for a Catalans win and for Bailey to be sent off. If he's not got an agenda against us, he's got a funny way of showing it.

If he's knowledgeable, then I'm yet to hear it. All as I can hear is scripted, clichéd drivel game after game from a man who is so out of touch with the modern game it's laughable.

The sooner he retires the better, just a shame he can't take Hemmings with him. An embarrassment to our sport and themselves.

The Sky team needs a massive overhaul. Never been a fan of Phil Clarke personally, but at least he can be informative and reasoned from time to time, much unlike the other pair.

Dave Woods and the BBC commentary team puts them to shame.

The OP's powers of deduction amaze me. Are you Miss Marple in disguise?

As for the thread - small club mentality at its finest!

im going to be honest.. i stopped here.

yea Smith well hates them.. bunch of muppets.

They want warrington to do badly because of how much they dont like each other.

Eddie doesn't like Wire, although living here, forging a career from here and having his hair dyed here, you'd think he'd relax his attitude towards us at times.

Stevo isn't too bad, he's pretty much the same every game. Sometimes behind the underdog in that particular game, so quite often it's not Wire.

Barrie Mac, his passion for the game clearly outstrips any sidings he has for any club, although he is fond of Leeds, he never let's that over take the sporting occasion.

It's Jon 'I was a half decent winger for about a week' Wells that does my nut in. He bumbles about infront of that screen and 80% of the time he has no idea how to answer Brian Carneys simplest of questions.

My absolute favourite moment was when he had Todd Carney in front of the screen at the end of the game when he ran through the build up to a Catalan try:

JW: Right so this here is classic Catalans, I've seen it hundreds of times before... You've driven the ball down the left here ready for a sweep play on the end of a spread.

TC: errrr, yeah I don't know what that is but basically we've just.... (goes on to explain the play which was nothing like Jon's interpretation)


The man is a full on goon

Wells is just a chancer, who must have a relative in the Sky Sports hierarchy.

He blows it out of his aris, as moving on says, going on about spread plays and sweeps...what a load of old pony

He can barely string 5 words together, without an errrrr, an uummmmm or an embarrassing silence, so he's hardly a great broadcaster.

Add to this, he's as boring as a wet Wednesday in Frodsham. I once saw one of his "riveting" try analysis' early this season, where the whopper was convinced that the try was made possible, because of the way the previous play's tackled player got up and planted his left foot on the ground. Seriously.

I've known bosses like this plant pot. Thinking that what they're saying sounds clever, but the workforce think he's a Berk.

Thank God I cancelled my Sky subscription, so I'm not funding this fraud's I'll gotten gains.

I think to watch a match,analyse it prepare a presentation fit for TV twice each game,half and full time, and make sensible conversation with a random selection of knackered rugby players quite apart from some of the idiots in the box make Jon Wells OK for me !

Yeah I'm with this^^^^

I dont think Jon Wells is bad at all. ....he's probably keeping that spot warm for Sam Tomkins anyway. ..so be careful what you all wish for. ....