Quote: JohnP "I can tell you what non-RL fans think. I work in Edinburgh during the week, and after banging on about RL, one of the other blokes (RU fan) watched the Leeds-Melbourne game. His feedback? "It was great, much better than I thought RL was. But who are those 2 idiots doing the commentary?"
Why are we the only sport in the world who get 'comedy' commentators? It's not like Sky don't take RL seriously, so why persist with these two? What audience research are they doing where people are being positive? They're obviously some Southern marketing types view of what we're like up North, but they annoy me very time they're on, and I get the feeling I'm not alone...
Listen to the Aus commentary on Premier by comparison, and it's enough to make you weep.'"
a good comparison is what sky did with cricket. when they first got the rights, they pile the box full of 'colourful' commentators. the allowed boycs to ham it up and used it to create reaction. however, over time they have settled down and now they are back to a more sensible commentary policy.
RL hasnt changed. even the replacements for wiggy and bigot have been selected because of the 'comedic' qualities.
time for RL commentry to grow up and prize good communicators above 'headline' makers. there are plenty of lucid ex players who can be turned into good commentators. another cricket does well is to change the men behind the mike, and use a rotating mix of people covering all the bases.
as regards sunday, eddie was annoying, but stevos insistence of trying chalk off anything that wigan did was even more cringe worthy.