Adam Freier - appears to have good propects for a journo career

[Red Rooster]

Seems to me that the rise of AF as a journalist coincided with him joining the Rebels and Harol Mitchell, one of the biggest shakers and movers in the newspaper business. Now he has learnt that if he says enough good things about Robbie he might just get a wallaby recall and get to the RWC. It will be interesting to see if the tone changes in line with his selection prospects

 

[Gnostic]

That's a bit cynical even for me RR.

I like AF's stories and he is a truthful and honourable bloke, being from the great club it is natural of course .

AF realises of course that the comments from those on the board are just a more public, bigger audience airing of the very things we discussed (and still do) in the pub and at the club bar. Nothing has changed except the audience access to those comments.

One of the reasons I came to G&GR is that this forum doesn't support personal attacks, belittling of people or to use the knew term my kids brought home "cyber bullying" of anybody. The coaches and players must understand that all other comment is a valid critique and if they have an open mind such comment can help people improve.

I am still trying to figure out which one of our esteemed posters if AF in disguise so to speak, hidden in the anonymity of the board.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Is Adam the pick of the Australian resident scribes at the RWC? The general standard of "journalism" is fairly low and in many instances is jingoistic tabloid style aimed at the lowest common denominator.

Are the articles entirely his own or is he assisted by a ghost writer?

I was at the Corporate Wallaby Gold event at Homebush last year for the Men in Gold vs The Darkness where he was MC.

He acquitted himself well in that role.

I've always thought that he was a bit too small for an international hooker, but he has the heart and passion of a lion.

Working with words seems to be his forte.

 

[barbarian]

I am loving the work of John Eales at the moment.

 

[Zeno]

Are the articles entirely his own or is he assisted by a ghost writer?

No idea, but I would love to know.

 

[EVERYFWDTHINKTHEYREA6OR7]

He will make it as a journo. Bag the team when they lose. Put a positive spin on what you bag previously 2 days out from the next game.

Stock standard. No different.

 

[James Buchanan]

I am loving the work of John Eales at the moment.

Nobody was always quite the erudite individual. I am not sure if he has quite the same mass appeal as Adam, but his articles are good.

 

[Braveheart81]

He will make it as a journo. Bag the team when they lose. Put a positive spin on what you bag previously 2 days out from the next game.

Stock standard. No different.

I reckon in 20 years time he'll also look a lot like Grumbles Growden!

 

[barbarian]

He will make it as a journo. Bag the team when they lose. Put a positive spin on what you bag previously 2 days out from the next game.

Stock standard. No different.

So he's supposed to complement them when they lose?

 

[EVERYFWDTHINKTHEYREA6OR7]

So he's supposed to complement them when they lose?

No, he just isn't any different to the rest of them.

You know what they say about those who can't they either teach or become a critic.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

I would much rather read AF's significantly more interesting and insightful comments (ditto Eales) than any of the rubbish Growden puts out there.

you can make that comment for harris and smith ahead of growden as well. he is easily the worst.

 

[barbarian]

No, he just isn't any different to the rest of them.

You know what they say about those who can't they either teach or become a critic.

Rubbish. He is a far more insightful than any other columnist out there, due to both his extensive playing experience and larger brain.

This idea that the press aren't allowed to criticise our team after a bad game is ludicrous. I dislike journos who talk a team up, tip them publicly, then give them a shellacking when they lose, only to talk them up again later. But Freier has not done that, so I don't get the criticism.

 

[RugbyReg]

No, he just isn't any different to the rest of them.

You know what they say about those who can't they either teach or become a critic.

or post on internet chat forums

 

[rugbyskier]

You know what they say about those who can't they either teach or become a critic.

I can say from experience that that saying is inaccurate when it comes to skiing. I didn't become a true skier until I started instructing and the examination process means you can't achieve certification levels unless you're technically proficient.

 

[Antony]

I enjoy Freier, but there are a couple of similarities between him and Growden (who is a reporter, not a rugby writer), the most frustrating of which is that neither of them gets into detailed analysis of strategy or game trends.

Freier won't do it because he's too nice to say "the problem with the Australian *insert problem* is that *insert name* keeps doing *insert thing* wrong, and if we picked *some other guy* we'd be better off". Growden won't do it because he doesn't actually know that much about rugby (the nz description of him as a 'gossip columnist' pretty much sums it up for me).

That's what I love about reading Bob Dwyer's analysis and watching Kafe's chalkboard, and it's something that I think Freier would be able to offer as well. Genuine assessments of why a game played out the way it played, at a level which a non-professional punter like me wouldn't actually already know.

So hopefully once enough time has passed for his mates to be out of the game he'll be able to be more constructively critical/enthusiastic.

 

[EVERYFWDTHINKTHEYREA6OR7]

Rubbish. He is a far more insightful than any other columnist out there, due to both his extensive playing experience and larger brain.

This idea that the press aren't allowed to criticise our team after a bad game is ludicrous. I dislike journos who talk a team up, tip them publicly, then give them a shellacking when they lose, only to talk them up again later. But Freier has not done that, so I don't get the criticism.

He's a snake in the grass.

 

[Roundawhile]

Give me John Eales every day, not just any... every!

It would be interesting to hear him commentate a game.

Perhaps it would be of a slightly higher quality than Marto? :

 

[EVERYFWDTHINKTHEYREA6OR7]

In reference to Adam Frier for those who were discussing this.

Unfortunatley i did not have the best education and find it difficult to articulate myself and that this is the manner that i should have went about it.

'If i were a player i would be very cautious about speaking on and around Adam Frier, i feel that in his position as a player and therefor possibly a member of the RUPA that their positions and livelyhood could be under threat. Given it appears that Frier is getting himself in a position for a career in the media after he finishes that his loyalties may be rather selfish. I feel that his journalism of late is starting to show evidence of what i am suggesting.'

 

[Cardiffblue]

frier a great after dinner speaker

 

[Groucho]

In reference to Adam Frier for those who were discussing this.

Unfortunatley i did not have the best education and find it difficult to articulate myself and that this is the manner that i should have went about it.

'If i were a player i would be very cautious about speaking on and around Adam Frier, i feel that in his position as a player and therefor possibly a member of the RUPA that their positions and livelyhood could be under threat. Given it appears that Frier is getting himself in a position for a career in the media after he finishes that his loyalties may be rather selfish. I feel that his journalism of late is starting to show evidence of what i am suggesting.'

Erm... bollocks.