Cringeworthy Kearns/Martin moments.....minutes......hours......

[Braveheart81]

Possibly. Although I like Phil Kearns because I think his antics are funny rather than his bias being good as a Tahs fan. I don't care that Marto is a dyed in the wool Reds fan. I care that he isn't funny and never has anything intelligent to add.

I don't mind biased commentary in other sports.

I enjoy the South African commentators and I find them to be fairly biased.

Maybe I need to give Nisbo another chance.

 

[Blue]

Why is that Braveheart? He is generally quite knowledgeable, but extremely biased. But you mentioned earlier that you did not mind bias in commentary?

He whines. Like an a cranky old neighbour that whines about where you put your garbage bins on the sidewalk.

Re Kearns. Ten years on and the same little jokes, same little cliches. Soooo tired and soooo boooorriinnggg.

My problem with the Aus commentators is that other than the odd comment from Kafer, there is no insight and analysis during the game.

Case in point. Listen to Stuart Barnes up North. Whilst he may be annoying at times he makes interesting observations about game plan and tactics in real time during the match that I find interesting. I think seeing as I pay for Foxtel, demanding some sort of basic intelligence is not too much to ask for.

Instead we are served with the same old drivel each week.

Watch the NBA and NFL and you will hear how it is done in a genuinely interesting way.

 

[Brisbok]

Of the South African commentators, I find Matthew Pearce and Joel Stransky to be the best. Bob Skinstad - I don't mind listening to him in South African derbies as he is quite knowledgeable, but I get embarrassed listening to him commentate on a South African team vs an Aus/NZ team as he is very one-sided.

Hugh Bladen is too old and has lost touch with the game. He often gets the pronunciation of the Aus/Kiwi players completely wrong and seems to make no effort to improve in this area.

Also do not mind the insight's on scrumming and forward play in general from Owen Nkumane.

 

[RedsHappy]

I'd like to go back to the olden days where instead of trying to predict the future to SOUND like you know what you are talking about, you ACTUALLY KNEW what you were talking about and simply called what was going on.

I think it was Alan McGilvray who advised a young Richie Benaud "if you have nothing of value to add, let the silence speak volumes"

(or it was along those lines...)

Our current problem is that our Fox Sports comms are quite convinced they 'have value to add' at every second, every minute of every game.

And no one on their panel seems to function as editor, they are like an anarchist newspaper with a limitless supply of paper, ink and delivery vans. Each edition ending up over 300 pages long, and every lost and fatigued reader not knowing what if any columns are valuable.

 

[RedsHappy]

....Hugh Bladen is too old and has lost touch with the game. He often gets the pronunciation of the Aus/Kiwi players completely wrong and seems to make no effort to improve in this area.....

Yes Bb Bladen is old and I agree re his current flaws. But on a good day, I still find he's just possessed of a lovely tone and touch in the way he commentates (that is hugely better than anything from FoxSports). He has that skill to not intrude upon what the viewer sees, he lets the facts through, but he describes events of play well, objectively, grants silences when needed, and with a more than occasional insight or a quick comment that makes me think "gee, I had never seen or thought of that". An odd way to put it, but I find that I 'enjoy his company' as a commentator, if you know what I mean.

 

[todd4]

I don't mind Kearns and Canno with their bias towards the Tahs/Force because they will both acknowledge it and joke about it.

Tim Horan, on the other hand, expects his biased comments in favour of the Reds to be taken as fair and balanced commentary.

 

[Godfrey]

I find South African voices the nicest to listen to. They seem to generally be quite fair and reward good play from all sides.

 

[Bardon]

I like the format that Sky Sports, BBC, RTÉ etc. use with one guy (non ex=player) to call the action sprinkled with facts and the second guy (ex-player) to provide analysis and some extra insight into the game. Some of the individual commentators might not be to my tastes but overall the format works well. I think the Sky commentary team is probably the best up here in the NH.

When I watch S15 on sky it has the local feed for commentary and the SA guys are definitely the most biased but I find this entertaining, although I certainly wouldn't want them calling HEC games.

Sometimes the Aus commentators go off on a complete tangent and take a while to get back to the important stuff. The NZ guys are more balanced but sometimes can be pretty bland.

Although I have a favourite format as stated I like that there are other formats out there and I enjoy the differences that each provides and I don't think I would enjoy rugby as much if it was all the same. Variety is the spice of life and having those little differences while watching S15 is enjoyable.

One thing I don't like about S15 coverage however is the artsy directors who have those semi-slow motion recaps of players performances during breaks in the game. The main reason is because often they never quite time it right and it's still playing while the action has restarted. There is some of this in NH club rugby too, but it seems to be more prevalent in S15 coverage and it's a bit similar to watching a 6Ns game when the French TV directors are in charge.

 

[SaderCheif]

Yea TJ and Meg Ryan are all good. Nisbo can get carried away and annoying. Mexted does my head in. Kafer is the only aus commentator I like.

 

[wamberal]

There's one pretty simple solution. All the Australian Fox Sports commentators should be required, as part of their contract, to sit quietly in a room and watch replays of the games at which they were part of the commentary team, along with a representative or two of the biggest sponsors.


It should not take long for them to learn from their mistakes, and improve the quality of the whole experience.

 

[RedsHappy]

There's one pretty simple solution. All the Australian Fox Sports commentators should be required, as part of their contract, to sit quietly in a room and watch replays of the games at which they were part of the commentary team, along with a representative or two of the biggest sponsors. It should not take long for them to learn from their mistakes, and improve the quality of the whole experience.

My proposal would rather be that the key to that room was mysteriously lost until the cricket season commenced.

 

[chasmac]

I generally like the commentary from the S15 and generally the rugby. I grew up when Gordon Bray was in his prime, I thought he was great.
What we need is to avoid the bullshit NRL, cheerleader type commentating. I cannot listen to Gus Gould anymore for fear that he will say "Unbelievable" one more time. He has good insights but is obviously told he has to hype the games he is commentating on. Ray Rabbits Warren is all hype as well.
AFL have their own cheerleader commentating with Bruce McIvaney creaming himself every time Chris Judd does anything within 20 metres of the ball.
Marto on the weekend was singing the praises of SBW in a similar fashion, it is cheerleading.
Commentators need to cover the game and provide some colour without stretching the colour to hype. Also there is a definite need for analysis like Kafe provides at the moment. Can we get Austin in there, he's a good analysis man.

 

[HG]

Tim Horan is the worst of them all!!!
He is as dumb as dog shit and talks up players that are preforming badly. Sometimes I wonder if I am watching the same game as him.

 

[Braveheart81]

cannot listen to Gus Gould anymore for fear that he will say "Unbelievable" one more time. He has good insights but is obviously told he has to hype the games he is commentating on.

No, no, no, no, no.

Old Beestinghead makes me want to punch the TV screen.

 

[ellabroz]

Other than Clarkey, the Aussie commentators are generally useless. Brendan Cannon is an idiot with nothing of any insight to offer. Phil Kearns and Greg Martin are like nervous teenagers sprouting verbal diarrhoea whenever there is a gap in the commentary. Tim Horan usually states the obvious. Rod Kafer needs to be in the studio rather than stuck on the touchline. He also should have a more regular and substantial presence on The Rugby Club.

The Kiwi commentators are usually very good. TJ is probably my favourite (listen to this gem -

).

For the Saffas, Hugh Bladen is knowledgeable in a grandfatherly manner whilst his supporting crew are so biased it's often difficult to decipher who the opposition is.

Overall, I think it is the same in rugby as it is with other sports. The main guys are very good and the supposed 'colour' or 'humour' guys are useless. A bit like Sam Ikin on the podcast.

 

[tigerland12]

Needs more Andrew Moloney, the few games he did this year were great to listen to.

 

[maxdacat]

fair and balanced

well it is Fox after all

anyway is it possible if you do subscribe, to switch commentators? I quite liked the kiwi ones in the reds-crusader match, one of whom is Justin Marshall i believe.

 

[maxdacat]

The Kiwi commentators are usually very good. TJ is probably my favourite (listen to this gem -

yeah..."twists the knife in the in goal area" is quite a turn of phrase, but if i were a blues fan i would be saying put the f*ckin pill down.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

As an outsider, I quite enjoy Tony Johnson's commentary. I find him to be very knowledgeable both tactically and of the players. Him and Justin Marshall are in fact two of my favourite commentators. Both very insightful with limited bias.

Im a huge fan of Justin Marshall - I have heard none better that I can recall (perhaps McLaren but only because of the wonderful scottish brogue): Marshall is astute and very fair on the players in that he will criticise them but always find something positive to say about their motive in making a mistake. funny thing is I loathed him when he was playing - probably the sign of a good player!

I'd like to go back to the olden days where instead of trying to predict the future to SOUND like you know what you are talking about, you ACTUALLY KNEW what you were talking about and simply called what was going on.

I think it was Alan McGilvray who advised a young Richie Benaud "if you have nothing of value to add, let the silence speak volumes"

(or it was along those lines...)

The pommy soccer commentators had this down to a fine art - haven't watched it for years so i don't know if that's changed: union and league in Oz can sound like a roll call - name after name after name with no verb to tell you what they're doing

 

[Scotty]

Surprisingly, I have always found South African commentators seem to call games pretty well. They are a country mile ahead of the Kiwi and Aussie commentators.

My thoughts exactly.

I always find it strange when people call SA s15 commentary biased?!