Round 19 Discussion

[Fozz]

I haven't got the sound on but I imagine the Nein commentary team would've looked like this after the Mitchell try.

 

[Horseheadsup]

I haven't got the sound on but I imagine the Nein commentary team would've looked like this after the Mitchell try.

Pretty much.

 

[Dexter]

Are you referring to this?

There's nothing wrong with it, to be honest. Barnett had every right to do what he did.

In regards to the penalty, to be fair the Titans players were taking far too long to get off Heighington. Heighington won the tackle so he earned the right for a quick play the ball and the Titans didn't give him that.

My point exactly. Hunts certainly wasn't that much different to warrant a penalty try to Barnetts nothing at all.

The penalty could be called pretty much 20 times a game but they use discretion to piggy back a team downfield.
Like many other posters here I honestly think the refs are managing close results and I am late to the table thinking like this but on board now.

 

[ZTop]

Good boy Laney.

What a player

 

[Cult]

Tweet of the year

Would have been funnier if the joke hadn’t been made on Twitter every week since 2011

 

[Unbreakable]

Would have been funnier if the joke hadn’t been made on Twitter every week since 2011

Never seen an NRL clubs actual twitter account openly acknowledge that Cameron Smith gets preferential treatment from the referees, which others have done it?

 

[Super Freak]

Johnathan Thurston KO'ing a kid.

 

[Super Freak]

Well at least JT caught up with the kid.

It would have been hilarious if he signed the football that hit him..

 

[CaptainHook]

Last night we had a fifty point game, a try scored by TPJ that was worthy of Thor or Superman, a chip and chase that saw the Jet burn the whole field for pace, not one but two interceptions by Knik and all the panel talked about was poor reffing decisions. Instead of talking up our game Joey and Fatty spent most of the night lamenting poor ref decisions. Ch 9 commentary and obvious bias is as much to blame as the refs. Every game they preface their commentary with ' the refs have the hardest job of all but -' and then proceed to bag the shit out of every match official. I'm not saying they should not commentate on contentious issues, but how about some decent promotion of the game. TPJ's thirty minutes last night will sit with me for weeks. The panel spent seconds covering his exploits and hardly acknowledged his almost superhuman effort.

Wow. Great post Jed. This point, in particular, is great.

Have been thinking along the same lines since the Panthers game. Another thing that annoys me is the panel saying 'We shouldn't be talking about referees but saying what a great game it was' and then spending the next half hour talking about referees!

Mascord wrote a column the other day posing the question 'Do commentators have a duty to 'talk up' their sport?'

When Fatty, Joey, Gus etc harp on and on about a refereeing blunder (and half the time the ref got it exactly right - they just didn't like it!), what are they trying to accomplish?

Is the game that cynical that controversy (even if it's manufactured) is the only fuel that can keep the slaughterhouse going?

Even of Friday night I was thinking after the Maloney shoulder charge penalty 'Geez guys it was 10 minutes ago - get on with the game!'

Here's a question - Who are Channel Nine and the NRL trying to appeal to? Potential new fans or rusted on ones just going through the motions.

I've been recently watching the odd game of Suncorp Super Netball. Not necessarily because I'm a huge fan of the sport but was just seeing how their coverage of the game is as opposed to Rugby League.

The difference is incredible considering they are covered by the same network.

One example I noticed was that occasionally a pop-up screen will appear explaining the rules. How brilliant is that? It quickly flashes up explaining why a team is receiving possession, for instance, and then the little caption disappears before resumption of play.

Out of the handful of games I've watched only one instance of them has the commentators spending more than a few moments discussing an umpire's call.

Basically - if you're new to the game - it's as easy as possible to learn and become a fan. Obviously it's not as big as the NRL in terms of revenue but there's no denying they need to attract new fans and everything about how they broadcast the game is geared towards that.

Are there rusted-on netball fans that argue about their game's equivalent of wrestling, block plays, interfering with kick chasers etc. Not on the surface that I can see.

In the aftermath of the Raiders game, hearing ideas like getting rid of the bunker sound good until you realise Channel Nine could never resist the lure of creating more 'controversy' by showing endless replays of a howler (which will happen) thereby creating the need to discuss reinstating The Bunker!

Rusted-on. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Jedhead]

Wow. Great post Jed. This point, in particular, is great.

Have been thinking along the same lines since the Panthers game. Another thing that annoys me is the panel saying 'We shouldn't be talking about referees but saying what a great game it was' and then spending the next half hour talking about referees!

Mascord wrote a column the other day posing the question 'Do commentators have a duty to 'talk up' their sport?'

When Fatty, Joey, Gus etc harp on and on about a refereeing blunder (and half the time the ref got it exactly right - they just didn't like it!), what are they trying to accomplish?

Is the game that cynical that controversy (even if it's manufactured) is the only fuel that can keep the slaughterhouse going?

Even of Friday night I was thinking after the Maloney shoulder charge penalty 'Geez guys it was 10 minutes ago - get on with the game!'

Here's a question - Who are Channel Nine and the NRL trying to appeal to? Potential new fans or rusted on ones just going through the motions.

I've been recently watching the odd game of Suncorp Super Netball. Not necessarily because I'm a huge fan of the sport but was just seeing how their coverage of the game is as opposed to Rugby League.

The difference is incredible considering they are covered by the same network.

One example I noticed was that occasionally a pop-up screen will appear explaining the rules. How brilliant is that? It quickly flashes up explaining why a team is receiving possession, for instance, and then the little caption disappears before resumption of play.

Out of the handful of games I've watched only one instance of them has the commentators spending more than a few moments discussing an umpire's call.

Basically - if you're new to the game - it's as easy as possible to learn and become a fan. Obviously it's not as big as the NRL in terms of revenue but there's no denying they need to attract new fans and everything about how they broadcast the game is geared towards that.

Are there rusted-on netball fans that argue about their game's equivalent of wrestling, block plays, interfering with kick chasers etc. Not on the surface that I can see.

In the aftermath of the Raiders game, hearing ideas like getting rid of the bunker sound good until you realise Channel Nine could never resist the lure of creating more 'controversy' by showing endless replays of a howler (which will happen) thereby creating the need to discuss reinstating The Bunker!

Rusted-on. Rinse and repeat.

I agree with your observations whole heartedly. Ch 9's director of sports thinks the faux controversy they are manufacturing is creating 'drama' and as a consequence a more ' watchable' product when in fact they are slowly turning off those viewers who you might classify as 'non-rusted on'. It won't be too long before the die hard fan has a gutful of their manufactured controversies too. In a sense, they are cutting their nose off to spite their own face. For the first time in nearly thirty years I have started to watch the TV games without he sound turned down and music playing. Granted it loses the atmosphere of the crowd but it's a small price to pay to get rid of the 'experts' droning on.

 

[Sproj]

I barely watch any games these days due to time and the fact the commentary team is terrible. I don’t mind the AFL and find myself able to watch that game more easily these days because the commentary (while by no means perfect) is just far more professional.

I often just watch the NRL highlights because you don’t have to put up with so much whinging in the package.

 

[mrslong]

Wow. Great post Jed. This point, in particular, is great.

Have been thinking along the same lines since the Panthers game. Another thing that annoys me is the panel saying 'We shouldn't be talking about referees but saying what a great game it was' and then spending the next half hour talking about referees!

Mascord wrote a column the other day posing the question 'Do commentators have a duty to 'talk up' their sport?'

When Fatty, Joey, Gus etc harp on and on about a refereeing blunder (and half the time the ref got it exactly right - they just didn't like it!), what are they trying to accomplish?

Is the game that cynical that controversy (even if it's manufactured) is the only fuel that can keep the slaughterhouse going?

Even of Friday night I was thinking after the Maloney shoulder charge penalty 'Geez guys it was 10 minutes ago - get on with the game!'

Here's a question - Who are Channel Nine and the NRL trying to appeal to? Potential new fans or rusted on ones just going through the motions.

I've been recently watching the odd game of Suncorp Super Netball. Not necessarily because I'm a huge fan of the sport but was just seeing how their coverage of the game is as opposed to Rugby League.

The difference is incredible considering they are covered by the same network.

One example I noticed was that occasionally a pop-up screen will appear explaining the rules. How brilliant is that? It quickly flashes up explaining why a team is receiving possession, for instance, and then the little caption disappears before resumption of play.

Out of the handful of games I've watched only one instance of them has the commentators spending more than a few moments discussing an umpire's call.

Basically - if you're new to the game - it's as easy as possible to learn and become a fan. Obviously it's not as big as the NRL in terms of revenue but there's no denying they need to attract new fans and everything about how they broadcast the game is geared towards that.

Are there rusted-on netball fans that argue about their game's equivalent of wrestling, block plays, interfering with kick chasers etc. Not on the surface that I can see.

In the aftermath of the Raiders game, hearing ideas like getting rid of the bunker sound good until you realise Channel Nine could never resist the lure of creating more 'controversy' by showing endless replays of a howler (which will happen) thereby creating the need to discuss reinstating The Bunker!

Rusted-on. Rinse and repeat.

It's funny to hear that Ch 9 went on about the Maloney shoulder charge. Because Mick Ennis (who whilst needs to widen his colour vocabulary is a really good reader of the game) at first was surprised at the call and said something like "they called this a shoulder charge against Maloney....aaaand it appears a correct call" and they all moved on. The Fox analysis shows do go on about the refs a bit, but their commentary lead by Vossy and Smith are streets ahead of the Nine commentators.

It's like when you watch the NFL, if the comentators don't get upset about calls then you don't. I do notice the NFL bunker creates the most Ire in commentators and it's easily as bad as the NRL bunker. There's just no excuse for getting it wrong when you have unlimited time and replays.