gerry thornley

Quint

OP, Is there any reason you don't like JT other than the fact that he used to report on tennis?

Diom

He's pretty darn good.
I enjoy his articles about Connacht, one of the few writers do write about it with a sense of indignity (and rightfully so). He's actually informed about the province which is startling in Irish rugby writing. I'd say only Rob Murphy for the Sentinel has more in-depth knowledge of the game in the west.

In general his non-Connacht articles are excellent too. A little heavy on sentiment at times, but at least he has some flair for writing, which is great to see in sports journalism.

Tony Ward is decent too I suppose. David Kelly writes drivel. Liam Toland is decent as well, usually balanced and fair.

Podge_irl

Quint wrote: »

Thornley is quality, it's great to get to a pub early on the day of a match, read his column with a pint before you meet your mates.
Tony Ward is terrible. Anyone hear Denis Hickie ripping into George Hook on the right hook? They should give him a job on the RTE panel instead of Conor O'Shea

They should give him a job on the RTÉ panel instead of George Hook! Anyway, he has said he won't do anything like that while he still has friends playing, which is fair enough. He'd be very good at it though.

Zzippy

I enjoy reading Thornley's articles, generally balanced and fair, and critical enough when he feels thats called for too.

Off topic, he's supposed to be a right boyo in the Irish Times sports dept - a mate of mine is good friends with a fellow journo there and apparently Gerry fecked off to America for a whole summer a couple of years ago - 2 months with no articles or something - the sports editor didn't give a feck cos it was GAA season but the main editor's husband asked her one day had she sacked Thornley or something cos he hadn't read anything from him in ages - first thing next morning she's in looking for him - cue frantic call to the States "Gerry you'd better get yer arse back to Ireland".

Jersey Girl

He's the only guy you will ever see in the press box wearing sun glasses at a night match!

Sandwich

Bettered only by Franno of the Irish journalists.
Thornley knows what he talking about. A bit dry of style but wouldnt fault that too much - he takes his rugby seriously.

Diabhal Beag

I think he's good. Not always right but never too far off the mark. Beats Tony Ward anyday

Sandwich

Sandwich wrote: »

Bettered only by Franno of the Irish journalists.
Thornley knows what he talking about. A bit dry of style but wouldnt fault that too much - he takes his rugby seriously.

Franno?
Hes the worst writer in Ireland,his articles are constantly a Leinster bashing essay,hes a shock jock nothing more.

thomond2006

Comparing Neil Francis to Thornley is an insult to rugby journalism.

THORNLEY IS GAWD!!

danthefan

Myah Fluffy Fibula wrote: »

Franno?
Hes the worst writer in Ireland,his articles are constantly a Leinster bashing essay,hes a shock jock nothing more.

To be honest I think people have Franno all wrong. Franno is a massive Leinster fan, I think nothing would make him happier than a Leinster win on Saturday, and he just gets really frustrated seeing Leinster underperform. Now he does get stuff wrong, no doubt there.

Quint

George Hook is clearly the best rugby journalist after JT

ascanbe

conno16 wrote: »

agree with you here no doubt
the fact is tho that gerry did not know the difference between a shuttle-cock and a rugby ball up to 10 years ago
is this really the lead writer we want?
i dont think so gooseman

Have no idea if it that's true or not about Thornley; but given that most rugby fans in this country wouldn't have known the difference between a shuttle-cock and a rugby ball even less than ten years ago he's still more than qualified enough if it is true.

danthefan

danthefan wrote: »

To be honest I think people have Franno all wrong. Franno is a massive Leinster fan, I think nothing would make him happier than a Leinster win on Saturday, and he just gets really frustrated seeing Leinster underperform. Now he does get stuff wrong, no doubt there.

He goes way overboard on the criticism.Hes just a wum these days.

NickNolte

Um... Thornley is a pretty decent rugby journo. End of story.

Serenity Now!

:rolleyes:
He's just a pundit. He gets paid to do what most do here on boards everyday. There are many good rugby union pundits out there. They all have their moments. Fortunately the likes of Thornley and O'Reilly have very few.
The consistently worst RU pundit I have ever read apart from Jones/Zavos is Ciaran Cronin when he was rugby correspondent for the Tribune.

MG

I think he's a very good writer, balanced and very readable. As a communicator he kinda reminds me of George Lee in his clarity

I was particularly impressed by his writing on the Quinlan citing, he was completely fair.

sslazio11

conno16, anyone who writes "loser with a capital L" is clearly a 16 year old girl.

As for Thornley, he's a top writer and extremely fair when analysing any given situation.

anonymous_joe

sslazio11 wrote: »

conno16, anyone who writes "loser with a capital L" is clearly a 16 year old girl.

As for Thornley, he's a top writer and extremely fair when analysing any given situation.

Conno's a hero.

themont85

Where abouts is Thornley from actually? I reckon he's south Dublin but he is impartial for the Irish provinces and hates schools rugby with few exceptions. The other IT's journalists for rugby, John O'Sullivan and Gavin Cummiskey are decent too.

Jesus1222

conno16 wrote: »

agree with you here no doubt
the fact is tho that gerry did not know the difference between a shuttle-cock and a rugby ball up to 10 years ago
is this really the lead writer we want?
i dont think so gooseman

This is a snobby remark in my opinion. I think his articles should be judged on their merits. Whether he was born 10 years ago, moved here from China 10 years ago or first heard the word rugby 10 years ago is irrelevant. He's a professional journalist, judge him as one.

funky penguin

tba wrote: »

I find him a bit annoying, albeit skirting, I think it started with his reviews of the World Cup in France. The constant metaphors in French alienated me in a way that had not been matched since Joyce's Ulysses.

Mmm, sometimes I felt like I needed a French dictionary when I read him.

Still, there's not many other rugby writers I'd read. Balanced, fair, unbiased and has a real love for the sport.

Dietsquirt

Folks,
I know this thread is decades old but i wouldn't mind revisiting it a bit. I'm interested in other people's opinion on the man.
Gerry Thornley, his voice.. undoubtedly annoying, his knowledge of the game (in my opinion!) incomparable to other pundits (in Ireland anyway!).
He always seems to be the first with breaking news. I listen to 'off the ball' every week, and he features on it a lot. He always has a brilliant insight in to the game and i feel like i learn a lot. Having said that, i've spoke to some of my friends, some 'big' rugby fans and they can't stand the man.

Just wondering what anyone else's opinion is?

Thanks

Gerry:p

Orlaw3136

I think on the nitty gritty he parrots back stuff which originated elsewhere and when original is frequently outright wrong.

Otherwise He maintains very good relations with the IRFU and the team/management hence gets good info from the inside. Fine but part of how he maontains relationships is by staying away from controversy/negative commentary even when warranted/needed.

Buer

He gives very, very little insight into the actual game. He reports on it and gives a slant on proceedings off the field but it's rare that you read a piece by Thornley and think "That's a really interesting aspect of how that team played that I didn't notice".

For someone that actually gets paid full time to report on the game, I don't think his insights are too insightful. He repeats the same things ad nauseum with his current mantra being "Sexton is being flogged in France". He actually did another article on it today.

When put alongside someone that actually can break the game down, he's shown up. He revels in his position as the inside man of Irish rugby which ensures that his pieces are about as cage rattling as a budgie on valium. His familiarity and pals act with players damages his reporting as he rarely says a bad word about anything in Irish rugby (since EOS) and goes to lengths to defend results, coaches, performances, players, tactics etc. regardless of whether it means criticising the opposition or referee.

He once stood out due to the fact that there was quite limited options in terms of dedicated rugby reporting but, the more exposure the game has received over the last decade, the more he has become just another hack.

Swiwi.

Buer wrote: »

He gives very, very little insight into the actual game. He reports on it and gives a slant on proceedings off the field but it's rare that you read a piece by Thornley and think "That's a really interesting aspect of how that team played that I didn't notice".

For someone that actually gets paid full time to report on the game, I don't think his insights are too insightful. He repeats the same things ad nauseum with his current mantra being "Sexton is being flogged in France". He actually did another article on it today.

When put alongside someone that actually can break the game down, he's shown up. He revels in his position as the inside man of Irish rugby which ensures that his pieces are about as cage rattling as a budgie on valium. His familiarity and pals act with players damages his reporting as he rarely says a bad word about anything in Irish rugby (since EOS) and goes to lengths to defend results, coaches, performances, players, tactics etc. regardless of whether it means criticising the opposition or referee.

He once stood out due to the fact that there was quite limited options in terms of dedicated rugby reporting but, the more exposure the game has received over the last decade, the more he has become just another hack.

Yeah I like my journos to have an opinion even if I completely disagree with them. I'd rather read Stephen jones than thornley to make my point. Bland is boring and I like opinion pieces rather than a rehash of what transpired on the field. Id say you make a good journo Buer

Buer

Swiwi. wrote: »

Yeah I like my journos to have an opinion even if I completely disagree with them. I'd rather read Stephen jones than thornley to make my point. Bland is boring and I like opinion pieces rather than a rehash of what transpired on the field. Id say you make a good journo Buer

I'd be up for libel on a weekly basis.

Heroditas

"Juggernaut pack".

padser

Dietsquirt wrote: »

Folks,
I know this thread is decades old but i wouldn't mind revisiting it a bit. I'm interested in other people's opinion on the man.
Gerry Thornley, his voice.. undoubtedly annoying, his knowledge of the game (in my opinion!) incomparable to other pundits (in Ireland anyway!).
He always seems to be the first with breaking news. I listen to 'off the ball' every week, and he features on it a lot. He always has a brilliant insight in to the game and i feel like i learn a lot. Having said that, i've spoke to some of my friends, some 'big' rugby fans and they can't stand the man.

Just wondering what anyone else's opinion is?

Thanks

Gerry:p

Lol, I read through the entire thread without realizing it was 5 years old!!!! Was surprised at two things

1) The admiration being shown for someone who hasn't written a decent article in about 5 years
2) The lack of all the regular rugby posters
3) How people could believe he had been writing about rugby for 10 years

It does go to show though, the guy actually did used to be a halfway decent rugby journalist, bizarrely the best thing about him used to be his willingness to call it as it was (EOS). Contrast that with him now, seems primarily interested in ensuring he doesn't p1ss anyone off (except the IRFU obviously who he never stops bashing).

I've stopped reading his articles mostly, wish the Irish Times would fire him and get someone in willing to actually write what they believe regardless of whether it annoys some people within rugby. It wierd, I actually still buy the Times a lot, but I don't really go the sports section anymore. Get most of my rugby info here and on the blogs (demented mole, whiff of cordite)

CatFromHue

Jersey Girl wrote: »

He's the only guy you will ever see in the press box wearing sun glasses at a night match!

:D:D

irishbucsfan

During the EOS era he was an absolute breath of fresh air. He was the only person of "importance" questioning the status quo.

And then something terrible happened. A bit like in a zombie movie when the hero/heroine approaches their friend from behind... and they turn around and we find that they too have been infected.