Commentator/Analysts/Medja discussion

thomond2006

Interesting to hear his take on Munster and Ireland at the moment.

It will be on RTE player later if ye miss it.

Heroditas

I'm delighted that McDermott is given a lot more airtime nowadays.
His analysis is excellent

Heroditas

They might want to learn how to spell "Constitution".

It sure ain't spelt like this: Contituition

Crash

Conituition is a perfectly cromulent word.

ironingbored

You would have to question the wisdom of having a current player on the panel. It can't have been easy watching the highlights of the Dragons game or having to talk up his rivals (both past and present) for Munster and Ireland.

And, he doesn't blink!

anonymous_joe

ironingbored wrote: »

You would have to question the wisdom of having a current player on the panel. It can't have been easy watching the highlights of the Dragons game or having to talk up his rivals (both past and present) for Munster and Ireland.

And, he doesn't blink!

Ah I don't know. Rugby's a small sport, and the lads who play tend to be fairly well educated and there's a lot less of the 'soap opera' stuff.

Besides, Munster are famous for their self-criticism, I doubt anyone'd be more critical of their performance than a player.

Haven't watched it yet, but I do enjoy hearing honest comments from players anyway.

treacy52

Thought he was fairly good and balanced with his views on Ireland and the provinces. Spoke very highly of the other back rows and the great competitiveness we have there now.

He seemed a bit more nervous than the other lads but then again there's not many people more laid back than Gerry Thornley!

Reckon he could have a good future as a pundit for some of the games when he finishes up. Already getting his foot in for when RTE get the magners next year.

Crash

I'd say thats part of the reason he was in tbh - a lot of players of his age/stage of their career will dip a toe in to the water to test it out. Think he'd make a good one, but would probably need to be out a year or so beforehand - see Frankie Sheehans first few matches which were a case of "They're all great players, especially Earls. but ESPECIALLY Rog. but ESPECIALLY..." add infinitum.

Amazotheamazing

Crash wrote: »

I'd say thats part of the reason he was in tbh - a lot of players of his age/stage of their career will dip a toe in to the water to test it out. Think he'd make a good one, but would probably need to be out a year or so beforehand - see Frankie Sheehans first few matches which were a case of "They're all great players, especially Earls. but ESPECIALLY Rog. but ESPECIALLY..." add infinitum.

I think Sheahan is pretty good, he actually explains to viewers what's going on, rather then just saying who has the ball. It's like he's actually commentating on the game, and not reciting a list of players.

Podge_irl

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

I think Sheahan is pretty good, he actually explains to viewers what's going on, rather then just saying who has the ball. It's like he's actually commentating on the game, and not reciting a list of players.

He's a pretty good commentator, just not a great analyst (as in after the fact). It's not his fault really and it's the reason Hickie gave for not wanting to go into it yet - it's very hard to do when you know the players out there.

John_Mc

treacy52 wrote: »

Thought he was fairly good and balanced with his views on Ireland and the provinces. Spoke very highly of the other back rows and the great competitiveness we have there now.

He seemed a bit more nervous than the other lads but then again there's not many people more laid back than Gerry Thornley!

Reckon he could have a good future as a pundit for some of the games when he finishes up. Already getting his foot in for when RTE get the magners next year.

RTE have the magners next year?? I will be VERY happy if that it is true given the farce we have this year with Munster VS Leinster on Good Friday.

Podge_irl

John_Mc wrote: »

RTE have the magners next year?? I will be VERY happy if that it is true given the farce we have this year with Munster VS Leinster on Good Friday.

That's a mixture of Setanta, Celtic Rugby and Leinster all wanting it on the Friday. There's no guarantee it would be any different were RTÉ the broadcasters. Pretty silly reason to want a change as well.

I'll be amazed if RTÉ get the studio analysts anywhere near as good as Setanta. RTÉ seem to prefer flash over substance.

John_Mc

Podge_irl wrote: »

That's a mixture of Setanta, Celtic Rugby and Leinster all wanting it on the Friday. There's no guarantee it would be any different were RTÉ the broadcasters. Pretty silly reason to want a change as well.

I'll be amazed if RTÉ get the studio analysts anywhere near as good as Setanta. RTÉ seem to prefer flash over substance.

Even if it is a mixture of stakeholders wanting it on the Friday, there being one less WOULD make a difference.

I've no problem with the RTE pundits and their opinions - more importantly to me is that it's free to air.

You're reasoning behind keeping the sport with a pay to view channel simply because they have better commentary is a pretty silly reason to me as well. How do you think they afford to pay for that commentary?

anonymous_joe

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

I think Sheahan is pretty good, he actually explains to viewers what's going on, rather then just saying who has the ball. It's like he's actually commentating on the game, and not reciting a list of players.

He was absolutely horrendous when he started off. And I mean awful.

He's actually verging on quietly brilliant now, he offers so much analysis of the ruck, scrum, breakdown, etc, and really knows the game. Confidence and experience at this level are paying off. :pac:

Podge_irl wrote: »

He's a pretty good commentator, just not a great analyst (as in after the fact). It's not his fault really and it's the reason Hickie gave for not wanting to go into it yet - it's very hard to do when you know the players out there.

He's getting better at least.

You're right about it being hard with people you know, hell, I struggle to say mean things about players I've bumped into briefly and seemed lovely. I doubt I could ever have the heart to say something bad about someone I'd played with/worked with/whatever, no matter what the context.

danthefan

Frankie's commentating is quite good imo but I have to say I think his blog is dreadful.

Crash

Aye, this was what I was getting at. NOW I think Frankies doing very well as a co-commentator, but the first few matches he did were horrendous, and I think part of it was commenting on a Munster game, featuring people he'd know very well, it was almost painful to listen to.

JustinDee

Podge_irl wrote: »

I'll be amazed if RTÉ get the studio analysts anywhere near as good as Setanta

I know Setanta have Donal Lenihan but aside from him, who are these good analysts you mention?

Podge_irl

JustinDee wrote: »

I know Setanta have Donal Lenihan but aside from him, who are these good analysts you mention?

I quite like Toland and am a big fan of Emmet Byrne.

I haven't actually seen any Setanta coverage of the ML in over a year so it may have gone downhill, but I used to quite like it. It was obviously done somewhat on the cheap but I thought it was interesting enough. In fairness, the RTÉ might be just as good, but I don't like their 6N coverage so I'm not all that hopeful.

Hippo

Matt Williams on Setanta is excellent. RTE only have Conor O'Shea as a serious analyst, Gerry Thornley merely reads out his IT column whenever he's on Against the Head.

The Setanta commentators are league ahead of RTE.
George Hook and co cater to the casual rugby fan,any ones who knows anything doesnt even bother listening to them.Conor O'Shea is ok but thats about it.
All the people complaing must not have the full setanta package,I would prefer to watch the full matches every weekend and pay for it instead of 2 damn games a week.

Wish sky sports or espn would just buy the rights and be done with it.

accensi0n

Matt Williams, Liam Toland and Emmet Bynre should be used for every match.

You don't need a gob****e/**** stirrer

John_Mc

Hazel Echoing Radius wrote: »

The Setanta commentators are league ahead of RTE.
George Hook and co cater to the casual rugby fan,any ones who knows anything doesnt even bother listening to them.Conor O'Shea is ok but thats about it.
All the people complaing must not have the full setanta package,I would prefer to watch the full matches every weekend and pay for it instead of 2 damn games a week.

Wish sky sports or espn would just buy the rights and be done with it.

Yeah you're right, I dont have the full setanta package because I already pay for the Sky package. Besides the ML, setanta have absolutely nothing that interests me so paying for it would be a waste of money.

Rte, for once, does an acceptable job for me and I'll be delighted when they get the ML next year

Podge_irl

In fairness, I don't have the full Setanta package, only Setanta Ireland, and they were showing fewer and fewer games on that. There is no way I was going to fork out for the whole thing, as much as I enjoy their ML coverage so this probably isn't the worst thing in the world. I just think Setanta did a top notch job with the ML (after a shaky start) and can't see RTÉ matching that. Having it FTA will obviously be of some benefit as well though.

John_Mc

John_Mc wrote: »

Yeah you're right, I dont have the full setanta package because I already pay for the Sky package. Besides the ML, setanta have absolutely nothing that interests me so paying for it would be a waste of money.

Rte, for once, does an acceptable job for me and I'll be delighted when they get the ML next year

Yeah but we agree somewhat.
You would obviously like to see it on sky then,so would I.

If broadcasters cannot show more than 2 games a week,one of which is in Irish.The the rights should be tendered to subscription networks like sky,I bet the werent.

I agree with you on setanta but I just feel the league would be improved in many aspects if they went subscription,preferably sky.

Podge_irl

Are the games on TG4 definitely going to be in Irish?

irishbucsfan

I honestly couldn't care less about the quality of the analysts. I'm confident enough in my rugby IQ to be able to analyse the game on my own without someone telling me what I've seen. Generally the better the quality of the analysts the more bored I become.

I much prefer watching people like George Hook or Neil Francis so I can have a laugh. I always turn over to the lads on RTE during the 6 Nations despite the fact that I couldn't possibly watch RTE during the game itself (Ryle Nugent...) (Actually no, Neil Francis was an exaggeration, he really is the most infuriatingly clueless person)



If Ryle Nugent and Tony Ward are doing the commentary I'll be pissed off though. That would definitely be enough for me to make use of the mute button.

Danakin

Although I'm fairly comfortable with my level of rugby knowledge and I hope I don't need the analysts to tell me what I've seen but I do think they occasionally bring interesting intricate things like special positioning and intricate tactical details which you can only really notice if your job is basically to re-watch the video all week.

McDermott does this very well on Against The Head even if it is a little simplistic at times. He does annoy me though with his "T-R-Y" spelling out to indicate a try in the video.

On the same tangent am I the only one who hates commentators saying "try time" and the like? There's just something really irritating and suits American Football rather than the ML.

RuggieBear

Discussing the merits of various commentators and other media "experts" seems peculiarly (IMO) popular so i've renamed this thread for more general discussion on them. (if anyone has a more apt title i'm all ears)

I'd just ask that you give vaguely coherent reasons why you think they are good or bad. No posts of "X is ****e/etc" or abuse please

Aidric

I thought Medja's latest effort 'wozu worte' didn't quite live up to the promise shown in his earlier efforts but judge for yerselves.

http://www.myspace.com/medjahome

bamboozle

danthefan wrote: »

Frankie's commentating is quite good imo but I have to say I think his blog is dreadful.

his blog is pretty good i've found apart from his pinings for a return of stringer!

Crash

And his prop discussion. I'd rank his and Shane Byrnes on the same level, which is to say, I don't.

chupacabra

If rte hire Toland and Lenihan I'll be happy. Toland could then replace O,Shea on the main panel.

wixfjord

Just spotted this on P.R. not sure if its been mentioned here before.
Anyway Franno covering himself in glory again. I was infracted for calling him names last week, wonder will that be overturned now :pac:

From last Sunday's Tribune
http://www.tribune.ie/article/2010/mar/07/rugby-analyst-neil-francis-soft-centres-are-suscep/

Last year Riki Flutey inflicted a flying head butt on Brian O'Driscoll. He should have been banned for at least a year. Months later O'Driscoll had to go to South Africa with him. I've no idea how that went but I'm sure Brian put it to one side for the common good.




Last Saturday in the first quarter, Flutey, who was anonymous throughout, got onto the ball in a static position. He made a wonderful target. O'Driscoll hit him hard, picked him up and dumped him backwards on his arse. A hard, legal, aggressive challenge and almost a Corinthian riposte to the tackle inflicted upon him in Croker last year. It's in the breeding – O'Driscoll got him back, but within the rules.




Prior to O'Driscoll's connection with Paul O'Connell's knee, the ball went loose and Ireland's captain, as is his wont, was determined to get to it quicker than anyone else. Flutey saw that he was going to get beaten to the ball – a Philistine's instinct took over – out went the boot and he tripped O'Driscoll. The prodigy was sent sprawling and the gods conspired for misadventure in the next scene – which we all saw in HD slo-mo.




Two things came out of the act. Firstly, Flutey is what he is. He wasn't good enough to get anywhere in New Zealand so he went to London Irish, did well and got an offer for more money from Wasps. After completing his residency requirements, he qualifies to play for England. To the RFU's embarrassment and dismay, Flutey buggers off to Brive for an even larger pot of cash.




Residency, English cap, higher price, the hired gun blows back out of town with Mé Féin tattooed under his red rose. Lions tour, more England caps, higher asking price. Munster get in on the act or so we are told. The face and the attitude just don't fit in this country. If he is signed, I promise I will try and make his stay as uncomfortable as I can. Sometimes you'd give the pen away even for a blunt sword. Munster, please say no to Flutey.

Franno is too funny,he is like David Corkery except he has a clue,he says what we all think.

Except he always go too far.

phog

Hazel Echoing Radius wrote: »

Franno is too funny,he is like David Corkery except he has a clue,he says what we all think.

Except he always go too far.

What?