I think they are slowly bringing in new blood, 4-5 co commentators now in place ready to take over. Shame there all Wigan biased.
You know how big RL is in NZ and Aussie as some of their players have £1m+ twitter followers, unheard of here.
I subscribed to premier sports last season just to watch the NRL (let's face it you wouldn't subscribe for anything else on there), I wasn't disappointed by the standard of games, nor the standard of commentary you get from people who do it properly plus recently retired great players.
The standard and intensity of the NRL play-off games was different gravy to any other sport I have watched recently. One game ended 4-0 but I was engrossed throughout as it was constant pressure on either line.
The recent $1bn TV deal they have down under is the main reason that the likes of Sam Tomkins etc are going over there, rather than going to union in the UK, and that there are no decent Aussies coming over here anymore unless they are damaged in some way.
Unfortunately RL over here is behind in terms of standard of play and presentation and we are relying on a few of our top players to really shine when it matters for us to have a chance. However, some of my best live sporting experiences have been when England/GB have been playing internationals against Aus/NZ so getting to as many games as I can.
Don't really see the Wigan bias at all on the SKY commentary team, they cream themselves just as much over Leeds/Warrington etc at other times.Very much this. Eddie is a blatant Warrington fan, and there is a bias towards Leeds as much as anyone else, especially over the past few seasons. This year there's been a particular bias towards Sam Tomkins, probably partly due to his deal with Sky and that he was the poster boy and also partly because he was the stand-out talent in the league. No denying that Phil Clarke is a Wigan fan though, and that the Leeds fans really dislike him
Eddie and Stevo have become ridiculous caricatures of themselves and needed to retire at least five years ago. They did well in the earlier days, but definitely need shifting ASAP. BBC's coverage is actually worse though, with the French/Davies combo absolutely laughable.
Looking forward to seeing how well England do against Australia and New Zealand in the WC. Unfortunately, if McNamara continues to baffle with his line-up, I can't see us doing that well. Got some good talent in the side though, and will be good to see how they match up with the best from the NRL. Also looking forward to seeing the Burgess brothers and Widdop lining up alongside the players from the SL.
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