43 replies to this topic

[carlos]

I really dont understand why people slag him off so much. I think he comes across as very professional with a business type head. Just watching this bit about WCC expansion. Stevo talking ###### and trying to dismiss things whereas Clarky is trying to give an appropriate debate and grown up viewpoint to things .

[dinosore]

As a person Phil is a top guy, he could not attend last weekends St.Pats v Marines game due to tv commitments but sent money from his own pocket to buy the marines a drink.
A few years ago Phil did some end of season presentations to juniors at St.Pats and was superb spending all night with the kids and arranging a pool competition for them, nothing was too much trouble a superb role model for young players.

[slowdive]

I really dont understand why people slag him off so much. I think he comes across as very professional with a business type head. Just watching this bit about WCC expansion. Stevo talking ###### and trying to dismiss things whereas Clarky is trying to give an appropriate debate and grown up viewpoint to things .

Have to agree. I'm not a big fan of his new gizmo, but generally I think he talks a lot of sense.

[The Orford Postman]

Clarke is a top guy, saw him once on my round before wire played wigan for the battle for top spot and told him wire were gonna wipe the floor with em and he took it well. Maybe its just coz he came on board years ago when he was fresh and new and now hes seen as stale and stereotypical as edward and michael.

[carlos]

i know theres lots of talk of wigan Bias but i dont really see it. I see him commenting about what he knows best (wigan) but havent heard him state a bias. He is bound to have an affinity to his home town and main club, its only like Stevo banging on about been a yorkshireman, or in football, jamie redknapp, souness etc going on about liverpool.

I just think him, carney and Wells add a leve of intellect to the coverage. Wells with the moves on the field and clarky with stats which, whichever way you look at it, are useful and are used by clubs.

[The Orford Postman]

Clarke is a top guy, saw him once on my round before wire played wigan for the battle for top spot and told him wire were gonna wipe the floor with em and he took it well. Maybe its just coz he came on board years ago when he was fresh and new and now hes seen as stale and stereotypical as edward and michael.

[DeadShotKeen]

I just think him, carney and Wells add a leve of intellect to the coverage. Wells with the moves on the field and clarky with stats which, whichever way you look at it, are useful and are used by clubs.

Agreed. Clarke has his idiosyncratic views in match commentaries and I frequently disagree with him but he's good value. In terms of issues surrounding modernisation and presentation of the game I tend to agree with him on most points. He's an asset to the Sky team.

[bobbruce]

Clarke talked alot of sense tonight and I think at heart he just wants people to give the playing coaching and administration of RL a bit more thought. What I would say,without going into the rights and wrongs of whether to expand the WCC,is I hope that's the future for boots n all. For me that's what it should be about a few RL names arguing/discussing relevant topics. Certainly the most enjoyable boots n all for a long time.

[MrPosh]

I used to like being Phil Clarke. But I gave it up.

[joe elliot]

I agree about tonight's boots n all too, Phil Clarke does a great job and is very informative.
Please if we have to have Stevo then let it be just in the commentary box and not in the studio, he lets the panel down every time.

[John Rhino]

Best boots n all for a long time. Even Stevo talked a lot of sense and I have to say for once I agreed with him totally.

[simonwref]

I have criticised the margin meter before and clarkes 'stats for stats sake' but tonight I thought he was brilliant. His analasys of the wcc was informative and spot on.

[1976PMJwires]

Philip Clarke = passion for rugby league

Philip Clarke and Wigan = switch off time


That said mr Clarke has been a breath of fresh air this season, we need him as Stevo was very poor last nightIt's a shame Eddie didn't stick him up his jumper or go for the extras (commercial break )
Great show last night the stats are ace.

[The Orford Postman]

I thought tonights boots n all was great too, kind of like 3 or 4 guys debating RL from different angles. You have Eddie with his non RL background but strong love for the game, Clarke with his modern analytical views, Baz with his player centric perspective and Stevo with his traditionlist, archaic, yorkshire views. Thats probably the 4 types of viewer watching the game I think.

[1976PMJwires]

Watching last night got me thinking, Sky only talk about the English game with a token mention of the Catalans

Talking about the top 3, yeah it's the super league versus NRL ......but no mention of the frogs or fruits (kiwis)
Just something I picked up on

[thirteenthman]

Best boots n all for a long time. Even Stevo talked a lot of sense and I have to say for once I agreed with him totally.

Really enjoyed last nights show as well. I thought Stevo might take some flak on here, but I do agree with his sentiments about the International game. Phil Clarke talked a lot of sense as well. Wouild've preferred Brian Carney on there instead of Barrie McDermott though. All Barrie Mac does is state the bleedin' obvious.

As for Gary Hetherington, well I suspect he'd be quite happy if the WCC carried on being played in England every year. I'm sure Leeds would've made a very nice profit from staging Fridays WCC, what with 21,000 people all paying full price for tickets. No wonder he wants a top 3 v top 3 contest - it'll increase the chances of Leeds being in it annually.

[Southstander13]

I did enjoy watching the debate about the WCC, and thats what Boots n All should be like every week.

Completely disagreed with Stevo's comments that no one would want to go see 2nd vrs 2nd or 3rd vrs 3rd, If Leeds were in one of those games then id still love facing up to the Aussies/NZs. It did amuse me that Phil Clarke was saying that far too often ideas in RL get strangled before anyones had a good chance to discuss them and work out the pros and cons etc, then straight after Stevo barges in saying itll never work, its ridiculous, and he'd never go watch those games!

Also, next week watch Eddie when Phil Clarke is doing his stats at the start of the show. I actually laughed out loud! I assume he has been told to include the viewer in the discussion so at regular intervals just stares at the camera when Phils speaking. Priceless!

But anyway, enjoyed last nights far more than previous shows! Keep that up and they're on to a winner!

[marklaspalmas]

Clarkey's fine. He knows the game.

Some stats are illuminating, some are garbage.

The Wigan bias is noticeable though.

[Griff9of13]

I've never noticed a particular Wigan bias from Phil Clarke. It's not his fault Wigan have been playing well for the last couple of seasons.

I think the problem is if he calls it as he sees it and prises Wigan for doing something well some people see that as bias. But what is he supposed to do, especially over the last couple of seasons when Wigan have been one of the teams setting the pace, slag them off all the time?

[Wellsy4HullFC]

I've got to agree with Stevo's view on Hetherington's idea, and I'm glad he made a big deal out of how stupid it was. It's an awful idea, and 3v3 and 2v2 means absolutely nothing. It's completely pointless. Nothing more than a friendly. 1v1 is struggling to get past the "just a friendly" tag as it is.

And very few people care about whether SL wins more games than NRL in a 3 game series featuring 6 different clubs. It won't affect anyone at all outside of those 6 clubs. It's a pointless exercise, and judging by the Championship fans' responses to the proposed European Club Challenge, they aren't keen on it either.

Also, how are we picking these 3 teams? If it's the two Grand Final winners, who is the third club?