JJB and Jon Wilkin join Sky commentary team for 2022

[Chrispmartha]

21 minutes ago, homeandawayer said:

This is one thing the Beeb has been doing better than Sky , the match day analysis was brilliant to listen to with those two , Nobby and JP. Really interesting insights and good banter . 

Brian 'in relation to' Noble?

 

Wilkin is fine but he needs to stop trying to play the funny man, it will be interesting to see how he copes if Leeds win a few, I don't think he's ever got over losing all those finals against them.

JJB is unconventional but is very intelligent (despite how he may sound) and will provide some interesting takes on the action and definitely won't be boring.

Any word on Channel 4 presenters/commentators?

[Red Willow]

JJB sounds like he has a mouth  full of cotton wool, it is distracting it also reinforces the "Northern Game for Northern People" 

[Guest]

JJB might be no Noel Coward but he's very intelligent RL wise and speaks passionately without getting too carried away. Not a problem with him, even if he is from L**ds. 

[Damien]

39 minutes ago, M j M said:

I agree that part of the problem is Bill Arthur. He's a nice bloke but it's really highlighted how much we lost when Eddie retired. Bill just isn't in the top or even second-top tier of commentators unfortunately.

Indeed Hemmings is the best in my lifetime, until he and Stevo became a parody of themselves in the last few years that is. To be honest I'd be looking outside the sport and towards Football again as they seem to produce better commentators and better media people, probably because they have more grounding and opportunities to develop. Hemmings came from Football, as did the likes of Clyde Tyldsley and Elton Welsby on Granada in the 80s and 90s. It certainly doesn't have to be an RL person and there are distinct advantages to someone new and fresh coming in.

[Damien]

41 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

JJB is unconventional but is very intelligent (despite how he may sound) and will provide some interesting takes on the action and definitely won't be boring.

How he sounds is of prime importance when it comes to TV and perceptions. If people struggle to understand him then it really doesn't matter how intelligent he is.

[RigbyLuger]

47 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

Wilkin is fine but he needs to stop trying to play the funny man

Spot on. He's worse on the BBC for that with their old boys club. Peacock has the same issue as JJB.

[Cw25]

Hendo is the best co commentator. Really enjoys what he is doing.

[RigbyLuger]

Just now, Cw25 said:

Hendo is the best co commentator. Really enjoys what he is doing.

Needs to stick to co-commentary though and not take over!

[EagleEyePie]

For me Wilkin is one of the better pundits and generally talks sense and is eloquent enough. On the BBC sometimes it can get a bit too matey at times, particularly with him and Mark Chapman. Not the worst thing in the world but if we saw them doing it every week I think it would get tiresome.

Hopefully on Sky things will be a bit more confrontational at times and less like a bunch of mates having a laugh. That's one reason why I think Brian Carney is by far the best RL pundit/presenter around. If someone says something he doesn't agree with he'll question it. It's got a bit awkward between him and Phil Clarke very occasionally and I think that's good. Carney mixes humour with the serious stuff and hopefully Wilkin will be the same. I definitely feel like when he's been a guest on Sky he's been good.

Wells is okay but he works in a senior role for one of the teams in the comp so shouldn't be there.

I like JJB and his enthusiasm and knowledge is evident but agree with those who say he's not the clearest of communicators. It's not too bad if he's chipping in with occasional comments but too much can be grating. That's nothing to do with where he's from or who he plays for.

Barrie and Terry still feel a bit like they are playing characters. Terry has the similar issue as JJB, he doesn't seem to be very clear in his delivery. Barrie just seems to be there to be completely contradictory and complain when obvious foul play is penalised one minute then criticise something similar being missed the next. It's all about opinions but to be honest I really don't enjoy those two.

Premier Sports have done the best business in getting Kevin Brown. Of all the pundits around at the moment I think he's by far the best. Knowledgeable, does his research, speaks well, interacts well with those around him. Hopefully he will be a regular on the BBC and C4.

Phil Clarke is an example of what makes Sky presentation so stale. At least he's dropped the awful gimmicky stuff but it's hard to see what value he adds. He's just there to make outlandish claims, give no reason as to why he's made such a claim, and then go through the season making reference to said claim as he looks more and more foolish.

[Fevrover]

40 minutes ago, EagleEyePie said:

For me Wilkin is one of the better pundits and generally talks sense and is eloquent enough. On the BBC sometimes it can get a bit too matey at times, particularly with him and Mark Chapman. Not the worst thing in the world but if we saw them doing it every week I think it would get tiresome.

Hopefully on Sky things will be a bit more confrontational at times and less like a bunch of mates having a laugh. That's one reason why I think Brian Carney is by far the best RL pundit/presenter around. If someone says something he doesn't agree with he'll question it. It's got a bit awkward between him and Phil Clarke very occasionally and I think that's good. Carney mixes humour with the serious stuff and hopefully Wilkin will be the same. I definitely feel like when he's been a guest on Sky he's been good.

Wells is okay but he works in a senior role for one of the teams in the comp so shouldn't be there.

I like JJB and his enthusiasm and knowledge is evident but agree with those who say he's not the clearest of communicators. It's not too bad if he's chipping in with occasional comments but too much can be grating. That's nothing to do with where he's from or who he plays for.

Barrie and Terry still feel a bit like they are playing characters. Terry has the similar issue as JJB, he doesn't seem to be very clear in his delivery. Barrie just seems to be there to be completely contradictory and complain when obvious foul play is penalised one minute then criticise something similar being missed the next. It's all about opinions but to be honest I really don't enjoy those two.

Premier Sports have done the best business in getting Kevin Brown. Of all the pundits around at the moment I think he's by far the best. Knowledgeable, does his research, speaks well, interacts well with those around him. Hopefully he will be a regular on the BBC and C4.

Phil Clarke is an example of what makes Sky presentation so stale. At least he's dropped the awful gimmicky stuff but it's hard to see what value he adds. He's just there to make outlandish claims, give no reason as to why he's made such a claim, and then go through the season making reference to said claim as he looks more and more foolish.

Wells is the worst talk about rabbiting on !!!

[Lowdesert]

3 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

This attack on him is often repeated but completely unjustified. I’m not sure of fans reasons for using it against him but to me it’s clearly something premeditated. Can you post a video of him speaking where you can’t understand what he is saying? 

I can understand him but sometimes he speaks far too quickly.

I admired him as a player but think their are better presenters.

[hunsletgreenandgold]

24 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

I can understand him but sometimes he speaks far too quickly.

I admired him as a player but think their are better presenters.

I think that's it, it's the speed he speaks that makes even fellow Yorkshire folk struggle. If he slows it down a bit he'll be spot on. 

[M j M]

Wells is by far the best of the bunch on Sky. And he doesn't work at Cas anymore so that problem has been dealt with fortunately.

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, M j M said:

Wells is by far the best of the bunch on Sky. And he doesn't work at Cas anymore so that problem has been dealt with fortunately.

Sometimes his stuff is too rushed, I'd give him more air time, maybe even have someone else with him to give the screen more airtime. 

[Lowdesert]

Just now, hunsletgreenandgold said:

I think that's it, it's the speed he speaks that makes even fellow Yorkshire folk struggle. If he slows it down a bit he'll be spot on. 

Commentary and presentation is difficult.  The only times I’ve done something similar have been videos for work and they took a few takes.

I believe we need presenters without strong regional accents.  

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, Lowdesert said:

Commentary and presentation is difficult.  The only times I’ve done something similar have been videos for work and they took a few takes.

I believe we need presenters without strong regional accents.  

There has been a good shift where regional accents are more prevalent in the media, and in general I think that has to be a good thing.

A yorkshire accent isn't an issue in itself, but JJB had a difficult voice to understand. When he is talking I have to properly concentrate on what he is saying or it just passes me by, that doesnt seem like a good thing for a pundit.

[hunsletgreenandgold]

11 minutes ago, Dave T said:

There has been a good shift where regional accents are more prevalent in the media, and in general I think that has to be a good thing.

A yorkshire accent isn't an issue in itself, but JJB had a difficult voice to understand. When he is talking I have to properly concentrate on what he is saying or it just passes me by, that doesnt seem like a good thing for a pundit.

Yeah exactly - regional accents are important, especially for a sport like RL. But, ultimately we just need new talented presenters/pundits because one thing we're all seemingly agreed on is the current batch from Sky isn't hitting the mark. 

[Lowdesert]

3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

There has been a good shift where regional accents are more prevalent in the media, and in general I think that has to be a good thing.

A yorkshire accent isn't an issue in itself, but JJB had a difficult voice to understand. When he is talking I have to properly concentrate on what he is saying or it just passes me by, that doesnt seem like a good thing for a pundit.

Agreed but there is a difference between ‘regional’ and ‘strong regional’.  

Tony Rea has, what I would call, a mild Aussie style but some of his countrymen callers on the NRL radio shows have accents akin to Sir Les Patterson after major dentistry.  

Only 2 issues bother me though and they are having too quick a delivery and the second,  too much, where each feels that they ‘must’ say something.  Anything will do. The BBC group of Nobby, Jamie and Wilkin major in that style.

[Damien]

18 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Yeah exactly - regional accents are important, especially for a sport like RL. But, ultimately we just need new talented presenters/pundits because one thing we're all seemingly agreed on is the current batch from Sky isn't hitting the mark. 

Some of the highest paid presenters have strong regional accents but can string a sentence together and are easy to understand. I think people are conflating a strong regional accent with being a good presenter, being able to string a sentence together and being able to speak with clarity. Its the latter that we struggle with in RL.

[Mark S]

4 hours ago, M j M said:

Do we know who is making way for these two? Sky under the new contract have fewer games than before so it would be unlikely that they'd expand the overall team. If they were replacing Barrie and Terry that would be a fair swap.

Would be nice to see ‘Baz n’ Tez’ leave. O’Connor can continue his PR work for Leeds on another medium.

[graveyard johnny]

with a quite a choice of avenues now for fans to watch the game- premier - channel4- nrl tv- bbc etc - my money wont be tempted to go to sky with this call

[hunsletgreenandgold]

15 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

with a quite a choice of avenues now for fans to watch the game- premier - channel4- nrl tv- bbc etc - my money wont be tempted to go to sky with this call

And whilst I agree that it's great we now have so many ways to watch RL let's not forget when it comes to paying for it, Super League is still only propped up by Sky and I highly doubt any of the others will start a bidding war when the next round of negotiation start. 

[RigbyLuger]

9 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

And whilst I agree that it's great we now have so many ways to watch RL let's not forget when it comes to paying for it, Super League is still only propped up by Sky and I highly doubt any of the others will start a bidding war when the next round of negotiation start. 

Premier don't pay big bucks for anything, people need to remember that.

[graveyard johnny]

8 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

And whilst I agree that it's great we now have so many ways to watch RL let's not forget when it comes to paying for it, Super League is still only propped up by Sky and I highly doubt any of the others will start a bidding war when the next round of negotiation start. 

so sky controls our game like a never changing dictatorship for the rest of eternity and we accept that

[hunsletgreenandgold]

17 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

so sky controls our game like a never changing dictatorship for the rest of eternity and we accept that

Sky should be giving us a better production than what we currently receive - i'm not disputing that. What I am saying is for all the channels/broadcasters now picking up RL, the only one that pays any actual money to SL is Sky and without them SL would be in huge trouble. The worst thing is both sides of the table know that every time they sit down to negotiate and I strongly believe the main reason Sky does renew time and time again is because of the fan loyalty it has in it's subscribers.