I wonder if Rabs will still do tests and origin(or will they give the tests to Matt Thompson?)
James Bracey will host games on Thursday, Friday and Sunday nights as well as The Sunday Footy Show
Wow! Thatās very surprising. Good on him, have always found him a genuine presenter on Sky.
When James announced he was leaving Sky News he said he wanted to spend more time with his wife and travel around the world. Did not expect him to turn up at Nine. Nevertheless he is a good replacement for Yvonne Sampson.
Pretty good get for nine. Heās got some credibility so should fit in well in what is otherwise sub par coverage of league.
Though I am a little surprised that Nine have gone for an outsider for one of its more highly prized roles.
I watch Sportsline all the time. He is a very good host. I was thinking that Fox Sports may have signed him up for the league. Good signing for 9.
I echo what others have already said about Bracey - heās a great presenter who should do very well hosting Nineās NRL coverage
Well to be fair anyone that covers sport puts anaylisis into the game ahead, Fox sports do it and so do Sky NZ. Even for NSW & QLD cup they do a 10 minute preview.
I wonder how long does Ray Warren want to call games for Nine? theyāve got Matt Thompson and Ray Hadley ready if Rabs cuts back, which is what heās doing, who do they have besides Thompson and Hadley? Whoās the guy that does the QLD Cup sometimes? they could use him instead.
Apparently, this year will be Rayās last.
As for the QLD Cup, doesnāt Scott Sattler call those?
Nine did have Alan Thomas call some Qld team games (Broncos, Cowboys, Titans) a few years ago, but he seems to have disappeared.
They did have Tim Gilbert call a few games, but I know his commentary isnāt well regarded here on MS
If this year is indeed Ray Warrenās last for NRL commentary at Channel Nine, youād think that the network would heavily focus on that in their promotion for the coverage this year?
I hope so ā¦
Such as āLast origin series, last gameā with highlights of his origin commentry etc ā¦
Personally, Iām not a big Ray Warren fan, so I wonāt be disappointed if they donāt make much of fuss.
He does deserve a fitting send off however, which I imagine will be around the end of the regular season, leading into the finals.
Even if his last game is the Grand Final, I would think thereāll only be a brief farewell then because most tributes will have occurred previously as above, as the Grand Final IS the biggest game of the season and that deserves to be the standout on the day.
Also not well liked north of the border. My advice would be to confine the promos and congratulations to the Sydney and NSW audience.
I think youāll find that a fair few Sydneysiders (and probably others across NSW) also prefer to get their NRL coverage on Fox Sports over Nineās wherever possible. And with the launch of the new Fox League channel, Iād probably expect the ratings of Nineās regular season NRL coverage to continue itās decline in 2017.
But considering how long heās been broadcasting for, I still think it would be nice to see Nine do a decent farewell to Ray Warren. Ray is quite possibly the last person still at Nine who represents the old school āWide World Of Sportsā team, with most others having since retired or (in some cases) sadly passed on in recent years.
TURN IT UP SON!!!
Peter Psaltis, Ben Dobbin and Mike Rabbitt from NBN are the fill in callers
Yes they need to get Mike.
Mike wasnāt a bad caller actually, particularly for someone who comes from South Australia!