2SM and Talkin' Sport.

[Generalzod]

Incredible Hughes watched a bit of the Cleveland basketball game today....

 

[no name]

Incredible Hughes watched a bit of the Cleveland basketball game today....

If it's not a Bulldog's game or a horse race, you can usually count Hughes out.
Actually, I do remember him talking about watching the Cubs when they won too.
Other than that you can usually count on an 'ahhh, I missed it'.

 

[Dragon Slayer]

Poor old AA got 20 minutes today to cry about how great a bloke Pearce is. Oh and if only we knew what he did what he personally did for his family we'd feel the same too.

Entertained his dog?

 

[no name]

Good looking Toad has these blokes rattled every time he rings up.
It's quite funny hearing them bite at the worst bait ever thrown.

 

[undertaker]

A thought just came into my mind....

What a fall from grace Graeme Hughes has taken. Back in the late '80s/early '90s when he was in the prime of his life calling Winfield Cup matches, Grand Finals, test matches, State of Origin etc., little did he ever envisage back then that he would go from that to being relegated to a crappy radio station taking phone calls from morons such as Clem, Kurt, Phil, Bruiser, Craig etc.

Even when he was calling NZ Warriors matches during 1995-2000, receiving phone calls such as this were the last thing on his mind:

 

[Life's Good]

A thought just came into my mind....

What a fall from grace Graeme Hughes has taken. Back in the late '80s/early '90s when he was in the prime of his life calling Winfield Cup matches, Grand Finals, test matches, State of Origin etc., little did he ever envisage back then that he would go from that to being relegated to a crappy radio station taking phone calls from morons such as Clem, Kurt, Phil, Bruiser, Craig etc.

Even when he was calling NZ Warriors matches during 1995-2000, receiving phone calls such as this were the last thing on his mind:

Glad you brought this up as I was thinking along the same lines. He must have really p*ssed someone off in/around the SL war. Given he was a Bulldog & called Warriors games on PTV you would have thought he was in the pound seat to remain front & centre as a caller & League contributor in the vein of a Sterling. Given his quality game calling something, somewhere went wrong for him to end up where he is. Interested to hear someone else's take on it.

 

[taipan]

How the mighty have fallen.It may sound inane, but surely someone like Heaps who is currently working in the soup kitchen(2SM),can get a gig on chNein when Rabbits retires or carks whichever road comes up.

ATM his current status in media life ,is akin to the CEO of Coles,ending up stacking shelves with schoolies ,because that's all that's on offer.

 

[The Charlatan]

A thought just came into my mind....

What a fall from grace Graeme Hughes has taken. Back in the late '80s/early '90s when he was in the prime of his life calling Winfield Cup matches, Grand Finals, test matches, State of Origin etc., little did he ever envisage back then that he would go from that to being relegated to a crappy radio station taking phone calls from morons such as Clem, Kurt, Phil, Bruiser, Craig etc.

Even when he was calling NZ Warriors matches during 1995-2000, receiving phone calls such as this were the last thing on his mind:

That was ming numbingly boring.

To be fair he knew what he was talking about at least.

 

[undertaker]

Glad you brought this up as I was thinking along the same lines.

Haha! Two minds think alike. Glad I wasn't the only one who thought this.

I don't know what made me think about it today, but maybe it was the fact I was reminiscing over several great games I remember from that mid-'90s era (when I first started watching RL) and given my family didn't get Fox until beginning of 2001, I distinctly remember Hughes' voice every time the Newcastle Knights played in Auckland during 1996-2000 (commentating alongside Brent Todd), as NBN in the Hunter Region televised those Knights games that weren't on Ch9. SeeeeeeeeeeenSATIONAL, as Hughesy would say.

He must have really p*ssed someone off in/around the SL war.

Well, he was fairly outspoken during the whole SL war:

Given he was a Bulldog & called Warriors games on PTV you would have thought he was in the pound seat to remain front & centre as a caller & League contributor in the vein of a Sterling. Given his quality game calling something, somewhere went wrong for him to end up where he is. Interested to hear someone else's take on it.

Unless your name is Ray Hadley, once you hit 60 in the Australian media industry, your hopes of picking up premier media gigs are close to none and you are in effect put on the scrapheap. John Burgess, Johnny Young, Tony Barber., Bert Newton....the list goes on.

As a match caller, when he did the Manly vs Newcastle game last year in retro round, although he hadn't called an NRL game for 16 years up to that point, Hughes showed he still has it as a caller. Which leads me to agree with you that something went very wrong for him to end up where he is now and not pick up another commentary gig, YET we had been subjected to the likes of Andy Raymond, Mark Braybrook, John McCoy et al for more than a decade on Fox Sports. And then even Tim Gilbert called NRL matches on Ch9!

Referring to the part in bold, interesting when you think of the timeline in all this.

- After Hughes retired from the Bulldogs in 1982, he joined Ch10 as the sideline commentator.
- Ch10 sacked Ray Warren as main caller at end of 1986 in order to bring back Rex Mossop
- Hughes became co-caller alongside Mossop during 1988-90. Also commentated at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
- Mossop is sacked from Ch10 at the end of 1990, making Hughes exclusive caller for Ch10's RL coverage in 1991. Hughes also called the Australia vs NZ test series for TVNZ that year.
- Ch10 end up in huge debt, losing the Winfield Cup rights to Ch9 at end of 1991.
- Hughes joins TVNZ, calling the Ch9 Friday night and Sunday games during 1992-94, as well as finals matches and State of Origin. Also called the 1992 Australia vs Great Britain Ashes series and 1993 Australia vs New Zealand test series for Channel 7.
- Hughes was also a regular on Ch9's Sunday Footy Show first year in 1993.
- Hughes then joined Sky NZ to call Warriors home and away games during 1995-2000, as well as Australia vs NZ test matches. He also hosted some Footy Show on Channel 7 (I think)

- And then THIS is where things get murky and leads to the part I highlighted in bold. Don't know if he left on his own terms at the end of the 2000 NRL Season because he wanted to spend more time in Australia, or if he was sacked from Sky NZ. But in 2002, he joined Ch7's Sportswatch program on Sunday arvos, giving Bruce McAvaney score updates in the NRL matches but that show only lasted one year as Ch7 were getting used to life after losing the AFL tv rights to Ch9/10/Fox. So, it was more of a 'filler' program and not a long-term proposition.

Then sometime afterwards, he joined 2SM Talkin' Sport. So, he had lead commentary gigs on 4 networks (Ch10, Ch7, TVNZ, Sky NZ) spanning more than a decade, before pretty much going from the manager of a Westfield shopping centre to the janitor metaphorically speaking, dealing with pure crap from the likes of most callers on Talkin Sport, let alone having to work alongside people such as Gavin Robertson.

 

[undertaker]

How the mighty have fallen.It may sound inane, but surely someone like Heaps who is currently working in the soup kitchen(2SM),can get a gig on chNein when Rabbits retires or carks whichever road comes up.

ATM his current status in media life ,is akin to the CEO of Coles,ending up stacking shelves with schoolies ,because that's all that's on offer.

Well, in my previous post, I put it as someone going from the manager of a Westfield franchise to being confined to the after-hours janitor role, cleaning up other peoples' crap so to speak.

Regarding the first paragraph, it would have to take Rabs/Hadley/Warren Smith/Andrew Voss et al all retiring or dying within quick succession for Hughes to ever be considered by Ch9/Fox as a caller. Sadly, I don't see him getting another full-time gig, which is a shame because I'd much rather hear him as the fantastic RL caller he is/was compared to hearing him bitching about a Bulldogs-related incident from more than a decade ago ad nauseum, or answering phone calls from drop-kicks such as Kurt or acting petulant with Adrian.

Then you add the fact you are working alongside people like Gavin Robertson/Peter Tunks/Papworth for hours in a week and it's a matter of time before you start to stoop down to their levels of amateur-hour rubbish. If Hughes had better on-air support from the other colleagues, like when 2SM had Jimmy Smith (people who are knowledgable, articulate and aren't dropkicks or meatheads), it would reflect much better on him

 

[Iafeta]

You know you're a good commentator when listening to Graeme Lowe or Brent Todd isn't stomach churning. Because of the other voice.

He was a big part of why, even when we were getting roundly savaged (has anything changed) week in week out that I could still watch. His commentary was energetic and gave life to lifeless performances, hope to hopelessness.

It's a win win. Clearly he needs Sky back. And Sky desperately need him back. For the ultimate challenge. Can Hughes make Halligan less punchable?

 

[Brutus]

Haha! Two minds think alike. Glad I wasn't the only one who thought this.

I don't know what made me think about it today, but maybe it was the fact I was reminiscing over several great games I remember from that mid-'90s era (when I first started watching RL) and given my family didn't get Fox until beginning of 2001, I distinctly remember Hughes' voice every time the Newcastle Knights played in Auckland during 1996-2000 (commentating alongside Brent Todd), as NBN in the Hunter Region televised those Knights games that weren't on Ch9. SeeeeeeeeeeenSATIONAL, as Hughesy would say.



Well, he was fairly outspoken during the whole SL war:



Unless your name is Ray Hadley, once you hit 60 in the Australian media industry, your hopes of picking up premier media gigs are close to none and you are in effect put on the scrapheap. John Burgess, Johnny Young, Tony Barber., Bert Newton....the list goes on.

As a match caller, when he did the Manly vs Newcastle game last year in retro round, although he hadn't called an NRL game for 16 years up to that point, Hughes showed he still has it as a caller. Which leads me to agree with you that something went very wrong for him to end up where he is now and not pick up another commentary gig, YET we had been subjected to the likes of Andy Raymond, Mark Braybrook, John McCoy et al for more than a decade on Fox Sports. And then even Tim Gilbert called NRL matches on Ch9!

Referring to the part in bold, interesting when you think of the timeline in all this.

- After Hughes retired from the Bulldogs in 1982, he joined Ch10 as the sideline commentator.
- Ch10 sacked Ray Warren as main caller at end of 1986 in order to bring back Rex Mossop
- Hughes became co-caller alongside Mossop during 1988-90. Also commentated at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
- Mossop is sacked from Ch10 at the end of 1990, making Hughes exclusive caller for Ch10's RL coverage in 1991. Hughes also called the Australia vs NZ test series for TVNZ that year.
- Ch10 end up in huge debt, losing the Winfield Cup rights to Ch9 at end of 1991.
- Hughes joins TVNZ, calling the Ch9 Friday night and Sunday games during 1992-94, as well as finals matches and State of Origin. Also called the 1992 Australia vs Great Britain Ashes series and 1993 Australia vs New Zealand test series for Channel 7.
- Hughes was also a regular on Ch9's Sunday Footy Show first year in 1993.
- Hughes then joined Sky NZ to call Warriors home and away games during 1995-2000, as well as Australia vs NZ test matches. He also hosted some Footy Show on Channel 7 (I think)

- And then THIS is where things get murky and leads to the part I highlighted in bold. Don't know if he left on his own terms at the end of the 2000 NRL Season because he wanted to spend more time in Australia, or if he was sacked from Sky NZ. But in 2002, he joined Ch7's Sportswatch program on Sunday arvos, giving Bruce McAvaney score updates in the NRL matches but that show only lasted one year as Ch7 were getting used to life after losing the AFL tv rights to Ch9/10/Fox. So, it was more of a 'filler' program and not a long-term proposition.

Then sometime afterwards, he joined 2SM Talkin' Sport. So, he had lead commentary gigs on 4 networks (Ch10, Ch7, TVNZ, Sky NZ) spanning more than a decade, before pretty much going from the manager of a Westfield shopping centre to the janitor metaphorically speaking, dealing with pure crap from the likes of most callers on Talkin Sport, let alone having to work alongside people such as Gavin Robertson.

I don't remember Hughes ever being on a Ch 9 Footy Show of any sort. He did, however, host the Channel 7 Sunday morning show alongside Roy Masters, who had that great 'Masters Degree' segment. I think Fatty started on that show in 1991. Jon Harker was also a host one year and could have been the original host. Snoz O'Connor was also on it in the early days.

 

[taipan]

Have I got a deal for you Foxsports.
How about we swap the great" Orator" Blocker Roach with Heaps Hughes.

That way the IQ level of 2SM will remain unchanged as it would remain down in the boondocks, and Foxsports sideline commentary would rise substantially with Heaps giving his spiel.

I would at least be able to listen and watch Fox NRL from now on, without having my eardrums shattered and assaulted by Blocker's nasal squealing.

 

[Generalzod]

What about the bloke singing the Carnival is over funny stuff

 

[Life's Good]

What about the bloke singing the Carnival is over funny stuff

Had my kids in the car at that point and my daughter asked 'what rubbish are you listening to dad??'.

 

[undertaker]

I don't remember Hughes ever being on a Ch 9 Footy Show of any sort.

I didn't think so as well, but I remember stumbling upon some footage of Aaron Raper on the first year of the Sunday Footy Show from '93 with Sterlo asking him some questions and as highlights of the Sharks were shown, I clearly identified Hughes' voice as he also spoke to Raper. So, I don't know if he was just there as a one-off or if he was a regular.

 

[undertaker]

Just tuned into 2SM for the first time in several months, and looks like all the pro-AFL/GWS folk have come out in full force during this final hour. Blowing massive smoke up Kevin Sheedy's arse, saying he is the best orator in Australian sport. COME ON!

Is this a regular occurrence? I don't ever remember so much AFL talk on this programme. Only the Victorians living in NSW would give a stuff. Can't imagine what Hughesy and Tunks think in the background, but Gav must be getting a hard on every time one of these GWS folk calls in

 

[The Charlatan]

f**k me Gav was in full flight today.

Only redeeming feature is that they now have a news reader who doesn't sound like they're halfway through an intermediate English course.

 

[Mr_Raditch]

Forced AFL talk has definitely increased since they started calling fumbleball games on 2sm.

 

[Life's Good]

Just tuned into 2SM for the first time in several months, and looks like all the pro-AFL/GWS folk have come out in full force during this final hour. Blowing massive smoke up Kevin Sheedy's arse, saying he is the best orator in Australian sport. COME ON!

Is this a regular occurrence? I don't ever remember so much AFL talk on this programme. Only the Victorians living in NSW would give a stuff. Can't imagine what Hughesy and Tunks think in the background, but Gav must be getting a hard on one of these GWS folk calls in

It doesn't get much of a run to be honest,not in my eyes anyway. When Gav does speak about it and Hughes and Tunk chime in I get the feeling they are both like a couple of hostages saying whatever to avoid further punishment eg. Just agree with Gavin & he will shut up.