Ray Hadley's team has never called Saturday night matches - even back in the days at 2UE when it was pure league through the 1990's. In those days, 2UE would call Saturday afternoon and then Sunday afternoon. Often, there would be a live call of the 7:30pm game if it was considered important enough (ie - two top eight teams)
Unfortunately, it appears 2GB don't have pure dedication to rugby league. I always find it interesting that 2GB's main response is that they "win the ratings so they will stick with the format." While that is absolutely a good business decision, have they ever thought about where their ratings would be if they started taking the game more seriously?It's an interesting thought.
Bottom line is that Hadley won't call rugby league next year - Andrew Moore will lead the team and perhaps then, coverage will improve.
But just remember, when 2GB called every game possible in 2001 and 2002, they slumped to their worst ever ratings. It's a business guys, and you have to do what your customers like.
However, I do think the idea of calling 30 mins of the 2:30pm match and then flicking to another game is a good one. It just needs to be perfected. Ie, there's no need to flick if the score is 10-all in the original match. But for example, if 2GB had called the Brisbane v Eels game last week, it would make sense at 30-0 to switch to another game. The idea has merit.
