What's new
By:
Advanced search…
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Erin Molan

BuffaloRules

BuffaloRules

Coach
Messages
15,451
Just got back from three weeks in the US and saw a fair bit of “discussion panel” type shows on ESPN and NFL network....

They are absolutely saturated with women commentators . much more than NRL shows here where it still seems a bit token...

Although somehow the US manages to avoid controversies like this one here with Molan/Johns...
 
Das Hassler

Das Hassler

Bench
Messages
3,288
That panel should thank their lucky stars she's there....as is the case with most of the footy panels she's the conductor of an orchestra mostly filled with trombones. ..on the 9 panel only Sterling has the skills and professional awareness to do her job...ad others have pointed out Molan leaves the hard opinions to the qualified...she just keeps it rolling As for Johns...intelligent insight into every aspect of the game but he really needs to give the 16 year old locker room "nudge nudge...wink wink" stuff a rest. ..it's really getting tiresome.....oh and he likes to get loose...ok..we get it.
 
Last edited:
Marshall_magic

Marshall_magic

Coach
Messages
15,005
no name said:
I think it’s absolutely poor form for people to go out of their way to ridicule on a personal level on social media. I don’t understand how people care that much to do that.

However, I don’t think she’s very good at her job. From what I’ve seen of her, she has limited knowledge of the game itself and just seems very awkward. Some of the criticism is warranted, however anything personal is a shit go.

The fact that people have resorted to this probably strengthens her position and any constructive criticism gets lost because everyone feels sorry for her.
Click to expand...


I tend to agree with this. I don't think she's the best presenter, but the hate she cops (and the content of it) allows the perpetuation of the narrative that RL has a culture problem with women. I know there are some fantastic female commentators/presenters/panelists out there but whilst Erin is the most well known and getting the level of flack she gets, very few others will want to put themselves out there.

When you see some of the messages Molan (or another example of this is Lucy Zelic) get directed towards them it is truly eye-opening. If you see some of the people who make the comments, sometimes you expect it to be teenagers, but often it's parents of young children and other adults. It's scary to think people with the capacity for hatred that some of these people have are out there just blending into society.
 
Danish

Danish

Referee
Messages
32,016
There thing that irks me about Molan is she has been constantly billed by 9 as a league expert... yet found 100% wanting whenever this knowledge is called upon.

I recall she announced herself as a Raiders “tragic” at one point, and the person interviewing her asked her who her favourite raider of the 90s was (a tragic fan in her 30s would have been prime for that era). She couldn’t even name a player, and admitted to only starting to follow them in the 2000s once she started working as a local weather reporter in Canberra.

another time on the footy show in I think 2009 or 2010, she wrongly stated that Australia were the current holders of the World Cup. She was literally a league reporter during the 2008 World Cup that was won by the kiwis.

she is a fraud. And at a time when fox sports seems to have no trouble finding female on air talent who are genuine sports fans, that’s just f**king annoying.
 
Marshall_magic

Marshall_magic

Coach
Messages
15,005
BuffaloRules said:
Just got back from three weeks in the US and saw a fair bit of “discussion panel” type shows on ESPN and NFL network....

They are absolutely saturated with women commentators . much more than NRL shows here where it still seems a bit token...

Although somehow the US manages to avoid controversies like this one here with Molan/Johns...
Click to expand...

To be fair I've seen Sky Sports in England have females on for discussion (usually a player or manager), and seen some interesting responses. It's not just limited to Australia. I think when you have one woman surrounded by 15 blokes on the broadcast then the woman seems like she's there to meet a quota.

The US in their sports broadcasting in general are a lot more polish and professional. When a pundit gives an honest (brutal) opinion its the norm not the exception. I would imagine the hosts are properly taught the ins and outs of the game long before they are ever thrown on air. The players themselves will speak very candidly about things rather than spout rubbish cliches they've been spoon fed by the clubs.
 
T-Boon

T-Boon

Coach
Messages
15,854
Ideally the women that are playing WNRL and have a legit passion for the game will increasingly get the women's NRL media jobs. Of course they have to have the personality but maybe the NRL could be funding them to get media and public speaking training.
 
Danish

Danish

Referee
Messages
32,016
Das Hassler said:
A fraud?...give it a rest. Where has she been billed as an expert? All she does is defer to the players around her as experts..which they are
Click to expand...


She's been billed an expert for years. The Tele once featured her in article headlined "the women who knows more about league than you". Its highly frustrating when people cynically trump up the credentials of someone, regardless of their gender (people had a similar reaction to Slater hosting the footy show).

Fox Sports avoids all this, because they make it quite clear who is there to host (Yvonne, Shervo) and who is there for their knowledge. Their female and non-league male hosts obviously still have an idea on the game and offer opinions, but these also come across as quite genuine interpretations of fans of the game. Molan's come across as reading from cue cards.

Its not her fault. She is just doing what is asked of her. Its frankly unfair how 9 have attempted to just force her into the wrong role.
 
C

Cockadoodledoo

First Grade
Messages
5,045
Personally I think Hannah Hollis is clearly the most knowledgable of the female league reporters on Fox and more than holds her own when discussing League with the so called experts.
 
Das Hassler

Das Hassler

Bench
Messages
3,288
Cockadoodledoo said:
That's questionable.
Click to expand...


Well experts insofar as this game can provide.
If Fittler...Slater..Lewis...Sterling...Johns aren't then i dont know where you go from there....TV stars they're not but they've got an idea about how a ball bounces. The NRL folk certainly give titles such as "expert" and "hero" a pretty good stretch
 
hutch

hutch

First Grade
Messages
6,810
She’s paid to be a host, not a rugby league expert. The problem is that she is terrible at being the host imo. She is very awkward in front of the camera.
 
C

Chimp

Bench
Messages
2,855
hutch said:
She’s paid to be a host, not a rugby league expert. The problem is that she is terrible at being the host imo. She is very awkward in front of the camera.
Click to expand...
Agree with this, and there's something about Molan that just isn't likeable, which is a key trait really for a presenter. She has this fake 'humble battler' persona, but you can tell she loves herself and craves the limelight and positive attention.
All the women on Fox are miles better- Sampson and Hollis in particular.

And Meghan Barnard beats the lot of them, for other reasons!!!
 
taipan

taipan

Referee
Messages
22,500
Chimp said:
Agree with this, and there's something about Molan that just isn't likeable, which is a key trait really for a presenter. She has this fake 'humble battler' persona, but you can tell she loves herself and craves the limelight and positive attention.
All the women on Fox are miles better- Sampson and Hollis in particular.

And Meghan Barnard beats the lot of them, for other reasons!!!
Click to expand...


Zorba Peters says Hi.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Top