My problem with the show is that now no one on it has actually played the game. I am not saying that you need to have played the game to talk about it, but this show starts with a panel every night of four individuals and no one has played the game at a high level. At least in the past when the journos get hysterical (in fairness, most of them either work for a tabloid or a click-bait website, so they are delivering what their employers want), Ikin would ease in and say something sensible (and usually in a dismissive, ‘let’s move on’ kind of way). I have a lot of time for Vonnie as she obviously knows her stuff and seems a nice person, but she just doesn’t have the gravitas with the other people around the table; they don’t respect her and she knows it, and so whenever she interjects she does it with a laugh.
Lara used to interject with good points and would have been great in the role. But Kent and Hooper obviously were intimidated by being taken in by a strong woman and she is now gone. To be fair, she is better off on Big League Wrap; at least that is a show about rugby league.