Johns's Dally M ambush turns up heat in TV battle
Greg Prichard
September 11, 2010
MATTHEW JOHNS, in the guise of one of his comic characters, Harry Hardman, has ignited the latest battle in rugby league's TV war by ambushing Channel Nine-contracted players for interviews on his Channel Seven show as they arrived for the Dally M awards.
Embarrassingly for Nine, the players, all of whom are contracted exclusively to that network for appearances on free-to-air shows, all stopped to chat in footage that was screened on The Matty Johns Show on Thursday night.
Johns, as the long-haired, bearded, sunglasses-wearing knockabout Hardman, zeroed in on Wendell Sailor, Braith Anasta, Benji Marshall, Jarryd Hayne and Sam Burgess - all from the Nine stable - on Tuesday night at the State Theatre. Also interviewed were the non-contracted Robbie Farah, Jamie Soward, Sam Thaiday, Johnathan Thurston and Todd Carney.
Gary Burns, executive producer on The Footy Show, told the Herald he had noted what had happened, and said it was the ''highest form of flattery that he has to go after our contracted players from The Footy Show''.
''There's no question it was an ambush,'' Burns added. ''But we're not going to respond by ambushing [Seven's] Shane Webcke, or Steve Roach, or Eric Grothe jnr. As far as we're concerned, regarding the content of The Footy Show, his show doesn't exist. I'll probably advise our players that it's something to try to avoid, but I won't be rapping them over the knuckles or anything.
''I think the players just got caught up in what is a social night, and wanted to be gracious in that atmosphere. And how were they going to escape it, walking along the red carpet? Wendell, for instance, can't resist a camera, and walked into a sucker punch.''
Johns attempted to hand Sailor a wad of cash, while saying: ''It's a down payment. I want you to join a high-rating footy show next year.''
Nine holds the exclusive free-to-air rights to coverage of NRL games, but Seven has made it clear it plans to challenge for all - or at least part of - those rights when negotiations on new contracts with the league get serious early next year.
Johns said yesterday he couldn't understand what all the fuss was about, saying Hardman was just doing his job. ''When I see Benji Marshall, or Jarryd Hayne, or any of those other guys, I think 'rugby league superstar','' Johns said. ''I don't think 'Channel Nine'. Why wouldn't I - or Harry - want to interview players like that when they come past? The fact they came over and wanted to have a chat with Harry shows they are enjoying the show. I appreciate that.
''There was no pre-planning, it was just the way it worked out. I don't know if some of them might have worked for SBS, or the ABC, or Fox - I was just doing interviews with some stars for the show.''
Burns said Johns, as Hardman, was also hovering in the background as Nine's Danny Weidler reported from the Dally Ms during the news. Johns said: ''All the media were herded behind a barricade like cattle - there was nowhere else for Harry to go.''
Johns is branching out, with a one-hour version of the Controversy Corner segment from his show to screen on Sunday morning's during the finals, starting tomorrow. Seven spokesman Simon Francis said the network was delighted with the ratings The Matty Johns Show was getting.
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