Jonathon Davies for me had a face like a slapped ar$e after the game. He was quick to point out saints great play and Leeds dirty tactics. Dave Woods also is clueless. Although he did have a lovely red tie on!

I do rate them slightly, just slightly mind above the bigest on television who covers our great game Martin "ummm Ahhh Yeah" Offiah. The best of the bunch at the moment is Jon Wells!

I don't know if many of you get a chance to hear Phil Kinsella. He sometimes does commentary for Radio Manchester.

He is articulate, and very knowledgeable and IMO would make an ideal replacement for Ray French.

I enjoyed the forum but thought Davies and Kear had the right idea between them about the future of licensing/P+R, apart from looking petrified about talking to camera Ledger revealed that stats can be used to support whichever team you wantto kep in SL

Davies is better as a studio guest, I think Kear and Noble are good co-commentators as they are so positive about the game.

Davies needs to work out if it is yawnion he wants to pass his opinion on or league. He cant do both and he certainly cant comment on league very well. He always has a favourite team and more often than not it isnt the rhinos!

What a load of guff. Davies isn't that bad (anyone remember Alex Murphy as co-commentator?) some of you need to get a grip.

Re-Davies, I like him, he's Welsh. He's obviously not as involved as he once was but he still appears to love the sport.



Explain their idea (I'm sure a lot of people won't have seen it) and I'd be interested to give it more thought.

Was it based on two full time leagues of 10 teams with P&R between them?

I had no problem with the commentary from Davies. I must have missed his offensive anti-Leeds rant during the game...

That said, the sooner the BBC ditch Ray French the better - the coverage needs to move with the times. Dave Woods should be given all future games.

I think Davies is dreadful. Nothing to do with his union past, his apparent anti-Leeds bias or his nationality. I find his outlook negative, his criticisms of players over the top (invariably made with the wisdom that comes with hindsight) and his inability to admit to having been mistaken totally pathetic.

That's pretty much my view - he operates in the same territory that Stevo often occupies, looking to highlight poor play by a defending side as the reason for a try being scored rather than good work by the attackers. The problem with pairing him and Dave Woods is that while Ray French will often argue the point if he thinks Davies has got something wrong (whether he has or hasn't), Woods somewhat seems to be in awe of Davies and afraid to correct him or express an alternative view.

I'm surprised that not many on here rate Dave Woods.

I think he's a breath of fresh air, even though he always looks like he has just lost his glasses.

Davies can go on about "very pooooor play" a bit too much at length but I don't find him that bad. I guess I just have vivid memories of Murphy co-commentating so anything is an improvement on that.

spot on ....for the Senior offload to mcguire I sat watching that at the in laws and simply shouted at the TV "ohh lovely ball" Davies just said "forward pass" he was criticising the try before it was even scored....

and I compare this to a similar try in the Roosters v Rabbitohs game a couple of weeks back when there was some marvelous running and passing and a never in a million years forward pass was ruled on the try scoring pass.... Ray Warren went nuts screaming oh no oh no you cant take that of them to which Sterlo agreed and said it was breathtaking rugby....

I cant help thinking all the half wits on English TV (john kear and Carney being the two exceptions) would have revelled in the negativity of the dissallowed try...

Just be grateful the BBC (and Sky for that matter) have never approached Ellery Hanley for the job.

His 100% commitment to perfection would be impossible to listen to.

I can't remember which game it was, might have been a Bulldogs game a few weeks ago where there were two terrible penalty decisions late in the game that killed off the match as a contest (a ball steal and a late hit IIRC). The exchange between Gould and Warren on the two decisions and what the current refereeing trends in the NRL are doing to the game was light years ahead of anything you would get on the coverage over here.

Good old "rabbits" very good commentator as is Vos imo.

Ray Warren knows what he's talking about and understands the game.

That gives him quite a head start over most commentators.

who would have thought some 30 odd years after playing in the same Penrith Side that both Gould and Stevo would go on to have succesful media careers......

one talking intelligently about the game, learnt from coaching at the highest level in grand finals and state of origin's

and the other talking such complete and utter rubbish that most people are suprised to learn that he once actually played the game.

Respect the ball.

I blame Stevo's time as the token "rent a pom" in the Australian media - it's their fault for letting him think he could do the job in the first place

Davies called for a reduction of teams in the top division (10) and the RFL to help development of the teams in the championship, his reasoning was that the league wasnt competitive (still only four potential winners) and it would help the best players be spread amongst the teams so there is a move towards the intensity of the australian game and the strength in depth they have

John Kear added that we should return to promotion and relegation as it attracts the fans, just as it did for the Wakey vs Cas decider and for the Leeds Carnegie match when they were in danger of relegation

I would like to see less teams in the top division and as we have at least 15 teams who could be awarded a franchise see no reason why that wouldnt also lead to the return of P+R - take the shares of the sky money from the clubs who drop out of super league and share them amongst the second tier clubs to help development

By effectively ringfencing Crusaders, Harlequins and Catalans into the top division (two of them would have no worries in the present setup anyway) the RFL admit that they have given up on the second tier and this is a major mistake, expansion it is not

While I can see 10 teams creating a more intense competition in SL what league fixture format would fit the reduction in teams.

Club chairmen/CEO's have always argued for around the 13 home fixture mark we are seeing at the moment and have done for ... well as long as I can remember really.

9 opponents and 27 games, how could that work? icon_razz.gif

Nowt can beat his bst gaff from a few years ago, "Leeds in the blue and primrose"
Of course his favourite phrase is, "the former =#004040?????? amateur". Well I can't wait to decribe him as, "the former Rugby League commentator"

While it could work it's not the sort of familiarity I'd like to see a return to.

Interesting that Davies cites the NRL but then wishes to promote a reduction of clubs in SL. That's not the NRL model.

SL, like most sports, has disparities within the division but we have seen the emergence of Warrington, Hull, Huddersfield Hull KR and the re-emergence of Wigan as contenders (with only really Bradford going in the opposite direction) so I don't think we're doing as bad as Jiffy suggests.