Quote ="Nankivell"I think Sky have been looking for a replacement for Stevo for a few years. I think they thought that Phil Clarke might have been the man, but although I knew him some years ago, he bores the life out of me. So they brought Brian Carney in. To me, he is the most likely, and acceptable replacement, but why do we have to wait 3 years??
I agree that Stevo made a huge contribution to the exposure of rugby league twenty years ago, but I think he is past his sell by date.
Hemmings was fortunate enough to be paired up with Stevo and has made a good living from it. But, frankly, when I hear some of the nonsense that passes for commentary, particularly if compared with the RU commentaries, I cringe.
Not only that, but their ineptitude when it comes to the rules causes problems for referees of amateur matches on a weekly basis.
Stevo has a very limited vocabulary, so he uses the same terms and phrases continually. One of those that winds me up particularly is "the ball seems to have drifted forward"! Those of us who know better, are aware that it doesn't matter where the ball drifts after it has left the hands - it's where the hands initially direct it! Hopefully Cummings will correct him on air in the not too distant future.
Beyond that, Stevo never "uses". He always "utilises". It is never a try, it is always a T R Y. And he always knows the mindset of either of the coaches of the day: "Brian Noble will be furious!" Or "that'll please their coach!"
But there's another thing I find aggravating. Stuart Cummings in the commentary box over the past couple of weeks. And Hemmings is forever asking Cummings to comment on the accuracy of the officials' decisions. "And what do you think Stuart?"
For the sake of the game, we need to have a more professional commentary team, in my opinion. But I would never question Stevo's loyalty and passion for the game.'"
RU commentary is personality-free and almost every RU fan I know has said they enjoy Eddie and Stevo's commentary.
We will miss Stevo when he's gone, we just don't realise it yet.
