Surprised to see people genuinely shocked at the fact E&S are employed as entertainers in as much as they are commentators. What people forget is that whilst the likes of ourselves will watch the vast majority of RL output on sky, there are an awful lot of casual viewers, particularly down south which the production has to cater for. Contrast that to Premier Sports where people are paying a tenner a month specifically to watch RL.

If you look into it, Neville Smith has done a brilliant job with rugby league over the years, with Eddie and Stevo playing an intrinsic part in that. The casual viewer may flick over on a Friday night and not know a single player on the field or where on earth places like Warrington and Wakefield are, but they will recognise the dulcet tones in the background.

This is something I only really started to pick up on when I moved away, southern mates at uni would know very little about what was actually happening but E&S made it entertaining for them, you can listen to them quibble about the intricacies of the offside law and not have a clue about said law, yet still find yourself laughing along.

Like it or not they have been the voice of rugby league for over 20 years, much in the way that Eddie Wearing was. For mine, it is a case of you'll miss em when they are gone.

My only complaint about them is that Hemmings acted as judge and jury over the Briers affair.

And if he had his way, executioner too

One addendum, I have been saying this here and elsewhere for many years- how Stephenson is yet to receive an MBE for services to rugby league is utterly beyond me.

Early Guilty plea, straight beheading instead of being hung, drawn and quartered.

I have just caught the second half of the football tonight and was going to turn off after the match but I was genuinley Interested in Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville's after match discussion. Both not neccessarily agreeing with each other but both making very interesting comments on the match just played, the season so far, and other points.
Two very good media friendly individuals....... despite the Manc and Scouse accents

normally I wouldnt give a monkeys about after match discussions but their genuine passion and knowledge for the game was quite refreshing...........and not an ounce of gibberish or gobtery....it was very good TV.

compare that to the crap we get served up there is not a chance I can agree with any of your above comments on the fecktards I wish them an early retirement.............

I've heard this argument put forward before, and it might (just) have held for Waring, but why does consistency f commentators on Sky attract southern/non-RL fans exactly? I'm not sure why you think they would appeal to that particular audience more, or why you assume they want to hear an argument about the offside rule.

Now I don't know the demographic of Sky viewers for SL games, but I'd take a punt most are RL fans in the heartland. If you are trying to appeal to your minority audience at the expense or your core you're surely doomed to fail, rather than grow your 'product'.

Contrast the NRL guys on PS, or EPL men on Sky, and they enhance and complement the coverage; they are not a sideshow it themselves. I think that's the point that's being made here.

Maybe the Queen, as one of the casual southern viewers E&S are supposed to appeal to, has actually heard his commentary, and disagrees that taking one point at any opportunity is a valid play in modern RL?

Those are good examples. With ex players its always a risk because you get guys like Shearer who just talk up their personal friends in the game and give boring cliches, Savage who just wants to be controversial for the sake of it, and then players that have interesting insights that reveal things to the fans, like Neville, Carragher and in the international coverage Clarence Seedorf.

I think RL is lacking this. Tomkins is OK. I remember once (and I think only once) about 12 years ago Martin Masella did a stint in Sky and came over as a good articulate and interesting voice about the game, but they never had him back, which was a shame.

Laughing along is about right, especially in Eddie Waring's case. He may have been a good guy and a great servant to Rugby League but I would suggest that his style of commentating perpetuated a certain image of the game and its roots and not always in a positive light. At the end of his tenure perhaps aided and abetted by the Mike Yarwood "OOOOP and UNDERRR" vocab he may just have held us back?.

I don't have a problem with Ray French the follow up 'act' but he is similarly parochial.

Perhaps we need to accept what we have and get on with it and in time as ex players become more media savvy Tomkins etc then things will improve.

BTW despite the "biased SKY commentary" we won the bloody game