Get Justin Marshall off sky sports Commentary?

Most may not remember but I've commented on a few occassions how poor a commentator Marshall is. I did not pay attention to it during the S15, but when it came around to the JWC and now the Rugby Championship I can not stand it. Well after airing my thoughts, as well as saying Kelleher was the better scrum half I was strongly disagreed with. Weeks later I stumble across this wonderful group and find that over five thousand people agree with me.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Get-Justin-Marshall-off-sky-sport-commentary/160067417358399

Him and Nisbett are a shocking commentary team. Every time Argentina did something good and won a breakdown they would automatically assume the Puma's did something illegal. Yet when the AB's dabble in the dark arts it's "Outstanding work by the All Blacks." They aren't the only ones though, we have to put up with Jiffy (who went from okay, to bad, to getting demoted) and Eddie Butler.

Thoughts on Marshall?

Not particulary relevant, but the profile picture, I believe Marshall's words at the time were "I'm coming for your job Jiffy!"

Morgannwg wrote:
Thoughts on Marshall?

as a player, I disagree with you - he was better than Kellaher.

As a co-commentator, from the little I have seen of him I agree - he sucks.

I like Marshall's commentary.

Imparshall Marshall. He knows the rules better than many a commentator.

ebop wrote:Imparshall Marshall. He knows the rules better than many a commentator.

but does he know the laws?

I actually think Marshall is one of the more impartial commentators in the world. He's got an excellent knowledge of the game as well.

Nisbett and Tony Johnson are biased as hell though. I prefer the Aussies to those two, at least they are entertaining!

"Every time Argentina did something good and won a breakdown they would automatically assume the Puma's did something illegal"

That's because they almost always do illegal stuff at the breakdown, it seems to be their gameplan.
At least two of their players should have been carded against the Boks in the first test.

Enjoy his commentary in the SXV

Biltong wrote:I like Marshall's commentary.

+ 1

I like him as a commentator. As someone has mentioned before, he is quite impartial and appreciates good rugby no matter the team. He is also quite excitable but I believe he leaves that to the right times.

Well Morgan, you’re not going to get him off Sky Sports, not Sky UK anyway. Sky NZ will make that decision. I have to say he’s quite balanced and impartial and I’d much rather Nisbett was taken somewhere and done away with. Anyway, you don’t watch a rugby match for the commentators. If they get under your skin, turn the sound down...simples!

I wonder though if a deal can be done. You guys get rid of that journalist imposter Stephen Jones, and we’ll get rid of Marshall. Fair deal?

You wouldn't say public speaking is his gift but I disagree with your view that he's biased. He often disagrees with decisions that go in the ABs' favour. He doesn't have much of a turn of phrase so it often seems the words don't come out what he wants to express. But that just shows backs aren't always the sharpest minds... but usually they are.

As for who was better: Kelleher or Marshall. They were different players who offered different skill sets. Much depended on the opposition they faced and the AB gameplan. There was very little between them. They weren't as classy as other halfbacks of their era like Gregan or van der Westhuizen but they certainly were a step up from Cowan or Weepu!

chewed_mintie wrote:Well Morgan, you’re not going to get him off Sky Sports, not Sky UK anyway. Sky NZ will make that decision. I have to say he’s quite balanced and impartial and I’d much rather Nisbett was taken somewhere and done away with. Anyway, you don’t watch a rugby match for the commentators. If they get under your skin, turn the sound down...simples!

I wonder though if a deal can be done. You guys get rid of that journalist imposter Stephen Jones, and we’ll get rid of Marshall. Fair deal?

Most would rather you do away with Rattue over Marshall. That's do away in a hung, drawn and quartered manner. Commentary is a big part of the game actually, so it's not as simple as turning the sound down. I am also sometimes reliant on the commentary just as the commentators are reliant on the TMO, etc... I don't find JM unibiased at all. I find him biased towards NZ, if they aren't playing then it's towards a NZ franchise. I completely agree he is extremely knowledgable, but so is jiffy. I know a lot wouldn't use that in his defence though. I enjoyed Marshall's time on Scrum V when he was playing his rugby up here. Always brought a few laughs too.

Jed Thian's Alternative Rugby Commentary might suit you then!

I quite like him to be honest. Think MBTGOG sums him up well.

I find Jed Thian kinda irritating.

Look every commentator is biased save for Bill McLaren. In that you can tell which team they would like to win based on the emotions in their voice as well as their accent. But if they get excited about good rugby from either side and make an effort to be impartial it's fine by me. Though I don't mind the Aussies who are biased as hell but they have a laugh all the time and that makes their bias seem more palateable. Kearns is just a bumstick though.

I like the SA commentator. Not Bladen though I love his gin-soaked intonations, the other guy is quite magnanimous. As is Marshall IMO. Very knowledgeable and I've heard him sting the ABs a lot so I like him. Agree Johnson and Nisbett are very slanted. I hate the bewildered tone Nisbett gets when someone scores or beats NZ.

Jones, Rattue, Hogan and Howell are the most irritable journos in my mind. Rattue still has a beef with Henry after Ted got stuck into him about the 'Village Idiots' gibe.

gowales wrote:
"Every time Argentina did something good and won a breakdown they would automatically assume the Puma's did something illegal"

He must have gone to the Brian Moore school of commentary then...

Marshall is the best commentator I've heard since McLaren. His impartial view and his knowledge as well as the friendly informative nature he has with the commentators makes a game enjoyable.

I also rate one of the South African commentators - nice tone to his voice and pretty impartial.

That welsh Ratboy (no offence to the Welsh 606er's) could learn a thing or two about commentary from Marshall. His screaming during the Cardiff vs Edinburgh match was the worst i've heard for a long while - probably since the last he was on. He bellows as though he is playing.

That welsh Ratboy (no offence to the Welsh 606er's) could learn a thing or two about commentary from Marshall. His screaming during the Cardiff vs Edinburgh match was the worst i've heard for a long while - probably since the last he was on. He bellows as though he is playing.

It is fast becoming my belief that Jiffy shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a commentary box. His bias has reached a peak over the last couple of seasons, he just doesn't seem capable of containing himself and metamorphoses into a screaming fan at every opportunity. He can still be an analyst as at least they're permitted a little bias towards their nation but if I was anything but Welsh I doubt I'd be able to stand him as a commentator any longer.

Not sure I've ever heard Marshall commentating but I have seen segments of him as a correspondant for Scrum V and I thought he seemed pretty bright and insightful in his approach. This article is the first negative thing I've heard about him.

I haven't noticed a bias from Marshall. Quite a lot of commentators are going to sound a bit biased towards New Zealand because frankly they have more positives and fewer negatives to talk about than any other rugby side. Compared to Jiffy, Barnes, Stephen Jones, Inverdale etc he is well down the list of commentators/"experts"/pundits that need to be removed.

And he was better than Kelleher

anotherworldofpain wrote:

gowales wrote:
"Every time Argentina did something good and won a breakdown they would automatically assume the Puma's did something illegal"

He must have gone to the Brian Moore school of commentary then...

Moore is hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTQWT-B0EBw

that gets me every time

One of the things I like about Marshall is when he picks up things when a player has got pinged, and he says something like 'Come on Ritchie, you know you were offside', when the player gets up and looks quizzically at the ref. Most kiwi commentators wouldn't call the player out, they'd just state it was an offside pen or sweep it under the carpet.

I've noticed that myself. Not having a pop at NZ commentators in general but a couple don't half seem to have double standards. For Andy Powell's high tackle/forearm smash on McCaw the commentators on the day were practically on the floor in outrage. Whereas in blatant contrast on another incident (I think it was Nonu's shoulder charge on Henson, not 100% sure though) NZ commentary clearly watched it on replay and said nothing. Literally. They just shut up until play was resumed.

We could get rid of marshall and bring Murray back, Would that make people happy?

Justin Marshall is one of the best commentators around and knows his subject unlike some.How many Countries commentators are impartial NONE,incidentally
he was a fine 9 in the 9th forward mode.

Marshall and Kelleher brought two complimentary styles. Kelleher was more effective against SA and got wound up by Australia too much. I remember Kelleher pulling a muscle doing the Haka to Australia and had to pull out of the game.

Justin Marshall single-handed bailed NZ out of the RWC match against Wales in 2003 when a lot of other players went missing. Reminded me a lot of Piri Weepu's composure against Argentina.

Both great players, but neither as good as the options NZ have now.

Knowsit17 wrote:I've noticed that myself. Not having a pop at NZ commentators in general but a couple don't half seem to have double standards. For Andy Powell's high tackle/forearm smash on McCaw the commentators on the day were practically on the floor in outrage. Whereas in blatant contrast on another incident (I think it was Nonu's shoulder charge on Henson, not 100% sure though) NZ commentary clearly watched it on replay and said nothing. Literally. They just shut up until play was resumed.

You mean this one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_Q8IDTTH7w&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Marshall...'Come on Andy Powell, you can't say that's on the chest son'

Pretty dodgy tackle mind, probably not worth just sweeping it under the carpet.

I like Marshall's commentary. Very knowledgable.

Marshall is excellent and completely neutral. Although not as eloquent as McLaren, he is certainly one of the few commentators since Bill to call it in a completely non-biased manner.

The worst as far as I'm concerned are:

Moore - not sure he even watches the same game as the rest of us - as a complete neutral watching Six Nations he is so one sided in favour of England that he might as well have the Cross of St George tatooed on him from head to foot.

Bobby Skinstad - he is so biased in favour of SA (even though he's a Zimbabwean) and the Stormers that its a wonder he's ever stepped foot out of Cape Town. He was so biased in his commentary of the Super 15 semi this year between the Stormers and the Sharks that I lost count of the number of times he used "we" when referring to the Stormers - farcical. Also, his use of "coconut tackle" when describing a hit by Chiefs wing Lelia Masaga shows his true colours and he should be banned from commentating - the exact words he used were:

"Lelia Masaga has gone head high in an absolute coconut tackle straight on to Lwazi Mvovo and tried to take his head off."

All said and done I miss Bill and am glad that in NZ we have Marshall who is the most neutral game caller going around.

I don't mind Marshall either. I've always found him pretty impartial. When the Reds played the saders in Chch this year and got the rough end of the pineapple a few times Marshall acknowledged it much to the disdain of the other(s) in the commentary box.

Its actually quite weird that he's turned out so fair/neutral as he was a right cocky Tinkywinky during his playing days.

Occasionally he appears on the Rugby Club TV show in Aus and he and Horan still snipe away at each other like they're back on the field. Hardly a battle of wits though.

So you can't use the word "pr!ck" on the forum - sorry for that

Full Credit wrote:Occasionally he appears on the Rugby Club TV show in Aus and he and Horan still snipe away at each other like they're back on the field. Hardly a battle of wits though.

I think New Zealanders of a certain mindset always found it quite strange that he was such good friends with Gregan - some of my countrymen and women need to open their eyes and travel/live overseas more

I like Marshal as a commentator. He is knows what he is talking about and is about as impartial as a supporter/commentator can be.
He was way better than Kelleher who only got regular starts after Marshall moved on.

Otagolad wrote:

Bobby Skinstad his use of "coconut tackle" when describing a hit by Chiefs wing Lelia Masaga shows his true colours and he should be banned from commentating - the exact words he used were:

"Lelia Masaga has gone head high in an absolute coconut tackle straight on to Lwazi Mvovo and tried to take his head off."

All said and done I miss Bill and am glad that in NZ we have Marshall who is the most neutral game caller going around.

We've gone there before and it didn't end well. Best to not go there.

Biltong wrote:

Otagolad wrote:

Bobby Skinstad his use of "coconut tackle" when describing a hit by Chiefs wing Lelia Masaga shows his true colours and he should be banned from commentating - the exact words he used were:

"Lelia Masaga has gone head high in an absolute coconut tackle straight on to Lwazi Mvovo and tried to take his head off."

All said and done I miss Bill and am glad that in NZ we have Marshall who is the most neutral game caller going around.

We've gone there before and it didn't end well. Best to not go there.

Happy to "not go there", I was simply adding that on top of the fact he is completely biased he is also a muppet/plonker/idiot (pick your term based on location). The fact remains that Skinstadt is in my opinion the most biased commentator going around and, as I explained, he shows that bias not just in test matches but even in matches between SA sides - he just can't help himself. I haven't heard him commentate a game yet where "his side" did anything wrong. Marshall on the other hand is very quick (as others on here have said) to pull up the AB's if they have transgressed.

As I said before I enjoy Marshall's commentary, he is knowledgeable and as objective as you would expect a commentator to be.

As far as Skinstad is concerned, maybe because I don't support a specific team in the Super XV, I haven't really noticed.

Otagolad wrote:

Biltong wrote:

Otagolad wrote:

Bobby Skinstad his use of "coconut tackle" when describing a hit by Chiefs wing Lelia Masaga shows his true colours and he should be banned from commentating - the exact words he used were:

"Lelia Masaga has gone head high in an absolute coconut tackle straight on to Lwazi Mvovo and tried to take his head off."

All said and done I miss Bill and am glad that in NZ we have Marshall who is the most neutral game caller going around.

We've gone there before and it didn't end well. Best to not go there.

Happy to "not go there", I was simply adding that on top of the fact he is completely biased he is also a muppet/plonker/idiot (pick your term based on location). The fact remains that Skinstadt is in my opinion the most biased commentator going around and, as I explained, he shows that bias not just in test matches but even in matches between SA sides - he just can't help himself. I haven't heard him commentate a game yet where "his side" did anything wrong. Marshall on the other hand is very quick (as others on here have said) to pull up the AB's if they have transgressed.

Jeez if we go down the Skinstad path again we'll break the internet.