As Fox League continues to be the pinnacle of rugby league television coverage, Channel 9 remains a mile behind - and commentary legend Peter Peters has let them know about it.
There have been issues at the free-to-air network in recent months due to a feud between Erin Molan and Andrew Johns, as well as concerns over the future replacement for Ray 'Rabs' Warren.
In a stunning rant over the weekend, Zorba was critical of Nine's lack of planning and poor coverage of the NRL in recent years.
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“The great Ray Warren is in his twilight years but there’s no exciting replacement on the horizon for Rabbits that I know of,” he said on Sky Sports Radio.
“Rabbits’s successor should have been groomed in the last 18 months...I mean Rabbits might pull the pin at anytime.
"The player that he was, Johnathan Thurston isn’t the analyst they hoped he’d be. Sam Thaiday, funny man that he was in the dressing room as a player, is as funny as a car crash.
“I wish he’d flush himself down that little toilet seat he gives away after every game.
“The Joey Johns-Erin Molan feud has been handled terribly. Nothing’s happened. Joey looks like he’s petulant. Erin is suffering badly in the background.
“Nine’s team lack real punch. Watching how they go about righting a sinking ship will be intriguing in 2020.
“Channel 9, in a two-year period, have lost this mantle as the top television station for rugby league in Australia."
It is a fair criticism and the fact that it is coming from somebody who has worked in the industry for as long as Peters has would indicate it holds at least some weight.
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And in a bizarre revelation, senior journalist Neil Breen - who does work for Nine during the footy season - said that lead caller Matt Thompson is 'not allowed' to be shown on camera.
“Matt Thompson is the caller they use but there’s some edict at Nine that he wasn’t allowed to be shown on air,” he said.
“No one who has listened to Channel 9’s commentary of rugby league has seen Matt Thompson’s face. I don’t know.
"I think that Channel 9 has had some structural issues. We turn up to do 100% Footy. Myself and Gus (Phil Gould) and whoever’s on. Locky (Darren Lockyer), or whoever’s on, James Bracey. and we don’t even know what time it’s going to air.
“I don’t understand why Channel 9 doesn’t use Gem and Go better. Why don’t they put 100% Footy on at eight o’clock, right, on Gem and then you can replay it later.
"I think there’s a lot of things they can do. I don’t think that free to air TV has properly handled the transition to the digital channels.
"100% Footy should be on a couple of times a week. I also think there’s probably too many commentators. There’s people up in the studio, there’s people down on the sideline, there’s someone over there."
