The format of RTE's Sunday Game has been slammed by Joe Brolly in an eviscerating column, the former pundit calling the programme 'stage-managed' and 'entirely unnatural'.
Writing in the Irish Independent, Brolly took aim at his former employers, claiming the coverage was stilted and saying if you heard people speaking that way in a bar you would 'make your excuses'.
He wrote: “The day-time pundits on The Sunday Game are forced to stand awkwardly behind podiums, like politicians about to make their opening statement. Instead of conversation, it is a stage-managed chore.
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“Your turn. Now your turn. Now your turn. Now, competition time. The forced laughter as the unfunny but polite-to-smile-at remarks are made.
“It is entirely unnatural. No one discusses a game like this. No one wants to hear it discussed like this.
"If you were in a bar and they were at it, you would make your excuses and get offside to another crowd asap. Because it is so stage-managed and risk averse, no one says anything.
"Instead, it has been reduced to statements of the banal.
“I feel sorry for the pundits, who must need oxygen masks to bring them around when the show is over. But more for the audience, especially the younger audience, who simply will not watch if this continues.”
Brolly, who is originally from Dungiven, lost his role with RTE in 2019 after his controversial remarks about referee David Gough's performance in the Dublin-Kerry drawn final. For the replay, former Mayo boss Stephen Rochford replaced him.
Since then, Brolly has been a vocal critic of the station for - in his view - being too concerned with being politically correct rather than focusing on delivering as entertaining a product as possible. In 2020, RTE's Head of Sport Declan McBennett explained the reasoning behind removing Brolly from their punditry team.
"The decision was made and I was happy to stand over the decision and I believe it was the right decision,' he told Independent.ie. "The optics didn't concern me. Because I'm not about the optics.
"To my mind, it was about putting the best people on the replay. We brought in Stephen Rochford."
He explained: "There are three reasons why you get a seat [on the panel]. Credibility, informed opinion and the ability to articulate that opinion.
"If you're a pundit and a contract gets cancelled, you have to ask yourself why. And I think if you examine those elements already mentioned, it probably answers that question for everybody.
"Part of RTE's remit, whether we like it or not, is to put the most credible people there. Credibility is a huge element of what we do."
