LAST UPDATE | 10 Sep 2019
RTÉ HAVE CONFIRMED their coverage plans for Saturday’s All-Ireland final replay with Joe Brolly absent from their punditry panels as Stephen Rochford replaces him for the live coverage of the clash between Dublin and Kerry.
Former Mayo boss Rochford, who was coach to the Donegal footballers this year, will join Ciaran Whelan and Pat Spillane on the panel for The Saturday Game Live on RTÉ 2 next Saturday evening. The news was first reported by the Irish Examiner last night.
Rochford was part of the RTÉ panel last month for the All-Ireland semi-final between Kerry and Tyrone. RTÉ’s coverage will begin at 5pm with Joanne Cantwell presenting while commentary comes from Ger Canning and Kevin McStay.
The night-time show will see Des Cahill present The Saturday Game at 10pm and he will be joined by a panel of Colm O’Rourke, Sean Cavanagh and Tomás Ó Sé with Marty Morrissey at the winners’ hotel for a broadcast that will also feature the football team of the year announcement.
RTÉ’s radio coverage will be presented by Jacqui Hurley and Darren Frehill with Alan Brogan, Conor McManus and Colm Cooper. Darragh Maloney is joined on commentary by Oisin McConville.
The absence of Brolly is noticeable from the coverage. Brolly was in the spotlight during the drawn game for a heated debate that ensued over the decision to award a first-half penalty to Kerry and the sending-off of Dublin defender Jonny Cooper for the second yellow card he received after fouling David Clifford.
The Derry All-Ireland winner claimed Meath referee David Gough had been ‘clearly influenced by the propaganda coming from Kerry’ while Whelan was highly critical of the decision to dismiss Cooper. The following day Whelan reversed his position when speaking on Independent.ie’s GAA podcast ‘The Throw-In’.
In his column for The Sunday Independent at the weekend, Brolly revealed he had contacted Gough to apologise for his comments while also changing his view on the penalty, conceding it was a correct call.
With the warm-up games out of the way, Murray, Bernard and Gavan discuss the renewed cause for optimism, impressive individual player form, and a potential quarter-final versus either South Africa or New Zealand.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
