THE RUGBY ROUTE Making radio waves
Radio Sport’s sudden closure raises the question: Who called their code best? Duncan Johnstone offers his voice on the argument.
They are the voices that painted pictures in your mind. The voices that covered triumphs and tragedies and became the very sound of their sports.
With the unexpected closure of Radio Sport, it’s time to tune into some of the names that have ruled New Zealand’s airwaves.
There’s irony in the loss of the specialist station at a time when the heard word is back in vogue with the emergence of podcasts.
Commentary is no easy task but these people turned it into an art, their voices as recognisable as the sports stars they were describing.
New Zealand’s fixation with rugby as the national game brought fame to those calling matches. They were at the forefront of sports radio and were led by Winston McCarthy who voiced the first live broadcasts of a major tour back to New Zealand when he called the games played in Europe by the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force rugby team, nicknamed the Kiwis, in 1945-46. He brought suspense to his audience, particularly during goalkicks with what would become one of his trademark calls … ‘‘Listen... listen... it’s a goal!’’
It was a job to cherish and there were long tenures behind the microphone with the likes of Bob Irvine and John Howson making their mark.
As television arrived, radio rugby commentators were as good as auditioning for roles on the screen and that was the route for authoritive voices like Keith Quinn, John McBeth and Grant Nisbett.
There were radio specialists though, with the late Graeme Moody outstanding as both a caller of games and as a news journalist while touring with the All Blacks, ensuring he was heard on a daily basis.
SUMMER SIZZLERS
Cricket radio commentaries became synonymous with summer and the gentle tones of Iain Galloway and Alan Richards were always good company in the car, on the couch or out in the garden, so good that many fans attending test matches would listen while they watched.
The amount of dead time in a cricket match placed plenty of pressure on those behind the microphone to fill in moments. Few have done that better than Bryan Waddell who has held a monopoly on the job for so long.
But like batting, cricket commentaries work better with partnerships and Waddell’s friendship with former New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney has produced one of the classy double acts of broadcasting. Coney’s first-hand experience has produced superb analysis to go with the ball-by-ball work of Waddell and showed the value of involving players in commentaries.
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Des White was very much the voice of Carlaw Park. That was after he had starred on the ground as a player and coach for more than two decades, a record-breaking goalkicking fullback for Auckland and the Kiwis whose performance on the field gave him plenty of credibility as a commentator. He loved the colourful characters of the game and painted them vividly with his calls, never shy to talk up stoushes from his precarious position on top of the creaky railway stand.
With New Zealand finally getting a team in the NRL, Allen McLaughlin became the voice of the Warriors, calling all but one of their 254 games at Mt Smart during his 22 seasons involved since their opening game in 1995. ‘‘Mac’’ had a nose for news too and could dominate press conferences.
THE ALLROUNDERS
Peter Montgomery was typical of broadcasters of his era where they were called on to do anything and everything. That helped him cover nine Olympic Games. But the man who would become known as ‘‘Peter Montcommentary’’ cemented his reputation in yachting where he made a highly technical sport so understandable to Kiwis.
He became the voice of the America’s Cup but that was built on outstanding round-the-world race coverage where his opening line to sailors of ‘‘where are you, how are you?’’ started so many fascinating conversations from all corners of the globe. Montgomery was just as comfortable in an anklelength oilskin at Eden Park providing a sideline eye to major rugby matches.
Versatility is a key to radio work and some previously mentioned specialists were also more than comfortable in other areas. Galloway enjoyed calling rugby and Richards had a passion for football with his voice so recognisable with the old national league. McLaughlin was adept at cricket commentating, McBeth made a name for himself calling major swimming meetings, Quinn has called swimming, boxing, athletics, and tennis, while Nisbett makes a decent job of cricket commentaries too.
TALK TO ME
The advent of talkback radio brought with it genuine personalities. Former teacher Murray Deaker’s knowledge of sport and liking for a yarn, saw him rule the chatter on weekend afternoons and weekday evenings. With a good producer like Greg Billings, Deaker was also able to get to major sporting personalities and had a keen sense for the issues of the day.
It was a platform where the polarising Tony Veitch was just as compelling.
Like him or loathe him, there could be no argument that Veitch was very good at his job, using exceptional contact work to regularly break major stories.
Research is everything when it comes to interviewing and bouncing backwards and forwards with the public. Few have done that better than the knowledgable Brendon Telfer. He went the opposite way to many of his contemporaries, making his name in TV before switching to radio with the 1998 launch of Radio Sport.
WOMEN’S VOICES
It’s embarrassing that commentary work has largely been a men’s domain though time is changing that.
Lesley Murdoch brought her international cricket and hockey skills to the microphone with wellrespected views while Rikki Swannell is doing some groundbreaking rugby commentary work on TV off the back of her extensive radio netball commentaries and news skills.