Doddie to shed nice-guy image for new TV role
DODDIE Weir’s status as one of the most-beloved figures in Scottish rugby has grown exponentially as a result of the personal trials he is undergoing, but the former Scotland lock has warned the current generation of professional players that it will by no means be all sweetness and light as he returns to punditry for the new season.
The big man was the surprise name unveiled yesterday as part of the Premier Sports team that will show every match of the coming PRO14 season live, joining fellow ex-internationalists Al Kellock, Chris Paterson and Rory Lawson at their official launch yesterday.
There has been an outpouring of affection towards Weir since it was revealed last year that he is suffering from motor neurone disease and as a consequence it is in everyone’s interests that his time is used judiciously.
“I don’t know what my total involvement will be, but it has been discussed for me to do a number of games throughout the season, five or six games was mentioned. I am looking forward to it,” he said, after admitting to considerable surprise at having received the invitation.
When he is on air he has promised his trademark tartan suits will be on show, with possible additions to the range and it has always been in his nature to have fun.
But, having come into the Scotland team in 1990, the year the last Grand Slam was won, he said that in a modern environment which sees Scottish players and, in particular, coaches attempt to offer only positive messaging, he intends to channel a straight-talking mentor from his days with Melrose and at international level.
“I will maybe bring a bit of hilarity which is maybe why I have been brought in from day one to do. I might say things that maybe should not be said, or maybe should be,” he said.
“I am not promising anything but I might see things from a different angle. Al Kellock and the rest of the boys have grown up in a different rugby era to Doddie Weir, Jim Telfer being one of my main teachers. He maybe looked at a video in a different way that other people did. Sometimes positive thinking is not the way forward, sometimes you have to say things that are not so compatible.
“I have listened to their team on TV and they are excellent and quite unique and that is why my invitation is fantastic. They see the game very well but yeah, it is maybe the off the ball incidents or small incidents that they don’t see in today’s environment that pick up on.”
He also alluded to the fact that he is more free to say what he thinks than those such as Kellock and Paterson who still work for Scottish Rugby, which owns the country’s two professional teams that compete in the PRO14, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
“I have no employment status anyway. I am where I am. That’s been the case for many years,” he pointed out.
“[It might be] fun Doddie in a tough sort of way. There is I would no point beating about the bush when somebody does something silly. Let’s say it as it was.
“This is what I am talking about with this positive thinking. You see it in today’s environment with players built up to be positive; great fantastic, but in our day we were told by Mr Telfer if you play like that again you will have let your family down, your friends down and you will never be in the team. That is the kind of thing that might raise its head.”