FOX Sports axe Wendell Sailor and hire Mark Geyer

[Berkeley_Eagle]

FOX Sports axe Wendell Sailor and hire Mark Geyer

Paul Kent The Daily Telegraph January 20, 2012 12:00AM

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226248821333

FOX Sports has turned off the Dellevision. Wendell Sailor has become a casualty of rugby league's broadening TV war after being sacked by Fox Sports.

Sailor is the network's first high-profile casualty as the network looks to beef-up its NRL coverage less than eight weeks before the competition kicks off in March.

In his place, Fox Sports has signed former international and Triple M breakfast host Mark Geyer to play a major role at the network including, Geyer said, connecting with rugby league's heartland in the west.

"As ex-players on TV go, there's none who live out here and have got a connection with the west like I have, so I'm proud of it," Geyer said.

As the network gears up to make an approach to Matthew Johns, who this week knocked back an offer to rejoin Channel 9's The Footy Show, Fox Sports executives have begun reshaping their on-air talent.

While sacking the likes of Sailor - with more expected to come - is designed to reinvigorate the network's coverage, the hidden bonus is it frees up budget money to make a bid for Johns, who has confirmed he will meet with the network next week.

Geyer yesterday resigned from his regular role on Nine's The Sunday Roast to take up the wide-ranging brief with Fox Sports.

"I want my weekends free to get a bit of life back," he said last night. "My kids are getting older and I'm not getting younger and I want the weekends to watch them play sport, so it has worked out perfectly."

 

[Captain Moondog]

They're obviously going with a more intellectual approach this year. lol.

 

[Sheikheagle]

Best news I have heard for ages. Wendell was a tosser on the Fox Footy show he only ever talked about himself or the Dragqueens. MG is no mental giant however he is passionate about league and a straight shooter.

 

[HappilyManly]

MG is a better choice,he loves the Biff and not himself.

 

[Ralphie]

Read between the lines and you'll see that sailor wanted too much money.

This is a great result, sailor is so full of himself that it sickens me. I can now watch NRL on Fox without all of his BS. I ready for the "he's a character" defence of the big head. He is a "character" in his own mind (and probably the red necked queenslanders as well) and turns more people away than he attracts.

He is a rugby defector and convicted drug user, he should not be an ambassador for anything Rugby League.

 

[Masked Eagle]

Great news about getting rid of Dell. However, MG is not much better. It will be like Garry Freeman times 2, a bloke who can change his thoughts on a subject in a heartbeat and not even realise it because he has no idea what he's talking about to begin with.

Lets be honest. Rugby league is a fantastic sport but in terms of their former players being able to integrate into the media it suffers greatly compared to other codes. Goes hand in hand with the games media coverage being of such a low standard compare to other sports that the bar is set so low to get involved that you don't even have to be knowledgable about the sport you played to get a gig.

---

Read between the lines and you'll see that sailor wanted too much money.

This is a great result, sailor is so full of himself that it sickens me. I can now watch NRL on Fox without all of his BS. I ready for the "he's a character" defence of the big head. He is a "character" in his own mind (and probably the red necked queenslanders as well) and turns more people away than he attracts.

He is a rugby defector and convicted drug user, he should not be an ambassador for anything Rugby League.

Convicted drug user? Not sure he was convicted of anything, tested postivie yes, but convicted? Also I'm guessing with that stance you don't want Joey working with our players anymore?

 

[the mauler]

Couldn't stand Dell, but MGs not much better. He's a hibitual mind changer, drives me nuts!

Now they've signed MG they're got to punt Whiz, or itl be a snoozefest listening to those 2 intellectual lightweights.

 

[Captain Moondog]

Phelan and Daley should go too. Alexander is the only one worth keeping.

 

[Ralphie]

Great news about getting rid of Dell. However, MG is not much better. It will be like Garry Freeman times 2, a bloke who can change his thoughts on a subject in a heartbeat and not even realise it because he has no idea what he's talking about to begin with.

Lets be honest. Rugby league is a fantastic sport but in terms of their former players being able to integrate into the media it suffers greatly compared to other codes. Goes hand in hand with the games media coverage being of such a low standard compare to other sports that the bar is set so low to get involved that you don't even have to be knowledgable about the sport you played to get a gig.

---

Read between the lines and you'll see that sailor wanted too much money.

This is a great result, sailor is so full of himself that it sickens me. I can now watch NRL on Fox without all of his BS. I ready for the "he's a character" defence of the big head. He is a "character" in his own mind (and probably the red necked queenslanders as well) and turns more people away than he attracts.

He is a rugby defector and convicted drug user, he should not be an ambassador for anything Rugby League.

Convicted drug user? Not sure he was convicted of anything, tested postivie yes, but convicted? Also I'm guessing with that stance you don't want Joey working with our players anymore?

---

I don't believe Johns should be an "ambassador" for anything Rugby League in the way Sailor has been. As for convicted, well let's split hairs then:

"Sailor was found guilty of taking cocaine, and the two-year-suspension handed down by a judicial committee. His final indiscretion capped a high-profile career marred by some bad off-field behaviour, including public drunkenness, road rage, nightclub altercations and spitting in a woman's face." The Age - July 21, 2006

Yes, this bloke is definitely good for Rugby League!!!!

 

[Masked Eagle]

Great news about getting rid of Dell. However, MG is not much better. It will be like Garry Freeman times 2, a bloke who can change his thoughts on a subject in a heartbeat and not even realise it because he has no idea what he's talking about to begin with.

Lets be honest. Rugby league is a fantastic sport but in terms of their former players being able to integrate into the media it suffers greatly compared to other codes. Goes hand in hand with the games media coverage being of such a low standard compare to other sports that the bar is set so low to get involved that you don't even have to be knowledgable about the sport you played to get a gig.

---

Read between the lines and you'll see that sailor wanted too much money.

This is a great result, sailor is so full of himself that it sickens me. I can now watch NRL on Fox without all of his BS. I ready for the "he's a character" defence of the big head. He is a "character" in his own mind (and probably the red necked queenslanders as well) and turns more people away than he attracts.

He is a rugby defector and convicted drug user, he should not be an ambassador for anything Rugby League.

Convicted drug user? Not sure he was convicted of anything, tested postivie yes, but convicted? Also I'm guessing with that stance you don't want Joey working with our players anymore?

---

I don't believe Johns should be an "ambassador" for anything Rugby League in the way Sailor has been. As for convicted, well let's split hairs then:

"Sailor was found guilty of taking cocaine, and the two-year-suspension handed down by a judicial committee. His final indiscretion capped a high-profile career marred by some bad off-field behaviour, including public drunkenness, road rage, nightclub altercations and spitting in a woman's face." The Age - July 21, 2006

Yes, this bloke is definitely good for Rugby League!!!!

---

We've got a few players who tick some of those boxes. Do you want them gone? I think its good for the game itself that it gives people the chance to make amends for past deeds. Some might say they don't deserve it and on some instances I agree, but generally I think its a good thing for the game that people are given a shot at redemption.

 

[Ralphie]

Great news about getting rid of Dell. However, MG is not much better. It will be like Garry Freeman times 2, a bloke who can change his thoughts on a subject in a heartbeat and not even realise it because he has no idea what he's talking about to begin with.

Lets be honest. Rugby league is a fantastic sport but in terms of their former players being able to integrate into the media it suffers greatly compared to other codes. Goes hand in hand with the games media coverage being of such a low standard compare to other sports that the bar is set so low to get involved that you don't even have to be knowledgable about the sport you played to get a gig.

---

Read between the lines and you'll see that sailor wanted too much money.

This is a great result, sailor is so full of himself that it sickens me. I can now watch NRL on Fox without all of his BS. I ready for the "he's a character" defence of the big head. He is a "character" in his own mind (and probably the red necked queenslanders as well) and turns more people away than he attracts.

He is a rugby defector and convicted drug user, he should not be an ambassador for anything Rugby League.

Convicted drug user? Not sure he was convicted of anything, tested postivie yes, but convicted? Also I'm guessing with that stance you don't want Joey working with our players anymore?

---

I don't believe Johns should be an "ambassador" for anything Rugby League in the way Sailor has been. As for convicted, well let's split hairs then:

"Sailor was found guilty of taking cocaine, and the two-year-suspension handed down by a judicial committee. His final indiscretion capped a high-profile career marred by some bad off-field behaviour, including public drunkenness, road rage, nightclub altercations and spitting in a woman's face." The Age - July 21, 2006

Yes, this bloke is definitely good for Rugby League!!!!

---

We've got a few players who tick some of those boxes. Do you want them gone? I think its good for the game itself that it gives people the chance to make amends for past deeds. Some might say they don't deserve it and on some instances I agree, but generally I think its a good thing for the game that people are given a shot at redemption.

---

If you read my posts, at no stage did I say they should be excluded from the game. I strongly believe that those who have been caught using drugs and those who have defected to other codes should never be in a position where they are "ambassadors" for the game or in some promotional role, unless it is an anti drugs campaign.

They have a chance at redemption on the footy field, but they should not be put in a position to be held up as role models & that is what St Choke have done with Wendell and that is just plain wrong.

 

[Masked Eagle]

Apologies. Didn't mean for this to be an adversarial nature.

I know what you are saying, but I think a bloke whose done the wrong thing in life and bounced back can be a role model. Not everyone is coming from a good base to start off with, some people need inspiration from people who have done some bad things in their lives just as they might have. I suppose there are different types of role models, ones who show you how to live your life from the beginning, others inspiring you with how they cope with adversity, some showing you that its never too late for redemption.

 

[Cameron]

Hope johns does go across and they get rid of some of the wankers like Ryan phelan and Daley.
I don't understand why Andy Raymond isnt their number 1 caller he is so much better than Warren Smith who tries his hardest to make it sound like gridiron

 

[MadMarcus]

I think it is a shame Geyer is leaving the Sunday Roast.

I never had much time for Geyer or Phil Gould individually, but there was some good chemistry between them on that show. Even Andrew Voss fitted in.

 

[MK Eagle]

Was sick of that Red V crap anyways.

 

[Berkeley_Eagle]

Hope Gordon Tallis is the next to go as well, this bloke brings nothing to the discussions as well, I'd like to see Phelan replaced by a female host

 

[MadMarcus]

Sarah O'Hare (I refuse to call her Murdoch) would be good BE ;-p

 

[Masked Eagle]

Hope Gordon Tallis is the next to go as well, this bloke brings nothing to the discussions as well, I'd like to see Phelan replaced by a female host

I'd like too see Adam Peacock given the job. Not only a journo who knows his stuff but can interview people and keep a show moving, he's also a Manly supporter. Having Mel McLaughlin and Jessica Yates couldn't hurt either!

 

[TWO DOGS]

I would love to see the moron with the hairpiece, Daley replaced.

 

[km@ntis]

About bloody time, the Dell-no-vision is an ego-maniac that talks loud and says nothing, friggin' coke-head. Now he's free to marry his longtime love interest Jamie Soward.