AUSTRALIA'S most influential broadcaster Ray Hadley has joined Channel Nine and his great friend Ray Warren as an NRL commentator and occasional panellist on the revamped Footy Show.
The 2GB host signed a contract with Nine late last week and will call the second Friday night match, planting him alongside bitter old enemies Paul Vautin -- and possibly Peter Sterling -- in the commentary box.
In a host of changes at Nine:
* Andrew Voss has been demoted to No 3 caller and will only get a start on Sundays when Warren is unavailable for long interstate hauls or for flights to New Zealand.
* Cricket commentator Michael Slater has also been approached to be co-host on The Footy Show in the spot recently rejected by Matty Johns.
But the big news was Hadley signing a 12-month deal, which was finalised on Friday after weeks of secret negotiations with network supremo David Gyngell and sports boss Steve Crawley.
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"For a long time in this city sport has been compromised by the fact certain broadcasters have refused to not only work but talk with certain others," Crawley said yesterday.
"Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end to that rubbish. At Nine, we don't care who goes to whose dinner parties -- we just want the best people in our commentary boxes.
"Ray Hadley is a wonderful sports commentator, in our opinion behind only Ray Warren when it comes to the big-time sports like rugby league."
Workaholic Hadley told me yesterday that he was looking forward to calling his games live into Brisbane, which are then shown on delay in Sydney.
"I got a feel for it last year when I did some of the rugby World Cup on Channel Nine and really enjoyed it," he said. "My only problem is Rabs. We played golf on Friday and he kept calling me his understudy."
Of his demanding workload, Hadley said: "I'll leave 2GB at lunchtime on Friday and fly to wherever I need to be. I'll be on a 6am flight the next morning to do the Continuous Call show with the boys on GB and then take Sundays off."
And as for working alongside Vautin: "It's not an issue. I've had a number of conversations with Paul in recent years. I'll be with Wally Lewis, too. We'll all just do a professional job."
Nine will soon reveal some Footy Show changes, including the signings of Billy Slater, Gorden Tallis and possibly Michael Slater.
