"Unfortunately" ... : Mon Oct 23, 2023 11:13 am  

Am I right to feel slightly peeved that Danika, one of the summarisers for C4's Grand Final coverage, felt it necessary to add "unfortunately" after describing how Wigan "ran away with the second half"?

Did she mean that she was miffed because it was a one-sided victory and therefore bad for the game? Because it wasn't really. It was only one-sided in the last quarter.

Was it just a harmless turn of phrase, which didn't really mean anything? Maybe, except that she's increasingly got form for visibly not appreciating Wigan's achievements.

I honestly thought C4 were going to bring a fresh new approach to covering SL, and that we'd have a brief period at least where all the old prejudices that in the end totallyh compromised Eddie and Stevo's commentary would be absent. Maybe that hope was misplaced.

Re: "Unfortunately" ... : Mon Oct 23, 2023 11:18 am  

The battle between her and Wigan fans on social media is amusing. My ears pricked up when she said that as well. She can’t help herself and in fairness she’s reasonably honest that she’s a biased Yorkie but she’s probably not in the best line of work in that case (or she needs to engage her brain and not admit it). I recall her tweeting about what a plank Martin Offiah was after working with him, so she doesn’t hold back on her opinions.

Re: "Unfortunately" ... : Mon Oct 23, 2023 12:06 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

The battle between her and Wigan fans on social media is amusing. My ears pricked up when she said that as well. She can’t help herself and in fairness she’s reasonably honest that she’s a biased Yorkie but she’s probably not in the best line of work in that case (or she needs to engage her brain and not admit it). I recall her tweeting about what a plank Martin Offiah was after working with him, so she doesn’t hold back on her opinions.

Interesting.

Who'd you take an RL-based opinion from, Martin or Danika?

Hmm, I wonder ... that's a tough one.

Re: "Unfortunately" ... : Mon Oct 23, 2023 1:46 pm  

Offiah is terrible as a pundit so she was probably correct in her opinion of him. I think the 'unfortunately' comment was more that it was more comfortable for us in the 2nd half but she does generally pick the opposition to beat us

Re: "Unfortunately" ... : Mon Oct 23, 2023 2:19 pm  

I thought her "unfortunately" was referring to Sam Tomkins not getting the fairy tale ending as he was part of their coverage team but I might be giving her undue credit there

Re: "Unfortunately" ... : Mon Oct 23, 2023 3:00 pm  

I'm not too bothered about a pundit having a bias against us as long as their analysis is decent and they give credit where it is due. My main issue with pundit choices is that they're mostly ex props when half backs would surely give a lot more insight. Kevin Brown and Leon Price have done a good job when I've watched the championship games

Re: "Unfortunately" ... : Mon Oct 23, 2023 6:01 pm  

She's never hidden the fact that she doesn't like Wigan. Completely biased towards Leeds and Yorkshire in general. Absolutely terrible pundit. Channel 4s coverage for the most part has been a breath of fresh air. Danika Priim on the other hand...

Re: "Unfortunately" ... : Tue Oct 24, 2023 4:52 pm  

Who is she and what are her credentials to pass comment on the mens superleague Grand Final?

Re: "Unfortunately" ... : Tue Oct 24, 2023 5:42 pm  

Phuzzy wrote:

She's never hidden the fact that she doesn't like Wigan. Completely biased towards Leeds and Yorkshire in general. Absolutely terrible pundit. Channel 4s coverage for the most part has been a breath of fresh air. Danika Priim on the other hand...

In a way I admire the honesty, rather than trying to act all impartial as many pundits do. She openly stated on Twitter she’s from Yorkshire, supports Leeds and is biased towards those Yorkshire clubs and likes to see them doing well. In that case, it’s no wonder she comes across as bitter because all but one of the Yorkie clubs (do HKR class themselves as Yorkshire? Humberside?) have been pretty shambolic recently!

Re: "Unfortunately" ... : Tue Oct 24, 2023 5:49 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

In a way I admire the honesty, rather than trying to act all impartial as many pundits do. She openly stated on Twitter she’s from Yorkshire, supports Leeds and is biased towards those Yorkshire clubs and likes to see them doing well. In that case, it’s no wonder she comes across as bitter because all but one of the Yorkie clubs (do HKR class themselves as Yorkshire? Humberside?) have been pretty shambolic recently!

While honesty is an admirable quality, a sports pundit on a mainstream network is supposed to at least affect a semblance of neutrality.

If she can't manage that, she's really in the wrong job.

In her case, it's not even the subtle way Eddie Hemmings used to do it ... craftily casting doubt on every Wigan achievement, or constantly mentioning their failures. All she does is express very evident dislike for the Wigan club, which is juvenile stuff.

I don't wish unemployment on her, but someone needs to have a word. If she's going to do this professionally, she needs to show professional standards.