Pat Spillane was a mainstay on our television screens for around three decades, becoming one of the most prominent voices in the GAA due to his presence as a pundit on The Sunday Game.
The Kerry man was certainly not afraid to give his opinion on some of the more controversial matters in the sport, something that did rub people the wrong way at times. However, there is no doubting that he provided plenty of entertainment along the way.
The RTÉ broadcast has been unable to capture quite the same magic ever since the likes of Spillane and Joe Brolly left the show, even if they have added some excellent new pundits in recent times.
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Pat Spillane hammers RTÉ over their GAA punditry
Pat Spillane's decision to leave RTÉ seemed like a rather abrupt one at the time, although he has admitted that he did so in order to be in control of his own future.
Writing in the Sunday World, he admits that he was keen to leave on his own terms before being pushed out. He also questioned the direction the broadcaster has opted to go down when it comes to their GAA punditry in recent times, most notably in the lack of entertainment and more experienced panel members.
I jumped before I was pushed. Trust me, my P45 was ready and waiting for me, but I would not give anybody the satisfaction of telling me I was finished, so I left on my terms.
I don’t watch The Sunday Game on a regular basis anymore. The programme has followed the example set across all sporting platforms with its analysis becoming too PC and generic.
There is a huge contradiction here. Inclusivity is the big buzz word these days and sports programmes have bought into this policy.
While they are attempting to be inclusive, they are practicing exclusivity because male pundits aged 60 or over are being excluded, which I believe is unfair.
It strikes me that RTÉ Sport executives decided to get rid of so-called celebrity sports pundits.
They followed the example set by Sky Sports and opted instead for an analysis package featuring a deep dive into statistics and gizmos.
Guess what? Sky Sports have reversed their policy and now their soccer analysis is built around the views of three celebrity pundits – Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.
There is certainly be a balance to be struck between being entertaining and informative when it comes to punditry in any sport, with GAA being no different.
Pat Spillane clearly feels RTÉ are getting that balance wrong at the moment.
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