Laura McGoldrick says the new Game of 2 Halves is far from a copy-and-paste of the old format.
Laura McGoldrick says the new Game of 2 Halves is far from a copy-and-paste of the old format.
With a new spin on the classic format, will Game of 2 Halves’ latest line-up be naughtier than Ridge and Ellis? Ricardo Simich talks to host Laura McGoldrick about what we can expect from new captains Manaia Stewart and Matt Heath.
Sky has partnered with NZME’s The Alternative Commentary Collective to create a new version of the iconic sporting quiz show 25 years after it premiered on TVNZ.
The ACC doesGame of 2 Halves launches this Thursday, and Sky’s host Laura McGoldrick promises that the team captains – ACC and Radio Hauraki alumnae Manaia Stewart and Matt Heath – will more than fill the shoes of their original counterparts Marc Ellis and Matthew Ridge.
“Our show is kind of same, same, but different,” McGoldrick tells Spy. “We have all-new personalities and captains, so in that regard, I guess it’s nothing like the old version.”
It’s far from a copy-and-paste of the old format, she says: “We aren’t trying to replicate what those guys brought to the show, but the premise for the show remains the same.”
Ellis and Ridge became a television comic duo, with their lad banter spinning off to numerous shows, and Game of Two Halves screening for just over a decade.
Marc Ellis, dressed as a jockey after losing to Matthew Ridge on A Game of Two Halves, interviews Prime Minister Helen Clark at Auckland Cup Day, 2007. Photo / Bradley Ambrose
In many ways The Alternative Commentary Collective, headlined by Radio Hauraki radio hosts such as Heath, Jeremy Wells and Jason Hoyte, filled the void; it picked up the comedy sporting mantle and has run with it ever since.
Ellis also co-hosted successful sports comedy SportsCafe, which has recently come back into the spotlight as successful podcast Sportscafe-ish. (Ridge has also recently started a podcast, The Brink, which he records with fellow Kiwi David Ring).
McGoldrick says she has been tuning into Sportscafe-ish and is loving the nostalgia.
She says that so far in rehearsals for the new Game of 2 Halves, Stewart and Heath are both proving to be very naughty - but great fun.
“I literally don’t know at any given time what might come out of their mouths, it’s terrifying,” says McGoldrick.
For the first show this Thursday, the panel will include double Rugby Sevens Olympic gold medallist Michaela Blyde and Sky rugby commentator Joe Wheeler on Heath’s team, with ACC and Radio Hauraki funnyman Chris Key and sports crazy podcaster Brodie Kane on Stewart’s.
A veritable who’s who from sports and comedy is promised over the next 10 weeks, with McGoldrick promising lots of laughs and cheeky banter between the teams.
As for how she will umpire the teams, the multi-tasking Sky Sports presenter says she will be delivering up the usual Laura, who will be adding up a few more points than usual.
McGoldrick has just come off hosting two weeks coverage of Sky’s Paris Olympics and is currently bringing viewers the latest motorsport action hosting Sky Speed.
Not only is McGoldrick excited to get the new show under way, she is also gearing up to go over to Dubai for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
With her husband, former Black Cap Martin Guptill, still playing cricket and now coaching the game, the busy parents have their hands full with children Harley 6, and Teddy, 3.
“The kids are awesome, I don’t know how we do it but we make it work,” she says, and they couldn’t get by without the help of family. “My mum in particular is amazing.”
