League: Oz callers learning to speak properly

Nigel Vagana, left, is working on helping Aussie commentators. Photo / File

After years of neglect and ignorance, Australian television commentators have made it a priority to learn how to correctly pronounce the names of Maori and Pacific Island players throughout the Rugby League World Cup.

With the help of former New Zealand and Samoan dual international Nigel Vagana, Australia's official World Cup broadcaster, the Seven Network, have put their team of match callers and expert commentators through an educational workshop to help them improve their pronunciation of the names of players from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

The new emphasis comes after league's Maori and Pacific island communities were left seething at continued indifference to their culture, following a controversial segment on Fox Sports' Matty Johns Show in August, that saw children quizzed on "the funniest name in the NRL".

A wave of public outrage saw Johns and the producers slammed and accused of casual racism.

In the wake of that incident, Vagana has praised the Seven Network for accepting an offer to educate their commentary team.

"We were talking around the time that the Fox stuff blew up with the Matty Johns Show," said Vagana, who works as New Zealand Rugby League's welfare and education manager.

"I said if they want some help I could find some people and advisers to give the commentary team some tips on pronunciation, because you're going to have a fair few [Polynesian names] in quick succession if you're going to do three games back-to-back.

"It's awesome and a great acknowledgement from Seven that if they're going to do it, then let's do it as best we can."

Seven's line-up includes former Kiwis captain Benji Marshall, and fellow ex-NRL stars Brent Tate, Mark Geyer, Brett Kimmorley, Gary Belcher, Ryan Girdler, Scott Sattler and Andrew Ryan.

Play-by-play commentary is being headed by Mark Braybrook, Andrew Moore and Dan Ginnane.

The group assembled in Sydney last week and via telephone-link and were put through their paces.

"It's fantastic. The commentary team have worked really hard on trying to get those pronunciations right," said Tate.

"We know how important it is for the Polynesian nations, for the people back home watching in the islands.

"Look, we're not going to be perfect, but I think just the fact we're really trying to get it done and trying to make a real effort to make it work is a really good sign.

"It's got its challenges too, but the good thing is we'll be doing our absolute best to try and get that right."

The Herald on Sunday understands Australia's Channel Nine, long-time free-to-air broadcaster of the NRL, have previously been offered similar opportunities to educate their staff but are yet to follow Seven's lead.

Vagana hopes that may change in the coming months and says Johns has already expressed a desire to improve his own knowledge and pronunciation ahead of next season.

"I've known Marty for a long time and he's a good guy, but the show made an error in judgment there," he said.

"This season, 48 per cent of players in the NRL were of Maori and Pacific island background or heritage, so it's a no-brainer when you look at those numbers.

"I just hope they learn from it and the other stations and media networks might look to be more involved in this area.

"Hopefully Nine and Fox take a leaf out of their book before next season starts.

"Matty is really keen to do some stuff so we'll touch base after Christmas," said Vagana.