NRL 2020
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Took the risk and turned it on the big screen. Saw the NQ score straight away to take them to 26 points. Swore, but then watched them miss a sitter of a conversion, so decided to watch it. Some observations
- Commentators said you'd either have to brilliant or utterly stupid to have tipped this result
- NQ needed to get 12 points in the last 5 mins ... commentators seemed to speak like that was a 50/50
- Cardboard cut outs... nah, not for me. Rather some flags or something
- Crowd noise. That works so well. Quite blown away! Although tough to tell whose at home. But the innovation really is fantastic. Probably more noise than will hear at Eden Park this weekend!
- Nothing above relevant really. Live sport is back!!!!
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@MajorRage with the crowd noise and cutouts (also not a fan) I reckon we get more on field footage - which is a good thing. The crowd soundtrack works a treat, haven't actually tried to work out if they up the volume or balance when the game is moving quicker or at try time etc. That'd be pretty cool.
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@Paekakboyz said in NRL 2020:
@MajorRage with the crowd noise and cutouts (also not a fan) I reckon we get more on field footage - which is a good thing. The crowd soundtrack works a treat, haven't actually tried to work out if they up the volume or balance when the game is moving quicker or at try time etc. That'd be pretty cool.
It feels like they adjust the noise to fit the situation, must have a pretty cool soundboard
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The Herald can reveal the incredible level of production detail put into the faux noise, which was kept under wraps by both broadcasters until the opening kickoff of Parramatta's 34-6 win.
While FoxSports produced the crowd sounds in-house, Nine outsourced production of the audio heard around the country to a company run by three sound engineers, who initially pitched a program that would allow fans to send in personalised jeers and cheers as part of the broadcast.
But Nine opted for broader approach, which used a combination of sophisticated software and an audio operator to implement real sound effects from specific stadiums.
That means the noise punters heard on Thursday when Maika Sivo scored a sensational try was plucked from the reaction heard in games by crowds at Suncorp Stadium last year.
"(On Friday) there will be crowd effects from Bankwest [when the Roosters face the Rabbitohs] and on Sunday, it’ll be Campbelltown," Nine's NRL head Simon Fordham said.
"They’ve written a program where all the sounds go into a synthesiser and they have created a non-repetitive loop or a buzz track at a base level, which is what you hear during general play.
"**As required there is an operator there who uses a foot pedal or a fader from an audio desk, that you would use to increase not only the volume of the crowd noise in the mix but also expand its intensity.
As it goes up, more layers and files get added. It’s not just the same noise getting louder. It actually - the software that has been written - enables it to increase in intensity or density."**
Nine even went to the extraordinary length of deciding how much louder the noise for a Broncos try should be than an Eels try. It will change the ratio depending on who plays who in each match.
But in case that sounds unfair to the away teams in a coronavirus-affected draw, it won't be. The fake crowd noise is not heard by players inside the stadium, only fans at home.
"We had a production meeting with the audio engineers beforehand, just to get a sense of what our philosophies were for that. In the example of last night’s match - yes, absolutely, if the Broncos are on the attack, the crowd would definitely be louder," Fordham said.
"However, we did also consider the Eels are quite a popular side generally. I wouldn’t equate it to Broncos at 70 per cent and Eels at 30 per cent. It would be more like 60-40.
But if the Broncos were playing another side that don’t have the popularity of the Eels, we can brief the operator to make sure there is disparity between the two crowd noises for each side."
Booing? Giving it to the referee? Yep, it's all possible. The audio operator has the ability to add jeers, boos or whistles if he believes the "home crowd" would have thought a forward pass had been thrown or the away side was offside.
The overall product, in Fordham's opinion, was better than the silence of round two.
"The players are out there giving 110 per cent. The commentators are reacting to what they are seeing and also delivering emotional, powerful calls. But the crowd is there just to mesh those two things together," Fordham said.
"They feed off the crowd and by adding that extra layer - as well as the other things we are doing, like fans sending in videos on social media when their team score a try which we are rolling into coverage - we feel like we are doing everything we possibly can to engage our audience on every platform we possibly can."
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@MajorRage said in NRL 2020:
Took the risk and turned it on the big screen. Saw the NQ score straight away to take them to 26 points. Swore, but then watched them miss a sitter of a conversion, so decided to watch it. Some observations
- Commentators said you'd either have to brilliant or utterly stupid to have tipped this result
- NQ needed to get 12 points in the last 5 mins ... commentators seemed to speak like that was a 50/50
- Cardboard cut outs... nah, not for me. Rather some flags or something
- Crowd noise. That works so well. Quite blown away! Although tough to tell whose at home. But the innovation really is fantastic. Probably more noise than will hear at Eden Park this weekend!
- Nothing above relevant really. Live sport is back!!!!
I liked the crowd noise the first week, hated it ever since. 😀
Seems like I’m in the minority on here.
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@ACT-Crusader that's awesome.
Interesting that they think piping in a home crowd for home games isn't fair - or are the games only being played at a handful of stadia?
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We ate not giving this enough gloss
This was a big fucking win
Round whatever against the Dragons was an emotional team against the worst side in the comp. Last week was bad, but we were always going to lose
This wèek was a game against our peers. And we won. In Aus. This is a huge result.
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Also, real talk
Jason Taumalolo is the reason the cowboys will be shit for ages. Contract too big. Output great individually but not conducive to winning comps
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Gotta give kudos to the players ( and the AFL lads) for putting in the effort in these games. With a silent and empty stadium, these games are more like match practice. The players are used to the buzz of playing in front of thousands and all the noise and motivation that comes with it, yet still their effort is noteworthy. Fair dues
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Just finished watching the game and that was a strong performance by our boys. Blair and Harris were strong in their carries and I thought it was probably the best performance as a combination of Nikorima and Green. Both seemed more comfortable in their roles.
By the way Hiku better have scored a hat trick after the dumb try he let in. I hate it when players do that. Just tap it dead.
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@mariner4life said in NRL 2020:
Also, real talk
Jason Taumalolo is the reason the cowboys will be shit for ages. Contract too big. Output great individually but not conducive to winning comps
I loved seeing Taumalolo shut down, fucking Judas. It was great that he played so I could really get into the spirit of it and boo and hiss at him over the too loud cheering of the fake fans.
@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2020:
By the way Hiku better have scored a hat trick after the dumb try he let in. I hate it when players do that. Just tap it dead.
That was such idiotic play, but he definitely made up for, not just with the tries but also his all round play. Herbert also redeemed himself after last weeks performance, which will now probably see him stuck on the wing and then dropped when the other Judas Fusitua and Ken are back ... rather than rightfully playing in the centres.
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@Nepia I think because of our situation and lack of available alternatives, we were forced to play a few guys out of position last night.
Trying to back up is probably the hardest thing for us.
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@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2020:
@Nepia I think because of our situation and lack of available alternatives, we were forced to play a few guys out of position last night.
Trying to back up is probably the hardest thing for us.
I think SK has decided on Hiku and Beale as his centres, normally I wouldn't have a problem with that, Beale is a solid if unspectacular centre, but is a centre and not a back rower etc, but Herbert looked the goods last year and has that bit of flair we need to win games in the confines of SK's league-brumbieball style gameplan.
I think that a lot of the fill ins have put their hands up and are going well.
Also, last night was the first decent game from Green in a long time, but, we really needed the attacking flair of Nikorima to compliment his steady performance to get on top.
Still unsure why Egan is our starting hooker. He did that one good kick for a try but for the first 20 minutes I was convinced he couldn't actually run, or pass further than 5m's either side.
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I hated the main comms man last night. His inability or more likely, his lack of trying to pronounce pacific island names was the worst I have heard in a while. It was shockingly bogan.
I was cursing out his name in the first 5 minutes when he made that ridiculously nonchalant play in goal. But Hiku ended up have a blinder.
The pairing of Green and Nikorima was really polished last night. The short kicking from Green was one of his best for the warriors.
RTS is the best fullback in the game. I don't give a shit what the rest world thinks about Tedesco. If Roger and James switched teams I think Roger would easily win the Dally M again. Not sure Tedesco could do it with the Warriors.
Katoa is an absolute star.
All that said. I thought the Cowboys were a shit outfit last night and we let in some weak tries. Taumalolo looked like he's lost a lot of muscle mass while away from the game and only ran for 113m(thats not bad but not good by his standards). Holmes going off did them no favours. I like that the Warriors have come to play and play well but the 2 teams we have beaten were shit IMO.
