WHILE on a fact-finding mission to Australia (this TV reviewing lark is no picnic, we can assure you. A barbie perhaps, but no picnic) On the Air was tickled by a front page story on Melbourne's finest daily, The Age.

A complaint had been made by Aussie Rules clubs that the TV commentary that accompanied live coverage of their efforts was "ill-informed", "lazy" and was full of statements based on next to no research and long-standing prejudices and which served only to aggrandise the commentator in question.

Sounds familiar, On the Air mused, while drinking orange juice from an enormous plastic container and gazing out onto Pippa's caravan park. You only had to witness the display of Colm O'Rourke last Sunday afternoon, when he proclaimed that should he live to be 100 years old, he would not see a better game of football than Mayo and Dublin had just provided.

Typical. Ill informed, spur-of-the moment commentary designed solely to be repeated and texted by hundreds of viewers with no statistical analysis to back it up. But, godammit, he was right.

The game of the year/decade/ O'Rourke's time left on earth was then pored over on The Sunday Game. So good was this game that there were initial reports of Anthony Tohill expressing an opinion. However, upon repeated viewings it became clear he was simply clearing his throat. Who'll win the final Anthony? "Ah, you can't just put your head on the block like that!" Come on Tohill, you're a pundit. Pundit, n. an expert who frequently gives opinions about a subject in public. "Em, there's so much to talk about and so much to consider. . ." You're a legend big man.

No one will mind. "It just makes for a fascinating contest and. . ." You're getting paid for this for God's sake. "And I think, on balance. . ." Say it man. Say it!

But no, eventually Pat Spillane just shouted "Kerry!", Tohill collapsed into Tony Davis's arms because of the effort and they cut to a commercial break.

Possibly.

Of course talk of the game of the century/millennium/aeon didn't end there. After Liveline had devoted itself to the crank topic of the day, Sportscall on Radio One Monday night was inundated with calls demanding to be allowed the platform to air their views/shout like idiots about whether Hill 16 is Dublin's or not. Happily, the show's producers took the excellent and mature decision not to allow the show to become an hour of people yelling pro-Dub and anti-Dub rhetoric at each other.

No such luck on Setanta's GAA Show.

"Mayo were told! They were told to go the other end!" screeched Val Andrews erroneously. Not that presenter Paul Collins corrected him, he was too busy catatonically asking the same question three times in succession. After 15 minutes of pointlessness it was decided that Mayo's actions had knocked Dublin out of their rhythm, something that had been clear to everyone about 15 minutes into the game three days previously. Perhaps we shouldn't be too harsh. Setanta have plenty of time to fill, but having finally been offered some quality entertainment to work with, that's all they've been able to do.

Fill.

Unable to soil our eyes with anything but the greatest sports on earth (ever), we again turned to Park Live, starting to strut just in time for the All Ireland finals. If only they could have Anthony Daly on every week. Affable, admirably honest and witty with it, his interview was given a full segment and the show was all the better for it. A career in media surely awaits once they can keep him off Ger Loughnane's shift. He was followed by Derval O'Rourke (another TV natural) and old hand Des Bishop.

It was all going so well for presenter Ger Gilroy until his last guest. After a mysterious repeat of one of Apres Match's excellent haranguings of Gilroy's ill-fated GatecrasherWorld Cup efforts, Bill O'Herlihy was introduced.

It was strange to see O'Herlihy being interviewed, until a few seconds in, when you realised that he wasn't being interviewed. Quickly and quietly, the old master made it his show, and was soon doing as he pleased.

This was played on quite deftly, as Gilroy's intro for the show's skills challenge was critiqued, tongue-in-cheek, by O'Herlihy. Gilroy was game, and it was obviously a set-up, but it provided a telling reminder of Gilroy's shortcomings as anchorman. He's still nervous in front of a camera, especially with scripted comedy, but he's naturally witty and would probably be served better by a more appreciative audience, as some of his better one-liners are lost to silence.

But he still needs a smoother delivery and to gain the trust of that live audience. O'Herlihy assured him that he'd be fine. And Bill knows stuff.