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27th June 2025
03:32pm BST
Derry native Joe Brolly was known as an outspoken and opinionated Gaelic football analyst with RTE until 2019. Brolly would leave the broadcaster after 20 years, following the 2019 All-Ireland final between Dublin and Kerry.
The ex-RTE pundit believed he was too edgy for the broadcaster, having since been involved in controversy with his former employers.
Brolly's final day in the studio was alongside GAA icons Pat Spillane and Ciarán Whelan. He threw some digs at the standard at punditry for the game nowadays compared to his time, on his Free State Podcast.
The Derry native said: "One of the features of the modern GAA pundit is that they all dress like boyband members now.
"Before the Kerry game, Paddy Andrews, the famous Dublin footballer, Cillian O'Connor from Mayo, and Marc Ó Sé, Kerry, they looked like a Take That tribute band.
"They don't make pundits like they used to, everyone agreeing with everybody else and talking about statistics."
The 56-year-old also took a swipe at RTE's obsession with timings. Brolly believes the coverage of the All-Ireland by the company isn't right for GAA viewers.
He said: "A runner would come in and say 'Muhammad Ali's outside here', 'lock the door, Jesus, we're on a schedule here.
"We have to ask Cora Staunton about this clip of Mayo scoring a free in the second half, and whether or not the free should have been given, there's a very important issue here, whether X could have got a black card.
"This sugary, cold banality, there's no resemblance to the GAA people."
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