Mick Molloy’s pitch for The Front Bar
When you have a player on the show, is it easy to break down media training and get them to come to you at your level, or does it take a bit of persuasion?
Not really, because we’re not talking to today’s players. Or if we do, they’re so big they can’t speak freely. Anyone currently playing the game is pretty much told not to say anything interesting. But when you’re talking to someone who just retired, or even one of the older boys walking around, they don’t care, they like to talk, they like to tell stories, they like to lift their skirts to find out what went on behind the scenes as they played the game. So that was a conscious decision we made so that we could get players to tell great stories without fear of retaliation from club management. That was the choice we made to get to more interesting facts than stats and kicks.
It makes the modern game a bit colorless doesn’t it, the modern obsession with giving nothing to the media?
I think it’s a shame and part of me wonders when we have this pantheon of past players on our show and hear all their stories, I worry about current players and the stories they can tell about football travel and training camps Evenings after a big win. I just hope that there is still enough energy and adventure in the game for current players to have a canon of great stories to tell at the end of the day.
Your show sets these stories apart, and that’s what sets you apart, isn’t it?
I think you can watch a number of football shows and not walk away with much. But that’s exactly what we wanted to do – catch someone off guard.
From the outside, as a performer, you give the impression that you are a very naturally hilarious person and that you come across as very easy. Is it as easy for you to be funny as it seems?
No. I have a very smart team of people from producers to writers to video editors who find the stuff.
It is very generous of you to say so, for you are free to have any credit here if you wish.
It’s a compliment that you say it looks like we’re just going to come out and talk a little bit of rubbish because it’s supposed to look like it. But behind the scenes there is a very talented group of people who make us look good and provide us with the raw material. It’s quite a complicated show in some ways, but the idea is to make it look like three guys are having a conversation.
The front bar is on seven, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.
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https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/it-s-me-in-a-bar-drinking-beer-talking-footy-mick-molloy-s-pitch-for-the-front-bar-20230314-p5cry5.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_culture Mick Molloy’s pitch for The Front Bar
