IT’S the time of year when “getting Foxtel?” becomes the most asked question flung around the dinner table.
We’re three rounds in already and not having it might have cost you watching your favourite team. No diehard fan will tolerate regularly missing their team’s coverage.
So instead of sitting around for online updates or getting half the experience with radio, it could be time for you to bite the bullet and get Foxtel.
Reacquainting yourself with teams you’d all but forgotten, due to their lack of commercial network coverage, is brilliant.
As a Hawthorn supporter, I get the full gamut of Saturday afternoon games at Aurora Stadium or Sunday twilight games, easing you back towards the working week gently.
It is thoroughly satisfying to know your options are open, whether to watch the game at the ground or at home on Foxtel.
Even worse than no coverage at times can be getting it from the commercial networks on a delay of monumental proportions, forcing an internet blackout until the game is over to avoid spoiling the result.
The trump card of Foxtel is how it doesn’t manipulate telecast times to suit follow-on or lead-in programs adjacent to the footy.
You get a live game whenever it may be. There is no worry of Better Homes and Gardens pushing back your telecast on Fox Sports. Neither does Before the Game or the 6pm news bear any relevance as to when the ball is bounced on your television.
The commentators on Foxtel tend to grate less on me than the Bruces and Quarters of the world, with Jason Dunstall, Dwayne Russell and Brian “Bristle” Taylor all offering insightful comments and good player knowledge.
Not listening to the verbal garbage of Robert Walls or Malcolm “I don’t give a rat’s tossbag” Blight is a bonus of a Foxtel subscription. (If Brisbane are down by 15 points, it’s implied they need “three goals to get back in the game” Wallsy.)
The Foxtel commentators aren’t going to be liked by all, but at least they’re tolerable in the long run and don’t require mute for functional viewing.
You’re also given a healthy array of supplemental programming throughout the week which boosts the football viewing experience.
Shows like On The Couch, AFL 360 or After the Bounce (formerly Before the Bounce) are gravy on top of a good deal as it is.
If you can afford it and are diehard about your footy, there’s no reason not to have it.
– Jarrod Potter
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