The Footy Show is an Australian sports program, shown on the Nine Network and its affilates. There are two different variants of this program:

• A Thursday night program, shown at 9.30pm AEST, and
• A Sunday morning program, shown at 11am AEST (Which is usually followed by Boots N' All, a show replaying old footage and revealing the lighter side of Rugby League).

There are two versions of the program, one for Rugby League fans and one for Australian Rules Football fans. Both are shown nationally.

The Thursday version is also shown at around 1-2am Friday mornings, in opposite to what is shown at 9.30pm. For example, if the NRL version is shown at 9.30pm, the AFL version is shown in the early morning.

NRL Footy Show

The Rugby League version began in 1994, presented by former players Paul "Fatty" Vautin , Peter "Sterlo" Sterling , Steven "Blocker" Roach and radio broadcaster Ray Hadley. Hadley left the program for a year, but returned in the mid 1990's.

The Thursday night program was, and still is largely entertainment-based, with some football-related content included, such as previews of the weekend's fixtures. This is often ridiculed by those in the industry, including Hadley himself.

Hadley and Roach did not have a good relationship with the rest of the team, and left by the late 1990's. For around two or three years, Vautin and Sterling presented the show by themselves, often with guest hosts such as Phil Gould , the Johns brothers (Andrew and Matthew) and Ryan Girdler with his highly popular segment, "Their House".

In 2001, a contest was held to find a new co-host, via a parody of the hit show Survivor (also shown on Nine), and former Knights forward Paul "Chief" Harragon was selected. In 2003, fellow former Knights player Matthew Johns joined as the forth host, following the success of his appearances as alter egos Reg Reagan and Trent The Flight Steward the previous year.

AFL Footy Show

In the same year, an AFL version began, hosted by former Channel 10 reporter Eddie McGuire, and joined by former Geelong player Sam Newman and comedian Trevor Marmalade . They are joined by several current and former AFL players in a panel format.

Unlike the NRL version, there is actual talk about football matters and less entertainment features.In recent years,some members of the show have made short 5 minute take offs of midday soapies.These shorts are showed during the show. However the show has caused some controversy, especially because of the antics of Sam Newman who has been the subject of many a complaint directed at Channel 9. Some of these incidents include:

• Having his face painted black in response to an on-field incident of Nicky Winmar
• Pieing David Neitz in the face, then got whacked by him.
• Being 'dacked' (having his trousers pulled down, exposing his genitals) on air by Shane Crawford

External Links

The Footy Show Online