There was a gaping hole in Channel 9’s State of Origin broadcast

Andrew Johns might be the future, but Wednesday night’s State of Origin coverage left us sorely missing a familiar voice.

Phil Gould will be back for game three. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

He might regularly drive Queenslanders crazy with his blue-tinted goggles.

He might frustrate us by grabbing hold of an idea and then repeating it ad nauseam like how good Wayne Bennett is at halftime speeches.

And he undoubtedly blew it in this year’s NRL Grand Final with his one-sided call of Penrith’s defeat against the Melbourne Storm.

But boy, we missed Phil Gould on Wednesday night.

It’s probably not a popular take but there was a gaping hole in Channel 9’s coverage of NSW’s thumping win against Queensland after its decision to keep Gus out of the commentary box.

The move to sideline one of the most polarising figures in the game was such a surprise no one took the man himself seriously when he revealed he wouldn’t be calling the contest from his normal position alongside play-by-play man Ray Warren because Nine chiefs wanted to give Andrew Johns a turn.

“I’m not calling the game tonight. Andrew Johns and Billy Slater are doing the honours. I’m just watching tonight. Looking forward to it,” Gould tweeted a few hours before kick-off.

“Andrew called Origin II last year. He deserves to call these big games. He is the future.”

Johns is undoubtedly a talented analyst with an eye for the game that rivals anyone. He’s also unafraid to be critical, as he showed in the lead-up to the game when he called for Nathan Cleary’s head and during the contest when he highlighted the rough night Xavier Coates was having.

Andrew Johns (left) with Anthony Minichiello and Nathan Hindmarsh before game two. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

But Gould is at a different level, as he showed during a brief appearance at halftime when he quickly summarised the source of all three NSW tries to that point in the game.

“(Queensland) are having a lot of trouble on their left side defence now (Ben) Hunt is playing five-eighth instead of (Cameron) Munster,” he said. “It looks like there’s no communication or confidence there.”

The Maroons too often found themselves outnumbered on the left edge and Gould nailed what was going wrong and why.

Even Queensland Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher admitted the game is poorer without the former NSW coach.

“Gus is an authority on the game and he sees things other people don‘t see,’’ Hatcher told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“He can’t help himself in terms of what I would call his latent bias — I think he doesn’t necessarily give a completely independent view, and I can understand that with his background — but the reality is he’s very perceptive and knows the game extremely well.

“Although everyone comments about (his commentary) for two or three days after the event, I actually think he’s good for the game.”

Nine could be forced to bring in a new face next year if Warren, 77, decides to call it a day.

But Gould, who is 15 years his junior, shouldn’t be going anywhere.

Originally published as There was a gaping hole in Channel 9’s State of Origin broadcast