Origin of Greg Alexander commentary ambitions ahead of NRL retro round

Premiership-winner Greg Alexander explains how his love of rugby league was cemented in the 1970s when he’d call his brother’s games in the backyard.

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Greg Alexander didn’t know it at the time but as a child in the 1970s he was already working on his craft as a commentator.

Alexander was on hand to promote Fox League’s Retro Round which will celebrate all things 1970s this week.

The premiership-winning Panthers player was joined by the likes of Braith Anasta, Bob McCarthy, Max Krilich, Moses Mbye and Clint Gutherson with Alexander sporting a moustache as he drove into the Fox Sports studios in a 1970s valiant.

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Greg Alexander, Hannah Hollis, Braith Anasta, Clint Gutherson and Moses Mbye launching the NRL Retro Round. Picture: Tim Hunter.

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Alexander — who was born in 1965 — said his love of rugby league developed in the 1970s.

“My commentary career started in the backyard,” Alexander said. “I would play against my two younger players. I was Steve Rogers a lot and he was a standout. I was at times Billy Smith or Graeme Langlands.

“When I was playing against my younger brothers I would commentate. I would call whoever they were pretending to be and I would say whoever has made a break and I would be running and I would make a cover tackle on them. They were younger brothers so they were easy to tackle and I would smash them into the sidelines.

Alexander’s relationship with rugby league dates back many years. Picture: Dan Himbrechts

“I would call myself and say ‘what a great tackle it was’. The 1970s was when my love of rugby league started.”

As a young St George fan, Alexander remembers the heartache of the Dragons’ 38-0 loss to the Roosters in 1975 — the first grand final he remembers watching. He was at the SCG three years later to watch Manly and Cronulla’s drawn grand final.

“I was devastated when the Dragons got beaten by the Roosters in that fashion,” Alexander said. “That’s when I started going to the footy at Penrith. I would stand near the tunnel in the late 1970s.

“I gravitated towards the good teams and the teams that had the stars who were good to watch.

“Any good player from any team I fell in love with.”

Fox League has partnered with the NRL and clubs to give fans the chance to attend selected NRL games at reduced prices this weekend.

Fans can redeem the ticket offer by logging onto nrl.com/tickets and entering the code word ‘Retro Round’ from midnight Wednesday to midnight Thursday.

Originally published as Origin of Greg Alexander commentary ambitions ahead of NRL retro round