The Footy Show will need to make sure it produces some quality television over the coming weeks as it starts the new season without front man Garry Lyon and having to deal with an in-house feud, says Jon Ralph.
Billy Brownless will be interviewed on Thursday night on the program and will be asked about the relationship between Lyon and his ex-wife Nicky that has fractured their friendship.
Producers and panellists will also have the awkward task of deciding how they will address Lyon’s mental illness when they are discussing the situation with Brownless.
“Garry has always made that show bulletproof, people will want to take pot shots at this show and for very valid reasons,” said Ralph on SEN radio.
“They’re going to have to come out and be pretty strong in the first few weeks.
“I’m sure they’ll probably throw a bit of cash at one of the Essendon 34 boys and Barrett will have some good strong news.
“They’d want to have a really good six weeks because people will be taking pot shots from the cheap seats.”
Ralph is hoping that regular panellist Brownless has every opportunity to talk openly about what happened and how he feels towards Lyon if he does in fact want to share that information.
“I reckon Billy is probably still absolutely distraught about it and probably just so filthy at a bloke he thought was his best mate,” he said.
“If that’s the case I’d love him to be able to have a vehicle to say that because I reckon the worst possible outcome would for him to say we’re moving on, let’s have a bit of a laugh, what costume is Sam coming out in – I’m sure there’ll be some joviality about it.”
A number of commentators including Mark Robinson and Chip Le Grand have been recently critical of the program and how Channel Nine has managed the whole situation.
“What would The Footy Show have done to this story if they were coming out on Thursday and it happened across at Channel 7 – they would have been merciless with this,” said Ralph.
“It’s a huge amount of heavy lifting for James Brayshaw, he’s always been the wingman, being the foil and the offsider.
“He needs to carry this show.
“It is (the right thing to do, have Brownless on) because The Footy Show is all about ratings and trying to leverage what is a very tough situation into a successful year.
“Let’s face it they still make money, still rate okay but everyone wants to chip away at the edges.”