WAYNE’S World used their ‘extreme close up’ as a joke – last night TV viewers got the real thing, and no-one was laughing, especially the people behind it.
Kurt Gidley became the world’s first rugby league player to wear a camera during a game, in the hope that every thud, hit and bone shuddering collision was brought into the living room.
Instead Sky took all of 20 seconds to give viewers a feeling of the thrill of catching a ball and passing it to your left – then there was an uncontested kick.
Technicians were flown in from Barcelona to fit the kit, which was showed live on Sky as the Australian placed on the vest he likens to a sternum guard, with reference to targets being painted on his head because of it.
But a protective cover was placed on the camera, making it seem like we were looking through a porthole for 40 minutes until ‘technical issues’ saw it taken off.
That first ‘big hit’ on Gidley was a bit like turning the TV off as the picture just went black, but the later sight of a Leigh man attempting to hand him off was better, although it resembled something from classic investigations programme The Cook Report!
Sky also showed what it is like to wait behind the posts after Leigh scored a try while they were on their way to a 22-8 victory.
They also saw what it was like to have a one-to-one chat with captain Chris Hill as Tony Smith’s men slumped to their fifth straight loss in Super League.
Yet viewers did not see the shot many wanted to in the 40 minutes he did wear it, what it felt like when Harrison Hansen clobbered Gidley, forcing him to spill the ball which Ben Crooks returned for a Leigh try.
Eventually, after 40 minutes of being bumped about – and that was just when Gidley was running, giving a disorientating angle – the camera was taken off.
But will it be seen again? Probably.
Overall, the feedback on this admirable first experiment was negative, and do not expect Wakefield’s Keegan Hirst to follow Gidley as he said: “I reckon if I ever wore the Playercam, most of the footage would be of the turf while I’m doubled over trying to catch my breath.”
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