NRL premiership holder and New Zealand international, Daryl Halligan, teamed up with a young Kiwi talent to present one of the most puzzling interviews in the sport’s history.
Halligan was present to interview players following the Warriors’ 40-10 victory over Cronulla on Saturday, and his questioning style has been mocked by rugby fans.
Originally from New Zealand, Halligan switched from rugby union to rugby league in 1991, starting with the North Sydney Bears, before transferring to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 1994.
Renowned for his exceptional goal-kicking skills, he amassed a then-record 2034 points in the NRL, including 855 goals at a 79.31 per cent success rate, and played a pivotal role in the Bulldogs’ 1995 premiership victory.
But his footy ability hasn’t translated to a stellar media career, highlighted by the puzzling interview he did for Sky Sports on the weekend with Warriors young gun Leka Halasima.
It started innocuously enough, with Halligan praising Halasima for his efforts in the forwards in the Warriors’ win over Cronulla.
New Zealand Warriors young backrower Leka Halasima is pictured trying to make sense of Halligan’s line of questioning
It came after the young gun’s starring performance in the Warriors’ 40-10 win over Cronulla on the weekend
‘Leka great effort tonight, yourself and Jacob [Laban] in the back row, 80 minutes for you, brilliant,’ he said.
But it quickly skidded downhill as the questions became longer and more confusing.
“Try scoring freak continues. You’re on a little bit of a string. I mean, leg speed, take the line on?” Halligan said to confusion of fans and Halasima alike.
‘What the f***, Darryl?’ one fan asked about that particular question.
All the young Warrior could do was laugh and reply, ‘Pardon?’
‘The try streak’s five now, hopefully more to come,’ he added as his teammates teased him and slapped him on the head.
‘Shark Park here, you don’t often put 40 points on Cronulla,’ Halligan followed it up with.
By then Halasima’s concentration had been well and truly broken and he started to deliver replies that have been likened to former NRL star Darius Boyd’s infamous one-word-answers interview.
Both Halligan and Halasima could see the funny side of the cringe interview, but some footy fans were not as amused
In that instance, Boyd’s terse, one-word responses during a 2009 press conference became emblematic of his strained relationship with the media.
‘You’re going so well my friend, starting on the bench, now playing the full 80 minutes, in the back row, its a credit to you,’ Halligan said to close out the interview.
Fans have since taken to social media to ridicule the awkward exchange.
‘Halligan’s ‘stream of consciousness’ interviewing technique takes some getting used to,’ one fan posted.
‘Fucking great that Leka follows that gibberish with ‘Pardon?’,’ another fan commented.
‘Daryl has been getting stuck into the beers or something,’ joked another.
Others questioned whether Halasima was ready for on-the-spot media interviews, especially with curve ball questions like Halligan was throwing his way.
‘Poor bloke was so nervous and clearly not really listening to the questions,’ one viewer posted.
‘As someone with years of media experience and a former player, he should be helping out these young kids that haven’t had a lot of media training,’ added another.
‘Adding to the shyness, the lad was born in Tonga, so his first language isn’t even English, making Halligan’s word salad even more bewildering than it would otherwise be,’ yet another pointed out.
Others compared it to previous interviews, like the 2012 exchange between Halligan and Warriors debutant Konrad Hurrell who famously said he ‘really had a good fun’.
