Joe Brolly has opened up about the circumstances of him leaving RTE, why he has joined Eir and his thoughts on the state of the GAA.
The full interview with Brolly will be broadcast on Thursday's OTB AM, and available on all Off The Ball social channels.
"I was hurt by what happened at RTE, because it was very shocking in its way," said Brolly.
"To be told two days [after the first 2019 All-Ireland final] that you have made an outrageous and unprofessional comment to Pat Spillane [...] that I had said 'would you stop pulling my arm' then I said 'Really, this is where we are?!"
Joe Brolly on RTE exit
It was a falling out with RTE's Head of Sport - Declan McBennett - that brought things to a head at the broadcaster,
"Very quickly, things became much more controlled and scripted: don't say that and don't say this. For the All-Ireland final, we virtually got a script!
"I said 'You need a newsreader, you don't need me!'"
"I said 'You need a newsreader, you don't need me!'"
WATCH: Joe Brolly discusses why he left RTE and to join @eirsport.
Full interview with Joe will be on OTB AM tomorrow morning, and you can read the full story here: https://t.co/veEBfDb2jE pic.twitter.com/SU32AwhJnx— Off The Ball (@offtheball) January 15, 2020
Brolly believes that his connection with the audience is one thing that elevated his punditry, and that the increased focus on statistics was an unwelcome development.
He also misses the closeness that he had to former RTE colleagues, like Pat Spillane - the relationship with whom he believes is 'like an old married couple'.
That relationship still remains.
"At the end of the game, I don't know if you remember, but I hugged Pat and said 'You must be so proud of your nephew, you must be very proud of your nephew - that was a real touch of Spillane.'
The full interview with Joe Brolly will be available on tomorrow's OTB AM.
Off The Ball have asked Declan Bennett to address some of these issues and to come on air to talk to us about it. We have yet to hear from him yet but hope to hear from him and have him on the show. He will no doubt have his own version and story about a lot of these issues.
