Ray Warren
Encyclopedia
Ray "Rabbits" Warren in Junee, New South Wales
is an Australia
n sports commentator, most famous for his coverage of televised professional rugby league
matches on the Nine Network
. On occasion he is referred to as "The Voice of Rugby League". Ray also calls the action for Australian swimming
team events. On Saturday mornings, he is a member of the panel on Triple M
Sydney
's radio sports program Dead Set Legends. Warren also writes columns for sports website The Serve. Ray's nickname is "Rabbits", as in a rabbit's warren.
as a rugby league commentator - a move which started his career in broadcasting.
He began commentating on the Amco Cup
on Channel Ten
with Keith Barnes
in the 1970s. In 1980, Ten approached Warren to call the Melbourne Cup
, the first of three Cups he would call for the network. He also became Network Ten's chief Rugby League caller from 1983 - 1986. In 1984 he was to head up Ten's commentary for the Los Angeles Olympics but refused to take the mission. As a nervous flyer, Warren had grave reservations about the trans-Pacific haul and suddenly realised he could not get onto the plane. In 1986, Warren was fired by the network, primarily because it wanted to replace him as its chief rugby league commentator with former international player Rex Mossop
. (Subsequently Warren spent a couple of years as Mossop's Co-commentator, however Mossop allowed him little input).
Over the next six years, Warren would also travel many miles to call horse races. In 1989 he was recruited by the Nine Network
to commentate on the state of origin series alongside Darrell Eastlake and to be part of its team to broadcast swimming at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
with Norman May. The television rights for rugby league were bought by Nine for the 1992 season and onwards and he has been calling the game for them ever since. Warren has overcome his fear of flying, and has travelled to the United Kingdom
, Hong Kong
, Yokohama
, Fukuoka
and Montreal
for the network's swimming coverage.
Ray Warren is known for his passionate commentary, and has often been parodied by The Twelfth Man
. His voice has become synonymous with important rugby league matches in Australia, and he is renowned for his proficient ability to take over from fellow-commentators when anything interesting happens on the field.
Currently, Rabs also works on Sydney
radio station
2MMM
on the Dead Set Legends alongside Mark Geyer
and Dan Ginnane.
Currently, Rabs also works on Newcastle
radio station
NXFM
on the Steve and Kim (& Damo!) Morning Breakfast Talk Show, giving footy tips for the week. shown here.
On 6 August 2011, a bronze statue was established in his hometown of Junee.
with his wife, Cher, and daughter, Holly. Ray's first son, Chris Warren, was a rugby league presenter for Sky Sports
in the United Kingdom
and was a producer for the now defunct Setanta Sports NRL coverage in Europe. Ray was once the chief commentator in a match that Chris participated in while he was a player for the Western Suburbs Magpies
in the early 1990s.
During a radio interview with The Kyle & Jackie O Show
in May 2011, Warren revealed that he was a close friend of broadcaster Ray Hadley
and that the two regularly played golf
together.
During an appearance on Channel Nine's "The NRL Footy Show" on June 16 2011, Warren revealed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Junee, New South Wales
Junee is a medium sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in particular correctional services...
is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n sports commentator, most famous for his coverage of televised professional rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
matches on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
. On occasion he is referred to as "The Voice of Rugby League". Ray also calls the action for Australian swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
team events. On Saturday mornings, he is a member of the panel on Triple M
Triple M
The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...
Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
's radio sports program Dead Set Legends. Warren also writes columns for sports website The Serve. Ray's nickname is "Rabbits", as in a rabbit's warren.
Career
As a youngster Ray Warren was amazed by the ability of race-caller Ken Howard to paint the perfect picture of the race track. As a child, Ray used to roll marbles down a wooden slope and call them as horses. He initially followed in the footsteps of his brother by joining the police force. It was during his brief stint in uniform he got a phone call as a result of all the door-knocking he had done at various radio stations as a teenager. Ray took the job offered to him in Young, New South WalesYoung, New South Wales
-Demographics:On census night, 7 August 2001, there were 6,821 people counted in Young. There were 238 people who identified as being of Indigenous origin in the 2001 Census...
as a rugby league commentator - a move which started his career in broadcasting.
He began commentating on the Amco Cup
Amco Cup
The Amco Cup was a mid-week rugby league competition held in Australia between 1974 and 1989. The format was usually a straight knock-out, but various group formats were used between 1979 and 1982...
on Channel Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
with Keith Barnes
Keith Barnes
William Keith Barnes OAM is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He was a fullback for the Australian national team and for the Balmain Tigers. He played in 14 Tests between 1959 and 1966, as national captain on 12 occasions. He was known as "Golden Boots" due to his...
in the 1970s. In 1980, Ten approached Warren to call the Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
, the first of three Cups he would call for the network. He also became Network Ten's chief Rugby League caller from 1983 - 1986. In 1984 he was to head up Ten's commentary for the Los Angeles Olympics but refused to take the mission. As a nervous flyer, Warren had grave reservations about the trans-Pacific haul and suddenly realised he could not get onto the plane. In 1986, Warren was fired by the network, primarily because it wanted to replace him as its chief rugby league commentator with former international player Rex Mossop
Rex Mossop
Rex Peers Mossop was an Australian rugby league and rugby union footballer—a dual-code international, and an Australian television personality from 1964 until 1991.-Rugby union career:...
. (Subsequently Warren spent a couple of years as Mossop's Co-commentator, however Mossop allowed him little input).
Over the next six years, Warren would also travel many miles to call horse races. In 1989 he was recruited by the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
to commentate on the state of origin series alongside Darrell Eastlake and to be part of its team to broadcast swimming at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
with Norman May. The television rights for rugby league were bought by Nine for the 1992 season and onwards and he has been calling the game for them ever since. Warren has overcome his fear of flying, and has travelled to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, Fukuoka
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...
and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
for the network's swimming coverage.
Ray Warren is known for his passionate commentary, and has often been parodied by The Twelfth Man
The Twelfth Man
The Twelfth Man is the name for a series of comedy productions by Australian satirist Billy Birmingham. Birmingham, a skilled impersonator, is generally known for parodying Australian sports commentators' voices...
. His voice has become synonymous with important rugby league matches in Australia, and he is renowned for his proficient ability to take over from fellow-commentators when anything interesting happens on the field.
Currently, Rabs also works on Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
2MMM
2MMM
2MMM is a radio station broadcasting in Sydney, Australia. Triple M Sydney is part of the Austereo Triple M network and broadcasts on the 104.9 MHz frequency.-The Early Days:...
on the Dead Set Legends alongside Mark Geyer
Mark Geyer
Mark Geyer , is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1980s and '90s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative second-rower, he is currently a rugby league media identity...
and Dan Ginnane.
Currently, Rabs also works on Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
NXFM
NXFM
NXFM is an Australian radio station, licensed to, and serving Newcastle, New South Wales and surrounding areas. It broadcasts at 106.9 MHz on the FM band from its studios in Charlestown...
on the Steve and Kim (& Damo!) Morning Breakfast Talk Show, giving footy tips for the week. shown here.
On 6 August 2011, a bronze statue was established in his hometown of Junee.
Personal life
Ray Warren lives in the Sydney suburb of Castle HillCastle Hill, New South Wales
Castle Hill is a suburb in the north-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Castle Hill is located 31 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Hills District of the Greater Western Sydney region...
with his wife, Cher, and daughter, Holly. Ray's first son, Chris Warren, was a rugby league presenter for Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and was a producer for the now defunct Setanta Sports NRL coverage in Europe. Ray was once the chief commentator in a match that Chris participated in while he was a player for the Western Suburbs Magpies
Western Suburbs Magpies
The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...
in the early 1990s.
During a radio interview with The Kyle & Jackie O Show
The Kyle & Jackie O Show
The Kyle & Jackie O Show is Australia’s most listened-to breakfast radio show hosted by Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O on 2DayFM, Sydney. Syndicated to over 78 stations nationwide, the show has been airing since 16 January 2005. The show is a 9-time winner and 36-time finalist of the Australian...
in May 2011, Warren revealed that he was a close friend of broadcaster Ray Hadley
Ray Hadley
Raymond Morris Hadley OAM is an Australian talkback radio broadcaster. He presents 2GB Sydney's morning show, and leads the Continuous Call Team, a rugby league-based talkback radio panel program.-Early Life:...
and that the two regularly played golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
together.
During an appearance on Channel Nine's "The NRL Footy Show" on June 16 2011, Warren revealed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.