The former NRL stars reminded footy fans of the time Sunrise co-host Matt Shirvington made a history-making mistake while live on air.
Shirvington is the second fastest Australian sprinter of all time and finished fifth in the 100 metres final at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
After that, he embarked on a career in television which led him to become co-presenter of the hugely popular breakfast news show on Channel Seven.
Before that, however, he had a lengthy stint at Foxtel, where he became the unexpected studio presenter for NRL matches.
Although he left the network four years ago, many of his colleagues remain there, including football and television star Matthew Johns.
He hosts the popular Sunday Night With Matty Johns, but will be travelling to Paris as part of the Foxtel Olympic team.
In his absence, former Roosters and South Sydney forward Bryan Fletcher will host Sunday’s show.
As part of Sunday’s announcement, Johns couldn’t help but admonish his former colleague Shirvington in the process.
Johns: (reading an email) “I hear Fletch is hosting the show while you’re in Paris. Do you have any advice for Fletch? Well, the first one, Fletch, which is really important, is that you always have to keep in mind who you’re pitching to.”
The show then cuts to a clip of Shirvo in his early days at the Fox League.
Shirvington begins the segment by saying: ‘Thanks a lot, lads. We’ll join you at half-time. Now we come to your commentators Matt Russell… sorry, Warren Smith and Greg Alexander. Sorry, Matt Russell and Ben Ikin. No, sorry. Matt Russell, Warren Smith and Greg Alexander, sorry about that game at Parramatta Stadium.’
The Sunday Night panel with Matty Johns was left in stitches after playing the clip of Shirvington completely messing up his lines.
Shirvington appeared to be dealing with a faulty teleprompter in his days at Fox League, and was very unhappy when the series of errors aired (pictured)
Shirvington left Fox Sports to join Channel 7 in 2020 and now co-presents Sunrise alongside Natalie Barr (pictured together).
The gaffe appeared to be the result of a teleprompter glitch, with the camera still recording and an angry Shirvington pointing at the device and gesturing to make his disapproval clear.
Johns later said of ‘Shirvo’: ‘I tell you what, though he’s doing a good job now.’
Fletcher: ‘It’s flying.’
Johns: ‘It’s booming.’
The former Olympic sprinter began his television career at Channel Seven in 2005 as a presenter on a show called Beyond Tomorrow before moving to Sky News Australia as a sports presenter in 2010.
In 2013, he was hired by Fox Sports to cover primarily the NRL.
In his days as an athlete, Shirvington reached the final at the Sydney Olympics and remains the second fastest Australian sprinter of all time.
Shirvington left Fox Sports for Seven in 2020 to take the opportunity to commentate on the Olympics.
By that time he had already moved away from the Fox League, working more with Fox News and covering all sports.
“I was already wondering how I get out of Foxtel, what do I do? I would love to spend some time on a commercial network,” he said.
‘(Channel Seven boss) James (Warburton) rang me up and said, “Look, we’ve got a change with Jim Wilson moving to 2GB and that leaves a gap for our weekend sports broadcasts. Would you like to do that?” So I jumped at the chance.”
Shirvington had also been filling in for presenters on Sunrise and The Morning Show, until her big break came in mid-2023 when longtime Sunrise host David Koch announced he was stepping down.
At the time, Shirvington said she had “mixed emotions” about accepting the role.
“I feel intimidated, very excited, happy. I cannot express to you what an honor and privilege this is,” he said.
“I think I’m more nervous than ever, including the Olympics.”
