News

Jason Costigan to commentate on Rugby League Ireland Grand Final

Published by Rugby League Ireland
25 Aug 2021
Irish Rugby League has scored a major coup, securing Australian commentator Jason Costigan to broadcast this year’s Rugby League Ireland (RLI) First Division grand final.
The premiership decider will be played on Saturday, August 28 at Malahide on Dublin’s northern outskirts and calling it almost 11,000 miles away on Facebook LIVE, off a desktop from his Down Under base, will be Costigan, who’s called Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) for over a decade.
RLI chairman Jim Reynolds said Irish club games had been on Facebook LIVE previously but this was the first time that a professional commentator had been engaged.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have someone of Jason Costigan’s calibre for our biggest game of the season,” enthused Reynolds, who was immediately impressed with Costigan’s passion for growing rugby league at the international level when they first spoke several weeks ago.
“Jason is very keen to see the game prosper not only here in Ireland but also across Europe and in other parts of the world. He’s called the game at the highest level in three countries. He has a very unique style and so we hope his involvement will lead to an even bigger audience for RLI.”
Costigan said he is looking forward to calling the Irish premiership decider after his first call in 10 years - broadcasting the recent Round 22 NRL game between New Zealand Warriors and Canterbury Bulldogs for New Zealand’s sports-based SENZ radio network.
“When I lived in England in 1996-97, which included calling Super League games on FM radio, I spent four weeks on the road in Ireland, mostly in the south and south-west and fell in love with the place. Ideally, I’d be at Malahide to broadcast the grand final, however, this is the next best option,” he said.
“I’m actually looking forward to calling this game more than people would realise. I’ve had a big break, serving as an MP in Queensland from 2012 until last year but now I’m on the comeback trail in the world of broadcasting after dusting off a few cobwebs on New Zealand radio just two weeks ago.”
Costigan’s resume includes more than 200 NRL games, mostly on TV with New Zealand’s Sky Television and Australia’s Fox Sports including the 2002 Grand Final.
At the international level, Costigan has called almost 40 games involving New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, France, Papua New Guinea and Samoa including the historic 2008 World Cup Final when the Kiwis won the tournament for the first time.
He called his first international for Australia’s Nine Network affiliate, WIN TV, as a 20-year-old when the Great Britain Lions played the opening game of their 1992 Australian tour against the Queensland Residents.
Within four years, Costigan was in the UK, calling Super League games and he later did similar radio work in Australia - from the NSW South Coast to North Queensland - in addition to his TV commitments across several sports on both sides of the Tasman.
As an added bonus, Costigan, as his name suggests, also boasts Irish ancestry.
“My great great grandfather was Patrick Costigan, who had served in the Royal Irish Constabulary before he emigrated and did his bit to establish Queensland’s police force after Queen Victoria gave her blessing to the new colony, based around Brisbane, cutting ties with New South Wales,” he explained.
“Constable Costigan was actually officer No.111 in the history of the Queensland Police Service and was a pioneering policeman in my home town of Mackay when the town was just three years old. He also helped the first priest set up the Catholic Church in Mackay. It’s something that I’m very proud of.
“With all that in mind, I can’t wait to call this grand final. I haven’t been to the venue before but I feel I know exactly where it is, overlooking the estuary. On August 28, I invite everyone to tune in via Facebook and see grassroots Irish rugby league and the top two teams going hard at it, trying to win the silverware.”
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