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{{Short description|Australian radio sports program}}
{{italic title}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2020}}
The '''''Continuous Call Team''''' is an Australian radio sports program, covering the news and live games of the [[National Rugby League]]. It is produced and broadcast by [[2GB]] Sydney, and is relayed to stations in New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and [[Papua New Guinea]].
The team have exclusive commercial radio rights to the National Rugby League (apart from Monday Night matches) until the end of the games are broadcast on Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays, with a talkback/humour programme broadcast on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

==Team members==

===Current team members===
*[[Ray Hadley]] (football commentator, and 2GB's morning show presenter).
*[[Darryl Brohman|Darryl "The Big Marn" Brohman]] (ex-[[Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs]] and [[Penrith Panthers|Penrith]] player, [[Queensland Maroons|Queensland]] State of Origin representative, Australian Tug of War representative, football commentator and [[Nine Network]] presenter)
* Chris Warren (Play By Play Caller on Saturday Night and fill-in sideline eye, former player for Western Suburbs and Western Reds. Son of legendary football commentator [[Ray Warren]] )
* [[Jamie Soward]] former [[rugby league]] premiership winning player for St. George, Soward also played for Penrith, the [[Sydney Roosters]] and the [[London Broncos]]
* Mark Levy (Friday and Saturday night Commentator)
* [[Mark Riddell|Mark 'Piggy' Riddell]] (fill-in sideline-eye, former player for [[Sydney Roosters]], [[St. George Illawarra Dragons]], [[Parramatta Eels|Parramatta]] and [[Wigan Warriors]].
* David Riccio, Award-winning reporter who works for Sydney's Daily Telegraph.  Riccio works mainly as a sideline commentator and reporter during 2GB games on a Friday and Saturday night.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/journalists/david-riccio/|title=Journalists|website=The Daily Telegraph|location=Sydney}}</ref>

===Former team members===
*In 2004, [[Peter Frilingos|Peter "Chippy" Frilingos]], who was a member of the team, and chief rugby league writer for ''[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]]'', died of a heart attack while working for the ''Telegraph''. His spot was not filled for the remainder of the [[2004 NRL season]]. A replacement was found in former rival, and ex-[[2UE]] commentator [[Darryl Brohman]].
*[[Bob Fulton|Bob "Bozo" Fulton]] (analyst, Australian and New South Wales selector, [[Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles|Manly]] and [[Sydney Roosters|Eastern Suburbs]] player, former Australian International and New South Wales representative, former Australian coach, former two time Manly premiership coach and Eastern Suburbs coach, representative in 60's and 70's team of the decade). He died in 2021.
*[[David Morrow (commentator)]] Former chief rugby league caller for ABC Grandstand Morrow came out of retirement to join 2GB for the 2015 season replacing Andrew Moore who had crossed to the ABC. He died in 2024.
*[[Steve Roach (rugby league)|Steve "Blocker" Roach]] (football commentator, and former [[Balmain Tigers|Balmain]] player, [[Australian Kangaroos|Australian]] International and New South Wales State of Origin representative). Roach was sacked by 2GB in August 2014 for his involvement in a bullying incident with a 2GB staffer.
* [[Anthony Griffin (rugby league)|Anthony Griffin]] former Penrith and Brisbane head coach who is now head coach of [[St. George Illawarra|St. George]].
*[[Tony Megahey|Tony "Magoo" Megahey]] (sideline commentator, and rugby league writer)
* [[John Gibbs (rugby league)|John Gibbs]]
* [[Peter Jackson (rugby league)|Peter Jackson]]
* [[Andrew Voss]]
* [[Don Moseley]] nicknamed "The Velvet Fog" (Around the Grounds reporter)
* [[Wayne Pearce]]
* [[Ray Price (rugby)|Ray Price]]
* [[Laurie Daley]]
* [[Greg Alexander]]
* [[Paul Sironen]]
*[[Dean Ritchie|Dean "Bulldog" Ritchie]]
* John Redman (Saturday night sideline-eye)
*[[Andrew Moore (commentator)|Andrew Moore]] (football commentator, and substitute for Hadley) Moore left 2GB at the end of the 2014 season to work for the ABC Grandstand Rugby League team, after a dispute with Hadley over the number of games rostered each week.
*[[Erin Molan]]
*[[Joel Caine]] (former [[St George Dragons|St George]], Balmain, [[Wests Tigers]], [[London Broncos]] and [[Salford Red Devils|Salford]] player, 'Around the Grounds' reporter and Saturday night commentator).

==Coverage==

Since 2006, the show's national reach has declined, with groups such as [[Broadcast Operations Group]] (BOG), [[Southern Cross Austereo]] (SCA), [[Grant Broadcasters]] (now [[ARN (Australian radio)|ARN]]) and [[Capital Radio Network]] dropping 2GB's coverage for programs from either SCA's [[Triple M]], [[2SM]] or [[Sports Entertainment Network|SEN]],  or in the case of Grant/ARN, dropping networked sports coverage entirely for cheaper local sport programs mixed with music. 

This means that listeners in some areas, mainly in areas with stations owned by BOG or ARN, must either rely on coverage on [[ABC Radio Grandstand|ABC Grandstand]] or stream the program online. Stations that picked up coverage in 2008 and 2009, such as Gosford's [[Star 104.5|Star FM]], along with stations in Northern Queensland and the Northern Territory have since dropped the program.

As of March 2023,<ref>{{cite web |author1=Nine Radio Syndication |title=CCT Station List |url=https://www.2gb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/CCT-Station-List.pdf |website=2GB.com |publisher=Nine Radio Syndication |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref> only Nine-owned [[2GB]] and [[4BC]] take the program in its entirety, along with stations in [[Canberra]], [[Lithgow, New South Wales|Lithgow]], [[Perth]], parts of [[Queensland|regional Queensland]] and [[Papua New Guinea|Paupa New Guinea]] taking portions of the program.

===Network stations===

''as of March 11, 2023''<ref>{{cite web |author1=Nine Radio Syndication |title=CCT Station List |url=https://www.2gb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/CCT-Station-List.pdf |website=2GB.com |publisher=Nine Radio Syndication |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref>

====New South Wales====
* Sydney – [[2GB]]
* [[Lithgow, New South Wales|Lithgow]] – [[2LT]]

====Australian Capital Territory====
* [[Canberra]] – [[2CC]] and [[Mix 106.3]]

====Queensland====
* [[Brisbane]] – [[4BC]]
* [[Kingaroy]] – [[4SB]]
* [[Charters Towers, Queensland|Charters Towers]] – [[4GC]]
* [[Emerald, Queensland|Emerald]] – [[4HI]]
* [[Charleville, Queensland|Charleville]] – [[4VL]]
* [[Mount Isa]] – [[4LM]]
* [[Roma, Queensland|Roma]] – [[4ZR]]
* Various areas in Queensland - [[KIX Country]]

====Sport FM Perth====
* Perth – [[91.3 SportFM]]

====Papua New Guinea====
* [[Port Moresby]] – [[FM 100]]

==Format==

===Fridays===
The ''Continuous Call Team'' broadcasts ''[[Friday Night Football (NRL)|Friday Night Football]]'' from 7.00pm (with the kick-off at 7.30pm) until 9.45pm. David Morrow calls the selected scheduled game that's on the [[Nine Network]] in Sydney with Darryl Brohman and Mark Riddell on the sidelines.

===Saturdays===
Between 12pm and 5pm, the programme is broadcast from the 2GB studio in Pyrmont with Mark Levy, [[Darryl Brohman|Brohman]], [[Mark Riddell]], and David Morrow. The program consists of reviews of the previous night's match, short reports on the night's upcoming match, combined with large amounts of comedy, including stories of the team member's private lives, humorous songs about the team members and issues in rugby league, as well as discussion on unrelated issues. However, much of the program is focused on the open line calls of the program's listeners.

From 5pm – 7:30pm the program moves to a live broadcast from either the ground or the [[2GB 873]] Interactive Studio, depending on where the game it located. The program is hosted by Mark Levy, with David Morrow, Riddell and Brohman.

As of 2012, 2GB hosts a live broadcast of the 7:30pm NRL game with Mark Levy and Chris Warren as commentators. After the game, there are player interviews plus the broadcast team analyse the night's games with callers and emailers.

===Sundays===
The programme airs from 12 Noon- 6pm and is broadcast live from the ground of a selected Sunday match. Progress scores from other matches are provided by reporters live at those grounds. The team review the Saturday night match, and discuss the upcoming matches for that day. There is less of a focus on comedy on Sundays, however it is still evident. From 2pm or 3pm, Mark Levy with Mark Riddell and Darryl Brohman broadcast the selected match. After the game, players and coaches are interviewed, listeners give their opinions on the day's matches, and the premiership ladder is updated.

==History==
The program began in 1987 when [[Ray Hadley]] and [[Ray Price (rugby)|Ray Price]] took over the commentary duties on [[2UE]]. When 2UE lost the rights to broadcast NRL games in 1999 to 2GB, the station asked commentator Ray Hadley to present a six-hour rugby league program, without having the rights to the actual games, nor having access to their reporters inside the ground. Several 2UE commentators, including John Gibbs and [[Darryl Brohman]], joined 2GB.

The program was renamed ''The Talking League Team''. The team consisting of Ray Hadley, Peter Frilingos, Bob Fulton, Steve Roach, Tony Megahey and [[Greg Alexander]] astounded industry insiders when they beat 2GB and [[ABC Radio National|ABC Radio]], both of whom had the actual rights to NRL games in 2000 and 2001. Many network stations dropped 2GB coverage and switched to 2UE's coverage.
At one stage, rival 2GB campaigned for [[Foxtel]] to cut off 2UE's access to the service, as they were calling games off their coverage. The team stopped the practice soon after the threat was made.

In 2002, when Ray Hadley moved to 2GB, he brought his team over with him (with the exception of Alexander) to bring their coverage of live NRL games, and continued to win the ratings since then.

In 2004, the team lost longtime member [[Peter Frilingos]] to a heart attack, and his spot was not filled for the rest of the season, to be eventually replaced by Darryl Brohman in 2005.

In 2011, Hadley gave up commentating games with Moore calling all three weekend games.

In 2012, Hadley would take over commentating [[Nine Network]]'s second Friday night game.

==Songs==
Throughout the history of ''The Continuous Call Team'', music has been an integral part of the program with send ups of popular songs of any era and genre.  Lyrically, these songs have been directed at anyone or anything related to rugby league (be it referees, clubs, players, coaches and the like). The songs are written and many are also performed by The Robertson Brothers who are exclusively commissioned by and to ''The Continuous Call Team'', as well as other aspiring performers.

==CCT TV==
In 2008, a 30-minute program known as ''CCT TV – Weekend Detention'', featuring video of the team in the studio of a Saturday afternoon was produced for the RugbyLeagueLive.com website.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.2gb.com/ 2GB 873AM Online]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070626202125/http://www.footytipping.net/ ''The Continuous Call Team'' webpage]

{{Macquarie Media}}
{{NRL}}

[[Category:Continuous Call Team| ]]
[[Category:Australian rugby league commentators| ]]