This is Willie Mason of the NRL's Newcastle Knights mic'd up during his side's encounter with St George Dragons. The loquacious Mason was obviously a prime candidate for the experiment, but there's plenty of similar characters in the 15-man game to keep us entertained on a weekly basis. Sometimes the ref's mic does the job for us, but it would be interesting to hear how players communicate tactically, as well as good old-fashioned sledging and name-calling.
If the practice took off in these parts, we might not be able to transmit a live feed of the mic-wearing players, what with the constant swearing and the need to hear the referee, but it's certainly something that would do well as a highlights package, or a red-button option.
(If you also think 'mic'd up' is a desperately ugly way of saying 'wearing a microphone', I agree with you, but unfortunately I think we've lost that battle.)
[via sportabsorb]
