# Narrow World of Sports

Narrow World of Sports (previously titled The Professor's Second Year Syndrome, The Professor's Farewell Tour and The Professor's Late Hit) was an Australian sports television show broadcast on Fox League on Friday nights at the conclusion of the nights NRL fixture. The show was co-hosted by James "The Professor" Rochford and Andrew "Barney" Barnett, who were joined each week by former rugby league footballer Nathan Hindmarsh, along with 10 News First journalist Emma Lawrence. The show took a satirical look at controversies and issues in rugby league.
In December 2018, James Rochford (brother of the well-liked, and more successful Andrew Rochford) and co-host Andrew Barnett started presenting a spin-off show titled The Night Watchmen that aired on Fox Cricket during the 2018-19 cricket season.
Production of the show was ceased after one episode in 2020 as COVID-19 restrictions prevented studio audiences from attending the recordings.

## Presenters

* James "The Professor" Rochford (main host and forever living in the shadow of his brother Dr Andrew Rochford, 2017–2020)
* Andrew "Barney" Barnett (The NRL Store infomercials 2018, co-host 2019–2020)
* Nathan Hindmarsh (regular appearances 2017, co-host 2018–2020)
* Emma Lawrence (news reporter, 2018–2020)

## Regular appearances

* Brett Finch (co-host, 2017-2018)
* Chris "Pagey" Page (co-host and barman, 2017-2018)
* Bryan Fletcher
* Emma Freedman
* John Hopoate
* Matthew Johns (as himself and as character Mighty Mick Matherson)
* Steven Menzies
* Herman Mose (security guard)
* Sam Taunton
* Tommy Tuxedo

## History

The show was announced as part of the 2017 Fox League line-up of programming at the official launch of the channel at Birchgrove Oval, Balmain on 15 February 2017. The show premiered on Friday 3 March 2017 at approximately 10pm following the South Sydney Rabbitohs vs West Tigers NRL fixture.
Rochford was a regular on Monday Night with Matty Johns in the years prior to the shows premiere, presenting the weekly Not The NRL News segment - a satirical look at the week in NRL. The show is described as being "Not The NRL News on steroids".
The first season of the program, broadcast in 2017, was titled The Professor's Second Year Syndrome. However, the show changed its title to The Professor's Farewell Tour for its second season in 2018. The premise and content of the program however have remained much the same as the previous year.
In 2017, The Professor's Second Year Syndrome was broadcast live to air. However, in 2018 the show is pre-recorded with any swearing censored.
For the 2019 season, the title of the show was changed to The Professor's Late Hit, and adopted a similar format to their cricket-related show The Night Watchmen, whereby each episode featured a special guest, whose career was reflected upon.
For the 2020 season, the show was renamed to Narrow World of Sports, a play on words with Nine's Wide World of Sports.

## Series overview

| Season | Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Originally aired |
| Season | Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
| | 1 | 30 | 3 March 2017 (2017-03-03) | 28 September 2017 (2017-09-28) |
| | 2 | 28 | 9 March 2018 (2018-03-09) | 21 September 2018 (2018-09-21) |
| | 3 | 28 | 15 March 2019 (2019-03-15) | 27 September 2019 (2019-09-27) |
| | 4 | 1 | 13 March 2020 (2020-03-13) | 13 March 2020 (2020-03-13) |

## Episodes
### Season 1 (2017) - The Professor's Second Year Syndrome

Note: All episodes feature James Rochford, Brett Finch and Chris Page, unless otherwise noted.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | Australian overnight viewers |
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 3 March 2017 (2017-03-03) | 132,000 |
| Guests: Matthew Johns, Billy Moore |||||
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 10 March 2017 (2017-03-10) | 286,000 |
| Guests: Andrew Rochford, Michael Crocker |||||
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 17 March 2017 (2017-03-17) | 127,000 |
| Guest: Wade Graham |||||
| 4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 24 March 2017 (2017-03-24) | 108,000 |
| Guests: Nathan Hindmarsh, Jake Friend |||||
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 31 March 2017 (2017-03-31) | 143,000 |
| Guest: Steven Menzies |||||
| 6 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 7 April 2017 (2017-04-07) | 85,000 |
| Guests: Bryan Fletcher, Andrew Rochford |||||
| 7 | 7 | "Episode 7" | 14 April 2017 (2017-04-14) | 110,000 |
| Guests: Mark Gasnier, Corey Norman |||||
| 8 | 8 | "Episode 8" | 21 April 2017 (2017-04-21) | 197,000 |
| Guests: Paul Vaughan, John Hopoate, Nathan Hindmarsh |||||
| 9 | 9 | "Episode 9" | 28 April 2017 (2017-04-28) | 101,000 |
| Guest: Jamal Idris |||||
| 10 | 10 | "Episode 10" | 12 May 2017 (2017-05-12) | 83,000 |
| Guests: Bryan Fletcher, John Hopoate, Nathan Ross |||||
| 11 | 11 | "Episode 11" | 19 May 2017 (2017-05-19) | 103,000 |
| Guests: Matthew Johns, Nick Cummins, Wade Graham |||||
| 12 | 12 | "Episode 12" | 26 May 2017 (2017-05-26) | 74,000 |
| Guests: Bob Katter, John Hopoate, Darcy Lussick, Curtis Sironen |||||
| 13 | 13 | "Episode 13" | 2 June 2017 (2017-06-02) | 81,000 |
| Guest: Andrew Voss |||||
| 14 | 14 | "Episode 14" | 9 June 2017 (2017-06-09) | 93,000 |
| Guests: Steven Menzies, Andrew Fifita |||||
| N–A | N–A | "Mid-Season Best Of Special" | 16 June 2017 (2017-06-16) | 68,000 |
| Note: This episode contained highlights from the previous 14 episodes of the show. |||||
| 15 | 15 | "Episode 15" | 23 June 2017 (2017-06-23) | 64,000 |
| Guests: Nathan Ross, Josh McGuire, James Segeyaro, John Hopoate |||||
| 16 | 16 | "Episode 16" | 30 June 2017 (2017-06-30) | 98,000 |
| Guests: Nathan Hindmarsh, Braith Anasta, Matt Shirvington |||||
| 17 | 17 | "Episode 17" | 7 July 2017 (2017-07-07) | 72,000 |
| Guests: Yvonne Sampson, Ruan Sims, Tariq Sims |||||
| 18 | 18 | "Episode 18" | 14 July 2017 (2017-07-14) | 82,000 |
| Christmas In July Special Guests: Steven Menzies, John Hopoate, Dylan Walker, Curtis Sironen |||||
| 19 | 19 | "Episode 19" | 21 July 2017 (2017-07-21) | 69,000 |
| Guests: Corey Norman, Matthew Johns |||||
| 20 | 20 | "Episode 20" | 28 July 2017 (2017-07-28) | 92,000 |
| Guests: Eric Grothe Jr., Jordan Rapana |||||
| 21 | 21 | "Episode 21" | 4 August 2017 (2017-08-04) | 83,000 |
| Retro Round Special Guests: Greg Alexander, Trent Merrin |||||
| 22 | 22 | "Episode 22" | 11 August 2017 (2017-08-11) | 86,000 |
| Guests: Mark Gasnier, Matt Shirvington Note: The Professor and Pagey were absent from the episode, and were replaced by Andrew Voss as host and Bryan Fletcher behind the bar. |||||
| 23 | 23 | "Episode 23" | 18 August 2017 (2017-08-18) | 80,000 |
| Guests: Gorden Tallis, Konrad Hurrell Note: Pagey was absent from the episode, and was replaced by Nathan Hindmarsh behind the bar. |||||
| 24 | 24 | "Episode 24" | 25 August 2017 (2017-08-25) | 91,000 |
| On The Couch With Professor Guests: Ryan Girdler, Clint Gutherson, Andrew Rochford |||||
| 25 | 25 | "Episode 25" | 1 September 2017 (2017-09-01) | 100,000 |
| Guests: Phil Rothfield, Paul Kent |||||
| 26 | 26 | "Episode 26" | 8 September 2017 (2017-09-08) | 37,000 |
| The Professor 365 Guests: Lara Pitt, Matt Shirvington |||||
| 27 | 27 | "Episode 27" | 15 September 2017 (2017-09-15) | 72,000 |
| Tommy Tuxedo's Funeral Guest: Andrew Voss |||||
| 28 | 28 | "Episode 28" | 22 September 2017 (2017-09-22) | 58,000 |
| Guests: Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Steven Menzies |||||
| N–A | N–A | "Best of 2017" | 28 September 2017 (2017-09-28) | N/A |
| Best Of 2017 Special Note: This 1-hour long episode aired on a Thursday night at 9.30pm following the final episode of The Late Show with Matty Johns for 2017. |||||

### Season 2 (2018) - The Professor's Farewell Tour

Note: All episodes feature James Rochford, Brett Finch, Chris Page, Nathan Hindmarsh and Emma Lawrence, unless otherwise noted.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | Australian overnight viewers |
| 29 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 9 March 2018 (2018-03-09) | 136,000 |
| Guest: James Graham |||||
| 30 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 16 March 2018 (2018-03-16) | 167,000 |
| Guests: Chad Townsend, Emma Freedman Note: Brett Finch was absent from this episode. |||||
| 31 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 23 March 2018 (2018-03-23) | 150,000 |
| Guests: Nathan Ross, Connor Watson |||||
| 32 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 30 March 2018 (2018-03-30) | 131,000 |
| Guest: Josh Hodgson |||||
| 33 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 6 April 2018 (2018-04-06) | 88,000 |
| Guest: Trent Merrin |||||
| 34 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 13 April 2018 (2018-04-13) | 122,000 |
| Guest: Chris Lawrence Note: Pagey was absent from this episode, and was replaced by Emma Freedman. |||||
| 35 | 7 | "Episode 7" | 20 April 2018 (2018-04-20) | 101,000 |
| Guest: Bryan Fletcher Note: Brett Finch was absent from this episode. |||||
| 36 | 8 | "Episode 8" | 27 April 2018 (2018-04-27) | 170,000 |
| Guest: Will Chambers |||||
| 37 | 9 | "Episode 9" | 4 May 2018 (2018-05-04) | 125,000 |
| Star Wars Day Special Guest: Josh Reynolds |||||
| 38 | 10 | "Episode 10" | 11 May 2018 (2018-05-11) | 93,000 |
| Guest: Gavin Cooper Note: Brett Finch was absent from this episode, and was replaced by Bryan Fletcher. |||||
| 39 | 11 | "Episode 11" | 18 May 2018 (2018-05-18) | 140,000 |
| Guests: Brett Morris, Josh Morris Note: Nathan Hindmarsh was absent from this episode, and was replaced by Emma Freedman. |||||
| 40 | 12 | "Episode 12" | 25 May 2018 (2018-05-25) | 78,000 |
| Guest: Apisai Koroisau |||||
| 41 | 13 | "Episode 13" | 1 June 2018 (2018-06-01) | 82,000 |
| Guest: Ethan Lowe |||||
| 42 | 14 | "Episode 14" | 8 June 2018 (2018-06-08) | 109,000 |
| Guest: Jason Nightingale Note: Brett Finch was absent from this episode, and was replaced by Emma Freedman. |||||
| 43 | 15 | "Episode 15" | 15 June 2018 (2018-06-15) | 115,000 |
| Guest: Angus Crichton |||||
| 44 | 16 | "Episode 16" | 29 June 2018 (2018-06-29) | 91,000 |
| Guest: Andrew Voss Note: Nathan Hindmarsh was absent from this episode. |||||
| 45 | 17 | "Episode 17" | 6 July 2018 (2018-07-06) | 77,000 |
| Guests: Alex Johnston, Chris Heighington Note: Emma Lawrence was absent from this episode. |||||
| 46 | 18 | "Episode 18" | 13 July 2018 (2018-07-13) | 98,000 |
| Guests: Robbie Farah, Todd Carney Note: Emma Lawrence was absent from this episode. |||||
| 47 | 19 | "Episode 19" | 20 July 2018 (2018-07-20) | 124,000 |
| 2048 Special Guests: Mark Gasnier, Reagan Campbell-Gillard Note: Brett Finch was absent from this episode. |||||
| 48 | 20 | "Episode 20" | 27 July 2018 (2018-07-27) | 90,000 |
| Retro Round Special Guests: Greg Alexander, Agro Note: Brett Finch was absent from this episode. |||||
| 49 | 21 | "Episode 21" | 3 August 2018 (2018-08-03) | 122,000 |
| Guest: Akmal Saleh |||||
| 50 | 22 | "Episode 22" | 10 August 2018 (2018-08-10) | 162,000 |
| Guests: Justin Hodges, Chris Lawrence, Wade Graham Note: Pagey was absent from this episode, and was replaced by Emma Freedman. |||||
| 51 | 23 | "Episode 23" | 17 August 2018 (2018-08-17) | 118,000 |
| Guest: Arj Barker |||||
| 52 | 24 | "Episode 24" | 24 August 2018 (2018-08-24) | 128,000 |
| Guests: Phil Rothfield, Paul Kent Note: This episode is the last appearance from Emma Lawrence for 2018 due to her signing with Network Ten. |||||
| 53 | 25 | "Episode 25" | 31 August 2018 (2018-08-31) | 142,000 |
| Guests: George Burgess, Tom Burgess, Steven Menzies |||||
| 54 | 26 | "Episode 26" | 7 September 2018 (2018-09-07) | 66,000 |
| Mad Monday Special Guests: Ben Ikin, Emma Freedman |||||
| 55 | 27 | "Episode 27" | 14 September 2018 (2018-09-14) | 68,000 |
| Guests: Chris Heighington, Ronnie Palmer |||||
| 56 | 28 | "Episode 28" | 21 September 2018 (2018-09-21) | 53,000 |
| Guest: Matt Shirvington |||||

### Season 3 (2019) - The Professor's Late Hit

Note: All episodes feature James Rochford, Andrew Barnett, Nathan Hindmarsh and Emma Lawrence, unless otherwise noted.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | Australian overnight viewers |
| 57 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 15 March 2019 (2019-03-15) | 132,000 |
| Guest: Geoff Toovey |||||
| 58 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 22 March 2019 (2019-03-22) | 77,000 |
| Guest: Nathan Brown |||||
| 59 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 29 March 2019 (2019-03-29) | 99,000 |
| Guest: Sam Burgess |||||
| 60 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 5 April 2019 (2019-04-05) | 151,000 |
| Guests: Bryan Fletcher and Mark Bosnich |||||
| 61 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 12 April 2019 (2019-04-12) | 138,000 |
| Game of Thrones Special Guest: Steven Menzies |||||
| 62 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 19 April 2019 (2019-04-19) | 194,000 |
| Guest: Benji Marshall |||||
| 63 | 7 | "Episode 7" | 26 April 2019 (2019-04-26) | 137,000 |
| Guest: Brett Finch |||||
| 64 | 8 | "Episode 8" | 3 May 2019 (2019-05-03) | 132,000 |
| Guest: Bill Harrigan |||||
| 65 | 9 | "Episode 9" | 10 May 2019 (2019-05-10) | 154,000 |
| Guest: Brett Morris |||||
| 66 | 10 | "Episode 10" | 17 May 2019 (2019-05-17) | 135,000 |
| Guest: Laurie Daley |||||
| 67 | 11 | "Episode 11" | 24 May 2019 (2019-05-24) | 128,000 |
| Guest: Nathan Peats |||||
| 68 | 12 | "Episode 12" | 31 May 2019 (2019-05-31) | 117,000 |
| Guest: Matthew Johns Note: Emma Lawrence was absent from this episode. |||||
| 69 | 13 | "Episode 13" | 7 June 2019 (2019-06-07) | 112,000 |
| Guest: James Graham |||||
| 70 | 14 | "Episode 14" | 14 June 2019 (2019-06-14) | 165,000 |
| Guest: Boyd Cordner |||||
| 71 | 15 | "Episode 15" | 28 June 2019 (2019-06-28) | 108,000 |
| Guest: Robbie Farah |||||
| 72 | 16 | "Episode 16" | 5 July 2019 (2019-07-05) | 84,000 |
| Guests: John Bateman and Josh Hodgson |||||
| 73 | 17 | "Episode 17" | 12 July 2019 (2019-07-12) | 147,000 |
| Guests: Andrew Voss and Scott Donald |||||
| 74 | 18 | "Episode 18" | 19 July 2019 (2019-07-19) | 95,000 |
| Guest: Michael Ennis |||||
| 75 | 19 | "Episode 19" | 26 July 2019 (2019-07-26) | 99,000 |
| Guest: Corey Parker |||||
| 76 | 20 | "Episode 20" | 2 August 2019 (2019-08-02) | 75,000 |
| Guest: Gavin Cooper |||||
| 77 | 21 | "Episode 21" | 9 August 2019 (2019-08-09) | 98,000 |
| Retro Round Special Guest: Luke Lewis |||||
| 78 | 22 | "Episode 22" | 16 August 2019 (2019-08-16) | 83,000 |
| Guests: Tallisha Harden and Kirra Dibb Note: Emma Lawrence was absent from this episode. |||||
| 79 | 23 | "Episode 23" | 23 August 2019 (2019-08-23) | 130,000 |
| Guest: Marty Sheargold |||||
| 80 | 24 | "Episode 24" | 30 August 2019 (2019-08-30) | 128,000 |
| Guest: Jeremy Latimore |||||
| 81 | 25 | "Episode 25" | 6 September 2019 (2019-09-06) | 94,000 |
| Hindy's 40th Birthday Guests: Andrew Ryan, Luke Burt and Nathan Cayless |||||
| 82 | 26 | "Episode 26" | 13 September 2019 (2019-09-13) | 31,000 |
| Guest: Danny Buderus |||||
| 83 | 27 | "Episode 27" | 20 September 2019 (2019-09-20) | 62,000 |
| Guest: Gorden Tallis |||||
| 84 | 28 | "Episode 28" | 27 September 2019 (2019-09-27) | 99,000 |
| Best of 2019 Special |||||

### Season 4 (2020) - Narrow World of Sports

Note: Production of the show was ceased after one episode as COVID-19 restrictions prevented studio audiences from attending the recordings.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | Australian overnight viewers |
| 55 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 13 March 2020 (2020-03-13) | 137,000 |
| Guests: James Rochford, Andrew Barnett, Nick Rado and Emma Lawrence Note: There was no studio audience present for the recording of this episode. |||||