Was Johnathan Thurston's slip-up telling about Ray Warren's future?

The fact Ray Warren had the entire off-season to think about his future and still couldn't arrive at a decision tells you all you need to know.

If the 78-year-old has had the best part of six months to mull it over and is still procrastinating, it could only mean he has doubts about continuing.

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And, like a player contemplating retirement, the moment you start hesitating and second guessing yourself is probably the time to hang them up.

'Rabs' has earned the right to call the shots and Channel 9 has shown him due respect by allowing him to take the first six rounds off to weigh up.

The station won’t be forcing him out of the joint at gunpoint, affording him the same courtesy offered to the venerable Richie Benaud late in his career.

"I'm tortured by it (making a decision)," Warren told the Daily Telegraph's Phil Rothfield.

"I’m full of fear. I’d hate to wake up one day and think I’ve made the wrong call.

"I actually asked them not to put me on the roster. I need more time and Channel 9 understands the enormity of my decision."

But Nine does need an answer ASAP as its wrestles with life after Rabs.

That he will leave such an enormous hole is stating the obvious.

Johnathan Thurston gaffe shows Channel 9's issue

But it was again underlined at the start of Nine's coverage of the Broncos-Cowboys clash on Sunday when sideline eye Johnathan Thurston responded to a question from commentator Matt Thompson.

"JT, how you doing?" Thompson asked.

"Great for a Sunday arvo, thanks Salty," Thurston replied before giving us a rundown on conditions.

Thompson responded: "Thanks JT. (Salty's) left the building like Elvis. It's Matt here."

'Salty' for the uninitiated is Peter Psaltis. He sits behind Warren and Thompson on Nine's list of callers and does a good job, as does Thompson.

We can forgive Thurston for the mix up - Psaltis sounds eerily like Thompson – but it shows the challenge Nine has in front of it to find a distinctive voice – and face - to carry the torch after Warren.

Rabs has been it for the best part of 50 years. He's called 99 Origin matches, 45 grand finals and thousands of competition matches.

Like Benaud, his voice has been mimicked in pubs and lounge rooms across the land and his phrases woven into sporting vernacular.

Warren has raised the possibility of concentrating on Origin and giving club games a miss.

It sounds the perfect way to go out.

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