Before playing the TV One New footage Mulligan said McKenzie "made a special shout out to his favourite sports show".
In closing the CGW show, fellow presenter James McOnie: "Yeah, Dame Dog. We will see you there on Friday.
Mulligan: "Yeah, you'll be in that countdown."
McOnie, ramming his fist into his palm: "Smashed."
Dame Dog is not only a dexterous terrier on the park but also a beast who knows how to manipulate the media for some prime time for the cheap seats.
On Friday, McKenzie will no doubt feature in the Smashed Em Bro segment of CGW with snippets of mindless passages of play where eye-patch wearing fans can argue so-called hits are within the ambit of what is or isn't deemed legitimate.
It's mind-numbingly painful to think that if McKenzie gets his kicks out of a 10-second footage that shows how tough he is after taking a body blow and still clings to the ball then impressionable schoolboy rugby is in grave danger.
Smashed Em Bro is infantile and should be taken off the air for, if nothing, common sense that is fast becoming deficient in projecting biffo to lure viewership.
I used to enjoy watching CGW because of its propensity to put sport in a humorous light. Hell, I even opted to overlook the thought of watching former presenter Mark Richardson waxing his bodily hair on prime-time TV.
I have my reservations about presenter Hayley Holt's opinions now that she's a No 17-ranked Green Party candidate with political ambitions but then I reconciled that with the realisation that she's a presenter, not a journalist.
But, people, there's nothing slapstick about players pumping iron all year round in the hope of running on the paddock to smash each other up in the name of rugby, rugby league or netball (even an errant elbow to someone's face) to show a code deserves TV time.
How Mulligan drew the conclusion that CGW was McKenzie's favourite sport show beats me but the viewer ratings can't be too good.
If anything, his prediction showed how transparent and predictable CGW is and how easy it is to use unwarranted violence to feed one's vanity.
That is, folks, the reason why parents (or should that be grown ups) watch TV One News, TV3 News, or Prime News when they want a fix on realism.
You see, McKenzie doesn't have to lie lifeless on the ground or pick himself up like a groggy UFC cage fighter to be deemed concussed.
The New Zealand Rugby website clearly states concussion can occur with or without loss of consciousness.
"Concussion can occur when a player receives an impact to the head or body that causes the brain to shake inside the skull," the website states.
All the technology, research and standing down of players become a futile exercise when you have players courting such puerile publicity.
While "experts" debate the merits of card systems, head gear and clean-out laws, the harsh reality is the macho men of yesteryear have been quietly, with their family members, trying to exorcise their dementia demons.
In the wake of dementia cases, there's an uncomfortable feeling that watching people smash each other senseless doesn't require rocket science to work out it can't be healthy in the long run.
It's ironic that Chiefs coach Dave Rennie is venting his spleen about how Blues replacement prop Alex Hodgman allegedly cleaned out McKenzie with a shoulder to the head.
Goodness knows what the kangaroo courts will make of that "cheap shot" but what is blatantly obvious is that Rennie needs to pull McKenzie aside to instruct him to cut out the juvenile theatrics, which must feel like a slap to the face of the likes of concussion-recovering Charlie Ngatai, not to mention retired former All Blacks James Broadhurst, Leon MacDonald, Ben Afeaki, Steve Devine and relatives of the late Nicky Allen, to name a few, who have quit due to the effects of concussion.
Many variables can be attributed to the reason for the decline in the number of youngsters wanting to play the country's official No 1 sport these days.
Add to that the scores of TV One News-watching parents who obviously can't stomach the thought of adult-sized schoolboys ramming the bejesus out of their children.
With more commercial interests wanting bigger bang for their dollars through sport, shows such as CGW will need to start marketing other avenues to boost their viewership other than Smashed Em Bro.
