THE RL1908 BLOG
News, Reviews & Opinion - Sean Fagan - RL1908.com
 To
allow for greater inter-action with the views
and opinions of our visitors, offer email alerts
for new posts, and to fit with the traditional
blogging formats, as from 31st January 2010 Sean
Fagan has been posting on rugby league at
Tribe13.
Earlier
RL1908 Blog posts will remain archived here:
"Double
Try" option in All Stars match
Is the "double try" option a good idea?
Or will it double the involvement of the video
referee?
"Tiger
Territory"
A new book detailing the history of the Oberon
Tigers - the club that won 10 premierships from
12 Grand Finals in the 1960s and early '70s.
The
Mighty Bulldogs DVD Series
A
video documentary dvd set of the Canterbury Bulldogs
history - the 3rd volume in this epic series has
been released.
Darren
Lockyer Smashes Kangaroos' Records
During the 2009 Four Nations tournament Aussie
skipper Darren Lockyer took hold of three Kangaroo
records.
Blow
That Whistle Ref - But Not Too Much
The impact of penalties is changing the role of
the referee.
Grand
Final Coverage in Melbourne
The first rugby league Grand Final aired in Victoria
was in 1967.
Fight
for "the Ashes"
The notion that rugby league can seek to mirror
the interest and euphoria surrounding cricket's
Ashes Test series by simply doubling-up on the
result of a Four Nations match is ludicrous.
NRL
Wildcard and Expansion
A crazy idea perhaps, but let the winners of the
NSW Cup and Queensland Cup play-off for a NRL
"Wildcard" place. It might make inter-state
expansion easier too.
Wallabies
Stampede of 1909
Fourteen current Wallabies defected to rugby league
in one day.
Cross-Code
Pay-Back Time
There is a mistaken view that rugby league began
in 1908 with disloyal footballers chasing club
contracts from the highest-bidder.
Tackling
to Victory
The final minute of Game III of the 2009 State
of Origin series gave us a fleeting glimpse of
tactics from rugby league's past.
Bring
Me All Your Miscreant Footballers
It seems at the present time that few can find
it their heart to stand up for game of rugby league,
and the men who play it.
War
Cries and Hakas
Article for Inside Sport
(July edition) on the history of the introduction
and evolution of football war cries and hakas,
including the Kangaroos.
Footy
Cards book
A book that lists all rugby league trading cards
and similar items issued since 1908.
It
Takes Two Referees
Article for Inside
Sport (May edition) examining the NRL's
two-referees system, and how it had been tried
before in the 1880s - and failed.
"A
Game for all Shapes and Sizes"
How many times have we heard that tired old line
from other football codes?
Footy's
Great Divide
A special feature for Inside
Sport (April
edition) looking back at why Australia split
its football loyalties.
Contest
for Possession
Apparently rugby league has no contests for possession,
only rugby union does.
The
Same Old Game
After more than a century of change, some paradigms
of the game still remain the same.
Let's
Play Ball! Without the Wriggling Fish Dance
The number of play-the-balls in a game is no indicator
of entertainment. It is the number of times play
was brought to a halt, except for that silly little
"wriggling fish dance".
Give
the Defenders a Go!
Time for "maverick markers" and to reward
tacklers for doing their job, for capturing the
enemy with the ball.
The
Real Rugby Code
Bad-mouthed as not "real rugby" by some,
is rugby league's play-the-ball a throwback to
19th century rugby?
The
NRL comp should the rugby world's "Cult of
Celebrity"
It's time for rugby league to start buying star
rugby union players again, and to keep our own
stars as well.
Is
touch football rugby league?
Devised in the 1960s as a recreational form of
rugby league to spread the game, is it time for
rugby league to truly embrace touch footy and
OzTag?
French
Rugby League & WW2
What
happened to rugby league in France is a remarkable
story - one that every rugby league fan should
know.
The
Harlem Kangaroos are Coming
International
Rugby League needs competitiveness, not a one-horse
extravaganza.
A
World Cup of Critics
What
possesses people to attack a sport that is simply
celebrating and enjoying its own game?
The
Fibros v The Silvertails - a film documentary
Recollections
of rugby league's blood-and-thunder era.
"Club,
Community & Country"
A
rugby league exhibition - State Library of NSW.
"A
Century of Rugby League" DVD
A
4-disc DVD boxed set covering 100 years of the
game in Australia.
Kill
the inter-change & expand the NRL
Can
the game really afford 17-man rugby league?
Sonny
Does a Runner
The
sudden departure of Sonny Bill Williams has ignited
a torrent of debate.
Exhibition:
Indigenous League Legends
State
Library of NSW
SCG
& Sports Ground - Rugby League exhibition
"Fields
of Tradition" exhibition at the Sydney Cricket
Ground.
Is
the 10m rule killing Sydney's NRL clubs?
Is
the physical demands of the modern game too expensive
for the code to afford?
Is
the Underdog Dead?
Will
we ever see again a truly stunning upset victory
in the NRL?
The
"held" rule with a 5m defence line
Could
a return to the 5m rule make the game even faster?
Merging
rugby codes
Another
year, another suggestion that the codes should
merge.
The
push towards two referees grows
The
NRL will trial a two-referee system late 2008.
State
of Origin - should it be a stand-alone weekend?
Suggestions
that all club footy should called off for an Origin
weekend are increasing - a good idea?
11-aside
- a good idea?
Every
now and then this idea comes up - is it worth
a go?
Albert
Baskerville - 100 years since his passing
Rugby
league down under owes a debt.
Where
have all the 5/8ths gone?
Are
Brad Fittler and Laurie Daley the last of kind?
Which
rugby code is older?
Which
code is closer to the original form of 1800s rugby?
"A
Centenary of Rugby League" book
The
official history book of the Centenary has been
released.
Dally
Messenger: "They Made Me a Bit of a Hero"
On
the 125th anniversary of his birth, the impact
of Dally M's contribution to the code still resonates.
The
Making of the Dally Messenger Sculpture
A
sculpture of Dally M has been unveiled at the
SFS.
League
of Legends - rugby league exhibition
Touring
Australia's eastern states from March 2008 to
July 2009.
League
of Legends - Panel Discussion - 11 MAY 2008
You're
invited to join rugby league historians as they
discuss the code's greatest and controversial
moments.
This
is the True History of Rugby League
Does
this article by a rugby union writer set the record
straight?
"Number
One Fan"
A
short documentary film on Balmain Tigers' Laurie
Nichols.
NRL
to 18 clubs?
Should
the NRL open the door to new clubs sooner rather
than later?
Team
of the Century
No
one can from personal experience offer up and
discuss their observations of the greatest footballers
across 100 years.
History
of the Play-the-Ball
A
study of the history and evolution of the play-the-ball
rule (and associated rules).
An
Evolving Animal
Should
the playing laws be the same across the globe?
Did
league miss its chance to kill-off union?
In
the 1920s the amateur code was down and out...so
why didn't league hasten union's demise?
Wests
Magpies 2008 Centenary Calendar
A
classy piece, chock full of photographs and memorabilia.
"Champagne
Rugby"
A
book on the fabulous Frenchmen of the 1950s.
2007
Tom brock Lecture
For
those who couldn't get there, the lecture was
recorded by ABC Radio, and is planned to be broadcast
nationally on 20 April 2008.
The Ninth Annual Tom Brock Lecture delivered by
Sean Fagan, "Nothing But a Nine-Day Wonder":
The founding of rugby league—Australia's first
professional code.
The
age of NRL footballers is falling
With most NRL players on the scrap-heap by 28,
is the code killing its stars?
"The
Country Tale of a Rugby League Tragic"
Michael Croke reflects upon growing up as a rugby
league fan in a country town in the 1960s.
The
founding of rugby league - 8th August 1907
A
century ago, Australia's first professional football
code was born.
"The
Final Winter" - Rugby League movie
An
exceptionally "rare bird" is a major
release movie centred around rugby league.
"Snuff
out the moon"
A
book on the development of floodlit rugby league
in England.
South
Sydney Rabbitohs TV doco series
"South
Side Story"
"When
did 'rugby league' begin?"
Received
an email recently posing an interesting question.
Digging
deep for a great game
The
2nd and 3rd matches of the 2007 Origin series
provide a telling demonstration of the good and
bad of the modern game.
Innovation's
always been name of this game
Since
its inception in 1895, rugby league has prided
itself as being innovative.
NSWRU
re-instates Dally M
Almost
a century after Dally Messenger was struck from
the records of the NSWRU, he is re-instated.
League's
Lost Heart
A
series of Sydney Morning Herald articles exploring
the current state of rugby league in Australia.
Is
2007 rugby league as boring as many think?
An
examination of points-scoring averages from 1945
to 2007 make for some interesting observations.
"Pioneers
of Rugby League" book - in shops August 2007
An
exceptionally "rare bird" is a major
release movie centred around rugby league.
Dally
Messenger book - in shops August 2007
A
completely fresh (and factual) account of Dally
M's footballing feats, and his place and influence
as "Australia's first sporting superstar".
Time
to grade penalties
I've
been advocating for some time that one of the
biggest problems the game has today is the non-enforcing
of certain rules by referees.
Percy
Collins - Sydney's "Street Balladeer"
In
the 1920s he wandered amongst Sydney league fans
at games and sold his poetry.
City
v Country - time to farewell a tradition?
Anyone
who watched the 2007 "City v Country"
fixture will have little doubt that the future
of the contest has to be questioned.
Time
the NSWRU removed life bans of converts
The
bans imposed by the NSWRU in 1907 upon Dally Messenger
and his fellow pioneers of rugby league are still
in place today - even after passing away, the
stigma remains.
All
Golds match to reprise Dally Messenger role
The
NZRL will invite an Australian to play in the
All Golds commemorative match in October 2007
in England.
Saving
a lost art - drop goals
Rugby
league's first stars were the drop (field) goal
kickers. The
golden-point has brought back a need for this
skill.
Deliberately
knocking-on
If
the first action in taking an intercept is to
deliberate knock the ball forward, it should be
a penalty.
Is
Australia's RL community "a bit too precious"?
You
can be sure the media will spin the negatives
- they know interest in the code is so popular
it will sell papers and generate talk-back radio
calls.
Playing
laws "think-tank"
Many
rules don't work unless the players are "playing
the game" instead of "playing the referee
and playing to get penalties".
Are
League laws older than Union?
One
of the first opinion pieces I wrote for RL1908
claimed league fans could watch rugby union as
a window into our past - I was wrong.
Rugby
league played during the Boer War?
Claims have been made that in 1900 or 1901 a rugby
league tournament took place for a Challenge Cup
at Zeerust, South Africa.
NRL
cheerleaders
The
argument continues as to their place in rugby
league.
Don
Bradman and rugby league
While
Bradman's deeds as a footballer are of no real
significance, it is important for rugby league
that they be recorded correctly.
AFL's
first game was rugby
Acclaimed as the first game of Australian rules,
this 1858 schoolboy match followed the example
of football at Rugby School.
AFL's
"kick-to-kick" is Rugby School's "puntabout"
In rugby league territory it was known as "force
'ems back" (or similar) - whatever it is
called, kicking the ball back and forth is no
Melbourne invention.
The
English origins of Australian football
An Australian invention in 1859, or a long lost
member of the English football family?
AFL
fumbles Western Sydney 'history'
In an attempt to gain "cultural connection"
for its GWS team, Australian rules has turned
to the code's historical ties to Sydney's west
- but are they fact or fiction?
__________________
To
allow for greater inter-action with the views
and opinions of our visitors, offer email alerts
for new posts, and to fit with the traditional
blogging formats, as from 31st January 2010 Sean
Fagan has been posting on rugby league at
Tribe13.
|
