Dean Sampson:
My Shangri-La
by Dean Sampson
and Dave Sampson
Castleford Tigers Rugby League
Published
by Vertical Editions UK
Dean
Sampson is a rare breed - for many, many reasons. Enough to fill a book.
Which, obviously, he now has!
Sampson
entered the the rugby league game at a time when it was a part-time
vocation in the late 1980s. He left it when it has become absolutely
mandatory to be a fulltime professional to succeed.
A
tall and powefully built man, Sampson played as a front rower for Castleford
from August 1987 to September 2002. No other period in rugby league
has seen such rapid and remarkable changes come over the game - to have
performed through that entire era is a marvel.
In
many ways, this book is not just about Sampson but it is also one of
the first historical accounts of the change to Super Rugby League. Sampson
can offer the perspectives and personal experiences that most can't.
He started his career alongside fellow front rower Kevin Ward - as tough
and 'old-school' as they came.
Dean
can also speak from a family that is steeped in rugby league. His father
Dave played for Wakefield Trinity and wrote his own rugby league book
"Fast Lane To Shangri-La". Dean's uncle Brian organised the
extras for the favoured rugby league tragics' movie 'This Sporting Life'.
Dean
Sampson's book is immensely readable - he tells it straight and colourfully.
He talks of his career highs and lows, along with his experiences with
Australian clubs Parramatta and the Gold Coast.
Of
course, there are many controversial moments for Dean to cover - loved
by the 'Cas fans, he holds the 'respect' of opposition fans. Always
entertaining!
The
book is co-written with his father Dave and his comments are often quite
telling. Here they talk after Australia has just routed the Brits in
Sydney in 2002:
"Dad
has just questioned how come the Aussies have just stuffed us and not
one of them had so much as a bloody nose? He quotes the old days and
then tries to justify it, I tell him the game's different nowadays.
'That's bollocks! It's only because that's how the Aussies want it played'
he replies.
I
guess he has a point my dad."
The
game in England needs people like Dean Sampson to say it how it is -
and how the game ought to be. That's how it used to be - it takes two
teams to play Test rugby league - and why should GB be playing to the
'rules' set by the Aussies?
Why
can't Great Britain have home referees in all Tests? Who said the Aussie
way of playing the game is more entertaining or should be what GB ought
aspire to?
Dean didn't play the game the way his opponents wanted him to play it.
Its an example many others should follow.
Dean
Sampson: My Shangri-La
by Dean Sampson and Dave Sampson
Published
by Vertical Editions : ISBN 1-904091-04-0
Available
from:
UK bookshops, sportsbooksdirect.co.uk & Amazon.co.uk
UK
customers can order direct from the publisher.
Send a cheque for £10.99 to : Vertical Editions, 18-20 Blackwood
Hall Lane, Luddendenfoot, Halifax, HX2 6HD
