History of rugby league: Encyclopedia II - History of rugby league - From 1910 to 1995

History of rugby league - From 1910 to 1995

History of rugby league - Rugby league before and during the First World War

The early years of the 20th century also saw attempts to establish the game in Wales, with several teams being formed in the principality. None of these ventures lasted long, however Wales remained a source of playing talent for rugby league. Over the years many hundreds of Welsh rugby union players "moved north" to the major English clubs, attracted by the opportunity to earn money playing rugby. (It was not until rugby union officially allowed professionalism, in the late 20th century that this supply of talent ceased.)

In Australasia, the game centred around local, regional or state-wide leagues, and there were no national competition in either country until late in the 20th century. In both Australia and New Zealand, club championships were based on one set of home and away matches leading to a play-off, rather than the multiplicity of trophies available to British clubs. Rugby league quickly took over from rugby union as the most popular form of football in New South Wales and Queensland. The rest of the country was already dominated by Australian rules football. The amateur code still held sway in New Zealand, although the emergence of rugby league meant that it was no longer unrivalled in popularity.

Sport in general suffered as a result of the First World War, and rugby league was no exception. In Britain, the government discouraged all professional sports, and the major competitions were abandoned. In Australia, the situation was slightly less serious, and rugby league continued. The rugby union authorities opted to suspend play throughout the war, and this decision is often cited as one of the prime reasons for the traditional dominance of rugby league over rugby union in Australia.

Although the clubs continued to play, many of them were short of players due to the fighting. In 1917, Australia's first rugby league club, the Glebe "Dirty Reds" (founded on January 9, 1908), unleashed controversy when it fielded a player named Dan "Laddo" Davies. Local rivals Annandale protested that Davies lived within their designated recruiting area. Glebe were deducted two competition points and Davies received a lifetime ban. Many Glebe players already believed the NSWRL was biased against them and they went on strike; the league responded by suspending the first grade team until the following April. Davies returned to his native Newcastle, where his previous club, Western Suburbs — not to be confused with the Sydney club of the same name — sought to use him in the local league. They tried repeatedly to have Davies' suspension lifted, but the NSWRL refused. When Western Suburbs fielded him in a match the NSWRL disqualified most of the local officials for a year. Disgruntled Novocastrians formed a breakaway competition, which lasted until 1919. The fortunes of Glebe — both on the field and financially — did not improve greatly after the Davies affair, and it was expelled from the main NSWRL competition in 1929.

Internationally, the game had settled into a steady pattern of alternating tours, with either Australia or New Zealand visiting Britain once every two years, and Britain reciprocating in the southern hemisphere. The war had intervened, but the schedule was picked up again after hostilities ceased.

An increasing number of Australian and New Zealand players headed for the bigger pay packets on offer in England, many of them destined never to be seen again on the playing fields of their home countries.

History of rugby league - The 1930s and early 1940s

For many years, the rugby union authorities had suspected that the French rugby union was abusing the idea of amateurism, and in the early thirties the French Rugby Union was suspended from playing against the other nations. Looking round for an alternative, many French players turned to rugby league, which soon became the dominant game in France, particularly in the south west of the country. The arrival of a French team on the international scene allowed more variety in the touring pattern, and also for the introduction of a European Championship.

During the Second World War, the British government took a more benign view of professional sports, viewing them as a vital aid to public morale. Although normal leagues were suspended, a War Emergency League was established, with clubs playing separate Yorkshire and Lancashire sections to reduce the need for travel. This period also saw a temporary relaxation of the regulations prohibiting rugby union players from contact with rugby league. In an extraordinary development a team representing rugby league met a rugby union equivalent in two matches, held to raise money for the Red Cross. Both games were held under rugby union rules; both were won by the rugby league side.

In Australia, the war years produced large crowds, and financially at least, the sport did not suffer the hardships endured during the First World War. Nonetheless, the loss of many young men in fighting undoubtedly weakened the talent pool available.

The defeat of France had serious implications for rugby league. The French rugby union authorities worked with the collaborating Vichy regime to re-establish the dominance of their sport; rugby league was banned and many players and officials of the sport were punished. All of the assets of the rugby league and its clubs were handed over to the Union.

The consequences of this action reverberate to this day; the assets were never returned, and although the ban on rugby league was lifted, it was prevented from calling itself rugby until the mid-eighties, having to use the name Jeu de Treize (Game of Thirteen, in reference to the number of player in a rugby league side).

History of rugby league - The late 1940s and 1950s

The rules of the sport had continued to evolve, and until the forties there was no world governing body to oversee this and ensure consistency. Negotiations between the respective governing bodies were required to fix rules to be used for tours, though generally the other nations took their lead from the British authorities.

This situation endured until 1948, when at the instigation of the French, the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) was formed at a meeting Bordeaux. The French were also the driving force behind the staging of the first Rugby League World Cup. This competition has been held intermittently since then, in a variety of formats. Unlike many other sports the World Cup has never really been the pinnacle of international game, that honour falling to international test series such as the Ashes.

All spectator sports in the United Kingdom experienced a surge in interest in the years following the end of World War II. Rugby league was no different, and large crowds came to be expected as the norm for a period of around 20 years. The surge in public interest in the game was demonstrated by the 1954 Challenge Cup Final Replay between Halifax and Warrington, held at Odsal Stadium, Bradford on Wednesday, 5th May, 1954. The officially recorded attendance was at 102,575, a record for a single match of rugby league that stood until 107,558 watched Melbourne Storm defeat St. George-Illawarra Dragons at the Telstra Stadium in 1999. It is estimated that a further 20,000 spectators were present, as many got in free after a section of fencing collapsed. For the record, Warrington beat Halifax 8-4.

The total crowds for the British season hit a record in 1949-50, when over 6.8 million paying customers attended all matches. This period also saw growth in crowds in Australia, New Zealand and France. This was a golden age for the French, who lead by the incomparable Puig Aubert, travelled to Australia and defeated their host in a three test series in 1951. On their return to France the victorious team were greeted by an estimated 100,000 fans in Marseille. They repeated the feat in France 1952-53 and again in Australia in 1955.

In 1956, the state government of New South Wales legalised the playing of poker machines ("pokies") in non-profit clubs, and this rapidly became the major source of income for NSW "leagues clubs", some of which became palatial "homes away from home" for their supporters. The pokie windfall stemmed the steady trickle of Australian players to the better-financed clubs in England, and led to increased recruiting of rugby union and overseas players by NSWRL clubs. With the space of several years, the Sydney-based league had come to dominate the code within Australia. The large profits accrued from gambling have always been controversial; many questioned the morality of such an income stream and felt that it would inevitably lead to financial turmoil and scandal.

History of rugby league - The 1960s and 1970s

In the UK, the boom in interest had begun to subside by the early sixties, and the game's rulers looked to television to provide a new source of income. David Attenborough, then controller of BBC2, made the decision to screen rugby league games from a new competition specially designed for evening televising, the BBC2 Television Floodlit Trophy. Although it was widely seen as a gimmick, it proved a success, and rugby league has featured on television ever since, to the point where (like most sports) income from selling broadcasting rights is the single greatest source of revenue for the game.

This period also saw further alterations to the rules of the sport. In 1967 the number of times a team could retain possession after a play-the-ball was limited to four tackles. It was hoped that this would encourage more attacking play, and prevent teams from simply playing to maintain possession of the ball at all costs. Although successful in this respect, it was felt that four tackles did not give sufficient time to develop an attack, with play often being characterised by pure panic. In 1971, the number of tackles allowed was increased to six, and has remained so ever since.

History of rugby league - The 1980s and early 1990s

In 1980 the first ever State of Origin match was played in Australia. This pitted teams representative of Queensland and New South Wales against each other. Although matches between the two had taken place for many years, the origin concept meant that for the first time players were selected based on where they first played the game, rather than where they were currently playing. This had an immediate effect, evening up the competition, which had come to be dominated by New South Wales due to the financial strength of the Sydney clubs. State of Origin matches are now some of the biggest and most keenly fought contests in Australian sport.

In 1983, the Australian ABC-TV current affairs programme Four Corners, aired an episode entitled "The Big League". The programme was to have repercussions throughout Australian sport, and in the wider community. Reporter Chris Masters described allegations of corruption within the NSWRL, including suggestions that officials were siphoning funds from particular clubs and international matches whilst players and spectators endured sub-standard facilities. As a result of the program, a Royal Commission (the Street Royal Commission) was called. It led to New South Wales chief magistrate Murray Farquhar being jailed, the end of NSWRL president Kevin Humphreys' career and the ABC being sued for libel by NSW State Premier, Neville Wran (who eventually settled out of court). Masters, Four Corners and the commission are widely credited with widespread improvements in the administration of rugby league in Australia.

1983 also saw the number of points awarded for scoring a try increase from three to four.

Also in Australia, the increased ease of travel between states allowed the formation of a national competition. This competition was developed by admitting "out of state" sides to the NSWRL, which had become by far the strongest league in the country.

The 1980s also saw attempts to improve rugby league's popularity outwith its traditional geographical boundaries. In Great Britain a new team from London (Fulham) was admitted to the professional ranks, whilst the sport began to develop in Russia, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific islands.

The 1990s saw the importance of television income to the sport continue to rise, and a battle for control of television rights led to the infamous Super League war in Australia in the middle of the decade. This event affected the sport across the world, and the damage done is only now being undone.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "From 1910 to 1995", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki