If you are looking for a good read about rugby league then you need to have a look at the new book by Ian Heads, "The Night The Music Died".
It is about the underdog NSW Western Division team which won the first mid week RL competition in 1974. Then known as the Amco Cup. It is an inspiring story about tough men playing a tough (& sometimes brutal) game & winning against the odds. Blokes who wouldn't let their mates down no matter what. Blokes who played because they loved the game & didn't play for the money. The MoM award was a voucher for a pair of amco jeans.
The book takes you to the times of contested scrums (not group hugs), brutal defence, battle-hardened forwards & pragmatic,decisive refereeing. Ex eel Barry Rushworth (then with Lithgow Workers) gets a prominent mention & his story is particularly interesting.
The piece on the Western Division side playing the touring Great Britain side at Wade Park in Orange is worth the price of the book alone. Rugby League at its adrenaline pumping best. The allegations of official interference to ensure that Western Division lost (& thereby retain interest in the remainder of the test series against Australia) is a great side light on RL bureaucracy at the time.
Without making this blog too long I would like to relate one amusing anecdote from the book which gives some indication of the game as it was in those days. It happened in the quarter final match between WD & Manly. The winner would go on to play Penrith in the final:
" A scrum went down on the 25 & next thing the forwards were into it. Dave Abbott and Peter Peters singled out & Dave was into him. Referee Jack Danzey said,'Right, everyone away'. And those two went, Bang! Bang! Bang! Next thing, Peters was down on one knee. 'Righto' said the ref, 'he's had enough. Bring it over here and we'll scrum it down'. Referees don't do that anymore. It was good refereeing...."
Ah! for the good old days.
Replies
Tough men tough game cant say that anymore. Dave Smith and the NRL are slowly killing the game in front of our eye's, it's becoming an athlete's game not a foot ballers game if it was'nt for Parra I would give the game away
Yes, I agree. The game is being slowly neutered by commercial interests, political correctness & misguided administrators. The scrums these days are an absolute embarrassment, I cringe every time I see one pack down.