Our History Sets Us Apart...

When you pause and think about it, and we have had time to do that of late, rugby league is a sport with a rich history and a backstory which is more akin to a work of fiction.

The idea for this blog came about from a couple of tweets from the RFL, who are running a series of votes to celebrate the 125th year of our sport:

What is the first thing you notice about the contenders for the ‘greatest’ coach and players of the 125 years of the sport? That’s right. Four of the five contenders for best coach are still coaching to this day. Meanwhile, four of the five contenders for the best team ever are from the last 17 years, all five from the last 30 years.

It is without question that the coaches and teams listed as contenders to be ‘the greatest’ have contributed hugely to the game and their achievements praiseworthy. However, is it really the case that four of the best five coaches in the history of our sport are still coaching to this day? 

Is it really the case that four of the best five teams in the history of our sport have all played in the last 20 years? I do not think it is reasonable to suggest that is true. The votes and contenders ignore almost 100 years of the sport, its history and heritage. A century of history and achievement, whether by intention or not, buried.

There are two ways of looking at this. The first being that this blog is a ridiculous overreaction to a simple Twitter vote aiming to engage followers and elicit a debate. Broadly speaking, the poll is aimed at a younger demographic, perhaps one that would not know of the Hunslet and Swinton ‘All Four Cups’ winning sides of 1907-08 and 1927-28 respectively or the Huddersfield ‘Team of All Talents’ from 1914-15.

Similarly, the target audience of the Twitter vote may not even have heard of Eric Ashton, Jack Gibson, Doug Laughton or Bob Fulton to name but a few, let alone their achievements.

The contrary view would say that it is reflective of our own shortcomings that so many who immerse themselves in the game will not be aware of what has gone before. It is incumbent on us all to celebrate our history.

Whilst nothing more than a fun poll on the face of it, this is systemic of a downplaying of our history. A rich history without a museum dedicated to it, since the National Rugby League Museum in Huddersfield closed its doors.

In the UK, rugby league is a sport with a relatively small footprint. Our heartlands are in the north. Yet some of our major cities, the likes of Liverpool or Manchester have an absence of a rugby league presence. Some of the biggest stars in the sport could walk down the once crowded streets of these cities, without being recognised.

Even some smaller towns, neighbours of historic rugby league communities are absent of a professional or an amateur scene. Our piecemeal mapping is fascinating. Outside of the north, we are largely ignored or worse still not even known.

In our desperation to expand into Wales, London or other places without rugby league roots, we appear to have sought to shed our ‘flat cap and whippet’ crude stereotype (or ‘Workington Man’, if you rather). We seem to see our image and history as a crutch rather than a unique selling point.

Our sport and its stories when shared have the potential to enthral not just a rugby league aficionado. They can engage a wider sports audience, or even anyone with a passing interest in 20th century history, politics, sociology or popular culture.

We have a history of rebellion, persecution and innovation, and have contributed more than we would even know to our local communities and culture. We should shout about it from the rooftops. This is from northern-England based teams breaking away from the RFU to be paid a wage in the 1890s to the Greek Rugby League team qualifying for the 2021 World Cup despite having to play games at midnight to avoid persecution by the police and rugby union establishment.

The stories of our sport are intertwined with the major news stories of the time. Whether it be the greatest sacrifice that our players made in the first World War or how Rochdale became a representation of an increasing multicultural British society in the 1960’s with their Fijian pioneers which led to an enduring bond between a Lancastrian mill town and a small pacific island.

Meanwhile, if you did not read Matt Newsum’s detailed history of The Indomitables tour to Australia of 1946, then I implore you to do so, as it is one of the finest sporting tales ever told.

The values of our pioneers are as relevant and dear to us in rugby league as they ever were. That is something precious, especially as other sports such as football and rugby union (especially at international level) have seen an increasing disconnect between fan and sport at large. In football, regular fans feel priced out of the Premier League and the players they see on the field are often far removed from those who roar their names from the stands. In rugby union, an England international at Twickenham resembles a corporate networking event as much as it does a sporting occasion.

In rugby league, it’s different. Let’s take Halifax as an example. In July 2019, players who were baking cakes, bricklaying and plumbing one day were playing in a Challenge Cup Semi Final the next.

Our players are reflective of us. They do not live in a bubble. They are us and we are them. This is something we should take pride in and not hide from. This harnesses rather than hinders expansion.

Do you want evidence of that? Let’s look at Toronto Wolfpack. Whilst in their infancy and in the absence of an academy structure, they have a reliance on many British players. At the end of Toronto’s home matches, the players to go the fans. They take the time to sign autographs. They will pose for photographs. They will stop for a chat. Maybe even have a drink!

To the northern English rugby league fan, this is unremarkable. To a Canadian public who are more used to the almost-mythical global superstars of the Blue Jays and the Raptors, it is scarcely believable to have such access to professional athletes. When we share the values of our sport with audiences old and new, we get so much in return.

Our next blog will be the second in our history of the game series, entitled ‘the persecuted game’, a subject touched on this blog.


Note: 
This blog started out with a mild criticism of the RFL. However, it is fair to point out that the RFL have tweeted out a number of “on this day” memories going back throughout the history of the sport, which is welcome. The more we share our history, the more we get back.