Two Tribes: The Untold Story of Rugby League's Divided Year and the Birth of the NRL
TWO TRIBES by Steve Mascord.
‘The Untold Story of rugby league’s divided year and the birth of the NRL.’
Steve Mascord is the right person to have written this book, given his unbiased coverage of the 1997 season, when there were two elite competitions in Australia, one conducted by the Australian Rugby League, the other by the News Ltd backed, Super League.
By his own admission, Steve enjoyed the season, because there were so many footy games, right across Australia, New Zealand, Britain and France, and he tried to get to them all.
The Wollongong born and raised rugby league tragic (I should talk) is the first person to write a comprehensive account of the 1997 season, leading to the creation of the NRL, which is celebrating its 25th year in 2023.
There have been books written about the causes of the Super League war, and how it unfolded. But this is the first one to concentrate on the 1997 season, and the off-field machinations.
Unlike me, Mascord did not get emotionally involved with either side. I was very much an ARL man, believing that Super League’s raids were motivated by greed, despite the undoubted good intentions of most of the true rugby league people, seduced by Rupert Murdoch’s bags of riches.
Steve didn’t interview me for the book, and I am not at all offended. But he asked me to speak at the Brisbane Launch of the book at the Paddington Tavern, and, as a result of my ‘speech’, he probably thinks I am like one of those Japanese soldiers, still fighting the war, after peace has been brokered.
It’s amazing that two competitions were able to run side-by-side in 1997, and neither was a total flop. I covered games in both comps. In Super League those matches included the Hunter Mariners’ win over the Broncos in Newcastle; the Broncos’ visits to Adelaide and Perth; and the Grand Final at Brisbane’s ANZ Stadium when Steve Renouf scored three tries in the Broncos’ 26-8 win over the Sharks.
In the ARL I covered the Crushers’ last ever game – at Suncorp Stadium; the Gold Coast’s historic semi-final win over Illawarra in Parramatta; and Newcastle’s last second win over Manly in the Grand Final in Sydney. I also covered all three State of Origin games under the ARL banner; and the Super League Tri-Series Final. You can throw in a few World Club Challenge games – e.g. Broncos v London; Cowboys v Oldham; and the ARL Australian team’s Test against the Rest of the World in Brisbane.
ARL loyal, Western Suburbs’ Magpies chairman, Jim Marsden, a lawyer, thought a resolution would have been found after Super League ‘won’ the second court case, overturning the original court verdict, which effectively banned the rebel competition.
Ken Cowley, from News, did make contact with ARL backer, Kerry Packer, ahead of the 1997 season.
John Quayle, the ARL CEO at the time, asked Packer what he had said to Cowley.
“I told him to get fucked,” Packer (allegedly) said.
Quayle said the Super League camp tried very hard to split him and ARL Chairman, Ken Arthurson, but they did not succeed, with the two supremoes great friends to this day. They both worked around the clock at NSWRL Headquarters in Phillip Street, during the ‘War’, alongside the likes of Paul Broughton, Greg Mitchell, and Graeme Foster.
Steve dedicated his book in memory of the likes of Arthur Beetson, Tom Bellew, Peter ‘Chippy’ Frilingos, Maurice Lindsay, Paul ‘Scobie’ Malone, Graham Murray, Colin Sanders and Rebecca Wilson, all of them ‘players’ in the saga of those amazing years, 1995-97, and now all sadly deceased.
The book boasts ‘new and exclusive’ interviews with the likes of Wayne Bennett, Phil Economidis, Graham Lowe, Brent Read, Ian Schubert, Adrian Vowles and Graham Annesley.
‘Two Tribes’ costs $37.50, and is published by White Line Fever Media, London.
About Author
a great review, Steve. I was fortunate enough to meet Steve (Mascord) in Adelaide earlier this year, what a great evening that was!