FLASHBACK: February, 1960
FEBRUARY 1960 Cashed up Sydney rugby league club officials headed straight for Queenslanders, Gary Parcell and Elton Rasmussen when the Kangaroo touring party returned to Australia after five months touring […]
Author Archives: SteveRicketts
DIARY UPDATE: Week 12, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 12 2019 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27 Former St George and Broncos’ centres, Chris Johns and Mick De Vere are the special guests at […]
FLASHBACK: February, 1985
FEBRUARY 1985 It was the moment Queensland probably lost the chance to defend its State of Origin title, and it happened at the unlikely setting of the Maclean Showgrounds, on […]
I HAVE A CUNNING PLAN
TRAVEL What could possibly go wrong? It was November, 1982, and I had chosen a pub called ‘The Old Bore’ at Cunning Corner, for lunch, on the way to the Australian Rugby League Kangaroos’ match against Bradford Northern at Odsal Stadium. Although I was not the driver, I had been tasked with planning many of […]
FLASHBACK: JANUARY 1960
JANUARY 1960 Australian halfback, Barry Muir was lucky not to be sent off, after he knocked out French rival, Bernard Fabre from Albi, in the Third Rugby League Test at […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 10, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 10 2019 TUESDAY, MARCH 19 Former Welsh rugby league player, Mike Murphy (I know, he should have played for Ireland) has died, aged […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 10, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 10 2019 MONDAY, MARCH 11 The proposed Queensland Sports Museum will not get off the ground, chairman, Denis Brennan informs me. The […]
FLASHBACK: January, 1995
FLASHBACK JANUARY 1995 CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND announced the signing of dual Welsh rugby international, Allan Bateman, adding even more strike power to an already impressive looking backline. Cronulla boasted the likes of […]
FLASHBACK: January, 1965
FLASHBACK JANUARY 1965 After their disastrous rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand the previous year, France were keen to start 1965 off on the right foot with a good […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 9, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 9 2019 MONDAY, MARCH 4 The Courier-Mail’s Peter Badel asks new Brisbane Broncos’ coach, Anthony Siebold if he will continue with plans […]
REQUESTS. I’VE HAD A FEW.
As chairman of the Queensland Rugby League History Committee, I receive many requests from people, via the QRL offices, wanting answers to questions about matters relating to the code’s heritage. […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 8, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 8 2019 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25 A statue of rugby union legend, John Eales is unveiled at the southern forecourt of Suncorp Stadium. […]
A SOFTER VERSION OF AUSSIE RULES
We met Joe Duffy and his young son, Gary in the Hogan Stand at Dublin’s Croke Park, one clear autumn afternoon in 1977. The occasion was a Gaelic Football match […]
HISTORY OF RUGBY LEAGUE ON THE GOLD COAST: A STORY OF RESILIENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT
Just as there was life ‘Before the Broncos’ in Brisbane, there was a proud history of rugby league on the Gold Coast and Northern Rivers before the Titans and its […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 7, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 7 2019 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18 The World Club Challenge match between Wigan and the Roosters flows, largely because there is just one […]
FLASHBACK: January, 1975
JANUARY 1975 Referees threatened to ‘pack up their gear and leave the ground’ if alcohol was sold before first grade matches in the cross border, Group 18 competition, which encompassed […]
FIRED FOR EFFECT
BOOK REVIEW Jasper Samuel Creagh, from Wingham in New South Wales, was one of the ‘old originals’, who sailed to Europe with 13 Battery in 1915. Two years later, Creagh’s war […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 6, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK SIX 2019 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11 OzTag competitors leave lots of litter behind, at our Emerald Beach Caravan Park. Excellent coffee from Emerald […]
FLASHBACK: December 1959
DECEMBER 1959. FRENCH Rugby League legend, Puig Aubert lambasted France’s pack for not dominating their Australian rivals, as the touring Kangaroos won the Second Test, and the series with a […]
FLASHBACK: December 2009
DECEMBER 2009 Queensland Rugby League managing director, Ross Livermore said his organisation would not stand in the away of an independent commission taking over the game, but insisted grassroots development […]
