FLASHBACK: May, 1995
MAY 1995 London Broncos were confirmed as part of the new English Summer Super League competition, despite protests from a number of northern clubs. London director, Barry Maranta, a former […]
Author Archives: SteveRicketts
ARTHUR SUMMONS – GENTLEMAN GLADIATOR
By STEVE RICKETTS ARTHUR Summons had the dubious honour of coaching the last Australian team to lose an Ashes Rugby League series against Great Britain. He won’t be remembered for […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 32, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 32 2019 MONDAY, AUGUST 12 Australians, Craig Young and Danny Buderus, along with New Zealanders, Ruben Wiki and Stacey Jones are announced […]
VALE BIG LEAGUE?
Have we seen the last of ‘Big League’? I fear for the future of the official program of the NRL, after it closed shop for the rest of the 2020 […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 31, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 31 2019 MONDAY, AUGUST 5 Former Courier-Mail colleague, Mark Mazzaglia now works at Ladbrokes, Lutwyche, where my former sports editor, Karl deKroo […]
FLASHBACK: May 1970
FLASHBACK MAY 1970 Brisbane ‘pinched’ the ‘Gold Top Cup’ State Championship from Central Queensland, 45 seconds from the end of the final at Lang Park. Brisbane won 14-12 in a […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 30, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 30 2019 MONDAY, JULY 29 ‘Yesterday’ ‘does it’ for me. I love the concept, and the Suffolk locations. My wife, Marie and […]
GIVE THE MAN MEAT (AND LETTUCE)
I wonder what sports nutritionists would think of steak and lettuce as a match-day meal for rugby league players? I imagine they would be quite critical of any club which […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 29, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 29 2019. MONDAY, JULY 22 Rugby league cult hero, giant former Brisbane Norths’ prop, Campbell ‘Zulu’ Dews has agreed to be a […]
FLASHBACK: May 1965
MAY 1965 It is still regarded as one of the greatest Wembley Challenge Cup finals. Wigan’s 20-16 win over Hunslet on May 8, 1965 was a classic game of rugby […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 28, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 28 2019 MONDAY, JULY 15 Coffee from Lure, Yeppoon is yummy. Young bloke out front, with his dog, looks the archetpyal ‘bushie’. […]
WE BELONG IN GLASGOW
TRAVEL Glasgow was a social highlight of our eldest son, Damien’s Queensland Universities rugby league tour of the British Isles in 2001. Scotland’s largest city was also on the itinerary […]
‘STORMY SIXTIES’ by Roger Grime
BOOK REVIEW Rugby League in France soared to incredible highs and plummeted to unparalleled lows in the 1960s, a decade covered by noted English rugby league author, Roger Grime, from […]
END OF HOSTILITIES
Chris Johns’ appointment as manager of the Australian team for the 2004 Trans-Tasman rugby league Test in Newcastle was viewed as a controversial one in some quarters. Johns was an […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 27, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 27 MONDAY, JULY 8 A Burdekin Roosters’ banner adorns the main street of Ayr, the principal town in the Burdekin Valley. This […]
MY THIRD KANGAROO SUPPORTERS’ TOUR
TRAVEL Recently a mate asked how many times I had been to Britain and/or Europe, and when I answered ’20’, he said I should write a book. I’m not in […]
MADRID TO GALWAY
TRAVEL Recently a mate asked how many times I had been to Britain and or Europe, and when I answered ’20’ he said I should write a book. I’m not […]
FLASHBACK: May 1925
MAY 1925 Test winger, Cec Aynsley kicked five goals in difficult conditions, including two from near halfway, to steer Western Suburbs to a 16-13 win over Christian Brothers in the […]
THE QUIET AUSTRALIAN
TRAVEL My wife, Marie nearly fainted when she heard I was staying in a youth hostel at Ivinghoe in Buckinghamshire, England, in October 1993 on my walk from London to […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 25, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 25 2019 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26 Our daughter-in-law, Channelle says the food was ordinary at a business breakfast at the Convention Centre, South […]
