FLASHBACK: February 1997
FEBRUARY 1997 Parramatta coach, Brian Smith tipped Super League’s much hyped World Club Challenge competition to be a fizzer with Australian fans. Smith, who had coached Bradford in England, said […]
Tag Archives: andrew varley
DIARY UPDATE: Week 14, 2021
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 14 2021 MONDAY, APRIL 5 Yorkshireman, Ray Knight played rugby league in Christchurch, New Zealand, packing down as a hooker between Kiwi […]
FLASHBACK: DECEMBER 1986
DECEMBER 1986 Australian Rugby League skipper, Wally Lewis rejected an offer from Wigan to play the remainder of the English season with the Greater Manchester club, after his commitments with […]
FLASHBACK: NOVEMBER 1996 (UK)
NOVEMBER 1996 Great Britain’s injury hit squad battled hard before losing 32-12 to New Zealand in the Third Test at Christchurch’s Lancaster Park, the Kiwis completing a clean sweep of […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 9, 2021
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 9 2021 MONDAY, MARCH 1 Tweed Heads Seagulls, a rugby league club which lays claim to being the oldest outside Sydney and […]
WELSH BREATHE FIRE INTO CUP
The much-maligned Welsh team restored some credibility to the 2000 Rugby League World Cup, thanks to a courageous 46-22 loss to Australia in a semi-final at Huddersfield’s McAlpine Stadium. The […]
DIARY UPDATE: WEEK 8, 2021
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 8 2021 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22 The Guineas Room, Eagle Farm is the setting for a wonderful memorial service for Paul Malone, one […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 33, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 33 2020 MONDAY, AUGUST 17 My former ‘Telegraph’ and ‘Courier-Mail’ newspaper colleague Mark Oberhardt retires from mainstream journalism after an eternity in […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 31, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 31 2020 MONDAY, AUGUST 3 My beautiful, patient, largely understanding wife, Marie (nee Donnelly) turns 70. We enjoy a lovely night at […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 28, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 28 2020 TUESDAY, JULY 14 Legendary sports sponsor, Ron McConnell is feted at a lunch at Brisbane’s Pineapple Hotel, with most of […]
RIVER CRUISING AND FRENCH DRIVING
TRAVEL 2019 Recently – well, not that recently – a mate asked how many times I had been to Britain and/or Europe, and when I answered ’20’, he said I […]
RUGBY LEAGUE TO CAMOGIE
TRAVEL 2018 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 […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 13, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 13 2020 MONDAY, MARCH 30 Former Balmain rugby league prop, Steve ‘Blocker’ Roach recalls his time at Warrington in England, in particular […]
THIS WAS NO COMMON RIDING
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 […]
A WEDDING IN THE PARK
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 […]
ROME TO LONDON VIA TIPPERARY
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 […]
WILL BRITAIN’S PUBS SURVIVE CORONAVIRUS?
TRAVEL Some reports predict 30,000 pubs and restaurants in the UK, may not re-open at all, even if things return to ‘normal’. Before ‘the virus’, many pubs were closing, despite […]
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 […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 5, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK FIVE 2019 MONDAY, JANUARY 28 Australian rocker, Billy Thorpe’s version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ is played on Ray Hadley’s radio program. […]
IT’S NOT THAT BAD, LADS (AND LASSES)
TRAVEL A week in Leeds! The 44 people who had signed up for my 1994 Kangaroo rugby league supporters’ tour were horrified, when I first raised the prospect. ‘Leeds? It’s […]
Steve Ricketts 