DIARY UPDATE: Week 25, 2021
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 25 2021 MONDAY, JUNE 21 Former Wallabies’ hooker, Mark McBain rates French halfback, Antoine Dupont the best player in the world. McBain, […]
Tag Archives: chris close
DIARY UPDATE: Week 44, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 44 2020 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2 EXCLUSIVE. Wallaby Star, Andrew Slack to Switch to Rugby League. Well, it would have been a nice […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 40, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 40 MONDAY, OCTOBER 5 Newcastle was held in the same high regard as Brisbane, when I played rugby league on the Tweed. […]
FLASHBACK: January, 1981
FLASHBACK JANUARY 1981 There is nothing new about the struggle to get kids to play that toughest of all team body contact sports, rugby league. When I was growing up […]
THE POWER OF SLEDGING
This is an article I wrote for The Courier-Mail in October, 1995, but to my knowledge was never published, not for sinister reasons. I think it was simply a lack […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 46, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 46 2019. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18 Bush-fire smoke has cleared enough to be able to see Broken Head for the first time, from […]
FLASBACK: June 1980
JUNE 1980 Australian centre, Chris Close was sent off by referee, Jack ’10 yards’ Percival, after a wild brawl in the tour match against a veteran Maori side at Hastings […]
FLASHBACK: DECEMBER 1994
December 1994 The Queensland Rugby League State of Origin ‘brains trust’ had a new look, heading into the 1995 season, with Wayne Bennett returning as coach, replacing Wally Lewis. Bennett […]
DID BIG MAL PLAY 500 GAMES?
Melbourne Storm skipper, Cameron Smith already holds the record for most appearances in first grade, and, if he plays another two seasons as planned, his tally will be hard to […]
FALSE ECONOMICS
by Steve Ricketts, former Chief Rugby League Writer, The Courier-Mail. It seemed to make sense, in terms of the newspaper’s budget, when I was asked to return to Brisbane, from […]
FLASHBACK: July 1986
Alex Murphy, one of the greats of British rugby league, took a pot shot at the egos of Australian players during a talent scouting trip ‘down under’ for the St […]
FLASHBACK: June 1986
State of Origin stalwarts, Chris Close, Colin Scott and Dave Brown were axed from the Queensland side to play New South Wales in the second match of the 1986 series. […]
FLASHBACK: MAY 1995
Paul Vautin’s Queensland, the most maligned team in State of Origin history, clinched the 1995 series with a 20-12 win over New South Wales in the return match at the […]
FLASHBACK: MAY 1980
COACHED by former Test halfback, Barry Muir, Queensland Country put up a brave showing against City at Lang Park, and won six places in the State side to face New South Wales. […]
FLASHBACK: April 1980
EASTS’ lock, John Tobin scored the decisive try three minutes from fulltime as the Roosters carved out a 14-4 win over Combined Brisbane at Lang Park in the opening Tooth […]
FLASHBACK: January 1980
The arrival of Test coach, Frank Stanton raised the hopes of Redcliffe supporters, with the club experiencing a premiership drought going back to their inaugural title in 1965, when Henry […]
Steve Ricketts 