DIARY UPDATE: Week 1, 2021
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK ONE 2021 MONDAY, JANUARY 4 Alan Knott was one of my favourite English cricket players. I loved his energy and quirky traits. […]
Tag Archives: Puig Aubert
DIARY UPDATE: Week 49, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 49 2020 MONDAY, DECEMBER 7 ‘The King’, Wally Lewis signs 500 copies of his book, ‘My Life. Wally Lewis’, at QRL headquarters, […]
FLASHBACK: January, 1951
FLASHBACK JANUARY 1951 Renowned BBC commentator, Eddie Waring warned that France’s historic tour of Australia and New Zealand could be a huge success, or a colossal failure. Waring said if […]
FLASHBACK: December 1955
FLASHBACK DECEMBER 1955 France’s former Basque rugby union star, Jean Dop stole the limelight from Welsh dual rugby international, Lewis Jones in France’s 17-5 win over Great Britain at Parc […]
FLASHBACK: DECEMBER 1965
DECEMBER 1965 The exploits of the 1951 French rugby league side in Australia and New Zealand are the stuff of legend. But spare a thought for the generations of French […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 22, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 22 2020 MONDAY, JUNE 1 How long has this been here? That is the reaction of my wife, Marie and I as […]
FLASHBACK: October, 1955
OCTOBER 1955 French Rugby League officials left Hilton Park, Leigh in England full of confidence about the future, despite France’s 32-19 loss to a star-studded Other Nationalities side, in a […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 6, 2020
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 6 2020 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 One of the commentators at Mount Maunganui – in the New Zealand v India cricket one day […]
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 […]
PREACHING RUGBY TREIZE IN PARIS
TRAVEL The cable TV channel in our Paris hotel advertised a France v Scotland rugby match. To fill in time, I stuck with the channel, and then to my delight, […]
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 […]
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 26, 2019
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 26 2019 MONDAY, JULY 1 Former Queensland State of Origin centre, Tony Currie and I talk about the future of Origin football, […]
BAR LE RUGBY REVISITED
TRAVEL Carcassonne had been a highlight of my ‘backpacking days’ in Europe, and now here I was, on assignment for Brisbane’s Courier-Mail newspaper. I couldn’t believe it. It was September, […]
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: November 1954
NOVEMBER 1954 A record crowd for rugby league in France – 37,474 – attended the World Cup match between the home side, captained by the legendary, Puig Aubert, and Great […]
FLASHBACK: October 1959
OCTOBER 1959 France’s Test rugby league players had to catch taxis to Parc des Princes in Paris, after the bus that was due to transport them to the stadium, was […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 42, 2018
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 42 2018 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16 Murwillumbah rugby league stalwart, Bill Carroll tells me of the passing of former Murwillumbah Brothers’ player, Brian […]
SACRE ‘BLUE’ IN BORDEAUX
Travel Twice my waiter asked if I really wanted my steak blue. It was Bordeaux, October 2011, and the reputation of Australians/Kiwis/Englanders had preceded me. Most, it seemed, liked their […]
DIARY UPDATE: Week 29, 2018
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 29 2018 TUESDAY, JULY 17 Rugby League Hall of Fame’s new inductees are Mark Graham, Cliff Lyons, Ricky Stuart, Petero Civoniceva, Gorden […]
Steve Ricketts 