FLASHBACK: February 1988
FLASHBACK: February 1988 The changing face of the Brisbane Rugby League premiership was illustrated by the make-up of a 27 man squad chosen to prepare for the National Panasonic Cup […]
FLASHBACK: February 1988 The changing face of the Brisbane Rugby League premiership was illustrated by the make-up of a 27 man squad chosen to prepare for the National Panasonic Cup […]
FLASHBACK: February 1978 Second rower, Gary Walker made an impressive Brisbane Rugby League debut – for Norths – in the Woolies pre-season competition. Walker was signed by Norths’ president, and former […]
FLASHBACK: FEBRUARY 1958 The Great Britain rugby league team to tour Australia was sparing no expense to retain the Ashes, and to restore pride after the Lions lost 2-1 in […]
FLASHBACK: FEBRUARY 1938 The English Rugby League farewelled the Australian tourists at the Griffin Hotel, Leeds. A high note was struck in a letter from Tom Reynolds, the ‘Daily Herald’ […]
WEEK 25 2016 MONDAY, JUNE 20 Walk Bunya Mountains National Park – Festoon Falls, Barker Creek, Paradise Falls. Surprising number of walkers, given the crook weather. Only one tree down. Thought […]
WEEK 24 2016 MONDAY, JUNE 13 ANOTHER day of exploring the delights of Carnarvon National Park, including Baloon Cave, Mickey Creek and Warrumbah Gorge, the latter the highlight. Dr Philip Crisp […]
MONDAY, JUNE 6 Get my haircut at Stafford today, and an almost bald guy storms off, swearing as he goes, when the barber tells him there is a half hour wait. […]
MONDAY, MAY 30 Watch quirky New Zealand movie, ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’. Very good. Love the line about the ‘Bloody Warriors’ (rugby league side). Bump into former Courier-Mail workmate, Darryl […]
The 10 Brisbane Rugby League Clubs were looking towards a season without State of Origin stars and Internationals, with all players of that calibre having signed with New South Wales […]
Contract dramas at Brisbane Brothers saw three of the club’s highest profile players – David Wright, Ian Dauth and Bob Cock – quit the club to play for Nerang Roosters in […]
A letter of complaint about the off-field behavior of the Kangaroos’ touring side was sent by the English Rugby League to their Australian counterparts. The Kangaroos were well into the French […]
France ‘tackled furiously’, but it was not enough to stop the touring Kangaroos wraping up the two Test series with a 16-11 result at Marseilles in front of a crowd […]
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 To Parliament House for State of Origin function. Farmers are protesting in George Street, asking for a fair price for milk. It is all very orderly, unlike […]
MONDAY, MAY 16. A minute’s silence is observed for former international centre, Rod Saddler ahead of the Titans v Roosters’ NRL match at Robina. That was my doing, I am proud […]
Brisbane Brothers’ legend, Peter Gallagher captained Australia to a memorable 17-11 win over Great Britain at London’s White City Stadium, to keep alive the Ashes series, after the home side won […]
MONDAY, MAY 9 To Anne Hession’s funeral. So sad. First person I bump into is my former strapper at Murwillumbah Brothers, Dave Stuart and his wife, Jo (nee Hession). Anne’s brother, […]
MONDAY, MAY 2 Learn of the passing of Anne Maree Hession (nee McDonald), after a long battle with illness. She was only 62, the wife of one my former schoolmates and […]
Queensland rugby league forward, Mark Hohn vowed to give the Brisbane Broncos full value, despite having suffered his second broken leg in three months – while playing for English club, […]
Snow blasted the Australians as they confronted the old enemy, Great Britain in the Ashes deciding Third Rugby League Test, but the lads from down under handled the conditions better than the […]
The first ever Test between France and New Zealand resulted in disappointment for a courageous home side, three days after Christmas, 1947. The Kiwis had been meant to play France […]
Australia’s touring Kangaroos played an extraodinary three matches in four days on their tour of Britain, and not surprisingly finished on the wrong end of the scoreline in two encounters. […]
THAT most vitriolic of Super League opponents, George Piggins, the South Sydney chairman, said he was willing to sit down with Melbourne Storm counterpart, John Ribot in the interests of […]
The Rugby Football League announced it would trial a ‘throw-in’, instead of a scrum, during the New Zealand Kiwi’s French leg of their northern hemisphere tour. Noted Australian journalist, Tom […]
ENGLAND retained the rugby league Ashes Trophy with a 13-3 win over a gallant Australian side at Swinton in Lancashire. The home side dominated possession and backs, Emlyn Jenkins (Salford) and Sam Brogden […]
MONDAY, APRIL 18 Mario Romeo Rigo, former personal chef to Australian Prime Minister, Harold Holt, dies at the age of 70. My wife and I dined at ‘Romeo’s’ in Brisbane a […]
TUESDAY, APRIL 12 Marie’s younger brother, John Donnelly turns 60, and celebrates with wife, Jan at Tweed Heads Bowls Club. Learn that the man they call ‘Mr Murwillumbah’, Phil Taylor, […]
Any faint hopes that Britain’s top clubs would redeem themselves in the quarter finals of Super League’s Visa World Club Challenge were dashed when all four English clubs were knocked out […]
Chris Johns, the first of the Brisbane Broncos New South Wales’ signings, took up residency in Brisbane after a four year first grade career with St George. Johns and his father, Bill […]
St George’s superior speed proved the difference as the Sydney club defeated Combined Brisbane 22-17 in an end-of-season floodlit match at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds. The crowd was 14,000, but they […]
The Kangaroos suffered the second defeat of their tour of Britain and France, when Yorkshire side, Halifax produced brilliant attacking football in front of an ecstatic home crowd of 14,500. […]
MUCH was made of the fact Great Britain could have two colored wingers in their touring party to Australia and New Zealand in 1958. Eddie Waring reported in the British and […]
Brothers won their first premiership in nine years when they beat Norths 6-2 in a gripping, tryless match at Lang Park, played in front of a record crowd of 37,000. Fans […]
Winger, Len Kenny scored four tries in Brisbane’s 45-7 win over Bundaberg in a floodlit match at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds, despite having left his favorite football boots at home. […]
‘THOUGH just off the boat’, to quote the AAP report of the day, Australia’s Kangaroos defeated Lancashire side, Leigh 11-9 at Hilton Park, before a crowd of just over 5,000. […]
TUESDAY, APRIL 5 Drinks with my former Murwillumbah High classmate, Tom Tartan, who is dressed a bit like Robin Hood! He had been to New Zealand, including Stewart Island, where […]
Paul Neale comments favorably on my website rugby league Flashbacks. Says he was at Carlaw Park, Auckland in 1971 when the Kiwis thrashed Australia 24-3. Paul is a great fan of […]
North Queensland Cowboys’ hooker, Jason Death (nicknamed ‘sudden’) was stood down from the side to meet his old club, Canberra Raiders, pending further investigations into an incident in a bar during […]
Norths’ Test prop, Greg Dowling hit back at criticism of his club form with a barnstorming display, as the Devils beat his old cub, Wynnum-Manly 22-12 in the Brisbane Woolworths Trophy final at […]
British international, David Topliss scored five tries for Balmain in their 43-12 demolition of Newtown at Henson Park in Sydney. Topliss, born and bred at Wakefield in West Yorkshire, joined Sid […]
Queensland rugby league halfback, Abe Weimers was seriously injured in an Ipswich club match, with his condition listed as ‘dangerous’ at one stage, as family and friends maintained a vigil […]
In 1997, the Australian Rugby League was effectively isolated from international football, with every other nation affiliated with the ‘rebel’ Super League competition. The ARL still conducted a State of […]
North Queensland recorded a momentous 17-14 win over Great Britain in front of 6,000 delirious fans at the Townsville Sports Reserve. The British team embarked on a mini-tour after the […]
This makes for horrific reading in the context of what we know about the long term damage sports people can suffer from severe concussion. On July 4, 1947, Ipswich beat Toowoomba […]
Fiery international forward, Mick Madsen missed Toowoomba’s inter-city Bulimba Cup match against Brisbane after his car broke down on the trip from Stanthorpe, where he worked, to Toowoomba. Without Madsen, a veteran […]
MONDAY, MARCH 7. Former New South Wales forward, Des O’Reilly passed away today, aged 61, finally succumbing to the stomach cancer which had made his life a misery. He leaves […]
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29 Interview former New South Wales State of Origin forward, Des O’Reilly for Men of League magazine. Des is in Greenslopes Hospital, and may only have days to live, […]
The touring New Zealand Rugby League side scored a memorable 15-14 win over New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground. NSW, with legendary centre, Reg Gasnier as captain-coach, were […]
Former Test centre, Jack Reardon described it as the most humiliating defeat in Queensland Rugby League history as the Maroons trudged off the Sydney Cricket Ground, having been beaten 69-5 by […]
‘As a spectacle, it was where specs usually are – on the nose.” So said ‘The Truth’ newspaper account of the Queensland v The Rest State Rugby League trial at […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 29 2020 MONDAY, JULY 20 North Queensland Cowboys’ coach, Paul Green, stands down from his post, effective immediately, with Josh Hannay to […]
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 30 2020 MONDAY, JULY 27 The Courier-Mail’s chief sports writer, Robert Craddock speculates on whether the Broncos will drop young forward, Andrew […]
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 […]
TRAVEL “What a great spectacle,” commented a young Irish chap, as my wife, Marie and I made our way back to our Coogee Bay hotel, after the 2013 NRL grand […]
FLASHBACK DECEMBER 1985 New Zealand Rugby League coach, Graham Lowe led his team from a formal, post-Test match function in Perpignan, France, in protest at the way the Kiwis had […]
DECEMBER 1995 Queensland State of Origin coach, Paul Vautin made it clear Allan Langer would not have a saloon passage back into the Maroons’ squad, if Super League players were […]
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 27 2020 MONDAY, JULY 6 Former Brisbane Souths’ rugby league forward, Eric Pappas doesn’t like the new look rugby league. “It is […]
TRAVEL “Is there a Lion on the Loose?’ English cricket commentator, David Lloyd was heard to say, as he walked around Wellington’s impressive harbour, a few years back, his comment […]
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 OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 26 2019 WEDNESDAY, JULY 1 Places in 17-man Amco Cup rugby league squads, back in the mid-1970s, were much sought after, given the […]
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 […]
TRAVEL SONNY Bill Williams’ signing by the Roosters made headlines in areas where the two rugby codes are popular, but the news hardly even rated a mention in Echuca, Victoria, […]
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 25 2020 MONDAY, JUNE 22 TOM SEARLE, one of rugby league’s good guys, has died, aged 73. I played against Tom in […]
TRAVEL Agricultural studies and rugby league were strange bedfellows at La Reole, in the Gironde-Aquitaine region of France, when my wife, Marie and I visited the riverside town in October, […]
By Steve Ricketts. QRL History Committee. A one club man, Gary Parcell played all of his eight Tests for Australia and 14 matches for Queensland from Ipswich Brothers. The Parcell […]
DIARY OF A RETIRED RUGBY LEAGUE WRITER WEEK 24 2020 MONDAY, JUNE 15 It is disappointing to see the small amount of space which ‘The Courier-Mail’ devotes to the passing […]
FLASHBACK NOVEMBER 1980 English clubs scrambled to sign New Zealand rugby league players, after the Kiwi’s tour of the UK, under the captaincy of Mark Graham and the coaching of […]