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History's stark warning for NRL clubs ahead of Gold Coast meeting today

9th April, 2018
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NRL CEO Todd Greenberg. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
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9th April, 2018
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On one end of the spectrum of sporting punditry, there’s arguing over whether a pass was forward or not, whether Nathan Brown was right with that x-rated serve he gave Wayne Bennett, whether Sam Tomkins is a good signing for Catalans.

And right at the other end of the spectrum is the sort of punditry I find far more engaging, the sort peddled by sports historian Tony Collins.

Tony Collins ponders talking points that play out over decades, turning points that changed the fortunes of entire sports and societies, and has just started a fantastic new podcast called Rugby Reloaded.

One episode in particular should be required listening for NRL chief executives as they attend today’s meeting on the Gold Coast which will discuss the June 23 Denver Test.

In Rugby’s Own Goal, Tony explains that in the 1870s and 1880s, rugby (there was only one type until 1895) was much bigger than soccer (or football or whatever you want to call it).

“By the time the 1874-75 season kicked off, it had 113 clubs under the rugby banner,” Collins says.

“The FA, despite being formed seven years earlier, had only 78.”

But in 1871, the Football Association launched the FA Cup. “Over the next decade, the FA Cup became the catalyst for soccer to expand across the country. (And) for working class teams to play against the elite of British society.

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“Such a meeting was impossible in any other sphere of British life and it gave soccer a deeper meaning that resonated far beyond a simple contest for a sporting trophy.”

The country became entranced by mining towns playing Etonians. The Calcutta rugby club in 1878 promptly donated a trophy to the RFU intended to be the 15-man game’s answer to the FA Cup.

The denizens of Twickenham were having none of it. Commoners weren’t to mix with gentlemen. They hated the idea of mass spectator sport, thinking it crass and uncouth.

The Calcutta Cup ended up being awarded to the winner of the England-Scotland game instead.

Collins quotes RFU secretary Rowland Hill as saying: “It is said that (these competitions) aid materially in increasing an interest in the game. Rugby football requires no such unhealthy stimulants.”

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And so soccer grew exponentially and Britain’s cultural influence over its empire aided that growth overseas, while rugby was left to forever be second, third, fourth or 57th fiddle.

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The Great Schism of 1895 is easier to understand in light of this, isn’t it? Working men were actively discouraged from being involved.

But the NRL and its clubs should carefully consider this story today as they decide how obstructionist they are going to be about the match at Sports Authority Stadium at Mile High.

They have no games that weekend. It’s costing them nothing. An NFL team is helping them sell their game as the rugby – something most foreign sports would kill for.

In 2015 Leicester Tigers were to play an American selection in Philadelphia. Tickets were sold, the local media was on board – and USA Rugby had the match banned by World Rugby because it didn’t like the promoters.

When two English teams finally made it to Philly the next year, the media and fans refused to be dudded twice and only 6000 showed up.

Do the men and women meeting in an air conditioned room on the Goldy today want to take a place in the history of sporting bungles, right alongside a bunch of stuff-shirted Victorian snobs?

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