What is RUGBY LEAGUE?
Rugby league began in 1895, as the ‘Northern Union’, when clubs in the North of England broke away from the RFU. The clubs wanted to compensate their working-class players for time away from work for rugby tours and injuries.
The RFU refused, saying “if men couldn’t afford to play, then they shouldn’t play at all”. In the decade that followed, rugby league made changes setting itself apart from rugby union.
Teams were reduced from 15 to 13 players (two forwards were eliminated), and the play-the-ball was introduced to lessen the need for scrums and to replace rugby union’s scrappy rucks and mauls (where the ball often disappeared from view for minutes on end).
The changes made league the far more popular code in England amongst spectators and players alike. The increased gate-money allowed the rugby league clubs to pay benefits to the footballers the crowds had come to watch and support.
Meanwhile in Australia (NSW & Qld) and New Zealand, rugby was controlled by the rugby union bodies affiliated to the English RFU. They all enforced the rules of amateurism upon their footballers.
The predominantly working-class rugby footballers and supporters in Sydney and Brisbane were disheartened by the attitude of the rugby union authorities – and seemed likely to turn to Australian rules.
However, for a short time rugby union rode a new wave of popularity – brought about by the arrival of Dally Messenger in 1906. With his individual brilliance, vast crowds flocked to his matches, filling the financial coffers of rugby union. [The NRL’s ‘Dally M Medal’ is named in honour of Messenger].
Unsurprisingly though, rugby’s success increased discontent among the players and public sympathy. Where was all the money going, and why couldn’t it be spent on the footballers as compensation for injuries or time off work?
In July 1907, the NSW rugby union team attracted an unprecedented 52,000 to a match against the New Zealand All Blacks. By then though, men like Messenger had come to appreciate their own worth.
The son of a professional rower and friend of high-paid Test cricketer Victor Trumper and entrepreneur James J. Giltinan, Messenger had secretly agreed to join the professional rugby league [the NSWRL] being formed in Sydney.
Messenger's allegiance was secured for £50 and the promise of a place in the New Zealand ‘All Golds’ Rugby League team bound for England. The Kiwis arrived in Sydney in August 1907, playing three professional matches (using rugby union rules) against a NSWRL team led by Messenger.
The formation of rugby league, and Messenger’s decision to join, prevented Australian rules from gaining hold of Sydney’s vast working-class population and swamping rugby union.
With Messenger in their ranks in 1908, the NSWRL and QRL began to build club competitions that were able to provide injury benefits and financial rewards for working-class footballers. The spectator appeal of Rugby League ensured it attracted large crowds and gate-takings, with Easts, Souths, Balmain, Wests, Newtown, Newcastle, Norths, Glebe and Cumberland the original NSWRL premiership clubs.
At the end of the 1908 season both the first Kangaroos (League) and Wallabies (Union) toured Great Britain. The Wallabies were accused of being professionals by many in Britain. This attitude took hold of the IRB, who then announced the already poor allowances to rugby union players were to be further reduced. As a result, shortly after their return to Australia in 1909, more than half the Wallabies accepted contract offers to join rugby league.
The following season saw a visit to NSW, Queensland and New Zealand by the first ever ‘British Lions’ rugby league team. Attracting huge crowds wherever they played, the League authorities were able to build a solid financial base, securing their permanency, and becoming the preferred football code in Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle, and establishing a hold in Auckland and Wellington (New Zealand).
Unable to attract crowds and gate-money, rugby union was forced to embrace amateurism even more tightly than before, this time as a way of survival. While the effects of WW1 on rugby union further exacerbated their position, the ‘rugby war’ was over at the end of 1910.
From 1910 onwards, rugby league has held place as the premier winter sport of NSW and Queensland, and a maintained a strong following in New Zealand.
The NSWRL club competition evolved into a national competition in the 1990s, and became the National Rugby League in 1998. The NRL competition spans the traditional League areas of NSW, Queensland and New Zealand, as well as Victoria (following the introduction of the Melbourne Storm).
Courtesy of Sean Fagan. www.rl1908.com
What is the NRL?
The National Rugby League is rated as the best and toughest rugby league competition in the world.
It is the elite club level of the game in Australia.
The annual competition involves 16 teams from Australia and New Zealand playing a regular season which consists of 25 rounds with each team received a bye round. This is to be extended to 26 rounds in 2008 with teams receiving two byes.
The National Rugby League was formed in 1998 under a partnership arrangement between the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd to administer the National Competition.
The competition runs from mid-March to the start of October during the Australian winter. The season climax occurs with the grand final.
More than three million fans attend NRL matches throughout the season from boutique suburban grounds to state-of-the-art stadiums across the country.
The 16 clubs that compete in the NRL are Brisbane Broncos, Bulldogs, Canberra Raiders, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Gold Coast Titans, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Melbourne Storm, Newcastle Knights, North Queensland Cowboys, Parramatta Eels, Penrith Panthers, St George-Illawarra Dragons, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Sydney Roosters, New Zealand Warriors and Wests Tigers.
What are the rules?
Rugby league is played between two teams with 13 players on each side plus four more players for each side on an interchange or replacement bench. Each team is allowed 12 interchanges per match.
The game is played over two 40 minutes halves with time off for injury. If the scores are tied at the full-time then two more halves of five minutes are played. This added time is known as ‘golden point’ with the winner of the game being the first side to score a point in this time period.
Teams score points through tries, goals and field goals
A try is scored when the ball is placed or ‘grounded’ over an opponent’s goal line, this earns four points. After each try teams are permitted a conversion attempt at goal. The goal kicker must pilot the ball between the two upright posts and over the cross bar to earn two points. Goal attempts can also be taken after a penalty has been awarded, this is called a penalty goal and is also worth two points.
Field goals can be kicked in general play but the ball must first touch the ground before it is struck with the boot. A field goal is worth one point.
Each team is allowed six tackles when in possession of the ball before the ball must be handed over or kicked to the other side. If a side makes an error, such as a dropped ball or knock-on, when the ball is propelled forward off a players hands towards the opponent’s tryline, they do not receive the full complement of six tackles.
The field of play in the NRL is 100m long by 68m wide. The touch in-goal areas are 8m deep. The cross bar is 5.5m wide and is 3m high. The goal posts are at least 16m high.