By RAY FRENCH
THOSE were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end…’ are but a few lines from an old song which highlight the fond remembrance of what is always supposed to be a more memorable past.
A past which I will be the first to admit can often fill the mind with a nostalgia which can often not ring true in the light of the facts that can surround the boasts of those of us who compare the different eras of rugby league.
Yet let me list a few names from a couple of eras which we thought ‘would never end’, names which are representative of the quality of the recruits once entering the 13-a-side code in England from either Down Under or from rugby union.
Yes, ‘those were the days’ when Peter Sterling, Wally Lewis, Gene Miles, Eric Grothe, Mal Meninga, Brett Kenny and others were arriving by the planeload to enhance our game in this country and the likes of Jonathan Davies, David Watkins, Jim Mills, Kel Coslett, Alan Tait and many more were switching with regularity from Union to League and achieving fame in both codes.
Memories? Yes! Misplaced nostalgia? Perhaps, but I doubt it!
Thanks to the amount of money currently swilling around in the upper echelons of the 15-a-side game, the leading union stars are no longer available to League and our leading Super League clubs lead us to believe that they simply now cannot afford to persuade a top Aussie or Kiwi league star to join them.
That might be so, but why can’t a club attempt to buy one giant of the game Down Under, if only for a season, instead of – as appears to be the practice of today – purchasing two or three of mediocre ability and no better than the local talent available.
I am sorry to say that I do believe that many of our clubs are buying two or three overseas players per season who are no better than the lads coming out of the Academy sides, rather than investing more on one star player for a season, or even less, who will make his presence pay both on and off the pitch.
Older readers will surely recall the hysteria and interest at the turnstiles when the great Aussie back star, Wally Lewis, came over to join a very ambitious Wakefield Trinity for no more than a dozen games.
Rugby league in the British Isles is a professional sport and, as such, is a part of the entertainment industry which must attract the crowds and the media interest via its star names and their success.
At the moment we have too few who can do so and too many who would not fill the local Labour club on a wet Friday night.
League’s sevens snub
ON A MUCH brighter note, if I asked our readers to indicate a common factor between Fredenbaum in Dortmund, Mads Hansen, and the Galway Tribesmen would they immediately come up with the answer – rugby league?
I’m sure would not, but if they did then their reply would serve to highlight the progress currently being made worldwide by the game, a progress which we should shout from the rooftops as an indication of the expansion of the 13-a-side code.
And an indication of just how much our governing bodies must be pushing the sport forward against other sports’ governing bodies, which appear to be resisting our overtures.
I refer to the Olympic Games, which has recently trumpeted the excellent win by the Fijians over Great Britain in the Rugby Sevens tournament – notice the labelling was Rugby Sevens, not Rugby Union Sevens. So what happened to the Rugby League Sevens? Or the selection of any league players for the Great Britain team?
It is over 15 years since, in this very paper, I last campaigned for the inclusion of League Sevens in the Olympic Games and since members of the then Aussie governing body took up the cudgels on our game’s behalf. Sadly to little effect.
I admired the play of the winners in this year’s tournament and believed that the Fijian Sevens squad were worthy winners of their gold medals. But again, why is rugby league and its players denied a place in the Olympics? Answers on a postcard please!
And the answers to my original questions? Well, Fredenbaum  was the venue for Belgium RL’s 26-12 win over Germany, Danish winger Mads Hansen scored six tries in Denmark’s 50-18 win over Sweden, and the Galway Tribesmen won their first All Ireland Grand Final in Bray by beating Ballynahinch Rabbitohs 36-34.
Further evidence of the code’s worldwide expansion.
Bowled over by Wire
AND FINALLY.. can I say how much I enjoyed the Warrington Wolves’ innovation of holding their weekly media conference during a friendly cricket match with the local Grappenhall Cricket Club involving the likes of Chris Hill, Ashton Sims, Ryan Atkins and company. Their performances fascinated a considerable crowd and certainly entertained my grandsons for the afternoon!
In days of yore, matches between the professional rugby league club and a local amateur cricket club were often a good money-spinner for a player’s testimonial funds and an excellent event for furthering team spirit. Indeed, Warrington’s own Ben Westwood enjoyed such an event a few years back.
So it was in my own playing days when St Helens had our South African wing flyer, Tom Van Vollenhoven, opening the bowling to his fellow countryman, Len Killeen, behind the wicket as keeper. And centre Keith Northey batting well up the order.
Happy days. And so good to see Warrington reviving the tradition.
