Just been flicking through the Media Petition book and in particular the first basic edition of Open Rugby. One article suggested Tours should stay. Here is the first part of Harry's piece that he kindly penned for the book.
It is over a quarter of a century that the first issue of 'Open Rugby' magazine was born out of the same feelings and frustration that I'm sure compelled Ray Gent to undertake his petition.
In that first edition - in the very first paragraph ever written in the magazine - I made the comment, that whilst rugby league couldn't be beaten as a sport on the field, off the field "it has suffered from such an appalling lack of good publicity it is still a minority sport in most parts of the world - it has suffered from a smear campaign by a few sick-minded patrons of a rival code, and has suffered from its own inability to promote its own assets."