The BBC and their archives

[Mumby Magic 590]

Having watched the watersplash final programme surely the BBC are sat on a goldmine of sporting archives and not just RL

[DavidM 8,349]

highlights of kangaroo tours would be good . Always a decent watch on YouTube 

[DavidM 8,349]

In fact I was just watching this a couple of days ago

PS 30,622 there 

Edited April 5 by DavidM

[Wigan Riversider 151]

British Coal Nines 1988 please

[Dunbar 7,424]

21 minutes ago, DavidM said:

In fact I was just watching this a couple of days ago

PS 30,622 there 

I was one of the 30,622.

Despite the loss, it remains my second fondest memory of Wigan at Central Park (after the Manly game).

Now I think of it, if you add the Lancashire Cup Final of '84 which was my first ever live game, two of my favourite three games at Central Park as a Wigan fan were losses!

[DavidM 8,349]

Just now, Dunbar said:

I was one of the 30,622.

Despite the loss, it remains my second fondest memory of Wigan at Central Park (after the Manly game).

Now I think of it, if you add the Lancashire Cup Final of '84 which was my first ever live game, two of my favourite three games at Central Park as a Wigan fan were losses!

Great stuff . One thing I noticed was Kenny and Miles in the centres , with Big Mal in the midweek team . And interesting to note that despite their dominance there were only 2 Eels players in the whole squad ( Kenny / Sterling ) , after Grothe and Pearce pulled out injured 

[Damien 8,859]

7 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I was one of the 30,622.

Despite the loss, it remains my second fondest memory of Wigan at Central Park (after the Manly game).

Now I think of it, if you add the Lancashire Cup Final of '84 which was my first ever live game, two of my favourite three games at Central Park as a Wigan fan were losses!

So was I. Those tour matches were special, as were the big crowds at Central Park.

[Futtocks 13,060]

55 minutes ago, Mumby Magic said:

Having watched the watersplash final programme surely the BBC are sat on a goldmine of sporting archives and not just RL

I think we may see many sports being given the archive treatment over the next few weekends. If that happens, sports fans should get a few treats from the vault.

Of course, as comedy and drama fans have long known, the BBC weren't always protective of their archive tapes in the past.

[Davo5 3,664]

1 hour ago, Mumby Magic said:

Having watched the watersplash final programme surely the BBC are sat on a goldmine of sporting archives and not just RL

It was a great watch and well done BBC on a top production.

[Oxford 4,238]

Er didn't Aunty fess up a little while ago to getting rid of their TGG archive ?

But I'm gald they're showing what they have.

[Dunbar 7,424]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

Great stuff . One thing I noticed was Kenny and Miles in the centres , with Big Mal in the midweek team . And interesting to note that despite their dominance there were only 2 Eels players in the whole squad ( Kenny / Sterling ) , after Grothe and Pearce pulled out injured 

I guess with NSW coming off best in State of Origin in both '85 and '86 (3-0 that year) Kenny was always going to be in the team... and with tour captain Lewis at 6 something had to give.

Personally I would have thought Australia would be stronger with Meninga in the centre but given their dominance it was not that big a call.

Australia have always produced an incredible amount of Rugby League talent but that was a golden era.

Having the likes of Meninga in the midweek team shows strength but to consider players like Steve Ella who was centre in the Grand Final winning Eels team didn't make the squad shows even more.

I was gutted that Wayne Pearce was ruled out of the tour as he was my favourite Aussie player at the time and I hadn't seen him play live. He was passed fit by his specialist only to be ruled out by the tour doctor.  A strange decision considering the length of the tours in those days and his chance to have a few more weeks rehabilitation. 

The fact that Australia had the likes of Paul Langmack and Bob Linder in the squad meant they were hardly weak in that area though.

Edited April 5 by Dunbar

[graveyard johnny 1,739]

the nrl have everygame from the last few seasons= cant they throw them out there for free on youtube etc?

[Dunbar 7,424]

11 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

the nrl have everygame from the last few seasons= cant they throw them out there for free on youtube etc?

There are full match replays being shown on NRL.com.  Here is the Melbourne St. George Grand Final https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/04/05/nrl-classic-grand-final-storm-v-dragons-1999/

 

[DavidM 8,349]

22 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

There are full match replays being shown on NRL.com.  Here is the Melbourne St. George Grand Final https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/04/05/nrl-classic-grand-final-storm-v-dragons-1999/

 

I’ll give that one a miss and skip to 2010

Edited April 5 by DavidM

[DavidM 8,349]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

I guess with NSW coming off best in State of Origin in both '85 and '86 (3-0 that year) Menny was always going to be in the team... and with tour captain Lewis at 6 somet6had to give.

Personally I would have thought Australia would be stronger with Meninga in the centre but given their dominance it was not that big a call.

Australia have always produced an incredible amount of Rugby League talent but that was a golden era.

Having the likes of Meninga in the midweek team shows strength but to consider players like Steve Ella who was centre in the Grand Final winning Eels team didn't make the squad shows even more.

I was gutted that Wayne Pearce was ruled out of the tour as he was my favourite Aussie player at the time and I hadn't seen him play live. He was passed fit by his specialist only to be ruled out by the tour doctor.  A strange decision considering the length of the tours in those days and his chance to have a few more weeks rehabilitation. 

The fact that Australia had the likes of Paul Langmack and Bob Linder in the squad meant they were hardly weak in that area though.

It really was a golden era . Just looking at that midweek team I see the likes of Belcher , Lamb , Hasler , Elias ( and part time commentator ) , Langmack ... and Alexander who was the replacement for Grothe .

[Dunbar 7,424]

35 minutes ago, DavidM said:

It really was a golden era . Just looking at that midweek team I see the likes of Belcher , Lamb , Hasler , Elias ( and part time commentator ) , Langmack ... and Alexander who was the replacement for Grothe .

The midweek team was indeed strong... and how about this team of players from Australia who for one reason or another didn't actually make the tour in '86.

1. Steve Ella

2. Eric Grothe

3. Chris Close

4. Mick Cronin

5. John Ferguson

6. Steve Morris

7. Steve Mortimer

8. Craig Young

9. Mario Fenech

10. Peter Tunks

11. Paul Vauntin

12. Wayne Pearce

13. Ray Price

[Wigan Riversider 151]

Mouthwatering

[Man of Kent 5,894]

That Watersplash docu is a great film. Saw it last time round but I was still fighting back a tear in my eye earlier.

Terribly sad how it affected Don Fox so badly. 

[unapologetic pedant 123]

Invidious to be more specific, but I find any BBC game hard to watch without first hitting the mute button. More interesting would be the Granada early nineties RL archive (is it still extant?), with the Clive Tyldesley-Brian Smith commentary team. For me, this was the only time in this country that RL had coverage worthy of the game.

[Wollongong 170]

On 06/04/2020 at 00:28, Wigan Riversider said:

British Coal Nines 1988 please

Watched this a couple of days ago ... was easy to find on YouTube 

[Wigan Riversider 151]

5 hours ago, Wollongong said:

Watched this a couple of days ago ... was easy to find on YouTube 

Have found 1987 Nines but not 1988

[Mumby Magic 590]

Is there any money to be made from archives anymore.

[Wollongong 170]

7 hours ago, Wigan Riversider said:

Have found 1987 Nines but not 1988

Sorry my mistake... I only remember the comp being played in one season and seeing it on Sportsnight ... the one with Auckland and PNG ...

then the much later Comp at Headingley (which if televised was on one of the short lived subscription channels) 

 

I can even find records of the 1988 competitors or results

[Futtocks 13,060]

36 minutes ago, Wollongong said:

Sorry my mistake... I only remember the comp being played in one season and seeing it on Sportsnight ... the one with Auckland and PNG ...

then the much later Comp at Headingley (which if televised was on one of the short lived subscription channels) 

 

I can even find records of the 1988 competitors or results

Talking of those short-lived early subscription channels, who actually owns the WireTV/L!ve TV archives? There's a major chunk of a pretty decent RWC tucked away there, including the Tonga/PNG match that I keep hearing was such a classic, but haven't ever been able to watch in full.

Highlights of that RWC about to be posted on the "Classic" thread, BTW>