IS Rugby League in this country facing an existential crisis?
The answer could be ‘yes’ – and on several fronts.
Perhaps the most important issue is one that, judging by a missive received from the Rugby Football League last week, is largely self-inflicted in the sense that it’s created by people who are very much involved in the sport and who, in many cases, would probably claim to love it.
It’s the issue of abuse of referees, at all age levels.
It’s a problem that is driving match officials away from our sport and which, as the RFL rightly stresses, is increasingly leading to matches not taking place for want of whistlers.
One reaction to the development, which I can’t help going along with to some extent, is “serves those teams right.” After all, if folk cannot treat others with respect they can hardly complain when people walk away.
A consequent problem, however, is that those who are blameless – that is, clubs, players and coaches, supporters and parents who conduct themselves properly, not to mention the match officials themselves – also suffer.
As the RFL quite rightly insists, it simply has to stop, and the stark warning has now gone out that those clubs that don’t take the appropriate action will find themselves without fixtures. And they would only have themselves to blame. After all, the Rugby League has been issuing similar messages, if not quite as strong, for several years.
Where I slightly demur with the RFL is in the belief that abuse of referees is a fairly new thing. It isn’t, as research into several books I’ve written over the years sadly taught me. For example, in ‘Hunslet’s Classic Games’ I had to relate that the Parksiders had extra cause to push for the launch of the Northern Union in 1895 as the Rugby Football Union had closed their ground because of attacks on match officials.
Hunslet were by no means isolated regarding abject behaviour. Researching for Odsal Odysseys – the history of the game in Bradford – I read of how referees were kicked and otherwise abused in the 1920s, for example.
So much for the ‘good old days’. Having said that I do believe that there was a period, maybe from the 1930s through, perhaps, to the turn of the last century, when the prevailing belief, and a strongly held one, was that referees should be respected. That’s still the stance of all governing bodies, with the Rugby Football League high among them, but it’s not necessarily what people at club level (in any sport) believe, which is why Rugby League is far from alone in being at crisis point in this regard. Perhaps the fact that if a child gets into trouble at school the reaction of too many parents is no longer one of support for the teacher but of initiating a complaint with the head is relevant and telling.
It’s a sad situation all round but the RFL has to be backed, unequivocally. Clubs have been warned, and probably for the last time. The message is: don’t sort yourselves out, and the RFL will do it for you and show you the door. In my opinion those who genuinely love Rugby League will be much better off for a few departures. The next few weeks could be crucial.
Meanwhile the 2025 President’s Cup, which involves three teams this year (Great Britain Police being obliged to withdraw, leaving England Universities, Great Britain Teachers and UK Armed Forces to battle it out) reaches its intriguing second stage on Wednesday.
GB Teachers will take on UKAF at Orrell St James, at 7.00pm, aware that defeat is simply not an option. Indeed, having lost 26-16 to holders England Universities recently, they will be acutely aware (or at least those who teach mathematics will be – specialists in English or geography might struggle) that they must get their points difference figure into the positive rather than the negative to have any chance at all of topping the final table. That’s how I see it anyway, and if my sums are correct a victory by a margin of at least eleven points is the minimum requirement for the Teachers if their title bid is to be kept alive.
That is, of course, a tough ask. The Teachers’ performance against the Students was certainly impressive, and more of the same will without doubt be required against UKAF; and, in truth (and I stand to be corrected on this as the figures involved can get confusing) much more than a win of eleven points will be needed.
It’s not impossible, however. Much depends on the personnel available to each team. GB Teachers have some notable figures in their squad, including several with professional experience, both current and past, and the same can be said of the Forces.
A key factor – for both teams, but especially for UK Armed Forces – is who will actually be available to play on the night. There are compelling issues around the world right now that render sport insignificant, to be blunt, and the Forces Head Coach Darren Bamford and his colleagues are in a position where, up to a point, they have to select from whoever can make it.
That can be a positive, in my opinion. Rallying to the cause is something that anyone serving in the Army, the Royal Navy or the RAF can be expected to do anyway but the backs-to-the wall scenario that the Forces Rugby League players might be facing in the President’s Cup could, I reckon, even add to the esprit de corps and help bring out the very best in them.
These factors point, I believe, to another thriller and, however the result goes, should help set up a tremendous deciding game (and precise details as to who needs to win, and by what margin) when UKAF meet the Students in London in mid-June in the final fixture of the competition.
It’s all very inspiring, as is the story of Graham ‘Benny’ Goodman, which is related in a new book ‘From Hunslet RLFC to Major Crime Investigation’.
My friend and former League Express colleague, Chris Westwood, worked with Benny for several years on what really is a fascinating project and a publisher has been found who, I believe, has made full use of Chris’s tremendous efforts.
Benny is yet another former Hunslet player (Cec Thompson and Ted Carroll are just two others) with remarkable backstories and, as the publicity blurb states, he “transitioned from the pitch to the prints, rising through the ranks of Leeds City Police to become one of the force’s leading fingerprint experts and a skilled crime scene photographer. Along the way, he crossed paths with infamous figures like Billy the Liar, Donald Nappey, and the Yorkshire Ripper — playing a crucial role in bringing many of them to justice.”
Incredible and compelling stuff, and that’s only part of it. Benny was the guest speaker at a Hunslet RL Ex-Parkside Players’ Association reunion (the most exclusive organisation in world sport, and I’m not saying that lightly) a few years ago and I vividly recall his reminiscences about taking part in the famous New Year’s Day Powderhall Sprint in Scotland in the days when – in athletics – track and field disciplines were generally amateur. Betting was an important aspect of the Powderhall, though, and readers will, I’m sure, be rivetted by what Benny reveals.
The book might also verify – or counter – a memory of mine from a Hunslet game at Liverpool City’s Knotty Ash in the late 1960s. My recollection – which could well be flawed – is that Benny Goodman broke both his arms in the fixture, leading to the end of his Rugby League career. I’ll find out more, no doubt, when I get my copy of the tome.
On the subject of the Hunslet reunion, it’s taking place on its usual slot (the first Sunday in June) next month but at a different venue, namely the Tetley’s Heritage Centre, which is close to Leeds Bridge.
It will be a terrific lunchtime occasion, as always, and the clarion call has gone out for all men who played for Hunslet at Parkside, prior to the sale of the ground in 1973, to book their grub by contacting Peter Jarvis on 07775694454. I’m not sure, given that such players were all professionals, whether I should be mentioning the event in League Express’s amateur pages but, as I said when I was the guest speaker a couple of decades ago, the vast majority of Hunslet’s players turned out as much for the love of the club as for any other reason and were therefore, in the strict sense of the word, truly amateurs.
And finally – and still on something of a Hunslet theme – an entertaining event is taking place in the Phoenix Lounge at the South Leeds Stadium on Thursday (15 May, 7.00pm) when the renowned referee Ben Thaler will regale Rugby League supporters with his own singular memories and anecdotes.
Thaler is highly regarded as, I’m sure readers will agree, a real players’ referee and is well worth listening to. It’s just a fiver admission and, for that, there’s pie and peas as well as Ben’s forthright recollections. Tickets can be bought by calling Hunslet, ideally this morning for catering reasons, on 0113 2712730.