Rugby Reloaded: Recent Episodes
Tony Collins
The social history podcast which explores the history of rugby league, rugby union, and the other football codes around the world.
In this episode we talk to Martin Whitcombe and Huw Richards about their long-awaited book on Great Britain's 1946 tour to Australia and New Zealand, 'The Indomitables - Rugby League's Greatest Tour' (St David's Press). It's a huge and hugely important book on an extraordinary trip across the hemispheres less than a year after the end of World War 2. The players underwent deprivation on the journey followed by a hero's welcome as they made their way across Australia, returning as the only British team to go through an Ashes series undefeated. It's probably the best book ever written about a rugby tour in any code! For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on X via @collinstony
P. Email Ian at ilockwood65@gmail.com for details or send a cheque for £12 to Ian at 5 Alma Terrace, Skipton BD23 1EJ. Don't forget to include an address to send the book to!
As the FIFA World Cup reaches its climax, 'Rugby Reloaded' takes an in-depth look at the life of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, the founding secretary of the Football Association and the man who many claim is 'the father of football'. Unearthing new research, we look at how Morley rejected his family's deeply religious background to live in a pub and pursue leisure interests his parents would think 'unGodly'. The episode also examines the myths that surround Morley's career with the FA, and highlights how he was not actually the founder of football but one of many people involved in its organisational origins. For more on the early history of football, rugby and the other codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on X via @collinstony
Where did the term 'Derby Match' come from? How did it become so widely used? And is the St Helens versus Wigan match the 'Original' Derby? This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' delves back into history to discover why matches between local rival teams are dubbed Derbies and asks how much substance is there to the claim that Saints against Wigan is the daddy of all Derbies. It's an intriguing story that takes us back to the 1700s and all the way to present day via ploughing, go-karts and TV's Kevin Brown. Intrigued? It's more interesting than you think! For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on X via @collinstony
The Sydney Cricket Ground has played a pivotal role in the histories of cricket, rugby league, and many other sports. But the story of its origins and development in nineteenth century Sydney is as fascinating as it complex. Geoff Armstrong's new two-volume history of the SCG, 'A Thing of Beauty: The Founding of the SCG 1851-1898', explores the first fifty years of the stadium in vivid detail. As our discussion demonstrated, this is a book about more than sporting arena - it's about the emergence of modern sport in Australia, code battles between Aussie Rules and rugby, women's emergence as sports spectators, the social history of Sydney, and the legacy of the British Empire. It's the history of Sydney written from the SCG's famous Hill.
Superstructure: Why Rugby League needs more philosophy'. It's a fascinating look at how rugby league (with the help of others) denies its intellectual culture. In an age when soccer coaches talk about their philosophies and rugby union is awash with tactical analysis, the rugby league media are content to keep talking about physicality and putting your body on the line. But the game is a complex and subtle sport with a deep and rich culture - so why don't we talk about it more? For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
In this episode I'm joined by Lee Robinson to talk about his new book 'Jonty: The Life of Jonathan Parkin', arguably the greatest rugby league scrum-half of all time. Jonty's career began as a teenager with Wakefield Trinity before World War One and ended in 1932, by which time he had become the first player ever to tour Down Under three times, twice as captain, and had played in every international match in which he could be selected before his international retirement in 1930. He did all this during what was arguably Trinity's poorest ever decade. Perhaps most importantly, Jonty was the archetype of the typical scrum-half - combative, tricky and with an inbuilt hostility to authority - and his influence is till felt today. The book is available from https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/136704396053 and you can discover a whole lot more about Wakefield Trinity's history at https://www.trinityheritage.co.ukFor more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week's episode looks at how soccer emerged in Scotland in the mid-1800s. By the early 1880s not only was Glasgow the world capital of football, but Scottish players playing for English clubs had revolutionised sport south of the Border. But is it the case that the Scots actually invented modern soccer? As I argue in this episode, the truth is more complicated than that - and simple explanations underplay the complexities of how sports develop and the contributions made by ordinary people. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstonyLinks to books and websites mentioned in the show: John Hutchinson and Andy Mitchell ‘1824 The World’s Oldest Football Club’:https://www.scottishsporthistory.com/worlds-first-foot-ball-club.htmlRichard McBrearty ‘Glasgow Before The Explosion … football cultures in the city prior to 1873’:https://scottishfootballorigins.org/2021/08/26/glasgow-before-the-explosion-the-role-of-migration-and-immigration-in-the-development-of-football-cultures-in-the-city-prior-to-1873/Matthew McDowell ‘A cultural history of association football in Scotland 1865-1902’:https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/a-cultural-history-of-association-football-in-scotland-1865-1902-/
This week we talk to Dr Liam O’Callaghan about the newly published paperback edition of his superb history of rugby in Ireland ‘Blood and Thunder’. It’s a classic work which looks at the history of the sport in the context of Irish history over the past 150 years. As well as detailing the history of the sport itself, it also examines the relationship of the game to the complex political history of Ireland and explains how the sport has remained united on a disunited island. It’s a superb book that is the latest landmark work from a series of high quality works about the history of sport in Ireland. It’s published by Penguin and you can find more details at https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/458098/blood-and-thunder-by-ocallaghan-liam/9780241999769. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
The new Rugby Reloaded looks at the current state of rugby league in Britain, asks 'What's going on?' and tries to provide some answers by looking at how the history of the sport can give us some insights into what the game could and should be doing. It also looks at the problems of being in the post-industrial north of England, the challenges of other sports, and the internal issues that the game has never confronted. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week we sit down with Kevin Fitzpatrick, a member of the Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust, to talk about his documentary on Oldham's Hall of Fame. It's a fascinating look at the history of the club and the town since the club was a founding member of the Northern Union in 1895, told through the individual stories of the players inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. He talks about the club, the ins and outs of making the documentary, and the plans to celebrate Oldham's 150th anniversary next year. You can buy the documentary via download from https://oldhamhalloffame.bandcamp.com/album/the-oldham-rugby-league-hall-of-fame or on CD from orlheritagetrust@gmail.com. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week we delve deep into the origins of the football codes across Britain, Europe and the Americas with Thomas Adam, author of the new book The Global Spread of football from the 1860s to the 1880s. His book looks at the emergence of football in England, Germany, Argentina and the United States in the 1860s and 1870s, and looks at the decisive influence of education and educators in the rise of the game. The book is code-agnostic, and so looks at ‘football’ as nineteenth century observers did: one game with many different ways to play. Along the way we also discuss the roads not taken, such as how Germany could have become a rugby nation and the US a soccer bastion. For more details about the book, go to https://anthempress.com/books/the-global-spread-of-football-from-the-1860s-to-the-1880s-hbFor more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
With rugby league's Ashes series imminent, part two of Rugby Reloaded's look at the cultural history of Anglo-Australian rugby league moves onto the post-World War 2 period. It was an era when the balance of power moved down under, with British players moving to Aussie clubs in the 1960s and 1970s, and the decline of Britain's ability to consistently compete with Australia in test matches. After 1970, the Lions never won a test series and British efforts to compete were hampered by changes in the British sports economy and poor leadership. But as we look toward the upcoming Ashes series, is there a way forward?
Our new episode investigates the origin story of football in America, in conversation with Mike Cronin and Kevin Marston, authors of 'Inventing the Boston Game: Football, Soccer, and the Origins of a National Myth'.It's a tale of early football, elite myth-making, and the creation of a tradition that was claimed by both gridiron and soccer. As the book explains, what began as the youthful memories of a group of Boston Brahmins continues today as a culture war between the two eleven-a-side versions of football. To find out more about the book, click here: https://www.umasspress.com/9781625348432/inventing-the-boston-game/
As the countdown for the Rugby League Ashes series begins, the new 'Rugby Reloaded' is the first of two episodes taking a deep dive into the cultural history of the Ashes to ask what it can tell us about Anglo-Australian relations over the past century. There was a time that it was seen as a contest between two 'British' nations fighting for rugby supremacy, and when the sheer ferocity of matches reflected the underlying tensions between the 'Mother Country' and the upstart Dominion. Even in the 1950s, Australian rugby league officials were telling RFL officials that they were just a British as them! For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
On this week's episode I talk to David Goldblatt about his new book 'Injury Time: Football in a State of Emergency' published this month by Mudlark. It's a look at English soccer over past decade, examining its response to Brexit, Covid and climate change, and looking at the rise of the women's game and the changing role of the sport in society. In our wide-ranging discussion, we talk about how football has become the new soap opera, the impact of social media, differences between the men's and women's game, and what the future holds for the game. If you want to find out more, 'Injury Time' is available from https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/injury-time-football-in-a-state-of-emergency-david-goldblatt?variant=55169175650683
Today's episode is an edited version of a talk about rugby union's concussion crisis which I gave to the North of England Medico-Legal Society in Newcastle in April 2025, for which I'd like to thank Alex Littlefair for the invitation.It looks at the history of concussion in men’s rugby union, examines how it has changed over the past fifty years, investigates the impact of professionalism, and looks at the weight of cultural traditions which have held back the sport’s ability to deal with the crisis confronting it. As well as looking at the evolution of its attitudes to concussion, I also look at how rugby union’s hyper-masculine traditions - inherited from its founders in the mid-nineteenth century - have shaped its understanding of injuries and have remained essentially unchanged over almost two centuries. Perhaps we can find the roots of the problem not only in today’s hyper-professional sport but also in its roots as the symbol of nineteenth-century manhood?
This episode talks to Dr Nick Halafihi about the life and career of his father, Nanumi (Nan) Halafihi, the first Tongan to play at Wembley and the first-ever Tongan to play professional rugby league.This is a fascinating story of how Nan travelled with his brother Sione, a world-ranked cruiserweight boxer, and family friend Sam Felatu, and made a home in the north of England. He began his career with Doncaster in 1958 and then moved to Roy Francis’s Hull, where he established himself as attacking left-centre and played in the 1960 Challenge Cup final at Wembley.This is about much more than rugby talent - it’s a tale of crossing hemispheres and cultures, of the warm welcomes he received but also of the racism he and his family faced. Most of all, it’s about someone whose career who paved the way for hundreds of other Tongan rugby players who would follow the path laid down by Nan Halafihi.
We travel back to the 1940s and 1950s to look at how France came back into the Five Nations following its expulsion in the 1930s. As you will hear, it was a difficult return to the rugby union fold for the French, as controversy flowed and led the game to to the brink of another split. But ultimately the fear of rugby league and further international isolation led to a compromise between France and the British rugby union nations which forever removed the threat of a new split. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
In Richard Hoggart's classic book 'The Uses of Literacy', he describes the scenes in May 1934 when Hunslet returned triumphantly with the Rugby League Challenge Cup followed by thousands of young boys. Harry Jepson (1920-2016) was one of those youths.This is an interview I did with him in 2009 about his extraordinary life in rugby league. Born in Hunslet at the start of the 1920s, Harry became a teacher while at the same time serving as secretary of Hunslet RLFC, before moving to Leeds to become a key figure at Headingley in the 1970s and 1980s. His list of achievements and honours in the game are far too extensive to list here but his Wikipedia entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Jepson) does justice to his life. It's a long listen at 100 minutes but entirely worth it for anyone with an interest in rugby league or the social history of Leeds and Hunslet.
The Rugby Union World Cup has kicked off in France this week, so this episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' goes back in time to look at when France was expelled from the international game in 1931. Not only was France kicked out of the Five Nations but its clubs were banned from playing British teams. We look at how and why this happened, and explore how deep-rooted British suspicions of the French led to rugby union's greatest crisis since 1895.For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Rugby Reloaded is back for a brand new series and we kick-off with a blockbuster interview with Anthony Broxton about his new book ‘Hope and Glory: Rugby League in Thatcher’s Britain’. Anthony’s book explores the history of the sport during a pivotal decade for Britain. It was the era of Hanley and Offiah, when the pro game expanded as far as Kent, but it was also the decade of the miner’s great strike and social devastation across the sport’s heartlands. We talk about these topics and much more, and ask what can learn from the 1980s. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Professor Matthew Brown about his new book 'Sports in South America. A History'. It's a panoramic view of the birth of modern sport on the continent from the mid-1800s to the first FIFA world cup in 1930. The book covers the full range of sports but our interview focuses on some of the key themes of football history: why ideas about 'fathers of football' are mistaken, questioning the importance of railways in soccer's development, why rugby never became a mass spectator sport, the problems faced by women athletes, and much more. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Duncan Stone's new book 'Different Class: The Untold Story of English Cricket' is both a history of cricket from the grassroots and an analysis of the roots of the sport's attitudes to race and class. Duncan uncovers the reality of cricket behind the myth, and reveals the true story of working-class cricket in the south of England. For anyone wanting to understand English cricket's current crisis 'Different Class' is essential reading. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week's episode talks to Geoff Armstrong about his latest book, the second volume of 'Spirit of the Red V', his in-depth history of St George Dragons. St George are one of the most significant clubs in the history of Australian rugby league. Famous for its unparalleled run of 11 straight premierships in the the 1950s and 1960s, the club's fortunes have risen and fallen as much with off-field trends as they have due to on-field factors. Geoff's book tells the story of the club, its players, its fans, and how it has survived in a changing sport and society. For more details about 'Spirit of the Red V' and how to order it, go to: www.stokehillpress.com/store/p34/Spirit_of_the_Red_V_%28Both_Volumes%29.htmlAnd for more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
On 5 November I was invited to give a talk about Huddersfield and its role in rugby's split of 1895 by the Huddersfield Local History Society (https://www.huddersfieldhistory.org.uk).
In it, I look at the growth of rugby in the town, the rise of the rugby club, the role of its most infamous administrator Frank Marshall, and how the split played out in the town during the 1890s.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
On Friday, the 21 October 2022, I gave a talk at the Museum of Wigan Life titled 'Roy Francis, George Bennett, race and rugby league' as one of the museum's Black History Month events. The talk looks at the lives of the two players, examines the impact of the 1919 racist riots on their lives and the sport, and for the first time reveals how George Bennett was excluded from the 1936 Lions tour to Australia because of racism.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
The new Rugby Reloaded talks to Stewart McGill and Vince Raison about their fascinating new book, 'The Roaring Red Front: The World's Top Left-Wing Football Clubs' (Pitch Publishing).
They travelled around the world visiting soccer clubs which have a reputation for left-wing politics, sampling the match-day atmosphere, and exploring the histories of a diverse range of clubs, from Dulwich Hamlet to Detroit City, Boca Juniors In Argentina to St Pauli in Germany. It's a rich and passionate story that tells us a lot about the place - and the future - of football in the modern world.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Rugby History 101: the shape of the ball.
The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' investigates why the rugby ball is oval - and, as usual, the answer is not as obvious as you might think. It's a long story where technology, traditions and tournaments converged in an evolutionary process to create the oval world.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
The new 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the career of Maurice Lindsay, who died last week. From Wigan to the RFL to Super League, Maurice changed the face of rugby league as radically as he divided opinion about himself.
Part visionary, part inveterate self-publicist, Maurice created the greatest British rugby league team in generations, spearheaded the move to Super League, and became a household name in rugby league in two hemispheres.
We examine the irresistible rise, indelible impact and final legacy of rugby league's most charismatic administrator.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' talks with Jonty Winch about his new book 'World Champions: The Story of South African Rugby'.
For the first time, Jonty tells the complete story of South African rugby union from its beginnings to the present day by including all sections of society, black, white, 'coloured', and women. It's a major publication for the history of rugby, and Jonty takes us through some of the key issues in that story.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
In the second episode of our two-part special on the history of rugby union and concussion, we take a look how attitudes changed with the coming of professionalism in the 1990s.
For a sport that came into the world with deep links to the medical profession, the 21st century saw it abandon its past in favour of new relationships with sports scientists - and it would be the players who lost out.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week's episode is the first of a two-part special looking at the history of rugby union's changing attitude towards head injuries. The sight of Wales' Tomas Francis staggering around Twickenham during February's England-Wales match after a head clash has reignited the debate about rugby's treatment of concussion.
I also have to declare a personal interest as I've done historical research on concussion and rugby for Ryland's Law, the solicitors acting on behalf of the players who are currently taking legal action against the rugby authorities.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
The new 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to former 'Sydney Morning Herald' rugby league journalist Steve Mascord about his new book 'Two Tribes'.
It chronicles the rollercoaster year of 1997, when rugby league down under split into two competitions, Super League and the Australian Rugby League. Featuring over 100 interviewees with the key protagonists, Steve's book is an oral history of a tumultuous time which gets under the skin of rugby league's culture and describes a season that was simultaneously a disaster and a triumph.
For more on the history of rugby league and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com - where you can find a discount code for the book - and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Rochdale Hornets may not have been the most successful rugby league team but they are an exemplar of the sport's struggles and culture.
The new 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Jim Stringer and Mark Wynn, the authors of a brand new history of the club - 'Triumph and Disaster : 150 Years of Rochdale Hornets' about the club's origins in Victorian England, how its fate was tied to the fortunes of the cotton industry, why the town became a colony of Fiji in the 1960s, its time as a supporter-run club, and its future in the post-Covid world.
For more on the history of the football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Hugh Godwin about his fascinating new biography of the England winger of the 1930s, Prince Alexander Obolensky. 'The Flying Prince' is a meticulously researched book which examines how a Russian noble came to be the hero of English rugby union by scoring two devastating tries in England's first ever win over the All Blacks in 1936. Along the way, it paints a detailed picture of the sport in the interwar years, discusses the history of international eligibility, and reveals the truth behind Obolensky's death in World War Two. For more on the history of the football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
It's 75 years since the British Rugby League Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. And to talk about their new book about the 'Indomitables', as the tourists were nicknamed, 'Rugby Reloaded' is joined by Martin Whitcombe, grandson of tourist Frank Whitcombe, and acclaimed historian Huw Richards. We discuss the political origins of the tour, the backdrop of World War 2, the reception in Australia, the tour's controversial end, and Martin's moving story about the writing of the book. This is most definitely essential listening! For more on the history of the football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
'Rugby Reloaded' this week talks to Professor Gavin Kitching, author of 'A Fateful Love; Essays on Football in the North-East of England 1880-1930' about what history can tell us about the recent takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi Arabian investment fund.
Is the hyper-commercialisation of football today a consequence of the commercialism which led to the creation of the Football League in the 1880s - or does it represent something new? Why don't fans reject billionaire takeovers of their clubs - and what does it even mean to talk about 'their' clubs? The Newcastle takeover illustrates the issues which face not just soccer, but all sports which base themselves on free-market capitalist commercialism.
For more on the history of the football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
The new 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Professor Derek Catsam about his new book on the strange, sanction-busting Springbok of the USA in 1981, 'Flashpoint: How a Little-Known Sporting Event Fueled America's Anti-Apartheid Movement'.
This is story of the interlocking of rugby union politics, apartheid, the Cold War and some inconsequential rugby matches. Coming straight after the the hugely controversial 1981 test series between the All Blacks and the Springboks, the American tour probably qualifies as one of the strangest events in rugby history.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This month's 'Rugby Reloaded' chats with Huw Richards about the past, present and future of rugby league in London following the London Broncos' decision to revert to part-time pro status. We look at the history of the club and the problems facing rugby league expansion in London, as well as its achievements over the past 40 years, before gazing into the oval crystal ball.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This month's 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Dr Hendrik Snyders about the attempts to start rugby league in South Africa in the 1950s and the influx of black, 'coloured' and white South Africans into British rugby league in the 1960s. It's a story of politics, race, RFL accommodation to apartheid, and British rugby league providing a home for non-white rugby stars.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
In the last of the current weekly series of 'Rugby Reloaded' I catch up with journalist and fellow Hull-born leaguie Trevor Gibbons to talk about growing up league in Hull, the psycho-geography of the city's sport, the eternal battle between the red and the black, and what it all means to the city of Hull.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
On 4 July 1914 the greatest rugby league test match of all time took place - the third and decisive game of the 1914 Ashes series. Led by Harold Wagstaff, a nine-man British Lions team overcame Australia 14-6 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It set the template for international rugby league and became the benchmark for what was expected of players.
But why did it become known as the 'Rorke's Drift' test match, despite the towering performance of Wagstaff? The new 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the controversies that dogged the game and explains why it became the sport's totemic match.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
It's Game 4 of the Stanley Cup tonight and so this week's episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Bruce Berglund about the history of ice hockey and his new book 'The Fastest Game in the World: Hockey and the Globalization of Sport'.
We talk about hockey's origins at the same time as the emergence of the football codes, how it reflected Muscular Christianity, how it spread around the world, the role played by women, and much else besides. How far from the truth is it to call hockey the third rugby code?
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
'Rugby League is dying' has been a refrain that has dogged the sport throughout its history. But rugby league hasn't died, and in fact has survived numerous attempts to kill it off.
So why does this 'meme' continue? The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at its history, asks why it has re-emerged recently, and argues that the sport is no closer to death today than it was at any other time when its mortality was being predicted.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Joseph Platt was the man who organised the historic meeting at the George Hotel in August 1895, and he remained secretary of the Northern Union for 25 years.
He steered the NU through the split, rule changes, international expansion, and World War One - yet his attempts to expand the game were hamstrung by the self-interest of the founder clubs. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at his life and career, and asks if British rugby league has changed significantly in the century since Platt's death.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Psychotherapist and former Huddersfield Giant Jon Bell joins us on the podcast this week to talk about his work on vulnerability, mental health and rugby league.
Over the past decade, mental health has become an increasingly important issue in the game, and is linked to issues such as masculinity, de-industrialisation and the changing nature of professional rugby league - and is part of a general mental health crisis affecting large numbers of working-class people.
This new episode discusses Jon's unique insights into these problems and looks at rugby league is doing to help.
For more on the history of rugby, soccer, and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
The new 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Professor Gavin Kitching about Sunderland, Sunderland Albion, and how soccer overtook rugby in the North East of England in the 1870s and 1880s.
Gavin's new book 'A Fateful Love: Essays on Football in the North-East of England 1880-1930' is a detailed investigation of the myths and realities of football's rise, and also deeply thoughtful exploration about the nature of football, its appeal and what is perhaps its fateful contradiction.
For more on the history of rugby, soccer, and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the literature and poetry of rugby union, and explores how its patriotic message helped the game expand dramatically after World War One.
'Tom Brown's Schooldays' helped launch rugby union in the mid-19th century and its themes became part of the sport's culture. But World War One gave rugby union its most important moral mission, and its success in promoting its militarist message meant the 1920s became the decade of the 'Rush to Rugby'.
For more on the history of rugby, soccer, and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week's episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at how Leicester Tigers saved rugby union in the early 1900s. The history of folk football in Leicestershire extends back into the middle ages, and rugby was the first football code to take root there in the 1870s. Just as in the north of England, rugby became a mass spectator sport run on professional lines.
But after 1895, the Tigers made themselves a bulwark of the RFU, which in turn whitewashed the club's many breaches of amateurism. If Leicester had switched codes, the history of rugby would have been very different - but, instead, they became the club that saved English rugby union from the rugby league threat.
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the origins of rugby in Hull and its strange twist of geographical fate. The city was and remains a heartland of rugby dating back to the 1860s. Like the rest of the north of England, the game in Hull was begun by former public schoolboys, but it quickly captured the imagination of dockers, shipbuilders and factory workers across the city. And East Hull was the home of Hull FC and Hull KR were the pride of West Hull...
This new episode explores the social history of early rugby in Hull and investgates how its premier sporting rivalry was flipped on its head.
For more on the history of rugby, soccer, and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
It's the FA Cup Final on Saturday - so 'Rugby Reloaded' investigates whether the FA Cup was directly inspired by Sheffield's Youdan Cup. The Youdan Cup kicked off in Sheffield in 1867 and was won by Hallam FC by two rouges to nil. Many Sheffield fans believe the cup was the model that FA secretary Charles Alcock used for the FA Cup when it kicked off in 1871.
But as usual in football history, the truth is far more complex and fascinating than this simple origin myth. As this new episode explains, the Youdan Cup and its successor the Cromwell Cup were early, failed models of football's commercial, sponsored future - but they came at a time when football's local and national leaders believed that football was the antithesis of popular entertainment.
For more on the history of rugby, soccer, and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
In 1913 the French modern artist Robert Delaunay exhibited his ground-breaking painting 'The Cardiff Team'. It was an important painting in 20th century French art which used rugby as a metaphor for the newly industrialising nation which France was becoming. Rugby was part of the 'shock of the new' heralded by avant-garde artists like Delaunay.
But why was the painting named after Cardiff FC? What was the link between France and Wales? As this new episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' explains, 'The Cardiff Team' is much more than a depiction of a rugby match.
For a photograph of 'L'equipe Cardiff' and more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Rugby and coalminers in the north of England formed an unbreakable bond as far as back as the 1880s. Rugby league was built on pit villages and mining towns. Of the first ten members of the RFL Hall of Fame, three were miners.
But as this episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' explains, this link went much deeper, because both mining and rugby league were seen as exemplars of working-class toughness, teamwork and identity, a spirit which continues even today, long after the last pits have closed.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
For 140 years, Welsh rugby players have travelled to the north of England to find fame and fortune. At first they went to play for the powerhouse clubs of northern rugby union, and when those clubs created rugby league, Welsh players became an integral part of the 13-a-side game. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' investigates the players who 'went North' from the 1880s to the 1930s, looking at their stories and motivations.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Cricket's County Championship began last week, so this week's episode looks at the huge role that cricket played in the birth of the football codes. In the mid-nineteenth century cricketers across Britain took up football and cricket clubs started their own football sections.
The rugby and football authorities borrowed from cricket and took their lead from cricket's attitude to professionalism. But within two decades, the tables had turned and cricket started to rely on football for financial security.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Thursday 8 April is the anniversary of the 1995 meeting in Wigan when British rugby league agreed with Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd to switch to a summer Super League. It was part of the biggest revolution rugby had seen since 1895.
Not only was rugby league changed forever, but rugby union was forced to embrace open professionalism. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' examines the birth of Super League in Britain, looks at rugby union's dash for cash, and assesses the legacy of those dramatic days for the British game.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
29 March 2021 is the 25th anniversary of the very first game in Super League, so part one of a special double episode steps back in time to examine the events that led up to the summer rugby league revolution.
We trace Super League's roots back to the problems that British rugby league faced from the 1970s, which escalated in the 1980s. Wage inflation, spiralling transfer fees, and the costs incurred after the Bradford City and Hillsborough disasters took the sport to the brink... and then came the satellite TV boom.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com - where you can find the links for this episode - and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Barely six months after Super League pulled out of Toronto, the US-based XFL is in talks with the Canadian Football League about a potential merger. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to football scholar Spencer Kassimir about the history of the XFL and the CFL, the background to the talks, and what lessons can be learned by other football codes.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Manchester City and United are currently dominating the English Premier League - but until the 20th century Manchester was seen as a hotbed of rugby, not soccer.
So how did the city lose its status as one of rugby's most important centres? The new 'Rugby Reloaded' explores the rise and decline of Manchester as a rugby city, and examines how a series of decisions dealt a body blow to rugby from which it never really recovered.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
To mark International Women's Day 2021, this episode talks to Julia Lee, one of the true pioneers of British rugby league. Julia was the first women ever to referee a men's professional rugby match of any code anywhere in the world. She's also been a trailblazer in the administration of the sport, has had a play written about her career, and is now collecting the memories of women who have been involved in the game since the 1970s.
She reflects on the obstacles she faced in the game and the challenges that women still face in the quest for equality not just in rugby league but also in sport and society in general.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
The birth of rugby league coincided with a wave of Jewish immigration to Britain in the 1890s, and Jews in the big cities of northern England quickly took the game to their hearts. The same was true in Sydney, where a Jewish rugby league competition was played in the 1920s. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' takes a look at the history of Jewish involvement in the sport, from pioneers like Eli Jacobson to superstars like Albert Rosenfeld, and modern-day administrators like Todd Greenberg and Simon Johnson.
As the new NRL season is about to raise the value of the drop-goal for the first time in 130 years, the new ‘Rugby Reloaded’ investigates the history of the drop-kick and the drop-goal. How did the drop-kick become so important that for over fifty years it was the most valuable way of scoring points in rugby union? And will the NRL's new rule lead league back down a road it travelled in the late 1960s?
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Humans have thrown and kicked a ball towards some form of goal fo as long as people have lived in communities. In any historical period, in part of the globe, football-type games have been played by men and women. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' takes the long view of 'folk football' in Britain before the emergence of the modern rugby and soccer football codes, and asks why it lagged behind sports like cricket and boxing, and did not develop into a modern game until the last third of the 1800s.
Although rugby's great split of 1895 is often portrayed as a professional breakaway, it also led to the vast majority of amateur rugby clubs in the north of England leaving the RFU and joining the Northern Union. This week's episode takes a look at the early history of rugby league below the professional level, examining its rise, fall, and rise again as it battled with the effects of war and the impact of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Romanian rugby boomed in the 1950s, threatening the Five Nations dominance of European rugby union, as its club sides proved to be more than a match for the top English and Welsh teams. Then the British Foreign Office stepped in... The new ‘Rugby Reloaded’ uncovers the secret history of Anglo-Romanian ‘rugger diplomacy’ and discovers an unknown league link. If you think that politics in rugby is a recent thing, think again.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Tuesday 26 January is the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Rugby Football Union at the Pall Mall Restaurant in the centre of London. In this week's 150th episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' we explore why and how the RFU was formed, and discover the contemporary parallels which forced rugby clubs to form their first governing body.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Facts speak for themselves, don't they? Not always, as we discover in this week's interview with Neil Ormston from the Rugby League Record Keepers' Club. As well as looking at the history of league stats, we discuss what constitutes an international match, what makes a club a club, and why league sides don't include their pre-1895 stats in their records. This is the episode where history, statistics and the philosophy of knowledge come together with the force of an Adrian Morley tackle.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week’s 'Rugby Reloaded' explores the book that did more to shape the modern sporting world than any other: Tom Brown’s School Days. When it was published in 1857, it was the Harry Potter of its day, but it went on to influence not just rugby football, but all football codes and all modern sports, not least the Olympic movement.
But what exactly was its message and what lessons did it expect its readers to learn? Underneath the surface, its coming of age story reflects all the prejudices and narrow-mindedness of Victorian Britain - and would their stamp on sport even in the 21st Century.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, together with show notes and links for this episode, visit www.rugbyreloaded.com
It's widely believed that William Wollen's famous rugby painting of 'The Roses Match' accidentally reveals 'ghost players', men who joined the Northern Union and were later painted out of the picture. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the history of rugby's most memorable masterpiece and explores the truth behind the 'painted out players' story. As one myth is debunked, the painting reveals yet more mysteries and the latest research uncovers new facts about the painting.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week’s episode talks to Peter Harvey, the former England schoolboys’ rugby union captain and St Helens centre/stand-off of the 1960s, about his life in rugby. Peter grew up watching rugby league in St Helens, but he passed his 11+ exam and went to grammar school, where he began playing rugby union. He played for Lancashire and captained England schoolboys, before signing for St Helens and becoming a central part of the great Saints side of the mid-1960s. This is a fascinating insight into one man’s journey through rugby and the British class system.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Christmas is just around the corner - and in past times soccer and rugby league supporters would have been looking forward to watching a match on Christmas Day. It was a tradition that brought record crowds and festive-style football. But how traditional was it - and why did it die out?
The new episode of ‘Rugby Reloaded’ unwraps the history of Christmas Day football and asks if it’s a tradition that could be re-invented for the 21st Century?
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
To mark the publication of a new book on the origins of British public school football games - 'Puddings, Bullies and Squashes', edited by Malcolm Tozer (Sunnyrest Books)- this episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' goes back to the 19th Century to look at the development and influence of schools' football.
Did the public school codes influence modern games of football? What was the role of Muscular Christianity? How did the school game relate to the adult football clubs that also emerged at the same time? Take a ten-minute trip back to the primodial origins of the world's football codes.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football games, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
What's the point of rugby league's salary cap? Rugby was was the original salary cap sport when it banned payments to players in 1886, which led directly to rugby's great split in 1895. Super League introduced the game's first salary cap in 1998 wth the aim of equalising competition and protecting clubs from themselves. But has it achieved its goals? The new 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to former St Helens' CEO Sean McGuire about the history of wage control in the game and future of the salary cap.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
In the wake of the BBC's excellent 'Once Were Lions' documentary, we look back on the 1986 Kangaroo tour of Britain with Mark Flanagan, author of 'The Invincibles: The Inside Story of the 1982 Kangaroos, the Team That Changed Rugby Forever'. Was the 1986 side the greatest touring team of all time? What did their success tell us about the state of British rugby league, or the future direction that rugby league would take? Two parts historical analysis, one part nostalgia, this episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' looks back at the origins of the modern era of rugby league.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
It's the England versus Wales rugby union showdown on Saturday, the latest instalment in a rivalry that stretches across nation, class and playing styles. To discuss the roots and the history of a contest that dates back to 1881, this week's guest is Huw Richards, rugby historian, journalist and author of 'The Red & The White: A History of England vs Wales Rugby'. Huw examines the myths, legends and realities of rugby's most complicated rivalry.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
In the second part of our wide-ranging interview with Mark Evans, the former Harlequins and Melbourne Storm CEO who is now head of Global Rapid Rugby, we talk about at the state of the two codes in the northern hemisphere and look at the prospects of South Africa joining the Six Nations, the difficulties of private ownership in rugby clubs, and the way forward for rugby league in Britain.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week's episode is the first of a wide-ranging two-part interview with Mark Evans, the former Harlequins and Melbourne Storm CEO who is now head of Global Rapid Rugby, the Asia-Pacific rugby union competition. This week we look at the state of the rugby codes in the southern hemisphere, starting with the emergence of rapid rugby, then examining the consequences of the end of Super Rugby, before looking at how the NRL has come out of the pandemic better than its rivals. Along the way, we look at how the historical cultures of the different codes have shaped their decision-making today - and why we can't unwind 1895.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
Gus Risman was one of the greatest of Cardiff’s rugby codebreakers. The son of immigrants who grew up in Tiger Bay, he played top-class rugby league for more than a quarter of a century, was a Championship and Challenge Cup winner with two clubs, and captained the 1946 Lions. Not only that, but he also captained the Wales in war-time rugby union internationals while a rugby league player. This week’s ‘Rugby Reloaded’ looks at his career and argues that he was not just one of the greatest rugby players of all time, but one of the greatest footballers in any code. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
You often hear talk about the 'Corinthian Spirit' in sport. But who were the Corinthians? And why has the club's name passed into the folklore of almost all the football codes? This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Professor Dil Porter about his book 'English Gentlemen and World Soccer: Corinthians, Amateurism and the Global Game' (co-written with Dr Chris Bolsmann) which looks at the history of Corinthian FC and examines the myths which surround the club. Could they really defeat professional soccer clubs very easily? Did they always refuse to take penalty kicks because they considered it 'ungentlemanly'? Dil digs deep into Corinthian history to separate fact from fiction.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week's episode talks to award-winning journalist Carolyn Hitt about the BBC's 'Rugby Codebreakers' documentary on the Welsh rugby players, many of whom were black, who left Wales to play rugby league. We talk about the personal journey she went on as the presenter of the programme, the history of Welsh players 'going North', the differing responses of league and union fans, racism in rugby, and how things have changed over the past thirty years. To discover more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
This week’s ‘Rugby Reloaded’ talks to Helena Byrne, web archive curator at the British Library’s Web Archive Unit, about sports history web archiving and her work with the Mapping Irish Women’s Football Project, which charts the history of women’s involvement in all football codes in Ireland. Helena also talks about her fascinating research into the unique story of women’s indoor football in Ireland in the 1960s.
For more on the history of the football codes take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony
On Friday the Super League clubs deferred a decision whether Toronto Wolfpack could take part in the 2021 competition. But what can be learnt from British rugby league's attempts to expand beyond northern England since the 1900s? Is it doomed to failure or are the lessons going unheeded... and why might Canada offer an answer?
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Rugby's relationship with television is starting change. As the Rugby Football League annouces that it is putting its TV rights out to tender, this week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the game's historic relationship with the BBC. Over-dependency on TV money, concerns about the style of presentation and a constant comparison with other codes - just as in 2020, these were the same problems that faced the sport in 1970...
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
On 14 September 1980 Fulham rugby league club ran out for its first match at Craven Cottage and the professional game returned to London. But the history of London rugby league stretches back to 1908 and Fulham were the latest attempt to establish a pro club in the capital. So what does the past forty years tell us about rugby league expansion in London? The new 'Rugby Reloaded' explores the struggle to keep the league flame burning in London and the lessons for future expansion.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
The new Premier League season starts this week so, as Leeds Utd once again take their place in the top flight, the new 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the secret history of the origins of professional soccer in Leeds. It's a tale of intrigue, double-dealing and concealed conflicts of interest of businessmen and journalists that led to the death of a rugby league club and the birth of commercial soccer.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Last week marked the 25th anniversary of rugby union abandoning amateurism and legalising professionalism. To mark the occasion, we chat with former Wallaby prop and CEO of Gainline Analytics, Ben Darwin. Ben played before and after 1995 and experienced rugby as an amateur and a professional, so he brings his personal insights as well as a deep knowledge of both rugby codes to our discussion about the reality of amateurism, the problems of professionalism, and the real differences between union and league. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
This week's special edition marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of rugby league, with guest presenter Dr Kevin Moore interviewing me about my new book 'Rugby League: A People's History' which is published this week by scratchingshedpublishing.com. We talk about the origins of the sport, the strengths and weaknesses of its culture, and its prospects in the 21st Century. In 13 questions, we dissect rugby league's past, present and future. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Less than a year after the end of World War 2 rugby league’s Lions toured Australia and New Zealand - a tour made possible thanks to an aircraft carrier, a military train & the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations. This week's ‘Rugby Reloaded’ tells the story of the incredible 1946 ‘Indomitables’, the tour that relaunched international rugby league.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
9 August would have been the closing ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but... The new 'Rugby Reloaded' takes a look at rugby union's early Olympic history, starting with the 1900 tournament where the British team did not bother to turn up for a match and ending with the 1924 final that ended in violence. In between, club teams took part, Cornwall contested a final, and the USA won two gold medals. This was a very different Olympic tradition to the commercial juggernaut of today's Games.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Whenever there's a debate between Australian union and league fans, someone will very quickly raise the question of World War One.
League, so the argument goes, only became the dominant rugby code in Australia because union stopped playing during the war. The implication is that rugby league took advantage of the war to get the upper-hand over union.
But nothing in this debate is quite as it seems, so this week's episode looks at how the war-time league/union divide refelcted much deeper divisions in Australian society.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Roy Francis was the first black athlete to play for Great Britain in 1947. He was one of Wales' great rugby league players. Even more significantly, he was the godfather of modern coaching, taking Hull to the Championship in 1956. It's high time his achievements were recognised, so this week's episode looks at the campaign to rename the Grand Final Player of the Match award as the 'Roy Francis Trophy', and tells the contrasting stories of Roy Francis and Harry Sunderland, after whom the trophy is currently named.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Of all the football codes, rugby union has faced the most troubled times during the Coronvirus pandemic. Wage disputes, club v country clashes, and the splitting apart of the game in the Southern Hemisphere have thrown the game's long-time issues into sharp light. So, for an insight into the game's problems, this week's episode talks to rugby union analyst Rhiannon Garth Jones about where the sport stands today and where it is going.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Saturday 4 July marked the 50th anniversary of the last time the Great Britain Lions won the rugby league Ashes. This week's episode looks back at the tour which summed up all the political tensions and latent hostilities that exploded between Britain and Australia in the 1960s - and then asks perhaps the most important question in rugby league: why can't the Poms beat the Aussies anymore?
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Last week Rugby League Cares, the sport's charitable arm, announced that the new National Rugby League Museum is going to be housed at the George Hotel in Huddersfield, the birthplace of the game. In this special museum episode, I discuss the plans for the museum with Dr Kevin Moore, former CEO of the National Football Museum, and answer listeners' questions about the project.
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to one of Britain's pioneers in sports performance analysis, Rob Lowe. In the early 1990s Rob founded the first company that collected and analysed rugby league performance stats; from there he moved on to rugby union and soccer, and became a director of Opta Sports. We spoke about the origins of stats, the impact they've had on coaching in the rugby codes, and where they will go in the future.
How do you market Championship (second tier) rugby league? And what difference does promotion and relegation make to marketing strategies?This week's episode talks to marketing expert Kacy Mackreth about her research into the marketing (or lack thereof) of rugby below the Super League level. What went wrong with the licensing, or franchise, model and how badly did the Middle-Eight play-off formula turn out? For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Are Crystal Palace the oldest professional soccer club in the world? I'm joined this week again by Dr Kevin Moore to discuss whether Palace's recent claim has any substance (spoiler alert: no) and, more importantly, to ask what exactly is football history and how we should do it. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Where does British rugby league go after the pandemic? This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' welcomes back former St Helens CEO Sean McGuire to look at the tasks facing rugby league in the new post-Covid (perhaps) future. We discuss transparency in the game, deferential attitudes, 'Workington Man', the need for an independent strategic report into the game and pretty much everything else.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
For seventy years, the axis of world supremacy in rugby union revolved around New Zealand and South Africa. This week's episode examines how that rivalry was fueled in the inter-war years, via drawn test series, contrasting styles, national pride and, crucially, the exclusion of Maori and all dark-skinned players to appease South Africa's racist policies. If you want to understand Southern Hemisphere rugby union today, this is the key.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
In May 1996 Wigan played union and Bath played league in a historic clash of the rugby codes. Each won a match in their own code but, between the two matches, Wigan also won union's Middlesex 7s. It was 100 years since rugby's great split, but the differences that tore the game apart then were just as apparent in 1996. The playing styles and stereotypes of the Victorian age continued to burn brightly - the games were not just a clash of the codes, they were also a clash of cultures.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Is soccer the original form of football that was played in pre-industrial times? But modern soccer looks nothing like the ancient forms of folk football - and for its first few years it was barely distinguishable from rugby. So how did it become the most popular type of football?
This week's episode examines whether it was soccer's rules that made it popular or something much more fundamental in late-Victorian Britain.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
In the 1980s, few players bestrode rugby league like Kiwi Olsen Fillipaina. Size, speed, skills and a football super-brain, Olsen had it all. But perhaps even more importantly, he became a symbol of the emergence of Pacific Island players in rugby league and a genuine insipration to those who came after him. But being a pioneer takes its toll, and Olsen suffered from vicious racism and unsympathetic coaches. Patrick Skene's new book 'The Big O. The Life and Times of Olsen Filipaina, Pacific Revolution Pioneer' tells Olsen's story in its full glory, and charts the rise of rugby league's Pacific revolutionaries. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
This week's episode talks to Dr Kevin Marston about his research into the short history of America's first football club, Oneida FC of Boston, which was formed in 1862 in the midst of the American Civil War. What link did it have to American football and soccer and, perhaps even more intriguingly, how has its story been used by supporters of both codes to legitimise their heritage? It's a dispute that is still being played out, as controversy reigns about the shape of the ball on the monument to the club on Boston Common.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' travels back in time to ancient China with Dr Kevin Moore to look at the incredible history of Cuju, the ball game that survived in China for 2,000 years. Was it the forerunner of modern football, as Sepp Blatter once claimed, or was it something far richer and more complex?
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' goes audio-visual and looks at the Mitchell & Kenyon rugby films of 1901-03. These are the earliest collection of rugby films from almost the dawn of moving pictures, and were filmed just as the Northern Union was mid-way in its evolution from rugby union rules to what became rugby league. And they also show some of the early giants of the sport - Dicky Lockwood, Albert Goldthorpe and James Lomas - in action. To watch the videos discussed in the podcast, go to https://bit.ly/3b6lZ1u
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
This bonus episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' talks about the 'Life Without League: Rugby at the Time of Coronavirus' project with Dr Victoria Dawson. She started the project to encourage people to keep diaries during the extraordinary times we currently live in. We discuss the importance of diaries for historians of the game, how they help us reconstruct the past, how we should look at the history of rugby league, and of course, why you should keep a diary! For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
This week's episode of ‘Rugby Reloaded’ goes back to August 1914 to explore how rugby league dealt with the global crisis of World War One. Just like today, the game faced pressures to stop playing, underwent unprecedented financial problems, and had to restructure itself. How did it find a way forward?
This is the second of a two part episode that looks at the impact of war on the game - listen to episode 105 for part one. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, go to www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the new Netflix series about the early years of English soccer 'The English Game'. Does it present an accurate account of the rise of working-class teams in soccer and the importance of Scottish players to the game? Or is it ultimately a romantic defence of the British class system and a distortion of the history of football? The episode also sheds new light on the 'Scotch Professors' and the 'shock of the new' that football represented at the turn of the 1870s. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
The new ‘Rugby Reloaded’ looks at the last time British rugby league faced a global crisis: the outbreak of World War Two. How did it cope with travel restrictions, stadium requisitioning and equipment rationing? What was the response of players and fans? This is the first of a two part episode that looks at the impact of war on the game.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
his special edition of 'Rugby Reloaded' looks back at how rugby responded to the 1904 smallpox epidemic in West Yorkshire, and asks are there lessons to be learned for today? For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
Flankers playing at scrum-half? This week's'Rugby Reloaded' talks to rugby union journalist Rhiannon Garth Jones about how union's new positional flexibility seems to reflect the way changes in rugby union are leading it down the same path that league took 100 years ago. Is it merely borrowing from league or is union changing more fundamentally?
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
In the divided nation of Ireland, rugby union seems to offer a unique form of unity, with one national team representing two countries. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Dr Liam O'Callaghan about the roots of Irish rugby and the reality behind its apparent national unity between North and South, and Catholics and Protestants.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
To celebrate International Women's Day this week we talk to journalist and broadcaster Joanna Lester about her amazing film 'Power Meri', which charts the rise of women's rugby league in Papua New Guinea and follows the national team, the Orchids, to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. It's an incredible story about rugby league in PNG communities and how it has helped in the fight against women's oppression. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
To mark the 100th episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' we have a special interview with David Hinchliffe, Labour MP for Wakefield from from 1987 to 2005, one of the founders of the All Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group, and author of 'Rugby's Class War'. We talked about his time in parliament, his attempt to outlaw rugby union discrimination against league, and his thoughts on rugby league today and its 'deference' problem.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes and links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
In 1903 Bradford City became the only club ever accepted into the Football League without ever playing soccer. They had begun as Manningham and were the first Northern Union champions but decided to depart for the greener grass of soccer. Four years later, local rivals Bradford followed suit, but many fans rebelled and formed what would become today's Bradford Bulls. What lay behind Bradford's Great Split, and how did it spark the creation of what would become Leeds United? For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
What really happened in Vichy? The new ‘Rugby Reloaded’ discusses new research on why French rugby league was banned in 1941 with Dr Melissa McMahon (@batsyblog). She analyses why league was singled out and how amateurism became weaponised as part of the Vichy government's attempts to return France to a reactionary past. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
The Six Nations is back - and this week's 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to rugby journalist and historian Huw Richards about the tournament in the inter-war years. Why did England and Scotland dominate the 1920s? Why were the French expelled? And what impact did rugby league have on Wales? Settle in for a deep dive into rugby union history!
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
It's the 25th anniversary of Super League, and this week's Rugby Reloaded catches up with former St Helens CEO Sean McGuire to take a deep dive into the lessons and legacy of rugby league's biggest leap since 1895. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
This week’s ‘Rugby Reloaded’ talks to Ryan Bodman about his forthcoming book on the social history of rugby league in New Zealand. As Ryan explains, league in NZ has always been a game of the excluded and dispossesed: industrial workers, Maori and Pacific Islanders. He talks about the links between the sport and the labour movement, discusses how anti-Catholic sectarianism saw Irish Catholics come into the game, and how NZ schools even today are a battleground between league and union. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
This week’s ‘Rugby Reloaded’ chats with Dr Kevin Moore, former Director of the National Football Museum in England and author of a new book, 'What You Think You Know About Football is Wrong: The Global Game's Greatest Myths and Untruths'. We discuss the unquestioned narratives of soccer, such as why did soccer defeat rugby, could soccer have America's national sport, the history of ancient Chinese football, the eventual death of the game, and much more. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (which also has show notes for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony.
This week’s ‘Rugby Reloaded’ talks to Lydia Furse about the forgotten history of Barette, a 12-a-side version of rugby that became popular with French women in the 1920s. Emerging during the tumultuous 1920s, it began to lose ground in the 1930s before being finally extinguished by the notorious Vichy government. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' takes a ten-minute trip back to the time when Australians wondered if they'd ever beat the British, fretted about stopping the player drain to England, and raised money to keep rugby union afloat. The 1920s and 1930s were the time when the Kangaroos were underdogs and today's league world was its mirror opposite. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Professor Heidi Norman about her work on the history of Aboriginal rugby league in New South Wales. Starting with Jackie Brooks in the early 1920s, she discusses the long and complex story of Aboriginal players, teams and carnivals, and asks what this tells us about rugby league and Australian society. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
The 1905-06 All Black tour was arguably the greatest ever, setting the template for all subsequent tours of Britain. Not only did the All Blacks win all but one match, but they despatched most of their opponents with stunning ease. But beneath the brilliance, Southern Hemsiphere rugby players were at breaking point - and the defining tour of rugby union would be the catalyst for the creation of rugby league in Australia and NZ. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
When was the first organised women's rugby league match in Britain? All is revealed as this week's 'Rugby Reloaded' plus talks to Dr Victoria Dawson about her PhD research into the history of women's involvement in British rugby league. But as the interview reveals, it's not just on the pitch where women have made their presence felt in the game. Dr Dawson is also looking for interviewees for her 'Wembley Women project, so go to www.wembleywomen.wordpress.com for furhter details. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Lindsay Anderson's film version of David Storey's novel 'This Sporting Life' was released in 1963 and is one of the few movies to portray sport accurately on screen. But did it do rugby league a disservice, or was it aiming at something different? Dig out the popcorn and take a ten-minute intermission while 'Rugby Reloaded' unravels the many layers and complexities of rugby's cinema classic. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Rugby Union is unique in world sport because of the importance of the penalty goal to match results. But why did the penalty goal become such a crucial aspect of the game? 'Rugby Reloaded' digs back into the history of the game to discover how it emerged in response to new players taking up rugby in the Victorian era.
This special edition of 'Rugby Reloaded' is the second part of the interview with Michael Aylwin about his fascinating book 'Unholy Union: When Rugby Collided with the Modern World'. What does the future hold for rugby union and how does it overcome the cultural baggage of its amateur heritage?
As the British general election was called last week, a think-tank suggested that Boris Johnson's Conservative Party should target 'Workington Man' in areas with 'strong rugby league traditions'. But rugby league was born in revolt against ruling elites and has a long tradition of radicalism. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the rebel origins of league and its radical DNA. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
As the All Blacks enter four years of self-doubt, 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to David Scott about his book 'Return to Rugby Land' and his reflections about the place of rugby union in New Zealand history and society. It's a book that combines his own personal memories with observations on rugby in NZ culture and the position of Maori, Polynesians and Women in the game - and we end with his thoughts on rugby in Sir Lanka where he now lives.
This week sees the start of the Great Britain Lions' tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, so we look at the origins of the GB-NZ rivalry and go back to Cheltenham, the genteel town which staged the deciding test match of the 1908 series. Yes, Cheltenham! Step into the ten-minute time tunnel to discover its historic role in rugby league history. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
To mark Black History Month, this week's podcast looks at the pioneering life and times of Lucius Banks, the first Amercian to play professional rugby and the first black athlete to play professional rugby league. This is a remarkable life story of an African-American man born two decades after the end of slavery, travelled across the Atlantic to play a sport he had never seen, and returned home to struggle against racism for the rest of his life - a pioneer on and off the pitch. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
On Friday 11 October it will be the 50th anniversary of my father taking me to my first-ever Hull Kingston Rovers match. To mark the anniversary, this week's 'Rugby Reloaded plus' chats to 1960s Hull KR forward Keith Pollard about his life in rugby league in England and Australia, and talks about his autobiography, 'Red & White Phoenix: the adventures of a Hessle Road lad'. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week we talk to Michael Aylwin, rugby union correspondent of the 'Guardian' and the author of a new book, 'Unholy Union: When Rugby Collided With The Modern World'. It’s a ‘state of the nation’ review of the problems and challenges facing rugby union today, almost 25 years since the sport took the momentous decision to go professional. Is its future conditioned by its amateur past, or can it become a purely commercial entertainment? For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This autumn is the 50th anniversary of the now infamous 1969 South African rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland. On Wednesday, BBC Wales will screen Gareth Edwards' 'Rugby, Apartheid and Me' in which he re-examines his decision not boycott South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. So this week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks back at 1969, and the tour that was historic for all the wrong reasons. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Rugby Union's World Cup kicks off on Friday - but why did it take the game until 1987 to stage a world cup? 'Rugby Reloaded' plus talks to journalist and historian Huw Richards about the tangled pre-history of the world cup and how it eventually kicked off Down Under.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
As the kick-off for rugby union's world cup in Japan approaches, this week's 'Rugby Reloaded' steps back sixty-five years to explore the origins and tangled history of rugby's first world cup - the 1954 Rugy League World Cup. Initiated by a leader of the French Resistance, the RLWC has a tangled history whose promise has yet to be fulfilled. Could the 2021 RLWC be the turning point?
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Fiji has been a hotbed of rugby for over a century. It provides stars to the NRL and to rugby union around the world. In the 1950s northern England was lit up by the talent of its players. And it continues to dominate the world of rugby union sevens. Yet it has always been treated as a second-class citizen by world rugby union, and in today's globalised world, it looks like the future pf Fijian rugby could be league. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Ahead of Thursday's anniversary of the founding of the Northern Union in 1895, 'Rugby Reloaded' looks as the forgotten genius of English rugby, Dicky Lockwood. A manual labourer who captained the England rugby union team, Lockwood symbolised the rise of the northern working-class rugby player in the 19th century amd became the living embodiment of rugby's great split, yet his story was ignored and his legacy disappeared. Find out why in this week's ten-minute time tunnel. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
It's the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final on Saturday, so the latest 'Rugby Reloaded' looks back at one of rugby league's most iconic moments: Don Fox's dramatic last-minute missed conversion in the 1968 Final. Why has this become a defining event in the history of the Wembley final and why does it continue to resonate with us today after more than fifty years?
In September 1982 the Australian rugby league Kangaroos landed in Britain. When they left at the end of November they were acclaimed as the Invincibles, the greatest rugby league touring team ever. Not since the 1905 All Black rugby union tourists had any visiting sports team had such an impact on Britain. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Mark Flanagan about his new book 'The Invincibles: The Inside Story of the 1982 Kangaroos, the Team That Changed Rugby Forever' about the tour, its consequences and what it tells us about rugby league. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' plus talks to Ian Syson about his book 'The Game That Never Happened' which looks at the origins and struggles of soccer in Australia's four-cornered football world. Ian discusses why soccer never became the premier football code down under and how it lost out to rugby league and Aussie Rules. It's a fascinating discussion which throws up lots of questions about why and how different types of football become dominant in different places.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
The titanic rivalry between the All Blacks and the Springboks has dominated international rugby union for one hundred years. But the origins of that rivalry were based on racism and racial exclusion. The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' goes back to 1919 to discover how the great All Black Ranji Wilson was excluded from the first tour to South Africa and how race defined the relationship between New Zealand and South Africa. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Harold Wagstaff died 80 years ago on 19 July 1939. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' takes a ten-minute tour of his life and times to explore why he was he arguably rugby league's greatest-ever player, and also how he came to symbolise league culture in Britain and Australia. For more information about 'Ahr Waggy', go to www.HuddersfieldRLheritage.co.uk, where there are also details of the Wagstaff Heritage Trail organised by David Thorpe. There is also a new biography of Wagstaff out this week by Robert Gate and Graham Williams, called ‘A Northern Union Man’ published by London League Publications at www.llpshop.co.uk
For over a century, rugby union has been a symbol of Afrikaner culture and white South Africa. But why did the Afrikaners play the game of their British war-time enemies and rivals? This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' takes ten minutes to look at the legacy of the Boer War and the 1906 Springbok tour, and discover what made rugby so appealing to Afrikaners.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
With the deciding State of Origin rugby league match just two days away, Rugby Reloaded plus chats with Joe Gorman about his forthcoming book 'Heartland: How Rugby League Explains Queensland'. We talk about why Origin is so important for Queenslanders, what it says about their identity, how racism has been undermined and why the future of the game could be female. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' plus edition talks to Victor Ramalho, historian of Brazilian rugby and ESPN Brazil rugby commentator. Victor talks about how rugby lost out to soccer, its slow growth in the 20th century, its new popularity, the women's game, and the emergence of rugby league. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
The Samoan rugby league team broke its drought at the weekend with victory over Papua New Guinea, while Samoan rugby union remains at its weakest point for decades. But how did it become a powerhouse of rugby? This week's Rugby Reloaded looks back at what makes Samoan history unique and how globailsation could be the saviour of both codes. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
It's State of Origin #2 on Sunday, but 50 years ago the same intense focus would have been on a Great Britain v Australia Ashes series. This week's episode looks at why Origin overcame the Ashes and explores the history of Anglo-Australian rugby league. Discover how rugby league explains Australia's changing relationship with its former 'Mother Country'! For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
How important are 'firsts' in the history of the football codes? Does it matter if a club is the 'oldest'? Do they distract from the bigger issues in the history of how the different games emerged and evolved? For this week's ten-minute trip through the football code time tunnel I'm giving the talk I gave at last week's International Football History Conference - @footycon - on whether 'firsts' matter For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Following Saturday's Champions League final, this week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the origins of the first league of football clubs, soccer's 1888 Football League. Is a European soccer super league inevtiable? And what does the history of the Football League have to teach the rugby codes? Take ten minutes to get the historical perspective on the debate on the shape of football leagues to come. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded plus' talks to Roy Hay about his new book 'Aboriginal People and Australian Football in the Nineteenth Century: They Did Not Come from Nowhere' which looks at the contribution of Indigenous Australians to Aussie Rules football in the nineteenth century. It's a story of racism and resistance to racism as Aboriginal players fought their right to play football. To find about about Roy's book, go to https://cambridgescholars.com/aboriginal-people-and-australian-football-in-the-nineteenth-century. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week we take a look at how the war between union and league played out in the UK during World Wars 1 and 2 - with union’s league ban lifted, league stars shone in union. But it still wasn't a level playing field, as the Welsh league player forced to play for the England rugby union side discovered. And when the world war was over, the rugby war resumed with a vengeance. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Rugby league and Aussie Rules to merge? Gridiron fusion with Aussie Rules? It could never happen - but it has, or at least been attempted. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded plus' sits down with Spencer Kassimir to explore the times when rugby league and Aussie Rules sat down to create a hybrid game, discover the World War Two game that brought together the best of the NFL and the VFL, and chat about the International rules AFL-GAA games.
Why was there no rugby in India? And why is rugby in Sri Lanka one of the sport's best kept secrets? This week's ten-minute time trek through rugby history examines the game in Asia and the Far East, looking at how China, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka reflected both the past and the future of rugby union. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
In Argentina today, soccer is without question the passion of the people. Yet in 1900 soccer and rugby were equally as popular - so what happened? How did rugby lose out to soccer? This week's ten-minute time tunnel examines how social and political changes in Argentina not only changed the nation but also transformed sport, leaving rugby the sport of Argentina's social elite. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
The Toronto Wolfpack kick-off their home season on Sunday, and so this week's 'Rugby Reloaded' travels back in time to unravel the forgotten history of rugby league in Canada before the Wolfpack. It's a tale of heroic pioneers and missed opportunities... For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week we step in the ten-minute time tunnel to look at the history of the line-out in both rugby union and rugby league. The throw-in from touch is one of the few common rules remaining in soccer and rugby union, so we trace its evolution, discover why league abolished it, and consider what the future holds for it. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' plus talks to Gavin Willacy, author of 'No Helmets Required' about the incredible story of the 1953 American All Stars tour of Australia. We chat about how it happened, why its promise failed to materialise, and what lessons can be learned as rugby league once again discusses expansion into North America. (With apologies for the poor sound quality this week)
1906 was the year league went 13-a-side, the All Blacks transformed rugby union, and America football legalised the forward pass. Discover how 1906 revolutionised the Oval World in the new ‘Rugby Reloaded’ podcast. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week we take a deep dive into the announcement that rugby union may introduce a 50-22 rule modelled on rugby league's 40-20. Is it another case of union stealing league's clothes? This week's ten-minute rugby time tunnel looks at the evolution of rugby rules and asks if it is inevitable that union will go down the same road as league. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
The shape of things to scrum? This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the past, present and future of the scrum. Take a ten-minute trip back to the time when scrums worked the wrong way round and discover why the scrum's problems have always been a headache for all codes of the oval ball game. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded plus' interviews Andrew Ferguson, one of the brains behind the 'Rugby League Project' website, which aims to compile a complete database of the game's statistics. We talk about where the Project gets its stats, the problems of assessing matches, and why there are no unified records for the sport - not to mention swapping notes on ganglions, the old-school researcher's curse.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week sees the centenary of thekick-off the 'King's Cup', the international military tournament that celebrated the end of World War One. But was it really 'rugby's first world cup' as some claim? As this week's podcast discovers, it was not a world cup but something far more interesting and complex, which shaped the future of international rugby union for the next fifty years. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's 'Rugby Reloaded plus' chats with Mike Rylance about his new book 'The Struggle and The Daring', just published by Scratching Shed. We talk about the history of French rugby league, its fabulous origins, ban by Vichy, the post-war struggles, immortal sides of the 1950s, and its fall from grace. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Rugby Reloaded plus this week talks to Sean McGuire, former St Helens' CEO and London rugby league pioneer. Sean chats about his experiences in London in the 1980s with the Hornsey Lambs and reflects on what that means for the future of rugby league, opportunities for expansion, and the never-ending thrill of the game. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's Rugby Reloaded looks at the history of rugby in Italy and how national politics have shaped the game. From Mussolini to Berlusconi, the sport has always been seen as a way to influence society and business - and along the way it has fought its own civil war between union and league. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's Rugby Reloaded plus chats with journalist Huw Richards about the origins of the Six Nations, its early rivalry with soccer, how Rugby's Great Split of 1895 changed the tournament forever, and much more. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
To mark Red Star Belgrade's debut in the Rugby League Challenge Cup, this week's episode looks at the history of the rugby codes in Eastern Europe, discovers what happened to Yugoslav rugby league, and investigates why Rumania never became part of the Six Nations. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Rugby Reloaded plus is back - this week I'm talking to NRL and former Super League ref Tim Roby. Tim chats about his career, discusses the uses of philosophy for referees, contrasts league in Britain and Australia, talks about his experiences at the Koori Knockout Comp, and much, much more.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Was Hull-born Ebenezer Cobb Morley the 'father of football'? Not unless his child was switched at birth. Morley's rules bore little resemblance to modern soccer and his leadership of the TA was a failure. But why do we need stories about 'fathers of football codes'? Take a ten-minute tour of the origins of soccer in the latest 'Rugby Reloaded' podcast.
The Rugby League Challenge Cup is the sport's oldest continuous tournament. But in recent years, the thrill of the cup has been declining - and now the RFL are asking overseas clubs for six-figure bonds to take part. Are knock-out cup tournaments like the Challenge Cup and the FA Cup doomed to fade away? Find out what history tells us about the future of one of British sport's most prestigious tournaments on your latest ten-minute trek through the past.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
At Christmas 1914, British and German troops on the Western Front left their positions, crossed into No Man's Land, and fraternised with each other. In some places, football matches were played. This special Christmas edition of 'Rugby Reloaded' explores the myths and reality of the Christmas football matches, and discusses their importance to soccer's global image.
Rugby in Ireland can perhaps boast of having the world's oldest rugby club, and for a generation rugby had no rivals in Ireland. Yet within a decade it had been overtaken by soccer and Gaelic football. This week's podcast explores the birth of Irish rugby and its complicated history. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
World War One gave birth to women's football football as a mass participation sport. For the first time ever, thousands of women could play the game they loved. But why did it take a war to give women the opportunity to play the game and why did it disappear so quickly? This week's ten-minute time tunnel podcast takes a deep dive to explore the link between war, football and women's struggle to play the game. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Whatever happened to the Lions, British rugby league's national team?The answer is more complicated than you might think, showing how changing conceptions of nationality are reflected in sport, and why history is about more than the simply what happened in the past. Take a ten minute tour through 114 years of international and changing team titles with this week's 'Rugby Reloaded' podcast.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
In October 2017 Jason Taumalolo started a rugby revolution when he opted to play for Tonga, the country of his parents' birth, in the Rugby League World Cup. But how did rugby start in Tonga? Why does the national rugby union side struggle, while its league side has never been more popular? 'Rugby Reloaded' takes a ten-minute tour of Tongan history for some answers.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
How did rugby come to Japan? Alone of all the Asian nations, Japan is the place where rugby is part of the national culture, despite it being a rival to (and a war-time enemy of) the English-speaking rugby-playing countries in the Pacific. Discover how rugby took the way of Bushido in our ten-minute time travel trip through 150 years of Japanese rugby. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
The Scots have always felt they were as important as the English in the story of how rugby was born. This week's ten-minute trip back through time examines how Scotland kick-started international rugby and why their rivalry with the RFU went so deep and lasted so long. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Discover the origins of South African rugby and the hidden history of black and mixed race involvement in the game in our latest ten-minute tour of rugby history. This was a time when Afrikaners were a rare sight on the rugby field and the game was a symbol of the British Empire. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Did Walter Camp invent American football? Most of the history books say yes, but the reality is much more complicated. American football began as rugby but quickly started to change the rules to make a better spectacle - just like many other rugby-playing regions. Discover how and why it changed in your ten-minute intro to the orgins of the gridiron game. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
12-a-side, three downs and a Maple Leaf at its heart. This week we look at Canadian football, the unsung cousin of rugby and gridiron football. Take a ten-minute trip through Canadian history to discover how Canada came to have its own football code and how it paved the way for American football. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
It's Black History Month, so this week's podcast looks at the history of black players in British rugby league. Take a ten minute tour of the hidden history of a century of black achievement - and the obstacles still to be conquered - as players, captains and coaches in rugby league. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
We're continuing our look at how the different football codes started - this week it's Gaelic football. How did the distinctive Irish game emerge? Is it really an ancient game? We'll debunk the myths and deconstruct the history... all in just ten minutes. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Look around the world and in almost every football code, the game is the sport of the city. This week's bitesize glimpse into football history looks at the orginal world capital of football: Glasgow. No other city was dominated by football like Glasgow, and it provided the template for the great footballing cities of the world.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week we look at the origins of Aussie Rules football and ask just how unique are the origins of the game? For most of its fans, it's an original Australian code of football, and many others believe that it is derived from the games of Aboriginal Australians. But, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, the beginnings of the game are neither pure Australian nor anything like simple.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Welcome to the first episode of a bonus Rugby Reloaded plus - ahead of this year's Tom Brock Lecture in Sydney, we talk to Tom Brock Scholar and sports consultant Spencer Kassimir about the history of the relationship between rugby league and girdiron football, and the prospects for the sport in North America.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Women have always played football - but the modern football codes of the 19th Century tried to keep them out. This week's bitesize time tunnel looks at how women fought to be part of football in Victorian times, both on the terraces and on the pitch. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
It's well known that the Vichy government in France banned rugby league in 1941. But what happened to the game after that? This week's episode looks at rugby league players in World War 2 and the faboulous rebirth and calamitous fall of the French game in the post-war years.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
On Wednesday 29 August it will be 123 years to the day since twenty-one of England's top rugby clubs met at the George Hotel to create the Northern Union. This week's ten-minute history tour takes a deep dive into the events of 1895 that led to that momentous meeting. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
It's Wembley Week for British rugby league - and to celebrate the game's annual day in the sun, this week's podcast takes ten minutes in the time tunnel to discover why and how rugby league's big day out ended up in London. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
As a preview for my new book 'How Football Began', I'm looking at the origin myths of football - and this week I'm investigating the claim that Sheffield is the true birthplace of modern soccer. Take a ten-minute tour of the early history of sport in the Steel City and discover Sheffield's intriguing football history - and how rugby played a vital role in its early years.
This week's ten-minute time tunnel looks at the career of John Sutcliffe - from Bradford and England rugby, to Manchester United and England soccer, to European football management. Sutcliffe's life tells the story of football's incredible development in the space of a single lifetime. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
How did soccer became the global game - but not rugby? This week we take a ten minute world tour and compare the fate of soccer and rugby in Argentina and Brazil. Take a listen and discover how soccer defeated rugby to become the undisputed champion of the football world. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
How did soccer avoid a split over professionalism in 1885 but rugby tore itself apart over the same issue in 1895? In a special prview of my new book 'How Football Began' this week's ten-minute meander through sporting history explains why soccer stayed united but rugby split. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's ten-minute time tunnel looks at rugby union's one hundred war against rugby league. From 1895 to 1995 rugby union excluded rugby league players from playing its game, developing a system that even rugby union's Danie Craven described as 'the strictest form of apartheid'. How and why could this happen? For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Take ten minutes to discover how the Wallabies and Kangaroos battled it out for Australian rugby supremacy. This was a war that was fought on the playing fields of Britain as much as it was was on the paddocks of Sydney - and it left rugby league the winner. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's half-time history talk looks at why league has a six tackle rule. Was limited tackle rugby brought in to stop St George's domination of Australia in the 1960s or does it have deeper links with American football's four downs system (and Canada's three downs)? It's a six-tackle history in just ten minutes.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
What links Walter Camp, Lucius Banks and Harry Sunderland? As our latest ten-minute history tour explains, they've all played parts in rugby league's dream of establishing itself in the United States. Listen to the complete story of how league almost came to America in the 1930s. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This is the story of Wally McArthur, the first Aboriginal rugby league player to play for an English club. Born a son of Australia's Stolen Generation, Wally blazed a trail for Aboriginal players when he signed for Rochdale Hornets in 1953 and went on to prove that true greatness is about much more than what happens on the pitch.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
From the Wallaroos to the Kangaroos, discover how Australian rugby union's embrace of amateurism ripped the game apart and why the popularity of the game led to the creation of rugby league - all in just ten minutes.
For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week our half-time history talk looks at the beginnings of sevens, nines and sixes - the 'short form' versions of rugby - in a journey that takes us from the Scottish Borders to downtown Batley. Once again, we discover that the truth about rugby history is rarely pure and never simple. To discover more about the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Take ten minutes out of your day to discover the amazing story of the 1888 NZ Native Touring Team to the British Isles. Pioneers of Māori rugby, the tourists won the hearts of many supporters but incurred the wrath of the English rugby authorities, leading to rugby's own mini 'Bodyline'-style controversy. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week's ten minute time tunnel takes us back to 1895 and the aftermath of Rugby's Great Split. We take a quick tour of how the split unfolded across the north over the next few years, and look at how rugby union started to re-organise after its near-death experience. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Spend ten minutes in rugby's time tunnel as we look at the first-ever British rugby tour to Australia and New Zealand. Although now claimed as the first tour of the rugby union British Lions, the tour was in reality opposed by the rugby authorities. Listen to how this unofficial team changed the face of international rugby forever. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Take ten minutes out to discover how the word 'Broken' and 'Time' tore rugby in two in the 1890s. Why did broken time become the issue that broke the game apart? We go all 'fly on the wall' at the 1893 RFU annual meeting to find out what was going on. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week your ten minute rugby history fix looks at how rugby league came to France, almost conquered a nation, but was then forcibly 'deleted' from French sport and society by the Vichy government during World War Two. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com
This week’s Rugby Reloaded ten-minute history talk looks at how world rugby blew apart in 1907 and led to the birth of International rugby league - and how Albert Baskerville took a great leap into the unknown to change rugby forever. To discover more about the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony or take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com
Our ten minute rugby history podcast this week goes way back to explore how rugby evolved in Victorian times, giving birth to both rugby league and rugby union. Stand by for way too much detail on the history of scrums and points systems. For more, follow me on Twitter @collinstony or visit www.rugbyreloaded.com
In the second of our Easter weekend specials, we follow up the recent BBC Wales 'Rugby Codebreakers' documentary and asks why, if Welsh rugby had a similar industrial and social history to Northern England, is rugby union, and not rugby league, the national sport of Wales? For more, follow me on Twitter @collinstony or visit www.rugbyreloaded.com
In this Easter special, we take a look at Sherlock Holmes and rugby. What does the resident of 221B Baker Street have to do with rugby, and what is his connection to rugby's great split of 1895? All will be revealed in the first of the 'two podcasts in just four days' Easter weekend special.
In 1880 The Times said ‘the players of the rugby union game are probably twice as numerous as those of theFootball Association'. Rugby often attracted bigger crowds than even for the FA Cup Final. So what happened? How did soccer overtake and eclipse rugby? This is the story of Rugby's Great Own Goal.
In the first episode of our ten-minute half-time history talks, Rugby Reloaded explores the myth of William Webb Ellis, investigates why it emerged when it did, and looks at its unexpected consequences. For more, follow me on Twitter @collinstony or visit www.rugbyreloaded.com