I think the past is a lot more murky than that - there's a lot of evidence to suggest that "football" (before it was formalised in the Association Football rules) was so named because the game was played 'on foot', as opposed to on horseback. Don't fall in to the trap of thinking it's called football because you can only play at the ball with the foot, the very early Association Football rules allowed handling of the ball!

and to celebrate RL finally gets a museum in Australia. In Sydney if you are ever in town: www.heraldsun.com.au/news/nation ... 6461086359

and to celebrate RL finally gets a museum in Australia. In Sydney if you are ever in town: www.heraldsun.com.au/news/nation ... 6461086359

For those who havent seen them, enter: 'mitchell and kenyon rugby league' in the search box of the famous video sharing site whose name no one dares mention, and you should get short vids of:
Hunslet v Leeds 1901
Oldham v Swinton 1901
Salford v Batley 1901
Halifax v Salford CC final 1903.

Also [urlhttp://yfaonline.co.uk/film/rugby-league-wartime-matches-odsal-stadium-bradford[/url

WW2 inter services union games at Odsal but also including the 1944 Challenge Cup final (Brad v Wigan).
Excitement, you betchya!

Wow, thanks. I've been curious about that for ages. Nice to know!

What i'm also curious about, if anyone else could enlighten me; before the play-the-ball was introduced - was there really a scrum formed after each tackle? That must have been ghastly to watch.

Also when the play-the-ball was first introduced. I understand it wasn't the PtB we have today (with two markers). So, what did it constitute?

Try here: www.webcitation.org/5maXSkas8 Unfortunately the original article on rl1908.com isn't there anymore, I'm not sure why Sean decided to do that, he did send me a link to where a lot of his older content was still available but I seem to have lost it at the moment Tony Collins has also published a few books on the sports' history but can sometimes be either hard and/or expensive to get hold of.

Try here: www.webcitation.org/5maXSkas8 Unfortunately the original article on rl1908.com isn't there anymore, I'm not sure why Sean decided to do that, he did send me a link to where a lot of his older content was still available but I seem to have lost it at the moment Tony Collins has also published a few books on the sports' history but can sometimes be either hard and/or expensive to get hold of.

I can't recall the bit about the scrums. We played rugby union rules for a few years just as the northern union so depneds what they moved to after that. Find it hard to believe they went to scrums.
Must say in the 1895 and all that book.

If you're really interested in the history, get a copy of
"Rugby's Great Split: Class, Culture and the Origins of Rugby League Football" by Tony Collins.

It explores the origins of football, and the massive changes in society during the Victorian era that led to the codifying and organisation of sport, and what led to the formation of Northern Union (later to become RL).
One tip though, don't read the foreword where he deals with how he treated his sources, talk about dense academia. The rest of the book though is highly readable and fascinating.
Every rugby fan should read it!

I've read that. That's actually the book I was referring to (incorrectly)
Great read.

Only 117 years today since Rugby League was first dying then!