Quote: Walshovski "Again slightly off topic (but a point worth making) RL is unique amongst sports for the way its history is recorded. I think I'm right in saying no books, or maybe two at most, (save for official handbooks) were published about the sport until well after the second world war. I think Risman's autobiography was one of the first ones published and it slowly built from there with people like EM Waring. Similarly, no official records existed for the sport until Irvin Saxton and the rest got started compliling them in the 1970s. It just wasn't viewed as a necessity which again says things about how the sport viewed itself. There are still games in Salford's history where a complete record of the team that played doesn't exist.
I don't think this should be viewed as a negative though, on the contrary it adds something to the way people look at and remember the sport.
Back on topic, the two books by Geoffrey Moorhouse are a good resource for your project as well. At the George and other essays on Rugby League and The People's Game I think they are called. Both written just before Super League and touch on some of the subjects that will no doubt be covered by your essay. In one part he derides daft nicknames on clubs and say it would be awful in Rugby League. Thankfully he died shortly after. Moorhouse is a cracking writer as well.'"
You're not far off there. According to Tony Collins, Risman's guide to rules of Rugby League (I can't remember the exact title) was the first book written on RL, although I believe it was written in 1937. I'll check that and get back to you.
I agree that it isn't necessarily a negative although the lack of literature, in particular academic literature, has certainly resulted in a lack of a voice in some important circles. The power of the written word is dominant in western cultures and as such, RL is somewhat incapacitated. However, the culture of RL in this respect is unique in that it can be viewed as a positive. If anything, it is a reflection of the folklore culture of the game. Which I see as like a castle or fort; culturally rich but limited in terms of potential wealth-creation and expansion by its own impermeable walls. I guess you're saying the same?
Cheers for those resources. I'm sure they will be perfect for what I'm trying to demonstrate.
Were you his undertaker? 
