ABOUT THE AUTHOR | INTERVIEW

Sean Fagan is the driving force behind in the internet's premier rugby league history web site RL1908.com - launched in April 2001. More recently, he has developed the Australian rugby history site at ColonialRugby.com.au which covers the pre-WW1 era.

Since 2003 he has written League and Union history-related articles for The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), official Test match programs, various Australian and English magazines, other web sites (including the NZRL, BARLA, the Melbourne Storm, and the South Sydney Rabbitohs), and the Tackle Learning initiative of the RFU and RFL. Fagan also wrote the 'Australian foreword' to Kevin Ward's biography (Great Britain RL Test player).

It was also from a suggestion he made in 2003, that the Kangaroos wore their 75th anniversary green-and-gold 'hoop-style' jersey in the home Test against New Zealand. In May 2004 Fagan released The Premiership Clubs book utilising content from the RL1908 web site. He is also a member of the ARL's 'Hall of Fame' voting college.

Fagan's primary interest has been in rugby league history, however, he openly admits that he is fascinated by the long-forgotten colonial era of our nation's sporting history. This was initially sparked when he visited the ARU archives in the search for information on the origin of NSW (blue) and Queensland (maroon) jersey colours.

He quickly found much of the accepted 'facts' handed-down over the past generations of both codes, was not supported by the details uncovered in the archives of the ARL and ARU, or the newspapers of the time. Before long, it was all too apparent that there was enough new material and events in the initial 'war' between League and Union, for a book - which became The Rugby Rebellion.

Word of Fagan's expertise in the pre-WW1 era has already led to him being sought out by the NRL, ARU archives, other historians, and the descendants of players from that time, seeking assistance and information.

A former player of both rugby codes, Fagan brings to his work a unique perspective that endeavours to deal with the facts, rather than taking the pro-League or pro-Union stance of many other writers.

Sean Fagan writes for:
RL1908.com | ColonialRugby.com.au