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Dally Messenger: A Boy's Own Tale
Sean Fagan of RL1908.com
A previously unpublished chapter from an early draft of
The Master: The Life and Times of Dally Messenger
The Boy's Own Paper.
Told tales of feats of derring-do rugby artists.
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While team work and combination drove the ethos of rugby union, and to an extent early rugby league, Dally, his contemporaries, and the thousands (of men) who cheered him on were brought up as youngsters on stories telling of feats of individual derring-do artists in the popular The Boy's Own Paper (first issue 1879).
The tales were meant to inspire, with virtue always triumphant in the end. Primarily using sport as a medium, it used entertaining articles to preach its messages of behaviour that was to be celebrated, and other activities that belonged to loafers and under-achievers.
The best and most popular of the articles circulated for decades, re-printed in annuals, books and other newspapers and magazines. The storylines detailed fictional sporting action of deeds that, while rousing, were nevertheless often on the edge of implausible. Written when rugby union teams had no structured back-line, when teams had just one centre three-quarter, the narrative revealed to each young footballer that they alone could be the star of the day, and what joy that would bring them and their team mates and friends.
What goes a long way toward explaining the popularity of Dally, perhaps even what drove his own desires and ambitions, and the extension of his story into almost mythical legend, is that a comparison of his feats with those is The Boy's Own Paper are astonishingly close to his modus operandi.
The star of the tales played like Dally they shared the same skills in general play, goal-kicking, and succeeding under pressure.
Dally lived out the dream for himself, and for everyone watching on.
From The Boy's Own Paper :
I scarcely slept a wink that night for dreaming of the wonderful exploits which were to signalise my first appearance in the Great Close how I was to run the ball from one end of the field to the other, overturning, dodging, and distancing every one of the enemy, finishing up with a brilliant and mighty kick over the goal. After which I was to have my broken limbs set by a doctor on the spot, to receive a perfect ovation from friend and foe, to be chaired round the field, and finally to have a whole column of The Times devoted to my exploits! What glorious creatures we are in our dreams! |
In other articles the writers extolled the desirable qualities that young men could, and should, aspire too. One encouraged boys toward creative thought and originality two characteristics that distinguished Dally from his team mates on the field, and added immeasurably to his adulation by the fans.
From The Boy's Own Paper :
The original boys, on the other hand, are clever, and they are quick in their ideas. Every boy has in him the power to say Yes or No, and he has also the conscience in him which tells him when he ought to say the one or the other. Now, when every one is saying Yes to a thing about which your conscience demands that you shall say No, it becomes your positive duty for once in your life to be original, and say it.
After all, most of us are medium sort of fellows. We are not geniuses, and we trust we are not dolts. The best thing we can do is to look out that we don't lose all our originality while knocking through this world. The more we can keep of it, the more good we shall do. |
After scoring the match-winning try or goal, the champions of these tales were cheered and applauded by one and all, lifting their spirits and they revelled in the adoration and praise. Rather than being encouraged to downplay hero worship, they rejoiced in it. Meanwhile, their detractors and opponents could please themselves.
From The Boy's Own Paper :
After that, who should say life was not worth living? The very weather seemed to change for Corder. The sun came out, flowers sprang up at his feet, birds started singing in the trees overhead. What a letter he would have to write home tomorrow! The captain's pat on the back sent a glow all through him. Who wouldn't be a Fellsgarth chap after all?
It scarcely damped his joy to perceive that neither Clapperton, Dangle, nor Brinkman shared in the general congratulations, but looked more black and threatening than ever as he passed. Pooh! what did he care for that!
How he enjoyed the glorious Rendlesham high tea, and the drive home in the rain with everybody talking and laughing and rejoicing, singing songs and shouting war-cries! |
After retiring from football, for the rest of his days Dally refused to shun the public. Moreover, he embraced them accepting opportunities to visit cities and towns across NSW and Queensland to kick-off matches, train local teams, and to talk to children.
If the cheer of the crowd had not inspired him during his playing days, if the fans adulation meant nothing to him, he would have shunned the public in retirement. Instead, he rarely passed up the chance to talk about his feats. I remember driving Dally home from a function in the 1950s and taking him home to talk to my kids, recalled Frank Hyde (famed himself as an icon of rugby league).
I can still see him now, asking them Did I ever tell you about my big dive?' He told of a match against New Zealand when there was a wall of four defenders on the goal-line just waiting to tackle him.
In those moments of re-telling the stories from his football days, he was back there again, performing once again those meritorious and dazzling feats; he was hearing once more the thunderous applause of 50,000 people.
A previously unpublished chapter from an early draft of
The Master: The Life and Times of Dally Messenger
 The above excerpts from The Boy's Own Paper were written by Talbot Baines Reed, including "My First Football Match" by an Old Boy
(The Boy's Own Paper, 18 January 1879)
Much of Reed's work for The Boy's Own Paper was
re-published in book form, including:
The Cock-House at Fellsgarth (first published in 1893)
Parkhurst Boys and other stories of school life (first published 1880) |
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