ABOUT THE AUTHOR: SEAN FAGAN
"Growing up I played rugby league with Fairfield RSL when I as about 7 or 8. I can't recall too much coming from that, except crowding into cars and having a good time.
At high school I played rugby union and continued playing with the Smithfield 'Wart Hogs' during the early 1980s.
Not turning up to training did nothing to harm your chances of selection on the weekend, and if I turned up early enough on game day, I got to play two games as there were never enough players in the lower grades.
Smithfield was a Second Division club and we had the pleasure of visiting the home grounds of Sydney Uni, Easts, Norths, Mosman, Hornsby and all other points east of Concord. We also got
flogged just about every week too.
It was always good when some of these clubs visited us - they would bring their own time-keeper, bell-ringer and table, hyphenated surnames, and set up on the touchline.
 I appreciated nothing of union or league history at the time, but looking back, I am glad I got to play against some of those clubs, get flogged on North Sydney Oval (the surface was as hard as they all say!) and at the University (that is one more game than any of the Uni's League team got in the 1920s or '30s!).
I completely went away from Union when it went professional, particularly after they signed huge TV contracts that filled the pockets of the top players and ignored the ongoing plight of suburban clubs. I don't know what happened to the Wart-Hogs, they seem to be long extinct. It is still an amatuer game below Super 12.
I've always been a League fan - one of my first memories is being at Cumberland Oval with my father in the late 1960s, sitting on the benches near the fence. I must have been about 4 then, the ball landed near us - I couldn't believe how big it was! Unfortunately, I never got to go to the footy with my father again - that bloody insidious cancer took him.
 Somehow I ended up forsaking Parramatta in favour of becoming a Manly fan in 1974. Must have been the action from the '73 Grand Final on the back of the footy cards!
Anyway, I got hooked on the game and couldn't get enough of Rugby League Week, Big League, Controversy Corner and Frank Hyde - except when he went on and on about how we could all see the salmon spawn somewhere-or-other if we went on his world tour!
By the late 1970s I was travelling around Sydney to see Manly games - the long haul back to Fairfield from Brookvale Oval was hell if the Sea Eagles lost. I was there to see many of
the Silvertails v Fibros battles, which will long live
in the memory.
 Anyway, fast forward to 1994 and I picked up Terry Liberopoulos' magazine Rugby League Gazette in a newsagent. Being a big fan of Cliff Lyons I thought I would write a story on his early career and submit it to this magazine - and got the shock of my life when it was published.
Building upon that opportunity.... I did nothing!
I attempted to take photographs at first grade games, thinking I could make something of it - all I got were shots of the back of all the photographers
who were on the sidelines,
so I gave that away.
Somewhere during 1998 I got invited to a Newtown club reunion - they were one of the few clubs that allowed fans to be present - and became interested in the stories that the players were telling me.
From there I got the opportunity to meet Len Smith and couldn't believe what the ARL selectors had done to him in 1948. I was slightly embarrassed as a League fan that I knew nothing about this man.
I'd thought about learning how to design web pages with some vague idea that I would do something related to rugby league. After meeting Len Smith and his wife I immediately knew what the web would be perfect for - communicating the stories such as that of Smith to rugby league fans.
The rest of the story pretty much tells itself. In late 2000 I wrote extensive articles on the origins and the history of the game, which became the core content of RL1908.com - launched in April 2001.
Since then the web site has been widely reviewed and recognised, including by the National Library of Australia, other institutions and rugby league bodies - and most importantly - the fans.
From mid-2003 onwards I've had numerous rugby league history articles published in the newspapers, magazines, official Test match programmes, and I wrote the 'Australian foreword' to Kevin Ward's biography. I was able to successfully suggest that the Kangaroos wear the '75 years of green and gold' commemorative jersey in 2003. In May 2004 I released a self-published book, 'The Premiership Clubs', utilising content from the web site (now sold out).
 August 2005 saw my first major retail book release The Rugby Rebellion which covers the birth of rugby league in Australia and New Zealand.
After being told by book publishers that "rugby league supporters don't read history books" (or much at all apparently!), I went down the risky path of financing, publishing and distributing the book myself.
The Rugby Rebellion proved to be very well received (reviews), and while sales haven't been exceptional,
the print-run of 2,000 sold out -
which thankfully
meant I got my money back.
 A "Centenary Edition" reprint of The Rugby Rebellion was released in August 2007 with new additional bonus material (more info: "Pioneers of Rugby League" book ).
In mid-2007 I completed researching and writing a book on the life-story of Dally Messenger. "The Master: The Life and Times of Dally Messenger".
I'm currently researching and writing for a number of rugby league film documentaries to be released in 2008 to coincide with the Centenary.
FEEDBACK WELCOME
Feedback about RL1908 is always welcome: RL1908@gmail.com
Sean Fagan |
