THE RL1908 BLOG
News, Reviews & Opinion - Sean Fagan - RL1908.com
| NSWRU RE-INSTATES DALLY M |
 At its meeting on 18 June 2007 the NSWRU re-instated Dally Messenger, removing the disqualification imposed on him in August 1907.
NSWRU chief executive Fraser Neill said the decision to welcome Messenger back to the fold after a century was an easy one.
"I don't think anyone would doubt that Dally Messenger is one of the all-time greats of Australian sport," Neill said in a statement announcing the news.
"Rugby (union) should be proud of the part he played not just in our game but in the overall fabric of sport in this country. He was a class act both on the field and off it, given that even after many years out of the game he never once admonished it."
"The only pity is that he's not around to witness for himself the game embracing him once again."
Messenger's reinstatement to rugby union's records is timed to coincide with the impending release of a book of his life, The Master - The Life and Times of Dally Messenger by Sean Fagan and Dally Messenger III.
| NZRU REMOVES LIFE BANS OF CONVERTS - THE NSWRU? |
Posted Feb 25, 2007:
The New Zealand Herald is reporting that the NZRU has removed all disqualifactions imposed on rugby union players who joined rugby league between 1907 and 1995. Apparently this decision was made back in 1998, but received little or no publicity at the time - the NZRL only becoming recently aware of it after they approached the NZRU seeking the bans be removed.
The bans imposed by the NSWRU in 1907 upon Dally Messenger and his fellow pioneers of rugby league are still in place today - even after passing away, the stigma remains. They were not disqualified for life, or some other term, they were simply “disqualified.” There was no time limit imposed, and the ban could be lifted if circumstances changed.
Well, in 1995 the circumstances did change, and 2007 - a century after the first bans were imposed - would be a fitting time for the NSWRU, QRU and ARU to remove the disqualifications for every player in Australia who simply decided to leave rugby union to play rugby league.
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