Q&A with Paul Broughton: The best player I have seen

He’s seen as the founding father of rugby league on the Gold Coast but Paul Broughton is so much more.

Picture of Queen's Birthday Honours recipient Paul Broughton at Southport.Photo by Richard Gosling

Big Q&A with Gold Coast rugby league founding father Paul Broughton.

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YOUR adult life has been devoted to rugby league. What sports did you play as a kid?

In the 1940s and 50s, in many suburban Sydney streets, there were backyard tennis courts so I played tennis with mates and rugby league with the same mates. Ken Rosewall and Lew Hoad and Australia led the world because of local tennis courts.

BROUGHTON REVEALS SECRET MERGER TALKS

From the age eight you played rugby school league in winter and cricket in summer. There was no AFL and little soccer. It was a completely male-dominated time in sport.

How important was rugby league to the community in the years after World War II?

Rugby league in the states of NSW and Queensland helped to lift our nation’s morale by teams identifying with communities. Souths and Balmain were, in particular, omni­potent in this escapism. The NSWRL had eight teams in the city of Sydney and AFL was known as VFL back then. Soccer was about to take off with the European migration post-World War II.

Paul Broughton run coaching camps. Photo: Supplied

You have seen a lot of changes to rugby league. What’s your view on the modern game?

I love the game. I played it in the 1950s. As a coach in the 60s and 70s and 80s, it was a wonderful game. The players today are among the most completely prepared athletes of any sport in the world. Before the advent of television, the game was very personal but now there are times when it’s magic.

The fans and the players, with the voice of the media, drive evolution. I appreciate the tradition of the other codes of football but for me my first game of rugby league was in 1939. I still enjoy pulling up and seeing kids running with the football, playing catch-up in the park because that was me in 1939. Rugby league is still the game and always will be for the simple reason it never discriminates against any person.

It provides an opportunity for young men and women who want to fulfil that enigmatic desire to be recognised.

The Titans have recruited well on and off the field. How do you see their 2019 shaping up?

I think the Titans with the addition of Shannon Boyd and Tyrone Peachey plus existing players James, Proctor, Wallace and the tyros Brimson and Taylor are a top-eight side. Head of performance and culture Mal Meninga’s winning attitude and the culture he created in Origin and Australia will benefit the Titans. Also the strategic development programs initiated are going to have great long-term effect. The next player target would be a strike centre to make sure the football lands in the hands of Sami and Don with a little space because they have proved they can finish.

You were CEO of the old Gold Coast Chargers. How tough was it to see them kicked out?

The Chargers lived into two volatile eras. One of the them was in the 12-team ARL competition in which they qualified and played in the finals in 1997. The following year they played in the (unified ARL/Super League) 20-team competition by which time the decision had been made that they would be one of the teams cut. There was a certain spirit about the Chargers that for myself personally I will never forget. There was pain also of sitting down with so many players and paying them out.

Wes Patten of the Chargers.

You weren’t content to let rugby league die on the Coast. You were part of a group that worked hard to get a licence for the Titans, weren’t you?

The early years of the Titans was euphoric. I spoke at every Chamber of Commerce, every junior league, hand-delivered submissions to NRL and the many influential politicians. It should never be forgotten the contribution made by Gold Coast businesses. I wonder if it have been different if the initial formation of the Titans had been “Not for Profit”. Whilst I was hurt financially, to be able to see the Titans take the field each week is a gentle reminder that only for a group of very passionate and persistent Gold Coast identities the Titans may not been admitted.

You coached Balmain and Newtown in the 1970s. What’s your coaching philosophy?

Coaching is an honourable position and as such if you decide to become coach for whatever reason you should firstly attain the level of accreditation that your sport requires. Coaching is still an extension of the classroom, requiring the continuum of accreditation depending on the age level of the athletes. “Training” should become “practice” and technique taught in such a way that, through stored reception, it will become the athlete’s possession for life. The role remains the same at every level and that is to help the players to become capable. There may come a time when one realises his or her own limitations and knows they can’t take their athlete to the next level. A tough decision has to be made to let the athlete go to a coach that can help them be successful.

Newtown rugby league team 1997. Photo: Supplied

You mention accreditation. You’ve played a major role in coach education, haven’t you?

I am very strong on coach education and, in partnership with Peter Corcoran, we ran the University of New England national coaching camps (pictured) over a 10-year per­iod. They were without doubt the most successful venture into accrediting coaches, referees and player education because the quality of the coaches who were responsible for carrying out a week’s intensive program were and still are NRL coaches.

Some players are on big contracts these days. Is there too much money in rugby league?

No. The game belongs to two major groups: the players and fans. Rugby league is an evolving game whilst most every other games played in the world today are invented. The NRL must continue to move to the fans’ drumbeat. It is the fans who view, listen, read, and attend in growing numbers that give the ARL Commission the power to negotiate on behalf of the players the next CBA. The RLPA has displayed a strong association not just with their players but with the game itself.

Do contracts mean much in the current game given all the players leaving early?

You can create a legal obligation with a contractual agreement drawn up by the best lawyers that money can buy and the NRL contract creates a legal obligation on behalf of the club and the player. The fans whose loyalty can never be questioned regard the contract also as a moral obligation.

One can understand the fans’ confusion because they see themselves with a certain amount of ownership. There must be consideration that the lifespan of an average NRL player may be less than four years so he or she must do the best they can with the talent they possess. My experience over the decades is that in 90 per cent of the time the player is loyal to his contractual agreement during the season at which he is contracted to a club. Maybe that’s the true definition of today’s loyalty.

You have seen a lot of the greats play the game. Who do you rate No.1?

Rugby Leagues 8th Immortal announced at the Men of League Gala dinner at Doltone House, Sydney. Andrew Johns announced as the 8th immortal, pictured with other immortals, Graeme Langlands, Bob Fulton, Wally Lewis and Johnny Raper.

Arthur Beetson and his influence was a dominating factor in the result of any game. He perfected the offloading of the rugby league football into an art form. Also in confrontation he was the one who decided who would get up last.

Wally Lewis was the most naturally gifted player I’ve ever watched. His match-winning try in the 1989 Origin series in Sydney should be replayed as a reminder to all players that the game is never over. Wally’s influence in the evolution of the State of Origin is storybook stuff because players around him always played to their optimum.

Who was my No.1? It’s Andrew Johns who, to me, was the most “complete rugby league player”. He acquired and perfected every skill required to play this game. And his copybook defence prevented progress of the football. He had a complete kicking game and was the ultimate rugby league athlete who could turn a game in a second.

PAUL BROUGHTON

From: Sydney

Lives: Gold Coast

Age: 87

Playing career

Position: Five-eighth or lock

• St George (7 games in 1954)

• Balmain (1 game before injury forced retirement in 1957)

Coaching career

• Brothers (Brisbane) 1974

• Balmain 1975–76

•Newtown 1977–78

Achievements

• Helped start national coaching scheme

• Coached Sydney, NSW and Australian youth teams for 10 years

• NSWRL coaching director, coaching and development manager, special projects manager and operations chief

• Founding CEO of Gold Coast Chargers and founding chairman of the Titans

• Past chairman of the Australia China Foundation

• Order of Australia Medal in 2017