League flourished as war ended rugby domination
State of Origin has become one of the great sporting contests but it owes its popularity partly to World War I.
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State of Origin is right up there with the world’s great sports rivalries, with a following that stretches well past local borders. But a century ago rugby league was the new code on the block, competing with rugby union for an audience.
The outbreak of war in 1914 would change league forever, sending it on a trajectory that would see it eclipse union and sow the seeds for the popularity of the modern State of Origin series.
Rugby league started in Australia in 1907, when nine teams broke away from the rugby union to begin their own competition in 1908. Players, tired of the strict amateur status of rugby, wanted financial compensation for time spent training, playing, recovering from injuries or travelling to away games.
A large part of the money to pay players was going to come from gate takings, but there was no guarantee of a crowd until they enticed top rugby players such as Dally Messenger to their cause.
Players in Queensland also formed a breakaway league in 1908, although their club competition did not start until 1909. In the meantime they scraped together a team to play two games against NSW, as a way of selecting an Australian side to travel to Britain.
The first match, played in Sydney on July 11, saw NSW win 43-0, with one reporter commenting that the visiting side was “the weakest lot of footballers I have even seen come down from Queensland’’. The Queenslanders did slightly better in the July 18 game, also in Sydney, only losing 12-3.
Games between the states followed in 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913, with NSW victorious every time, usually by a convincing margin. Queensland applied to visit in July 1914 but the application was deferred, partly because there had already been big tours by British teams and New Zealand, but possibly because the league’s administrators knew the clash would pale into insignificance beside the rugby union’s 100th NSW v Queensland game in June.
The league was growing but it was still in fierce competition with rugby. That changed with the outbreak of war in August 1914. Thousands of men from all codes immediately enlisted, with by far the larger proportion coming from rugby union ranks.
In February 1915 the NSW Rugby Union announced it was cancelling the season, because so many of their players had joined the army. The league however believed it had a duty to provide “sorely needed entertainment for a troubled public”. It also argued that men needed to play football to keep fit and ready for war.
Despite some initial criticism, it proved to be a wise decision. While rugby’s middle-class fanbase agreed with the decision not to play, it was out of touch with the more working-class fans who flocked to league games. Some rugby players even switched codes.
Queensland rugby league followed suit, keeping its competition going and with the defection of fans and players there was even talk of an amalgamation of codes. Rugby union would not play a first grade competition in Queensland until 1929.
It gave a boost to league in the state. According to one reporter when the “Bananalander” side went south to Sydney in 1915 they were “chock full of confidence”. They proved to be “good footballers, but no finish.” They were beaten 53-9 and 39-6.
As a concession to the war, interstate games were then suspended for the duration and the two state teams did not meet again until 1919. By then rugby league was firmly established as the preferred code in NSW and Queensland.
When Queensland won its first match against NSW in 1922 it was the first of an eight-game streak. It had finally become a contest.
Originally published as League flourished as war ended rugby domination
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