Even if you didn’t consider yourself poetry in motion on the field during your playing days, the Queensland Rugby League’s History Committee would like your help in getting the poetry, stories and songs of the game’s past in motion.
Kevin Brasch, the Chairman of the QRL History Committee, is piecing together the history of the code in Queensland for a rugby league anthology, and is looking for historical written pieces about the game that not only chart its development, but also that of Queensland itself.
“One thing we keep getting, now that people know there is a History Committee, is people sending their bits of memorabilia to Lang park, and there are quite a few poems surfacing,” Kevin explained.
“And the ones that we have already are virtually a commentary on society at that time.
“What I decided to do was get word out to everybody, particularly in the country areas – where the bards of the west reside – if they have poems, clubs songs, or general prose about rugby league in Queensland.
“And we are hoping the FOGS network will be able to assist us in that task.”
The History Committee – consisting of Brasch, league historian and author Max Howell, historian Greg Shannon, broadcaster John McCoy, journalist Steve Ricketts and archivist Paul Hayes – will compile the memorabilia collected to produce an historical time capsule of the game in Queensland.
“We will have a rugby league anthology, and as many diverse places and people that we can get involved the better, these little written pieces of history really underscore what society was like at that time,” Kevin said
“The poems are all unique, but it doesn’t have to be a poem. It might be a club song, a good read. It could be comical, it could be historical.
“For instance, one of these things in the 1890s was a poem of love.
“But this guy, whether he was in Maryborough or Bundaberg, had decided that whichever colour she chose – and by that, the footy team that she supported – would decide on whether she got the nod or got the heave-ho.
“It’s a bit comical, but that is how they did it.”
If you have something you think may be of interest to the Historical Committee, you can send it, addressed to Kevin Brasch, via FOGS at Locked Bag 3, Milton, Qld, 4064; or email torugbyleague@qrl.com.au.
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