The Founding of Rugby League
in Australia & New Zealand

Sean Fagan of RL1908.com

Rugby league began in 1895, as the ‘Northern Union’, when clubs in the North of England broke away from the RFU. The clubs wanted to compensate their working-class players for time away from work for rugby tours and injuries.

The RFU refused, saying “if men couldn’t afford to play, then they shouldn’t play at all”. In the decade that followed, rugby league made changes setting itself apart from rugby union.

Teams were reduced from 15 to 13 players (two forwards were eliminated), and the play-the-ball was introduced to lessen the need for scrums and to replace rugby union’s scrappy rucks and mauls (where the ball often disappeared from view for minutes on end).

The changes made League the far more popular code in England amongst spectators and players alike. The increased gate-money allowed the rugby league clubs to pay benefits to the footballers the crowds had come to watch and support.

Meanwhile in Australia (NSW & Qld) and New Zealand, rugby was controlled by the rugby union bodies affiliated to the English RFU. They all enforced the rules of amateurism upon their footballers.

The predominantly working-class rugby footballers and supporters in Sydney and Brisbane were disheartened by the attitude of the rugby union authorities – and seemed likely to turn to Australian rules.

However, for a short time rugby union rode a new wave of popularity – brought about by the arrival of Dally Messenger in 1906. With his individual brilliance, vast crowds flocked to his matches, filling the financial coffers of rugby union. [The NRL’s ‘Dally M Medal’ is named in honour of Messenger].

Unsurprisingly though, rugby’s success increased discontent among the players and public sympathy. Where was all the money going, and why couldn’t it be spent on the footballers as compensation for injuries or time off work?

In July 1907, the NSW rugby union team attracted an unprecedented 52,000 to a match against the New Zealand All Blacks. By then though, men like Messenger had come to appreciate their own worth.

James J Giltinan The NRL's "Minor Premiership" trophy is named in his honour.

The son of a professional rower and friend of high-paid Test cricketer Victor Trumper and entreprenuer James J. Giltinan, Messenger had secretly agreed to join the professional rugby league [the NSWRL] being formed in Sydney (Bateman's Hotel, 8th August 1907).

Messenger's allegiance was secured for £50 and the promise of a place in the upcoming New Zealand ‘All Golds’ rugby league team bound for England. The Kiwis arrived in Sydney in August 1907, playing three professional matches (using rugby union rules) against a NSWRL team led by Messenger.

The formation of rugby league in Sydney, and Messenger’s decision to join, prevented Australian rules from gaining hold of the NSW capital's vast working-class population and swamping rugby union.

With Messenger in their ranks in 1908, the NSWRL and QRL began to build club competitions that were able to provide injury benefits and financial rewards for working-class footballers. The spectator appeal of rugby league ensured it attracted large crowds and gate-takings, with Easts, Souths, Balmain, Wests, Newtown, Newcastle, Norths, Glebe and Cumberland the original NSWRL premiership clubs.

At the end of the 1908 season both the first Kangaroos (League) and Wallabies (Union) toured Great Britain. The Wallabies were accused of being professionals by many in Britain. This attitude took hold of the IRB, who then announced the already poor allowances to rugby union players were to be further reduced. As a result, shortly after their return to Australia in 1909, more than half the Wallabies accepted contract offers to join rugby league.

This article is based on The Rugby Rebellion.

The following season saw a visit to NSW, Queensland and New Zealand by the first ever ‘British Lions’ rugby league team.

Attracting huge crowds wherever they played, the League authorities were able to build a solid financial base, securing their permanency, and becoming the preferred football code in Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle, and establishing a hold in Auckland and Wellington (New Zealand).

Unable to attract crowds and gate-money, rugby union was forced to embrace amateurism even more tightly than before, this time as a way of survival. While the effects of WW1 on rugby union further exacerbated their position, the ‘rugby war’ was over at the end of 1910.

From 1910 onwards, rugby league has held place as the premier winter sport of NSW and Queensland, and a maintained a strong following in New Zealand.