Old Jersey Round

As the NRL looks to celebrate the marketing possibilities of old rugby league jerseys, we here at League Blog would like to pay tribute to the league bloggers of yesteryear, by quoting some of their finest work.

Norm Barker, The Daily Actual Telegraph, 1908
"STOP Dally Messenger is perhaps the finest player in the history of rugby league. STOP Such an accolade would appear perhaps unearned given the game's present age of three months, but this writer humbly dissents from that viewpoint. STOP We share the belief that Mr Messenger could enhance his earnings considerably if he transferred his skills to the more commercially developed arena of football."

Edgar "Lark" Codrington, Northeastern Sydney Tribune, Letters Section, 1922
"The future for all rugby league teams bar the Bears seems barren, destitute and hopeless. After two titles on the trot, it's 23 skidoo and onwards and upwards for our North Sydney fellows."

Arnold Layne, Barrier Miner Editorial, 1942
"The residents of Broken Hill were all a-flutter at the first City Country game played here this weekend. True fans of the game understand its roots lie in the country, where such champions as 'Ox' Johnson, 'Box' Flinders and 'Ox Box' Hartigan earned the reputation for giving no thruppence nor asking for even a third of that. This correspondent will be keeping a keen eye on the talent from the 'big smoke' as they return to the third and fourth grades of the major competition there."

Pam Smith, Australian Women's Weekly Profile and Centrefold, 1974
"Away from the game young Eastern Suburbs halfback Trevor Johnson enjoys plumbing, having a 'quiet dozen' with mates at the pub and 'fraternising'. And why shouldn't he? Toiling away under the hot sun, forced to take his own sweat-sodden gear home to mum Joyce for washing, and with only a carpenter's apprentice salary, Johnson has surely earned the right to have some fun."