ANZAC Day and rugby league: a history

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Rugby League Project co-founder and LeagueUnlimited writer Andrew Ferguson offers a history of the link between ANZAC Day and rugby league in Australia.

2019 marks 106 years since the start of World War I and 104 years since the inception of ANZAC Day in Australia. When the Great War ended in 1919, troops returning home were not met by parades and huge fanfare, because they arrived home to a country in the grips of the Influenza epidemic, which was so bad, people were not allowed to congregate in large groups, and if they were going to be in a populated area, they had to wear face masks.

In Rugby League, vast numbers of players and even officials from all over the country, volunteered to serve and protect their nation and the Commonwealth, many of whom lost their lives.

In 1927 the NSWRL held its first ever games on ANZAC Day, when all 4 matches from Round 2 took place.

• Balmain defeated Newtown 14-13 at Wentworth Park
• Wests defeated Glebe 12-4 at the SCG
• University defeated Norths 21-9 at North Sydney Oval
• St.George defeated Easts 23-7 at Earl Park.

Those were the first 4 of a total of 239 games played on ANZAC Day.

Interestingly enough, only 1 of those 8 sides and 1 of those 4 venues will be seen in the NRL on ANZAC Day in 2019, when the Roosters play at the SCG against the St.George-Illawarra Dragons.

In 1927, St.George, led by captain-coach and Immortal Frank Burge, took on the Roosters in the very first of what is now a traditional ANZAC Day match.

Former Bears player Lal Deane was the referee for this game, where a crowd of 5000 turned up to watch the match at Earl Park.

The game started with both sides playing expansive football which had the crowd on their feet and showing great appreciation. Frank Saunders and George Carstairs were very good early on, however it was the tri-colours who scored first when Arthur Oxford kicked a penalty goal. The Dragons hit back with a penalty goal to Eric McCormack and then later in the half Arnold Traynor and McCormack both kicked a field goal each to give the Dragons a 6-2 lead at halftime.

The Easterners resumed play in glorious style, as they broke through the Dragons defensive line, before the ball was kept alive and put through many hands before Tom Fitzpatrick dived over to complete a spectacular try under the posts. Oxford converted and Easts lead 7-6.

Tom Barry suffered an injury and this gave the Dragons an advantage. Some splendid passing and strong running saw the Dragons run away with the game, as they scored 5 unanswered tries late in the second half. Frank Saunders bagged a try double. George Carstairs and Jim Warwick also crossed for tries, as did Frank Burge, who scored a typical long range try after making a strong run that saw him break through the defensive line from inside his own half. McCormack converted just one of the 5 tries as the Dragons ran away with the match to win 23-7.

All ANZAC Day Clashes 1927-2018

This article originally appeared on Andrew's blog - Rugby League Ramblings.

You can check out Rugby League Project here.