Almanac Rugby League: The view from Cumbria

 

The Almanac’s rugby league aficionados share a couple of weekly emails about all things RL on the site. Recently Kevin Haney, resident of Cumbria in the far north-west of England, joined the ‘team’ and emailed us this background.

 

G’day, and thank you for the typically warm and friendly Aussie welcome to your rugby league group!

 

You are right about Cumbria – pretty remote and isolated by UK standards but a long time ‘hotbed’ of rugby league with three semi-pro teams in Workington, Whitehaven and Barrow, and a long tradition of producing some outstanding talent.

 

It’s also famous for it’s rain, mountains and lakes – not unlike New Zealand, although we don’t squash our consonants like the Kiwis.

 

My long term interest in Aussie league dates back to being lucky enough to see the all conquering 1982 Kangaroo tourists play two games over here against Cumbria and Great Britain (First Test at Hull).

 

To see the full scoreboard of the First Test at Hull, click here.

 

 

To watch a full replay of that match, click on the video below.

 

I subscribe to the NRL TV channel so I get to watch all the games from each round of fixtures in full although, because of the time difference, I am usually catching the ‘delayed’ without knowing the score rather than tuning in very early morning to watch ‘live’!

 

My favourite NRL team would be the Dragons and I particularly enjoy seeing the fixtures played at the ‘Old School’ Sydney suburban grounds rather than the soulless modern arenas. I’d much rather stand on the grassy banks of Kogarah Oval with a pie to munch on for my match day experience. That is actually on my ‘bucket list’ if I ever make it out to Australia one day – along with trips to Newtown’s Henson Park and North Sydney Oval.

 

I’d find it difficult to act up as your Super League correspondent because I don’t actually get to see any of the games as I don’t subscribe to Skysports! My UK league attendance is in the ‘raw’ watching the local clubs here in Cumbria.

 

I also get to catch quite a bit of AFL action and A-League via BT Sport and I would say the Swans were my Aussie Rules team if pushed.

 

Look forward to more great League reading and thanks for sharing it.

 

Best regards,

Kevin Haney

 

The following video link is a two hour coverage of the 1982 Kangaroos Tour of Great Britain. Just be patient as it takes a minute or so before the coverage commences. – Ed.

 

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Comments

  1. Welcome to the Almanac pages as a contributor, Kevin! One particular member of our rugby league group will be happy to know that we have a genuine ‘Choom’ among us. Looking forward to hearing more from you in the months ahead. Meanwhile, enjoy the video footage.

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