1.
Auckland
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Auckland is a city in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the most populous area in the country. Auckland has a population of 1,495,000, which constitutes 32 percent of New Zealands population, a diverse and multicultural city, Auckland is home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. It has also been called Ākarana, the Māori pronunciation of Auckland, the Auckland urban area ranges to Waiwera in the north, Kumeu in the northwest, and Runciman in the south. It is not contiguous, the section from Waiwera to Whangaparāoa Peninsula is separate from its nearest neighbouring suburb of Long Bay, the surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with dozens of dormant volcanic cones. The central part of the area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two major bodies of water. The isthmus on which Auckland resides was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich, Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson and he named the area Auckland for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. It was replaced as the capital in 1865, but immigration to the new city stayed strong, today, Aucklands Central Business District is the major financial centre of New Zealand. Auckland is classified as a Beta World City because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, education and tourism. Aucklands landmarks such as the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Harbour Bridge, the Sky Tower, the isthmus was settled by Māori around 1350, and was valued for its rich and fertile land. Many pā were created, mainly on the volcanic peaks, Māori population in the area is estimated to have been about 20,000 people before the arrival of Europeans. As a result, the region had relatively low numbers of Māori when European settlement of New Zealand began, there is, however, nothing to suggest that this was the result of a deliberate European policy. Auckland was officially declared New Zealands capital in 1841 and the transfer of the administration from Russell in the Bay of Islands was completed in 1842. However, even in 1840 Port Nicholson was seen as a choice for an administrative capital because of its proximity to the South Island. After losing its status as capital, Auckland remained the city of the Auckland Province until the provincial system was abolished in 1876. Each of the four settlements had about 800 settlers, the men being fully armed in case of emergency but spent nearly all their time breaking in the land and establishing roads
2.
Fullback (rugby league)
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Fullback is one of the positions in a rugby league football team. Typically wearing jersey number 1, the fullback is a member of the teams back-line, the positions name comes from their duty of standing the furthest back in defence, behind the forwards, half backs and the three-quarter backs. Fullbacks are therefore the last line of defence, having to tackle any opposition players and it is for this reason that the fullback is also referred to as the sweeper or custodian. Being able to secure high bomb kicks is a sought after quality in fullbacks, fullback is also one of the most important positions in attack, handling the ball nearly every set of six and often running into open space on the field. Therefore, together with the two half backs and hooker, fullback is one of the four key positions that make up what is referred to as a teams spine. Because the fullback makes the most support runs, players in the role complete more very high-intensity running than any other position, the Rugby League International Federations Laws of the Game state that the fullback is to be numbered 1. However, traditionally players jersey numbers have varied, and in the modern Super League, fullbacks who feature in their respective nations rugby league halls of fame are Frances Puig Aubert, Australias Clive Churchill and Charles Fraser, Wales Jim Sullivan and New Zealands Des White. Churchills attacking flair as a player in the 1950s is credited with having changed the role of the fullback, Rugby league positions Rugby league gameplay
3.
Rugby league positions
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A rugby league football team consists of thirteen players on the field, with four substitutes on the bench. Each of the thirteen players is assigned a position based on both the role they are expected to fill within the team and the area they occupy on the field. In practice, the positions simply serve as a guideline as to the expected role in both attack and defence. Players are divided into two categories, forwards and backs. Forwards are generally chosen for their size and strength and they are expected to run with the ball, to attack, and to make tackles. Forwards are required to improve the field position thus creating space. Backs are usually smaller and faster, though a big, fast player can be of advantage in the backs and their roles require speed and ball-playing skills, rather than just strength, to take advantage of the field position gained by the forwards. Typically forwards tend to operate in the centre to the field, while backs operate nearer to the touch-lines, the laws of the game recognise standardised numbering of positions. The starting side normally wear the corresponding to their positions, only changing in the case of substitutions. In some competitions, such as Super League, players receive a number to use all season. For these positions, the emphasis is on speed and ball-handling skills, generally, the back line consists of smaller, more agile players. Numbered 1, the primary role is the last line of defence. Defensively, fullbacks must be able to chase and tackle any player who breaks the first line of defence and their role in attack is usually as a support player, and they are often used to come into the line to create an overlap in attack. There are four threequarters, two wingers and two centres, right wing, right centre, left centre and left wing. Typically these players work in pairs, with one winger and one centre occupying each side of the field, there are two wingers in a rugby league team, numbered 2 and 5. The wingers are the players positioned closest to the touch-line on each side of the field and they are generally among the fastest players in a team, with the speed to exploit space that is created for them and finish an attacking move. They are usually positioned just inside the wingers and are typically the second-closest players to the touch-line on each side of the field, in defence, they are expected to mark their opposite centre. Numbered 6, the stand off or five-eighth is usually responsible for directing the ball to the rest of the team in attack and is often a strong passer and runner
4.
London Broncos
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London Broncos R. L. F. C. are a professional rugby league club in Ealing, London, who compete in the Kingstone Press Championship, the second tier of professional rugby league football. They competed in the Super League from its introduction in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, the current head coach is Andrew Henderson, assisted by England and Great Britain internationals Jamie Langley and Danny Ward. The Broncos are captained by Daniel Harrison and play at the Trailfinders Sports Ground in Ealing, sharing with the union side Ealing Trailfinders. The club was formed as Fulham in 1981, entering the Rugby Football League Championships second division for the 1980–81 Rugby Football League season. The club has also known as London Crusaders, London Broncos. Whilst the club has never won a trophy, they were finalists in the 1999 Challenge Cup. The only trophy the club has won since its formation in 1980 is the Rugby Football League Championship Second Division in 1982–83, professional rugby league was briefly represented in London in the 1930s by London Highfield, Acton and Willesden and Streatham and Mitcham. All were speculative clubs set up by local businessmen purely as money making exercises, thereafter, the sport of rugby league in England remained exclusively a Northern game for over forty years until the formation of new club in London, Fulham. In 1980, Fulham Football Club chairman Ernie Clay, set up a league team at Craven Cottage. The Rugby Football League, keen to encourage the expansion of the sport beyond its traditional Northern heartland, one of the games leading players, Reg Bowden, was recruited by Genders to act as player-coach and the clubs first signing was Roy Lester on a free transfer from Warrington. Within nine weeks, Genders and Bowden had assembled a team of experienced players approaching retirement, nearly 10,000 Londoners turned up for the opening game at Craven Cottage to see the newly formed side convincingly beat highly regarded Wigan 24–5. The new Fulham RL team quickly proved to be very competitive, after their initial season, immediate relegation from the first division in 1981–82 was something of a reality check. However, with the backing of supporters Roy and Barbara Close and with a new coach, former player Roy Lester, most of the players had moved on as free agents and a new team began life at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. The club moved to Chiswick Polytechnic Sports Ground in 1985 and they also played several one-off games at football grounds around London such as Wealdstone, Hendon, Brentford and Chelseas ground Stamford Bridge in 1983. Bill Goodwin replaced Lester as coach between 1986 and 1987, in August 1986, Fulham hit a cash crisis and withdrew from RFL11 days before the start of the season but re-launched in September. Bev Risman was asked to be coach at Fulham in 1987, the team was in the bottom half of the second division. The team struggled for success and Risman left after a couple of seasons, phil Sullivan was coach for just two months between January and February 1989, Goodwin came in for his third spell and held the reins until May 1989 when Ross Strudwick was appointed. The club returned to Crystal Palace in 1990, a 1991 name change to London Crusaders coincided with a slightly more successful period on the pitch
5.
Doncaster R.L.F.C.
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Doncaster Rugby League Club is a professional rugby league football club, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire. They play in the third tier League 1 and they have previously been known as Doncaster Dragons and Doncaster Lakers. They were also informally known as The Dons but it is now their official nickname. Professional rugby league first began in Doncaster during the buildup to the 1951–52 season, Doncaster played their first game on Saturday 18 August 1951 and began on a winning note, defeating Wakefield Trinity 10–3 at York Road Greyhound Stadium in front of a crowd of 7,600. Doncaster finished their season in eleventh position, they won 21, drew one. The club originally nicknamed The Dons played at the Doncaster Greyhound Stadium and this ground became the spiritual home of Doncaster Rugby League Club and was later renamed Tatters Field or Tattersfield as a mark of respect for the former chairman Len Tattersfield. From 1956–1961, Doncaster finished every season as the side in the Northern Rugby Football Union. The 1970s, and early 1980s proved to be no easier, bill Kenny was coach of the Dons between June 1980 – May 1981. In 1980, Yorkshire Television made a one-off documentary Another Bloody Sunday, John Sheridan became head coach of the Dons in 1984. The club had no money but Sheridan still managed to put one of the Dons best squads. He was replaced by his number-two Graham Hepptinstall after a few years and he was voted the most influential person in the clubs history by the Dons fans. On Sunday 1 September 1991, Third Division rugby was introduced into British rugby league, Doncaster entertained Nottingham City that day with the home side winning by a club record 88–6. Doncaster won 10–5 in their game away at Batleys Mount Pleasant. In 1994–95 Tattersfield was the venue for a game against Widnes, broadcast live on Sky Television, at that time, The Dons were at the top of Division 1. On 15 December 1994, Doncaster were already in trouble with debts of £1. 4m and were put into administration, the RFL took over the costs of running the club after an aborted attempt to merge the club with Sheffield Eagles. The Dons played their last game at Tattersfield on 23 April 1995, when a Rupert Murdoch funded Super League competition was proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Doncaster was to merge with Sheffield to form a South Yorkshire club that would compete in Super League. The following a year, a new club called Doncaster Dragons raised from the ashes of the previous club, with Tattersfield gone they temporarily shared Belle Vue Stadium with association football club Doncaster Rovers while Meadow Court Stadium was being prepared for rugby league
6.
Barrow Raiders
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Barrow Raiders R. L. F. C. is an English professional rugby league team from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, which is coached by Paul Crarey. The club was formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club, for the 1995-96 and 1996 seasons the club was known as Barrow Braves, adopting its current name for the 1997 season following a merger with Carlisle Border Raiders. Barrow Raiders compete in Kingstone Press League 1, the tier of European rugby league. It is thought that Tom H. Baynes, a clerk, was the driving force behind the clubs foundation. As well as being a player, he was also the first Barrow team coach. Early practice matches games were played in a field loaned by a farmer as well as the Parade Ground. At the 1883 annual general meeting, Cavendish Park got the vote over the Parade Ground as a permanent home on account of its playing surface. The first grandstand there was erected in 1893, and another one in 1893, in April 1897, the team switched from rugby union to rugby league following a unanimous vote at the club. Barrow joined the Second Division of the Lancashire Senior Competition and became champions in their first season and they lost a test match against Morecambe, the bottom club in the First Division, however, and failed to gain promotion. They were eventually promoted at the end of the 1899–1900 season, in 1908, the club nearly doubled their attendance record to 12,000 in a third round Challenge Cup match against Hunslet. In 1914, Cavendish Park was requisitioned by the authorities for the war effort, Barrow moved to Little Park, Roose, three miles from the centre of town. The first match there was a 31–2 victory over Bramley, the league at this time was suspended and clubs were forced to arrange their own fixtures in an unofficial war league. After World War I, Barrow had mixed fortunes and when the league resumed in 1919–20, however, over the next decade, despite having several county and national players, Barrows form suffered and its league position was poor. In 1929, it had been realised that rugby league in Barrow was approaching a precarious period and this was in part due to industrial depression but also Little Parks location. The directors made an appeal to the town, and approached the mayor, commander G. W. Craven, a local war hero, started an appeal fund with a donation of £500. In a short time the club bought a site, where the Jute Works stood for £2,500. Craven Park was built in 1931, largely as a result of the efforts of supporters,500 of whom volunteered to construct the ground, the total cost of the building project came to £7,500 which was an unbelievable figure in those days. 1937–38 saw Barrow reach the finals of the Lancashire County Cup for the first time and that season was a time of great opportunity for the Barrow team but was to end in disappointment
7.
Rugby league
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Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field. One of the two codes of football, it originated in England in 1895 as a split from the Rugby Football Union over the issue of payments to players. Its rules gradually changed with the aim of producing a faster, in rugby league, points are scored by carrying the ball and touching it to the ground beyond the opposing teams goal line, this is called a try, and is the primary method of scoring. The opposing team attempts to stop the side scoring points by tackling the player carrying the ball. In addition to tries, points can be scored by kicking goals, after each try, the scoring team gains a free kick to try at goal with a conversion for further points. Kicks at goal may also be awarded for penalties, and field goals can be attempted at any time. Rugby league is a sport in Northern England, the states of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia, New Zealand. The European Super League and Australasian National Rugby League are the club competitions. Rugby league is played internationally, predominantly by European, Australasian and Pacific Island countries, the first Rugby League World Cup was held in France in 1954, the current holders are Australia. The first of these, the Northern Rugby Football Union, was established in 1895 as a faction of Englands Rugby Football Union. Similar breakaway factions split from RFU-affiliated unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908, renaming themselves rugby football leagues, in 1922, the Northern Union also changed its name to the Rugby Football League and thus over time the sport itself became known as rugby league football. In 1895, a schism in Rugby football resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union, within fifteen years of that first meeting in Huddersfield, more than 200 RFU clubs had left to join the rugby revolution. In 1897, the line-out was abolished and in 1898 professionalism introduced, in 1906, the Northern Union changed its rules, reducing teams from 15 to 13 a side and replacing the ruck formed after every tackle with the play the ball. A similar schism to that which occurred in England took place in Sydney, There, on 8 August 1907 the New South Wales Rugby Football League was founded at Batemans Hotel in George Street. Rugby league then went on to rugby union as the primary football code in New South Wales. On 5 May 1954 over 100,000 spectators watched the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, England, also in 1954 the Rugby League World Cup, the first for either code of rugby, was formed at the instigation of the French. In 1966, the International Board introduced a rule that a team in possession was allowed three play-the-balls and on the tackle a scrum was to be formed. This was increased to six tackles in 1972 and in 1983 the scrum was replaced by a handover,1967 saw the first professional Sunday matches of rugby league played
8.
Otahuhu Leopards
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The Otahuhu Leopards are a rugby league club based in Otahuhu, Auckland. Founded in 1911, the club has produced 49 New Zealand Kiwis, the club competes in the Fox Memorial competition run by Auckland Rugby League. Otahuhu has won the Fox Memorial Shield 12 times, the Rukatai Shield 16 times, Roope Rooster 12 times, the Otahuhu Leopards were founded in 1911. In 1943, playing in blue and white, Otahuhu produced their first Fox side at Carlaw Park and by 1945 had won their first Fox, in 1946 their first Kiwi’s were selected, Toff Johnson and Claude Hancox. Otahuhu Leopards is where the famous Graham Lowe first made a name for himself coaching U18s in 1974 and becoming a first grade coach in 1977 and winning the Fox Memorial in his first year. With the creation of the Bartercard Cup in 2000 by the New Zealand Rugby League the Leopards were one of the seven Auckland sides invited to join. They dominated the competition in the season, finishing up Minor Premiers before going down to the Canterbury Bulls in the Grand Final. More heartbreak was to follow for the club, losing in the Elimination Play-Off, in 2004 the Counties Manukau Jetz replaced the Manurewa Marlins in the competition. As a result, the number of clubs involved with the Eastern Tornadoes increased, the Ellerslie Eagles left this franchise and joined with Otahuhu to form the Otahuhu Ellerslie Leopards. The club made the finals again, again losing in the Preliminary Final, in 2005 the club missed the finals for the second time in three seasons. In 2006 the number of Auckland Bartercard Cup sides was reduced from eight to five and this resulted in the Otahuhu-Ellerslie Leopards and the Eastern Tornadoes merging to form the Tamaki Leopards franchise. In 2007 the side was renamed the Tamaki Titans and finished fifth, the club competes in the Fox Memorial competition run by Auckland Rugby League. Otahuhu has won the Fox Memorial Shield 12 times, the Rukatai Shield 16 times, Roope Rooster 12 times, the Otahuhu Club has had a long and proud history of producing top quality rugby league players
9.
New Zealand national rugby league team
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The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are known as the Kiwis. The teams colours are majority black with white and the players perform a haka before every match they play as a challenge to their opponents. The New Zealand Kiwis won the most recent Four Nations competition in 2014 and, since the 2015 Anzac Test, since the 1980s, most New Zealand representatives have been based overseas, in the professional National Rugby League and Super League competitions. Before that players were selected entirely from clubs in domestic New Zealand leagues, since then the Kiwis have regularly competed in international competition, touring Europe and Australia throughout the 20th century. New Zealand have competed in every Rugby League World Cup since the first in 1954, in 2008 New Zealand won the World Cup for the first time. They also contest the Baskerville Shield against England, and play an annual Anzac Test against Australia, Rugby football was introduced into New Zealand by Charles John Monro, son of the then speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, Sir David Monro. He had been sent to Christs College, East Finchley in north London and he brought the game back to his native Nelson, and arranged the first rugby match between Nelson College and Nelson Football Club, played on 14 May 1870. When New Zealands national rugby team toured Britain in 1905 they witnessed the growing popularity of the breakaway non-amateur Northern Unions games, on his return in 1906, All Black George William Smith met the Australian entrepreneur J J Giltinan to discuss the potential of professional rugby in Australasia. The first New Zealand team to play rugby was known as the All Blacks. To avoid confusion, the terms professional All Blacks or All Golds are used, in the meantime, a lesser known New Zealand rugby player, Albert Henry Baskerville was ready to recruit a group of players for a Great Britain pro tour. It is believed that Baskerville became aware of the profits to be made such a venture while he was working at the Wellington Post Office in 1906. A colleague had a fit and dropped a British newspaper. Baskerville picked it up and noticed a report about a Northern Union match that over 40,000 people had attended, Baskerville wrote to the NRFU asking if they would host a New Zealand touring party. The 1905 All Blacks tour was still fresh in English minds, thus the NU saw the upcoming competitive New Zealand tour as exceptional opportunity to raise the profile, the NU agreed to the tour provided that some of those original All Blacks were included in the New Zealand team. George Smith arrived back in New Zealand and after learning of Baskervilles plans, the New Zealand Rugby Union became aware of the tour and promptly applied pressure to any All Black or New Zealand representative player it suspected of involvement. They had the New Zealand Governments Agent General in London deliver a statement to the British press in an effort to undermine the tours credibility. This had little effect and by time the professional All Blacks were already sailing across the Tasman to give Australia its first taste of professional rugby
