Rugby League in Australia Questions

How did rugby league a sport from my brief knowledge founded on England's class divide end up the main rugby code in Australia?

Additionally are there explanations why rugby league failed to grow beyond QLand and NSW?

Thank you.

1 hour ago, SouthBedfordshireFan said:

How did rugby league a sport from my brief knowledge founded on England's class divide end up the main rugby code in Australia?

Additionally are there explanations why rugby league failed to grow beyond QLand and NSW?

Thank you.

When Australians got a chance to compare the codes, both the fans and the media voted with their feet. Most Aussie media outlets weren't dominated by tax-dodging old school tie Right Wing windbags like their British equivalents. Facing a fair fight for the first time in its history, Rugby Union copped a thrashing.

Of course Rugby League, being Rugby League, fought against the rising tide of popularity with all its might. They managed to keep the game restricted and myopic for decades. When the ARL/Superleague war came to an end, one of the settlement conditions was that the popular new clubs in Adelaide and Perth were killed off in favour of keeping as much of the game's powerbase within Sydney city limits as much as possible. State of Origin was a big crack in those defences, when Queenslanders were allowed to represent their own state and people liked what they saw.

Even now, some of the traditionalists are touting North Sydney (Jesus wept!) as an "expansion" franchise with a nominal presence on the West Coast. This instead of Perth or NZ2.

You need to read The Master: the life and times of Dally Messenger by Sean Fagan. Excellent book which unpicks the roots of RL in Australia.

A lovely paragraph about the wallabies on tour in NZ and the Players were not allowed to attend the civic reception put on by the hosts after the test match. Committee members and their wives only!