The greatest game of all and why the ghosts of the past bring out the best in all of us

2 March, 2017 The81stMinute 0 Comments 1 category

BY CURTIS WOODWARD

Has anyone taken the time to watch the classic 1976 film, Logan’s Run? At age 30 you have to enter yourself into the “Carrousel.” Okay, maybe you have, maybe you haven’t.

The basic gist goes that this new bio-domed world keeps population and resources under control by killing everyone off at 30. All are brainwashed into thinking that “If you are strong, you win renew.” Literally nobody ever renewed (can’t believe nobody ever caught on).

Anyone unlucky enough to turn 30 that day, rocks up, hopes for the best but then gets torched into smithereens.

If you are strong, you will renew.

Yeah right.

Clearly nobody there was an NRL fan for if there were rugby league supporters in this ridiculous world, they’d all be living happily into their seventies.

Round one each season is the NRL’s equivalent to Logan’s Run. The only difference is everyone renews here. Every year, everything else is put aside, forgotten, and thrown away. Because nothing says renew like a footy boot hitting a Steeden into the barmy March air waiting for a 120 kilogram monster to charge it back into the enemy.

So here we are on the doorstep of campaign 2017.

Sixteen clubs, 272 players, thousands of fans and millions of blades of grass. Footy is back.

But back to renewal and how quickly time goes by.

Take a moment and consider that in another place at another time, some sorry bastard sat in a room not unlike this one for hours, pulverising his finger tips on a typewriter writing about something so similar.

Imagine it is 1986 and the aforementioned sorry bastard is furiously putting together a preview for the season ahead. In a matter of days he’d have the first piece of the puzzle.

 

 

Dale Shearer racing across the tryline for a Manly-Warringah try at Brookvale as the Sea Eagles down the Canberra Raiders 20-12.

Canterbury spanking the North Sydney Bears 28-8 in the opening fixture of 1987 at Belmore and Michael Hagan crossing for two tries.

St George outclassing the Eagles in round one of 1979 at Kogarah 34-9 with meat pies to Robert Finch and Graeme Wynn among others.

Or the Brisbane Broncos beating Cronulla at Caltex Field in 1993, 19-12. On that Sunday afternoon, Willie Carne, Michael Hancock and Allan Langer scored tries for the defending premiers.

Tonight, in 2017, the Sharks are defending premiers.

And that’s the best thing about rugby league.

Everything old is new and everything new has been lived before. It’s the nature of the beast. There’s been so many games that you almost couldn’t blame Tony Archer for hiring the Ghostbusters to keep all those old players from the past onside.

And this weekend, in 2017, players renew on the same grass that those before them made famous.

If you listen hard enough you can hear them.

The same hope from fans, the same curse-ridden demands from sweaty coaches in energy-fuelled change rooms, footy boots on concrete. Those fans and coaches are now grandfathers or sadly gone from this world but the change rooms stay the same. Last minute nods, nervous smiles, vomit, hugs and adrenaline.

Then they’re out through from the shadows, down the tunnel and into the light. Euphoria. Thousands of fans need this win and it’s completely on the shoulders of these men. This current version of their favourite team.

Tommy Bishop becomes Steve Rogers and then Andrew Ettingshausen and he becomes Paul Gallen.

Les Johns is Terry Lamb and now James Graham.

Fulton is DCE and Dugan is Langlands.

Every player is intertwined by the history of the game and every fan sits in the same seats of ghosts that loved their team – just like they do today.

@woodward_curtis

Curtis and the The81stMinute Commentary Team are live from 2pm Saturday for Mounties and Canterbury on steelesports.com.au

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