Feature Story – Page 13

A week in traction and a car crash before kick-off couldn’t keep Johnny Raper off the field for the 1967 preliminary final against Canterbury

9 February, 2022 The81stMinute 0 Comments 2 categories

BY CURTIS WOODWARD @woodward_curtis Rugby league Immortal Johnny Raper has passed away at the age of 82 after a long battle with dementia. One of Australian sport’s most iconic larrikins, Raper will be remembered as

How you can support Royce Simmons as legend confirms Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis

3 February, 2022 The81stMinute 0 Comments 2 categories

BY NEIL CADIGAN AND PANTHERS MEDIA Penrith Panthers’ favourite son Royce Simmons has revealed he has been diagnosed as suffering Alzheimer’s disease at age 61. Typically of the man known as ‘Simmo’, the footy legend

Steve Mascord’s Two Tribes book extract: ‘One of the banners in the crowd read “$uper League $ux”’

31 January, 2022 The81stMinute 0 Comments 2 categories

BY STEVE MASCORD @SteveMascord The following is an extract from Steve Mascord’s Two Tribes available here. Use the code ’81stminute’ to receive £1.99 or $2.50 off! ON the first day of the Super League World

Love the game like never before: The existential crisis of a new rugby league year and how the old girl needs you more than ever

27 January, 2022 The81stMinute 0 Comments 2 categories

BY CURTIS WOODWARD @woodward_curtis As we crawl toward rugby league season version 2022, the “new” Covid world we live in has buckled us into an existential crisis made more apparent by the gaping hole now

‘Strike Force Hank’: Police investigation makes eight arrests including former Blues hero Brett Finch

14 December, 2021 The81stMinute 0 Comments 2 categories

BY CURTIS WOODWARD @woodward_curtis Former New South Wales Blues State of Origin hero Brett Finch, who was part of the salary cap-cheating Melbourne Storm premiership-winning team in 2009, has been charged over alleged child abuse

Brandon Smith – the character we know today – is a bastard child of what he thinks he can be and what we let him create

1 December, 2021 The81stMinute 0 Comments 2 categories

BY CURTIS WOODWARD @woodward_curtis Many good experts with their ears to the ground in the American sports world and other places have been waiting for this day – when National Rugby League athletes break the

Ten former NRL stars playing in the Super League Grand Final this weekend

8 October, 2021 The81stMinute 0 Comments 2 categories

BY STAFF WRITERS The rugby league season is not over! It continues this weekend with the English Super League Grand Final with history on the line. French club Catalans are on the cusp of their

Fifty of our favourite players to never win a rugby league premiership in Australia

20 September, 2021 The81stMinute 0 Comments 2 categories

BY STAFF WRITERS Not everyone gets the fairy tale ending. Some of the game’s greatest players never got their premiership they deserved. Here are 50 players, in no particular order, that never got to taste

Arthurson, Packer and Politis: When three of the game’s most powerful men fought for Bob Fulton’s services and how Fulton won

16 September, 2021 The81stMinute 0 Comments 2 categories

BY CURTIS WOODWARD @woodward_curtis Long before Sonny Bill Williams snuck off to Sydney Airport in the middle of the night or Cooper Cronk replaced his beloved Melbourne jersey for the Tricolours – there was outrage

‘Tough titties’: Part-time Storm fans want the NRL to move their preliminary final so they can watch the AFL – it ain’t going to happen

12 September, 2021 The81stMinute 0 Comments 2 categories

BY CURTIS WOODWARD @woodward_curtis The mighty Melburnians pride themselves on being the sporting capital of Australia. They are highly educated on all sports, so they say. Their reaction to the National Rugby League’s announcement of

Category: Feature Story