Devastated - RL1908.com

[Mr Spock!]

Thats the same major concern we have with our site too.

Can fully and wholeheartedly understand and agree with your sentiments Sean.

So long as you keep up the good work in RL circles mate, then thats the most important thing imo.

Shaun, your site was fantastic. I love the history of our great game and there was so much information in your site.

Madunit, what's your site?

 

[Big Pete]

Rugby League Project

Awesome site, highly recommended.

 

[St_Jubbsy]

"Official historians" is a little worrying- the job of a historian is to research and reach conclusions on the available evidence/sources etc., not to engage in public relations, which is what the NRL would want.

 

[innsaneink]

Defensive?

Relax. You take things way too personal.

You have the NRL version in your sig file. The Dragons version says differently. The clubs generally don't control the NRL website entries.

IMO, each club has a right to determine their own heritage.

Sorry if this upets you to the point of it dominating your sig file. Quite frankly, I think you're better than that.

You too may be a little defensive if you were accused of ''knowingly posting incorrect information in your sig file''

I'd be interested to know how you came to this conclusion - posting incorrect info knowingly - it is info from the Official Site of the St George Illawarra Dragons, therefore imo your clubs official view...as I state in my sig.

As for it upsetting me....LOL....I think we know who gets a tad precious on this topic.

 

[Loudstrat]

Sean's dedication to research goes above and beyond the call of duty. It's phenomenal. We loved the site, but this is just another pat on the back. I also loved the Messenger book.

Willow, can he flog his books here?

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Well, after reading Sean's comments, I feel quite compable in his website's demise. Used the website for a good read, never thought to chip in a few $$$ for the website's upkeep. So my apologies Sean, I must buy a few books for my Dad this Xmas.

Sean, will your posts on byanoldboy.wordpress.com be soley about our great game, or will they involve RU + VFL as well?

 

[madunit]

Thanks mate.

both azkatro and I hope to catch up with you at the Tom Brock Lecture next month

 

[madunit]

Agreed, thats the position was looking for in my above post. Official Historian..

I'd dare say most/all professional sporting bodies / leagues would find great use in such role.

No disrespect to the man, but there's already one fella who considers himself the doyen of everything historical and statistical in the game.

I won't discredit any of his work as he has done some unbelievable stuff for the record keeping of Modern Rugby League which the NSWRL never bothered with, but when it comes to the games History, I don't put Middleton anywhere near the same league as Sean.

I regard Sean as the only true authority when it comes to rugby league history. And as far as the stats history of the game, well I think azkatro and myself like to ensure there is some genuinely healthy competition to help improve and ensure the absolute integrity of all rugby league data since April 20, 1908 til now.

And it shouldn't be made solely available to those with fat wallets.

Sure it comes at an expense to the great people just like Sean, but so long as he remains dedicated and continues to carry on his amazingly wonderful research into the games history to ensure it is preserved forever and not forgotten after a few years, then that, in my brutally honest opinion, is what keeps this game alive.

Too often sponsors, fans, officials etc get caught up in the money, the present and the professionalism of the modern game and rarely take the time to look back on the tremendous sacrifices a large majority of players and officials, in the first 10 years of the game especially, took to help this game take off and become the phenemenon it is today.

Its a sad indictment of those highly paid people who have been making great money from this games record keeping over many many years, to have not bothered to go to the lengths to uncover, reveal and essentially eternally preserve the rich history as Sean has done and will continue to do.

Hats off to you Sean, I can write with flair, but I prefer my posts to be a personally honest rendition of how I truly feel and speak, you are a f**king legend and this game owes you a f**king shitload for your efforts.

At the end of the day, Sean is true fan of the game, first and foremost, thats what drives him to do what he does for the game. He does it for the game, as a fan, for the fans.

They are who matter.

 

[RL1908]

I'm humbled by the comments here. (and you're right - the stats stuff has never been my scene).

byanoldboy.com is where I continue to add future RL &/or cross-code pieces when I feel inclined to write something lengthier.

There are shorter comments along a similar line being posted at twitter.com/byanoldboy (even if you're not into twitter, you can still read the comments/page).

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Will you still post occasionally on Facebook under the RL1908 monkier, or will it be under something new?

 

[RL1908]

Will you still post occasionally on Facebook under the RL1908 monkier, or will it be under something new?

Nah - not for the moment. I tried a RL1908 page on facebook, but couldn't really get enthused by it. Will continue to make RL1908 history posts on twitter.com/RL1908

I'm not heavily into facebook, but I have a personal page http://www.facebook.com/byanoldboy that I sometimes make RL comments via....so long as you can stand all the other dribble (which tends towards 1980s music!) you can join me there.

 

[Rexxy]

i get the feeling the nrl are very clicky as to who is considered their "historians". Get on the gravy train, and its a sweet ride? Am I right?

I blame this buddy culture at the nrl on the number of ex coppers who have gone there.

Seriously if you aint a mate, then there are no contracts for you. Or so I am told.

 

[RL1908]

Thanks to everyone that purchased a book yesterday - will be posted this arvo.

 

[Jason Maher]

The NRL and ARL (and by extension QRL and NSWRL) both are utterly hopeless when it comes to recording the history of the game, or even current history. If I want to know something historical or statistical about Rugby League, the very last place I look is nrl.com. RL1908.com was the place to go for historical information. For stats. stats.rleague.com, live.nrlstats.com, and more recently the Rugby League Project are my ports of call. By the way, does anyone know who is behind rleague.com and live.nrlstats.com?

 

[jonno_knights]

The NRL and ARL (and by extension QRL and NSWRL) both are utterly hopeless when it comes to recording the history of the game, or even current history. If I want to know something historical or statistical about Rugby League, the very last place I look is nrl.com. RL1908.com was the place to go for historical information. For stats. stats.rleague.com, live.nrlstats.com, and more recently the Rugby League Project are my ports of call. By the way, does anyone know who is behind rleague.com and live.nrlstats.com?

Pretty sure the nrlstats is done by sportsdata. I know they are the official stats providers to NRL.com Dreamteam. They also do all the other major australian sports on thescore.com.au

 

[madunit]

yeah sportsdata do NRL Stats stuff.

Paul Jeffs is the man who does stats.rleague

 

[danmiles73]

That's a rare one to have - think I only printed about 200 of them in the end!

I also have one of them, still with two or three little bookmarks that you stuffed in there, too! A good book. I wish there was a Queensland edition of "The Premiership Clubs".

 

[cleary89]

Never really read anything about the past in the game. But for $20, an autographed copy is a steal and if nothing else, a good conversation starter when its sitting on my coffee table. Hope I get through it!

 

[magpie_man]

RL1908.com was the first website I would frequent in my early days of looking at RL stuff on the internet, before I discovered the wonderful world of forums. It's a shame to see it go, but nonetheless understandable.
Keep up the awesome work Sean, while I'm an AFL fan, i've always particularly enjoyed you one-man crusades against the AFL propaganda juggernaut and the subsequent fist-shaking and gnashing of teeth on bf over your thouroughly-researched, well-written and factual articles.

 

[RL1908]

RL1908.com was the first website I would frequent in my early days of looking at RL stuff on the internet, before I discovered the wonderful world of forums. It's a shame to see it go, but nonetheless understandable.
Keep up the awesome work Sean, while I'm an AFL fan, i've always particularly enjoyed you one-man crusades against the AFL propaganda juggernaut and the subsequent fist-shaking and gnashing of teeth on bf over your thouroughly-researched, well-written and factual articles.

Ha! I don't intend to give that up!