Grr. I'm annoyed. I just can't get my article to flow properly. Here it is, if anyone is willing to go over it and offer suggestions. It just feels disjointed and clunky at the moment. Help!
For The Sake Of A Name (743 words including title)
Jeremy Smith and, err, Jeremy Smith.
The closest Ill probably ever get to encountering my namesake within rugby league circles would be if I was to interview Broncos prop Dave Taylor. The only other similarity I have with a rugby league player is that I happen to share my birthday with former Warrior and Kiwi legend Stacey Jones hardly a claim to fame.
But for two Kiwis who played in the embarrassing Centenary Test match against Australia on Sunday the 14th of October in Wellington, their similarities are numerous: both were on debut; both were born in New Zealand but play for Australian-based NRL clubs; and both have the same name. In fact, even their middle initials and nicknames were almost identical. Jezza and Jezza, otherwise known as South Sydney's halfback Jeremy Smith and his back rower namesake from Melbourne, caused confusion in the Kiwis camp and amongst many league fans when they were initially selected.
They arent the first namesakes to don the black and white jersey, however.
Two George Smiths, a winger and a halfback, played for the Kiwis, but their matches were three years apart, in 1908 and 1911 respectively. And George Turner the centre played his last international match in 1961, while his namesake a prop made the top level for the first time in 1964.
But, until the Centenary Test, only two Kiwi namesakes had only ever taken to the field together at international level, in a bygone era
The early years of international rugby league were a somewhat curious period for the Kiwis. When the Australian Kangaroos toured New Zealand in 1919, they experienced an absurd situation when local referee, Arthur Brunsden, proceeded to show the visitors his interpretation of the play-the-ball after penalising them numerous times. 1924 had seen the touring Great Britain team bring the international level of the game to the deep south of New Zealand, but their efforts to expand the sport there were hampered by the Otago Rugby Union, who refused to let them use the premier Dunedin football ground, Carisbrook, and even organised a rival rugby union match to clash with the league test in an effort to sabotage the crowd base a plan which ironically backfired when the 14,000 spectators who watched the Kiwis grossly outnumbered their rugby union counterparts. And in 1925, just one year before a touring Kiwi side had half its squad go on strike and refuse to play, two Jim OBriens took to the field as the Kiwis hosted a touring Queensland side.
For one of them, a back rower from the Devonport area of Auckland, this was to be his only match for the national side. The other, a prop from the Marist club, was a former All Black who had already played three tests against Great Britain after switching codes the year before.
Now, 82 years on, it seems amazing to think that those who took part in that match were older than international rugby league itself, with the sport having only being played at the top level for eighteen years. But that was, of course, normality back then, as were touring state sides, which would frequently come over to New Zealand to take on the national team.
Because both Jim OBriens only played together on home soil, they wouldnt have encountered the near miss that the two Jeremy Smiths experienced, when they found that one of them had had his flight booking erroneously cancelled for the teams tour of Great Britain and France.
But that hasnt been their only problem. Poor performances for a side that buckled under a record-breaking 58-0 rampage at the hands of the Kangaroos, led to halfback Smith being dropped in favour of Wigan Warriors playmaker Thomas Leuluai, while second rower Smith was one of many Kiwis who could count themselves lucky for gaining reselection.
Jim OBrien and Jim OBrien only played together on one occasion a 35-14, seven-to-two try romp, which ultimately spelled the end of one namesakes international career. Now, in 2007, after an embarrassing and impassionate effort from almost every position against the Australians and a solid performance from the new halves combination of Leuluai and Lance Hohaia, there is the potential for Jeremy Smith and Jeremy Smith to suffer the same fate.
One can only hope that, for the sake of their name, and for the sake of the game, that scenario doesnt eventuate.
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Sources:
Tomato, barbeque, tartare.
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