League goes back to its past to tackle the future

From Bramley to Russia the future of Rugby League came back to the game's birthplace yesterday as a new think-tank chewed over its current state.

The 1895 Club, a gathering of those from all walks of life who care passionately about the code, met in the very room in the George Hotel in Huddersfield where the game was born 106 years ago.

As has often appeared to be the case for much of the intervening time, they debated a diverse set of hopes, dreams and firm proposals ranging across the spectrum of concerns over the game and where it is heading.

Dr Stephen Morris, a professor of International Studies at John Hopkins University in Washington DC, had the most far reaching proposition – for the game to fund a major development project in Russia, where he believes rugby league has an untapped potential.

"There is a major military high school with 700 pupils that is crying out of Rugby League coaching," he said. "The potential is also there for six-team competitions based in four major cities. It will not cost much and in 10 years Russia could be trampling everyone in international rugby league."

Others had interests closer to home, such as the supporters' collective that is trying to revive the Bramley club and get it back into the League.

David Hinchcliffe, the MP for Wakefield and the driving force behind the All Party Parliamentary Rugby League group, believes that model could work well elsewhere in the game's heartland and that rugby league is also uniquely placed to tackle issues of social exclusion.

"What we need to realise is that, being a working-class sport, building within communities is a real strength," he said.

"We don't have the corporate buffoons at our games, but we don't need them, because what we do have is people who are committed to the game."

Hinchcliffe was one of many speakers to call for a unified governing body and the appointment of a chief executive to run the game. Three distinguished former Great Britain internationals – Neil Fox, Bev Risman and Trevor Foster – called for a renewed emphasis on international competition, with Foster recalling his six months' tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1946 on the aircraft carrier, HMS Indomitable.

"I just hope that the Great Britain side at Huddersfield will feel the same pride we did after that tour," he said.

The perceived media mistreatment of Rugby League was a thread running through the afternoon's discussions, with one attendee, Ray Gent, planning to present a 28,000 signature petition complaining at media bias to Parliament in the New Year.

Lionel Hurst, the former Chief Executive of the London Broncos, who provided much of the impetus for the meeting, believes it will be the start of an influential forum for airing the game's problems and possibilities.

"If we can get 300 or 400 people exchanging views in the future, we can begin to shape the game," he said.