League doco provides Newcastle leading role

[U23]

League doco provides Newcastle leading role
By BRETT KEEBLE

2MAKING HISTORY: Paul Harragon is interviewed on Thursday for A Century of League, which will prominently feature Newcastle's role in the Super League war. - Picture by Peter Stoop

NEWCASTLE'S central role in the Super League war will feature in a television documentary outlining the history of rugby league in the game's centenary year.

Under the working title A Century Of League, the project is being produced by Rugby League Films, a joint venture between Chief Entertainment and the National Rugby League, and is due for release this year.

Executive producer Will Minchin and his crew were in Newcastle on Thursday to interview key players in the Super League war, including former Knights captain and coach, Paul Harragon and Malcolm Reilly, and Aussies for the ARL co-ordinator Barbara Davis.

NRL referees coach Robert Finch, who was tagged as a traitor during the darkest days of the battle for Newcastle because he quit his position as Knights football manager to take up a similar role with Super League's Hunter Mariners, was interviewed in Sydney.

Minchin said telling the story of the Super League war had been daunting for some interview subjects because many wounds were still fresh.

"But as film-makers, I think our responsibility is to offer the opinions from both sides, offer the facts, then you let the audience make up their own minds," Minchin said.

"Ten or so years on, we're in the best position possible to look back and have some clarity about exactly what happened . . . and you can't tell the story of Super League without coming to Newcastle.

"Nowhere was it more keenly felt than in this big rugby league town, probably the biggest, maddest-keen rugby league town in Australia."

Minchin, researcher Tony Peterson and other staff at Rugby League Films are trawling through hundreds of hours of archival footage and have conducted more than 60 interviews with some of the game's leading figures on a range of subjects.

The documentary will be categorised into four one-hour episodes covering the players, the clubs, international and representative league, and grand finals.

A Century of League should be available on DVD before the end of this NRL season, and Rugby League Films is negotiating with Channel Nine about airing the documentary on television.

"Rugby League Films has been commissioned to make the official documentary about the history of Australian rugby league . . . and it will be the definitive history of the game in Australia," Minchin said.

"The history of the clubs will cover the mergers, the departures, the expansion teams, and the Super League war is a big part of all that.

"We're covering the great players, the great grand finals, and rep footy will look at the international and interstate rivalry, not just State of Origin but the 70 or so years of games between NSW and Queensland that predates Origin.

"International footy will look particularly at the great rivalry between Australia and Great Britain but will also cover New Zealand, New Guinea and the history of the World Cup."

[PI9017] Former Knights teammates David Seage (Wynnum Manly) and Daniel Abraham (Mackay) will square off today in a Queensland Cup game at Kougari Oval.

Neither player had any luck with injuries in the past few years at the Knights and left Newcastle at the end of last season in search of greener pastures in the Sunshine State.

Source: Herald