NRL Theme Song 2008

K

knight-no-7

Moderator
I havnt really heard all the old themes, but this article says they might go back to one of their old ones...Any thoughts on the old themes?

League great the centrepiece of NRL ad campaign

ANDREW Ettingshausen, Wayne Pearce and Matt Cooper have all done it . . . and now 1950s hero Norm Provan is going topless to promote rugby league.

Provan, who this year turned 76, will be stripping off today as the NRL undertakes its biggest advertising punt since Blow That Whistle Ref.

As part of centenary celebrations, league officials have dumped the successful That's My Team and Simply The Best anthems in favour of what insiders are calling "an aria score".

League greats Norm Provan and Arthur Summons will also spend 90 minutes in make-up today before recreating their famous "Gladiators" pose at Leichhardt Oval.

"Creating a 60-second commercial that sums up 100 years of rugby league, plus the 2008 premiership season, isn't easy . . . it's almost impossible," NRL marketing boss Paul Kind conceded last night.

"And obviously we can't get every memorable player, every memorable moment in there.

"But we think the 1963 grand final photo epitomises everything that is great about our game.

"So we want to recreate that as close to the original as possible. And that'll involve both men spending a fair bit of time getting muddied up."

And, as The Daily Telegraph pointed out, it will also involve the lanky St George forward stripping down to pose in just those wafer-thin shoulderpads, right?

"Will Norm take his shirt off? Yeah, he might," Kind laughed. "But we're trying to keep a few surprises up our sleeve."

Surprises. It's a word that sits uncomfortably with most league fans when we're talking (a) advertisements and (b) grand final entertainment.

Think back, for example, to the 1999 season when gifted author and Manly tragic Thomas Keneally surprised us with Blow That Whistle Ref.

We go to the cupboard, we take out club colours. And the air sings. The season's close. Our boys are running up sandhills, their legs pump. This season, this season, this is our season . . . and so on into rugby league infamy.

The year before that, league officials used English band Chumbawamba. The year after it was ageing Welshman Tom Jones who crooned and gyrated to Whatta Game.

Little wonder the NRL marketing department then spent two winters in hibernation planning their next attack . . . finally striking gold when retired NSW Origin player Alan Wilson went to them with That's My Team.

Not since 1990 - when rockin' grandma Tina Turner followed up What You Get is What You See with Simply The Best - had league enjoyed such an anthem.

And earlier this year it appeared the code was going to be rocking again when Kind told The Sunday Telegraph:

"That (Simply The Best) campaign is perfect to celebrate 100 years of our game. Fans still have a great affinity with it. It has become an enduring symbol of the game."

Yet in the ensuing months both Turner and the Hoodoo Gurus have been sent packing despite their rock anthems promoting the game for a decade and setting advertising records in Australia.

"Members of the Centenary Historians Committee were concerned that those campaigns only signified certain periods in the game - that Tina Turner was symbolic of the late 80s and early 90s," Kind said.

"We haven't decided on the music at this stage but we want the focus to be on the images, on the moments and the players.

"Obviously we'll be naming the game's 100 greatest players. A team of the century too.

"And while it won't be possible to picture all those faces in the commercial, we do want to make sure that nothing overshadows what's most important to the centenary celebrations.

"But as for 2009 . . . yeah, we will probably return to a major act again."

And Norm Provan will go back to wearing a shirt.
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I love "thats my team" I don't really want it changed. I can understand y they want something from the past for the 100 year celebrations, and I think they should go back 2 several old ad songs rather then just picking one
 
I love thats my team too, It came on at work today well the original and I was singing along thats my team lol.
 
Well, thats my team is definately gone.. but yea wonder what they'll come up with, i havnt really heard many of the old ones though.
 
'Gladiators' pose up

YOU could almost see Clive Churchill walking through the gates of Leichhardt Oval and asking "excuse me . . . is this heaven?"

League's favourite suburban crowd was yesterday transformed into its very own Field Of Dreams as the NRL began filming their Centenary advertising campaign.

From behind three enclosed tents at the southern end of the ground a host of champions emerged throughout the morning . . . Darren Lockyer, Laurie Daley, Norm Provan, Brad Fittler, Arthur Summons and Craig Wing.

A bit like Shoeless Joe Jackson and the rest of his 1919 Chicago White Socks tramping out of that Iowa cornfield.

"But unfortunately we haven't had a lot of time to chat,'' Provan said between shots. "Because everyone has been racing around doing their different bits and pieces.''

Indeed, filming for a clip representing 100 years of league was yesterday conducted under almost military secrecy.

Photographers and cameramen were politely asked to refrain from shooting anything but a recreation of that famous 'Gladiator' pose - which won't be a part of the commercial anyway.

"No,'' Provan conceded later, "the real mud comes later this afternoon.''

Despite turning 76 this year, the Dragons favourite still looked incredibly fit as he walked around in white shorts, Saints socks and a gimmicky pair of 1950s shoulder pads.

"Well, I do a bit of gardening at my place up in Mooloolah,'' he smiled. "I've got 50 acres, fairly rocky country and just keeping that in order takes a bit of work.''

The Saints premiership hero was also happy to talk scrums, coaching secrets, daytime deciders and the brand new footy boots the NRL had provided.

"Oh, the boots, mate, I think they're up the ****,'' Provan laughed. "I could've never played in these things . . . they're just too pointy.''


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That's My Team has been around too long and is stale, we definitely need something new.
 
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