The Halftime Spray #6 (2014)

City v Country is an annual fixture which has been running for several decades. But alas, everytime it comes around, all the media outlets and people in the big smoke whinge and whine and ask "Why should we even bother with this game"

In the early years the argument was even stronger, given that Country would regularly get towelled up by a full strength City side.

However the argument was just as pointless then as it is now.

Why?

Because some of Rugby League's greatest players in this country have come from the bush. Having a City v Country match maintains interest in the game from kids who cannot access their team's games on a regular basis, if at all.

For many years I have demanded that the NRL do more to promote Rugby League in Country Australia, due to the fact that there is so much hidden talent in this expansive region. A failure to capitalise on this is essentially the handing over of this talent to other codes.

When I think of great Rugby League players from the past, I think of Clive Churchill from Merewether, Duncan Thompson from Ipswich, Arthur Beetson from Roma, Graeme Langlands from Wollongong, Peter Sterling from Wagga Wagga, the list well and truly goes on and on.

Furthermore, Country NSW has a similar history in their clashes with City, as Queensland has with NSW, especially when you compare their results. Both regularly got flogged. But both are equally as proud and many would argue, much more passionate, because of the constant floggings. It's the hardship that has built their spirit. It's what makes those players selected for Country cherish that jumper just that bit more than their counterparts.

It is why City vs Country games should be persevered with.

Now that’s a controversial fight! (2011)

In the first twenty years of Rugby League’s existence, there had been some insanely erratic decisions regarding player suspensions and the like for their discrepancies and misbehaviour.

In 1917, Glebe’s Dan Davies played a game against Annandale which Glebe won. Glebe attempted to lie about his place of residence but a complaint by Annandale, who Davies should have been playing for according to the residential rule at the time, saw Glebe stripped of their two competition points for the win against Annandale.

The NSWRL suspended Davies indefinitely, as this was the first intentional breach of the residential rule they had to determine a penalty for Glebe’s and Davies’ deception. In a later game that year, three Glebe players were dubiously suspended. The NSWRL penalised Glebe by moving their top of the table match against neighbouring rivals Balmain, from the Sports Ground, where gate takings would be very high, to the significantly smaller Birchgrove Oval.

Incensed by the decision, Glebe’s first grade team went on strike. Balmain flogged Glebe’s second string side and the NSWRL suspended all the Glebe players until 1918. Dan Davies, for his earlier indiscretion, was banned for life.

Davies returned to his hometown Newcastle and started playing again. When the NSWRL found out, they banned nearly all the Newcastle competitions’ players and administrators for life. A decision they reversed when a rebel code in Newcastle began shortly after.

In 1923, one of the fairest players of the game, Duncan Thompson, was charged with kicking a player in the face. Spectators and media sided with Thompson. But despite never being involved in any unsportsmanlike behaviour previously, the NSWRL suspended him for the rest of the year. After appealing the charge the NSWRL shortened the suspension. Thompson dissatisfied and insulted, left Sydney and moved to Toowoomba, never playing in Sydney again.

Then there’s the flip side.

August 11, 1928 – the equal first St.George took on the equal last Balmain in a spirited encounter at Arncliffe’s Earl Park.

From midway through the first half the game was littered with spiteful clashes, scuffles, foul play and cheap shots. An alleged elbow by St.George forward George Carstairs broke Balmain’s Tony Russell’s’ nose midway through the first half.

Referee Mick Brannaghan did nothing.

In a scrum late in the first half, St.George’s Arnold Traynor reeled out of a scrum with blood freely flowing from his nose.

During the second half, Russell kicked Carstairs in the face while the latter was picking himself up from a tackle to play the ball.

Referee Mick Brannaghan did nothing.

Later, a scuffle between two players saw Harry Flower from St.George intervene to help out his team mate. Surprisingly, after much serious incidents had lead to cautions or no action at all, Flower was sent off.
The crowd went from frustrated to furious.

With five minutes remaining in the game, Russell again kicked Carstairs in the head knocking him unconscious, this time nowhere near the action.
Former Test player turned touch judge, Charlie Hedley, ran onto the field to inform the referee of the incident.

Referee Mick Brannaghan did nothing.

The crowd was incensed, yelling out “We want Russell!”

As fulltime sounded an end to the atrocious play, Balmain’s George Bishop set after Traynor.

St.George coach, Frank Burge and Secretary Reg Fusedale ran onto the field to assist the unconscious Carstairs.

The crowd had seen enough and they spilled onto the ground, practically following Burge and Fusedale. Some spectators ripped off fence palings and made a bee-line for Russell. There was even one spectator allegedly seen with an axe!

Police at the scene, used batons, handcuffs and their fists to rescue Russell and rush him to the dressing room.

He was then taken to an ambulance suffering injuries to his face, back, ribs, arms and legs. He allegedly met a revived Carstairs and they began fighting before the ambulance driver intervened.

The NSWRL announced a full inquiry into how the riot happened and what penalties needed to be delivered. In the most confusing decision yet, the NSWRL blamed the fans for the riot and no reason to punish any of the players.

Russell declared he accidentally kicked Carstairs with the side of his boot as he stepped over him, while Carstairs, unsurprisingly, couldn’t remember what happened.

After that day of violence and rioting, the most amazing words came from the seemingly oblivious official, Mick Brannaghan.

"It was one of the cleanest games I’ve ever refereed."

The Downs Fox (2008)

He had a brain for rugby league, creative, speedy, successful and spent most of his life with a bullet in his chest. He was Duncan Thompson.

Thompson was born in Warwick, Queensland on March 14, 1895. He joined the Australian Bank of Commerce in 1911. While at Ipswich he represented Combined Country in 1913 and Queensland in 1915.

In 1915 as War broke out, Thompson wanted to serve his country, but his mother prohibited it. In 1916, his job transferred him to Sydney, where he was immediately snapped up by the ailing Norths.

At the end of 1916, Duncan returned to Queensland where he enlisted with the Australian Imperial Forces. He was shot through the chest in the battle of Dernancourt in 1917, but miraculously survived.

He was informed by doctors that a bullet was still lodged in his chest and would no longer be able to play sport.

Thompson continued playing, lining up for Ipswich and Queensland in 1919. He earned a place in the first Australian Test team to tour New Zealand. On tour Thompson replaced Arthur Halloway in the Third Test, which Australia won 34-23. He was then selected at halfback for the fourth test, which Australia won 32-2.

He relocated to Newcastle in 1920 and played for Newcastle Wests before moving back to Norths. Thompson captained NSW in his first game against his beloved Queensland in 1921.

In 1921, Norths finished the season undefeated, claiming their first premiership. At the end of the 1921 season, Thompson was selected in the Australian squad to tour England.

In 1922 Norths were sporting the most impressive backline in the competition, with Harold Horder, Cec Blinkhorn, Duncan Thompson, Herman Peters, Frank Rule and Dallas Hodgins. Norths annihilated Glebe 35-3 in the 1922 Premiership Final.

In 1923, Norths struggled to dominate the competition, but it was their Round 14 clash with Glebe at the SCG that proved most damaging. Thompson was sent off for allegedly kicking Glebe forward Tom McGrath. The NSWRL judiciary found Thompson guilty and suspended him for the rest of the season.

Spectators claimed the incident was an accident. Thompson was held back illegally after passing the ball and was trying to free himself when he accidentally struck McGrath in the face.

Thompson appealed the suspension and it was reduced but not overturned. Thompson was so angered by the decision that he vowed never to play in Sydney again.

Thompson moved back to Toowoomba and opened a sports store. Despite Thompson’s self-exile from the Sydney competition, he was still selected in the last two tests against England of 1924. Thompson played for Queensland again in 1924 and 1925.

Thompson’s arrival to Toowoomba brought immediate success. In 1924 he played for Toowoomba on a contract worth ₤400 a year. In his first two years there, Toowoomba were deemed the greatest team in Rugby League.

In 1924 Toowoomba beat England (23-20), Ipswich (21-10, 31-8 and 33-18), NSW (16-0) and Victoria (47-18). In 1925 the undefeated run continued with victories over Brisbane (30-7 and 22-3), Ipswich (18-13, 51-17 and 3 all) and New Zealand (16-14). The final match of the year was against the 1925 undefeated Sydney premiers Souths, to declare the greatest team in Australia.

Toowoomba won 12-5.

1925 saw Toowoomba claim the first Bulimba Cup, a competition played between representative sides from Brisbane, Ipswich and Toowoomba. They won every honour that was available to them.

At the end of the 1925 season Thompson retired from Rugby League and took up tennis, lawn bowls and golf (where he had a handicap of 3).

He returned to national service in the Second World War serving as an amenities officer in Townsville and Papua New Guinea.

In 1951 Thompson accepted a role as Toowoomba coach, instantly leading Toowoomba to six consecutive Bulimba Cup titles from 1951-56.

Thompson gave away his coaching role to take on administrative duties with the QRL, before becoming a Test selector in the late 1950's.

In 1960 Duncan Thompson was awarded an MBE for services to Rugby League. He became a respected commentator on the Rugby League world for many years during and after his role as Test selector.

On May 17, 1980 Duncan Thompson passed away at a hospital in Auchenflower.

Thompson is one of the few sportsmen to have two grandstands named after him, one at Toowoomba and the other at North Sydney Oval.

His sports store closed not long after he died.

Now, the Duncan Thompson stand at Toowoomba watches only soccer.