High Speed Rugby League
Australian History Collectibles & Antiquarian Sports History Cultural Studies Regional History Biography & Memoir Rugby League
Brother Brendan’s 112-page paperback “High Speed Rugby League” is one of the scarcest vintage Australian sporting titles you’ll find on the secondary market. Published at a time when league was still fighting for national recognition, this first-hand chronicle captures the blistering 1970s era—when suburban Sydney grounds roared, Queenslanders rode overnight trains to rep games, and local teenagers dreamed of wearing the green-and-gold. Because it was produced in small regional print-runs for schools and parishes, most copies were thumbed to death in library boxes; clean, smoke-free copies now surface only rarely, making this very-good-condition example a collector-grade keepsake.
Inside, the Christian Brothers educator blends match statistics, rule evolutions and player biographies with social history: migrant families using football to find belonging, country towns whose economies revolved around Saturday turnstiles, and the politics that shaped the modern NRL. The result is an accessible reference that satisfies both young adults discovering the code and older fans who want facts, dates and anecdotes without wading through dense academic prose. Every chapter is peppered with archival photographs, team lists and newspaper clippings that chart the code’s journey from working-class pastime to national phenomenon.
For buyers, the appeal is three-fold: nostalgia (own the same book you borrowed in school), provenance (a genuine 1970s Australian imprint, not a modern reprint), and investment (vintage league books in collectible condition keep climbing in value). Whether you’re a footy tragic, a local-history buff or hunting the perfect gift for a rugby-league-mad parent, this pocket-sized time capsule delivers pure, high-speed memories—without the wear-and-tear usually found after five decades.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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