Rugby Reloaded

Tony Collins

The social history podcast which explores the history of rugby league, rugby union, and the other football codes around the world.

  1. 23 MAR

    211. Todd Carney, Antonio Gramsci and rugby league intellectuals

    Our guest today in rugby league journalist and analyst Mike Meehall Wood, who launched his new Substack [https://mikemeehallwood.substack.com/p/six-tackles-and-superstructure-why] with 'Six Tackles & Superstructure: Why Rugby League needs more philosophy'. It's a fascinating look at how rugby league (with the help of others) denies its intellectual culture. In an age when soccer coaches talk about their philosophies and rugby union is awash with tactical analysis, the rugby league media are content to keep talking about physicality and putting your body on the line. But the game is a complex and subtle sport with a deep and rich culture - so why don't we talk about it more? For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

    49 min
  2. Podcast 210 - Jonty Parkin: the man who invented the modern scrum-half

    13 JAN

    Podcast 210 - Jonty Parkin: the man who invented the modern scrum-half

    In this episode I'm joined by Lee Robinson to talk about his new book 'Jonty: The Life of Jonathan Parkin', arguably the greatest rugby league scrum-half of all time. Jonty's career began as a teenager with Wakefield Trinity before World War One and ended in 1932, by which time he had become the first player ever to tour Down Under three times, twice as captain, and had played in every international match in which he could be selected before his international retirement in 1930. He did all this during what was arguably Trinity's poorest ever decade. Perhaps most importantly, Jonty was the archetype of the typical scrum-half - combative, tricky and with an inbuilt hostility to authority - and his influence is till felt today. The book is available from https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/136704396053 and you can discover a whole lot more about Wakefield Trinity's history at https://www.trinityheritage.co.uk For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

    30 min

  3. 12/12/2025

    209. Did Scotland Invent Football?

    This week's episode looks at how soccer emerged in Scotland in the mid-1800s. By the early 1880s not only was Glasgow the world capital of football, but Scottish players playing for English clubs had revolutionised sport south of the Border. But is it the case that the Scots actually invented modern soccer? As I argue in this episode, the truth is more complicated than that - and simple explanations underplay the complexities of how sports develop and the contributions made by ordinary people. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony Links to books and websites mentioned in the show: John Hutchinson and Andy Mitchell ‘1824 The World’s Oldest Football Club’: https://www.scottishsporthistory.com/worlds-first-foot-ball-club.html Richard McBrearty ‘Glasgow Before The Explosion … football cultures in the city prior to 1873’: https://scottishfootballorigins.org/2021/08/26/glasgow-before-the-explosion-the-role-of-migration-and-immigration-in-the-development-of-football-cultures-in-the-city-prior-to-1873/ Matthew McDowell ‘A cultural history of association football in Scotland 1865-1902’: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/a-cultural-history-of-association-football-in-scotland-1865-1902-/

    10 min

  4. 26/11/2025

    208. 'Blood and Thunder' the history of rugby in Ireland with Liam O'Callaghan

    This week we talk to Dr Liam O’Callaghan about the newly published paperback edition of his superb history of rugby in Ireland ‘Blood and Thunder’. It’s a classic work which looks at the history of the sport in the context of Irish history over the past 150 years. As well as detailing the history of the sport itself, it also examines the relationship of the game to the complex political history of Ireland and explains how the sport has remained united on a disunited island. It’s a superb book that is the latest landmark work from a series of high quality works about the history of sport in Ireland. It’s published by Penguin and you can find more details at https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/458098/blood-and-thunder-by-ocallaghan-liam/9780241999769. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

    35 min

  5. 14/11/2025

    207. What the hell is going on in British rugby league?

    The new Rugby Reloaded looks at the current state of rugby league in Britain, asks 'What's going on?' and tries to provide some answers by looking at how the history of the sport can give us some insights into what the game could and should be doing. It also looks at the problems of being in the post-industrial north of England, the challenges of other sports, and the internal issues that the game has never confronted. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

    10 min

  6. 05/11/2025

    206. Oldham Rugby League Hall of Fame

    This week we sit down with Kevin Fitzpatrick, a member of the Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust, to talk about his documentary on Oldham's Hall of Fame. It's a fascinating look at the history of the club and the town since the club was a founding member of the Northern Union in 1895, told through the individual stories of the players inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. He talks about the club, the ins and outs of making the documentary, and the plans to celebrate Oldham's 150th anniversary next year. You can buy the documentary via download from https://oldhamhalloffame.bandcamp.com/album/the-oldham-rugby-league-hall-of-fame or on CD from orlheritagetrust@gmail.com. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

    33 min
  7. 205. The Global Spread of Football with Thomas Adam

    28/10/2025

    205. The Global Spread of Football with Thomas Adam

    This week we delve deep into the origins of the football codes across Britain, Europe and the Americas with Thomas Adam, author of the new book The Global Spread of football from the 1860s to the 1880s. His book looks at the emergence of football in England, Germany, Argentina and the United States in the 1860s and 1870s, and looks at the decisive influence of education and educators in the rise of the game. The book is code-agnostic, and so looks at ‘football’ as nineteenth century observers did: one game with many different ways to play. Along the way we also discuss the roads not taken, such as how Germany could have become a rugby nation and the US a soccer bastion. For more details about the book, go to https://anthempress.com/books/the-global-spread-of-football-from-the-1860s-to-the-1880s-hb For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

    27 min

  8. 15/10/2025

    204. A Cultural History of the Ashes (part two)

    With rugby league's Ashes series imminent, part two of Rugby Reloaded's look at the cultural history of Anglo-Australian rugby league moves onto the post-World War 2 period. It was an era when the balance of power moved down under, with British players moving to Aussie clubs in the 1960s and 1970s, and the decline of Britain's ability to consistently compete with Australia in test matches. After 1970, the Lions never won a test series and British efforts to compete were hampered by changes in the British sports economy and poor leadership. But as we look toward the upcoming Ashes series, is there a way forward?

    11 min
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About

The social history podcast which explores the history of rugby league, rugby union, and the other football codes around the world.

Information

  • Creator
    Tony Collins
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    211
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Rugby Reloaded

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