Wikipedia:WikiProject Rugby league/Resources/SARL story 001

Dave Southern wrote:

"The South African Rugby League Story

Dave Southern

In Dec 1988 when Widnes and Wigan were both at the top of the Rugby League tree in England a chance meeting took place in the South African Irish pub called Fibber Maghees next to Kyalami Racing circuit. Dave Southern from Widnes and Tony Barker from Wigan were the individuals the conversation went something like this DS to TB - I contacted Harry Edgar from Open Rugby about a World Development Officer who could help establish League in SA, he wrote back to say that no such position existed and even if it did SA would not be welcome due to the current political regime in power - Apartheid - basically I felt that I was being penalised for being in the country and trying to promote my game.

TB to DS so what did you do? Well I wrote a masterpiece to the RFL Chairman at Chappeltown Rd Mr David Oxley asking him if the time was not right now for the development of League in SA given the IRB sanction of a world 15 to play against the Springboks at Ellis Park - Mr Oxley replied "...sport and politics are inextricably mixed, and to ignore one without the other is simply to bury ones head in the sand..." So what are you going to do now Dave? Well not quite sure at the moment. TB-Why don't we do it ourselves? What? Start League in SA? DS-Yeah Im up for that how should we start? TB-I'm actually going to the UK for a month when Im back why don't we get together and talk?

(This sounded like a cooling off period for me DS to forget about the idea as far as I could tell) Tony gave me his tel number and I duly phoned him in Jan 89 as arranged. Tony needed to be prompted as to who I was and what we had agreed but we set a meeting up to discuss. I was playing RU for Old Edwardians (Old Eds) at the time in a suburb of Jhb called Houghton. My connections were good with the coaching staff and as luck would have it one of the coaches Gary Lewis had a brother in law called Ray Mordt the ex Wigan winger from the 80's.

We decided to place an advertisement in the Saturday Star looking for people interested in playing, officiating supporting or watching RL to call our two listed respective telephone numbers. The phone at my place of residence was running hot on the Sunday morning we collected in excess of 40 names of interested parties. A reporter called Rodney Hartman from the Star followed up on the advert and wrote a good article in the paper talking about our plans and desires fro RL he assisted us in advertising our meeting of interested persons at what was to become the inaugural meeting at Old Eds.

The meeting saw Dave Southern address the audience of some 60-100 people in a Martin Luther King sort of a way with his I have a dream vision for RL. Ray Mordt attended but was reluctant to nail his colours to the mast since he was unsure of what lay ahead of him perhaps (he went on to become coach of Gauteng Lions). The meeting was met with a positive response with Trevor Lake (Born in Rhodesia was set to play for the Junior Springboks, ex Wigan player) being on hand from the press appeal to add a mature and steady hand to the proceedings he didn't talk formally at the launch other than to say that he would be prepared to support us where he could."