Headgear to Helmets

Last updated
Headgear to Helmets
Headgear to Helmets Logo.jpg
Written byTerry Williams
Directed by Richard Bradley
Music byMax Harrison (Sound), Yerim Lee (piano), Ben Tjoa (violin), Margaret Brandman (Arrangements), Recorded at St Stephens Church, Bellevue Hill Sydney
Country of originAustralia
Production
Producers Richard Bradley and Terry Williams
CinematographyChris Maguire
Editors Richard Bradley and Sam Bright
Running time44 minutes
Production companiesRichard Bradley Productions, Post Production by, Tracks Post Production and Vandal Post Production. Financed by National Rugby League
Original release
Release11 November 2018 (2018-11-11)

Headgear to Helmets is a 44-minute documentary about Rugby League Football during World War I. It is presented by historians and family descendants, with readings from former players, coaches, commentators and journalists.

Contents

Storyline

The tale considers the origin of the game in Australia in 1908, predominately in New South Wales and Queensland. In 1914 the English toured Australia for the second time, culminating in the famous "Rourke’s Drift" 3rd Test in Sydney in which the visitors won with a reduced number of players. It was the last Test before the war. Many Rugby League representative and club players enlisted, but the league decided to continue. This was a contentious issue as other sports stopped for the duration of the war. It was argued by the Rugby League that it provided normality for the Australians required to run the home front. Anecdotes tell of players who did not return [1] and the gallantry that earned two players the Victoria Cross. It shows the hardships of life on the homefront as the war continued. Two conscription plebiscites failed as the casualties mounted. A huge industrial strike in 1917.

The presenter is former player Nathan Hindmarsh whose great grandfather enlisted. The story is told by historians Terry Williams, Greg Shannon, David Middleton, Tom Mather and Max Solling by and family descendants: Paul Watkins (Jack ‘Bluey’ Watkins), Josie Shelley (Herbert ‘Nutsy’ Bolt), Leslie Perry (George Cummins) and Karen Verguizas (Frank Cheadle) [2] .

The documentary also includes readings from newspapers and correspondence of the time by Michael Cleary, Alan Tongue, Laurie Daley, Kristian Heffernan, Richard Bradley, Peter Wynn, Andrew Ryan, Tim Sheens, Ben Ross, David Morrow and Glenn Jackson.

Production

The documentary was conceived by Rugby League historian Terry Williams, while he worked for the NRL Museum as official historian. He engaged Richard Bradley Productions who had produced other Rugby League documentaries as the production company. NRL funding allowed production to start in late 2014. A 3-minute promotional clip was screened at halftime during the 25 April Anzac round of games celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli in 1915. After a funding hiatus of 18 months the documentary was completed in 2018.

Release

The documentary had its official screening at 11 am on 11 November 2018 on the National Rugby League website celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the armistice that ended the Great War. The documentary is viewable from the NRL website. [3]

Reception

The documentary was well received, earning positive reviews in The Sydney Morning Herald [4] and The Telegraph. [5] Roy Masters writing in the Herald that the documentary debunked the myth that game was absent during the war. Masters quoted from one of the historians saying, "many (players) went to war because they sought adventure". In fact, a contemporary journalist described the war "as the greatest game of all". His article also mentioned the many social and political divisions outlined in the documentary. And Nick Walshaw wrote in The Telegraph as to why fans should know the story of Herbert ‘Nutsy’ Bolt who was one of players whose story was told. And with so many stories, he quoted the producers saying, "it was like pouring a keg into a schooner glass, because this story, it’s about heroes, ratbags and everything else in between."

Headgear to Helmets at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Rugby League</span> Australasian rugby league football competition

The National Rugby League is a professional rugby league competition in Australasia which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Asotasi</span> NZ & Samoa international rugby league footballer

Roy Asotasi is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 2000s and 2010s. A New Zealand international captain, he also played for Samoa. Asotasi played in the NRL for Australian clubs Canterbury-Bankstown and the South Sydney Rabbitohs from 2007 to 2013. He then played in the Super League for the Warrington Wolves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dene Halatau</span> New Zealand rugby league footballer

Dene Halatau is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who previously played for the Wests Tigers and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs of the National Rugby League. Halatau was part of the Wests Tigers team that won the 2005 NRL Premiership. Halatau is New Zealand national representative who was part of their 2008 Rugby League World Cup winning squad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anzac Test</span> Annual rugby league football test match

The Anzac Test is an annual rugby league football test match played between Australia and New Zealand for the Bill Kelly Memorial Trophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnathan Thurston</span> Australian rugby league footballer

Johnathan Dean Thurston is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League (NRL). Thurston was an Australian international, Queensland State of Origin and Indigenous All Stars representative, playing at halfback or five-eighth, and was a noted goal-kicker. Thurston has been an assistant coach of the Queensland rugby league team since 2021. Thurston is regarded as one of the greatest Australian league players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Patten</span> Australian rugby league footballer

Luke "The General" Patten is a former professional rugby league footballer and NRL match official. A Junior Kangaroo and Country New South Wales representative fullback he played for the Illawarra Steelers, St George Illawarra Dragons and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in Australia and the Salford City Reds in the Super League. Patten won the 2004 NRL Premiership with the Bulldogs.

Steeden Sports is an Australian sports equipment manufacturing company, mainly focused on rugby league. The company is mostly known for its rugby league footballs. Steeden was established in Queensland in 1958, when twins Eric and Raymond Steeden opened a factory in Brisbane, Australia, producing leather cricket balls, rugby league balls and boxing bags. The company moved to New South Wales in the 1960s, and was acquired by British sporting goods corporation Grays International in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Geddes</span> Australian rugby league footballer

Scott Geddes is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for eleven seasons (2002-2012) as a prop forward for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaun Kenny-Dowall</span> NZ Maori & NZ international rugby league footballer

Shaun Kenny-Dowall is a New Zealand international former rugby league footballer who last played as a centre and winger for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. He was also the club captain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Nightingale</span> NZ international rugby league footballer

Jason Nightingale is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a winger and fullback for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 NRL season</span> 101st season of National Rugby League

The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstra Premiership title. The season commenced with the first matches played on 14 March and ended with the grand final, played on 5 October. The premiership was won by the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles who set the record for the biggest grand final winning margin (40–0) in Australia's rugby league history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan Rapana</span> NZ, Maori & Cook Islands international rugby league footballer

Jordan Rapana is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has played for the New Zealand Māori, New Zealand and the Cook Islands at international level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Klein</span> Australian rugby league referee (born 1979)

Ashley Klein is an Australian rugby league referee.

James Tamou is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a prop and represented Australia and the New Zealand Maori at an international level. Tamou spent most of his career with the North Queensland Cowboys and was a member of their 2015 NRL Grand Final winning side

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Bolt</span> Australian rugby league player

Herbert Thomas Bolt (1893–1916) was a pioneer Australian rugby league player, a state representative centre and soldier who served and fell in World War I. He is one of 75 Australian soldiers whose remains were identified by name in 2010 by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as part of the Fromelles Military Cemetery project.

The year 2005 in rugby league football centered on Australasia's 2005 NRL season and Super League X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Woods</span> Australian rugby league footballer (born 1991)

Aaron Woods is an Australian rugby league forward who plays for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Bradley (film producer)</span> Australian film producer and publicist

Richard Bradley is an Australian film producer and publicist working through his company Richard Bradley Productions which was established in 1981.

The 2017 Penrith Panthers season was the 51st in the club's history. Coached by Anthony Griffin and captained by Matt Moylan, the Panthers competed in the National Rugby League's 2017 Telstra Premiership. They also competed in the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines pre-season tournament, which they finished as runners-up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Radley</span> England international rugby league footballer

Victor Derrick Radley is an England international rugby league footballer who plays as a lock for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League (NRL). He won back-to-back NRL premierships with the Roosters in 2018 and 2019.

References

  1. ↑ When rugby league clashed with war
  2. ↑ Headgear to Helmets
  3. ↑ Headgear to Helmets
  4. ↑ Masters, Roy -Sydney Morning Heald-10 November 2018- Page 51- "Roy Masters: Documentary debunks the myth that League went AWOL compared to Rugby during war"
  5. ↑ Walshaw, Nick-The Telegraph-10 November 2018- Page 102- "Why NRL fans should know the story of ‘Nutsy’ Bolt"

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.