Australian
Screen

Clip description

On the eve of the semifinals, the Newtown Jets go up against St George. Newtown coach Jack Cooper (Matthew Johns) gives some last minute instructions before handing over to his captain, 'Grub’ Henderson (Matt Nable), whose message is blunt – your job is to hurt the man in front of you. The first few minutes of the game are extremely punishing.

Curator’s notes

These first few minutes of the film are almost hilariously brutal. The pep talks are aggressive and much of what the players do on the field is illegal, not to mention dangerous. Nable’s script is built on a sense that the physicality of rugby league is its essence, and that legality is a laughable concept in such a game. We get a good cross-section of the way that league used to be – and sometimes still is – played, with spear tackles, eye gouging and grinding your opponent’s face in the dirt. The pitch they’re playing on is a dust bowl and there’s hardly anyone watching this spectacle, but at this stage of the movie, there’s no connection being made between empty terraces and the kind of game they’re playing.

The team that Grub plays for is a real one. The Newtown Jets were founded in 1908, and claim to be Australia’s first rugby league club. They played in the top league in New South Wales until 1983, when they were dropped from the premiership competition. In 1991, the 'Bluebags’ returned in the second tier competition, where they won four premierships in six years. In 2008, the club celebrated its centenary.