October 10, 1995: The Chief
Paul Harragon's cheekbone gets him hot under the collar
I guess I should interview Paul ‘The Chief’ Harragon for a book called Two Tribes.
Harragon famously drove mini-bus from Newcastle to Phillip Street to sign the Knights players to the ARL and of course he played a key role in the unforgettable events on the final day of the establishment’s 1997 season.
I do remember some hubbub around this fractured cheekbone he was playing with against South Africa in Australia’s second game of the 1995 World Cup.
If I’m not mistaken, Channel Ten’s Peter Chapman was the one who found out Harragon had suffered a broken cheekbone. Coach Bob Fulton always had the attitude that “we’re all over here doing a job for Australia” - a cosy throwback to earlier times which was starting to be broken down by the increasing diversity of media covering the game.
Harragon, I was told the next day, did not want the news released that he was carrying the injury - particularly since he was in line to be captain against the Rhinos at Gateshead, who would eventually have their own professional team on the back of the RFL taking events like this World Cup game to Tyneside.
There was a confrontation of some sort, as I recall.
The other thing that sticks out here is that two of the other World Cup games covered in the Sydney Morning Herald that day - Tonga v New Zealand and South Africa v Fiji - I had been at.
But the paper took agencies from both.
I often battled editors in those days because I wanted to cover everything, even the smallest detail, and they wanted me to become a considered broadsheet journalist who didn’t sweat the small stuff.
I never, ever acceded. I never got to the point where I was looked to for the big page one yarns when rugby league was in the spotlight. Instead, the ‘name’ reporters would come in over the top of me and I was happy for them to do so. Roy Masters used to call me - with affection - “worker ant”.
It is completely consistent with this conflict that I would go to the games at Keighley and Warrington and offer to file and they would just refuse to take my copy and print agencies instead - even though by this time Roy had arrived in England to do the the big considered pieces anyway.
But it is also possible they found a hole for the two match reports while I was asleep and just slotted the copy in after earlier telling me there was no room for those games.
Those sorts of things happen in newspapers with maddening regularity.
CHIEF DONS THE HEADGEAR TO PROTECT CHEEK
Sydney Morning Herald
By STEVE MASCORD
AUSTRALIAN prop Paul Harragon will play in tomorrow night's World Cup clash with South Africa at Gateshead with a fractured cheekbone.
Although Harragon is fit to play, an unconfirmed report last night had North Sydney's Gary Larson preparing to join the squad in England.
Harragon, who sustained a hairline fracture in Saturday's 20-16 loss to England at Wembley, was given the all-clear today by team doctor Nathan Gibbs and will captain Australia for the first time against the Rhinos.
Gibbs said there was little risk Harragon's injury could be worsened tomorrow night. "He's going to play at this stage," he said. "Obviously, we'll keep an eye on him at training between now and then, but he should be fine."
Gibbs and Australian team management believe only an illegal knock flush on the fracture would make it worse, and Harragon is likely to wear headgear.
Australia have something of a front-row crisis, with David Gillespie battling to be fit for the semi-finals with a serious hamstring problem.
But team manager Geoff Can-said British media reports that Cronulla giant Adam Ritson was to be drafted in were premature, with both Mark Carroll and Dean Pay at 100 per cent fitness.
Of Harragon's injury, Carr said: "The situation at the moment is that it's like a broken nose. It's pretty painful but it's unlikely to get much worse."
South Africa's 52-6 loss to Fiji at Keighley yesterday suggests that last year's 74-0 win by Australia over France at Beziers, a record for a full international, is set to be eclipsed.
Although fearless and rugged, the Rhinos yesterday lacked any variation and their defence was overwhelmingly naive.
North Sydney lock Billy Moore, who played against South Africa during North Sydney's tour there in 1993, said there was no danger of complacency.
"There are a lot of guys making their debuts tomorrow night and we know that anything can happen," he said.
"It was great to be at Wembley watching Saturday's game. It's a magical place and it will be even better to get out there later in the tournament.
"I'm sure a lot of blokes playing tomorrow night feel the same way."
The Bears beat the Rhinos 48-6 in Johannesburg in 1993 but Moore said he was unsure how much the fledgling nation had improved.
"I remember that they were very, very big people and were very tough defenders," he said.
"But because they come from rugby union, they tend to chase the ball around and get drawn out of position in defence."
Teams for tomorrow night's match are:
AUSTRALIA: R O'Davis; J Hopoate. D Moore, P McGregor. B Dallas; M Johns, A Johns; B Moore. N Kosef, J Smith, P Harragon (c), A Raper, A Muir. Res: M Carroll. W Bartrim, J Dymock. T Brasher.
SOUTH AFRICA (subject to change): P Van Wyk; G Coombe. A BaMot. W Boshoff, M Johnson: F Cloete, B Alkema; J Alberts. T Fourie. G Williams. J Booysen (c), K Van Deventer, G Watts. Res: E Ludick. E Powell. K Human. J Van Niekerk.
Referee: R Smith (Eng).
RESOURCES
Guardian ‘Rugby League World Cup moments’ article