Yes, thanks, I see the change of emphasis now- new and greater game and all that- but RL was still paying in the depression years, indeed that and boxing were used by a lot young men to alleviate poverty.

In this context, it would be interesting to know exactly why he's supposed to have retired from rugby. The RL were not full time professionals until the late 1960s, and it was a requirement that a player should have a day job. Perhaps the implication is that, unemployed (up the brow - is this pit brow- waiting outside the pit for a job- or the 'broo'- unemployment register?) he had to give up professional rugby? Perhaps a suggestion of victimisation for his part in the bigger game? This certainly happened to my own grandfather.