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LISTEN: 125 years of rugby league with Professor Tony Collins on the Golden Point podcast

Picture by Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com - 09/11/2018 - RLWC 2021 Rugby League World Cup 2021 Paul Barrière Trophy - The Cockerel Reveal, Avenue HQ. Leeds
- Professor Tony Collins
Image: Professor Tony Collins joins the Golden Point podcast this week

It is a special edition of the Golden Point podcast this week as we celebrate the 125th anniversary of the founding of what is now the Rugby Football League.

Rugby historian and author Tony Collins joins Marc Bazeley and Sky Sports rugby league expert Phil Clarke to examine the origins of the split which led to an initial 22 northern clubs breaking away from the Rugby Football Union in 1895.

Find out why more than just arguments over broken time payments led to the schism, how union giants Leicester Tigers almost became a league club, and what the thinking behind some of the sport's defining rule changes was.

The panel also delve into what might have happened had rugby stayed as a united sport, discuss why rugby league dominates in some northern towns and association football in others, and explore the links between the 13-man code, American football and cricket.

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Plus, Tony and Phil give their views on what the future holds for rugby league.

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