Coxy, Corowa and the Canberra Everythings

Rugby league in Canberra in the 70s was "primitive" according to the late and great Peter Cox, who said "the main criterion was the ability to stay upright." They did beat Great Britain, however.

IN 1968 THERE WERE 40,000 people in Canberra with one first division rugby league club playing in the old Group 8.

The style of play was “primitive”, according to foundation Woden Valley Rams man and chairman, the late and great Peter Cox.

“It was real, old bush footy; last man standing stuff. If you live in a country town toughness is the byword. It gets you through socially, that’s where you get your respect from.

“Our ball skills were rudimentary to say the least. The main criterion was ability to stay upright.

“It was unscientific at best,” Cox said.

The Canberra club stayed afloat financially because each year they would call themselves something new “so they could avoid paying players,” according to Cox.

“They’d be Canberra Dragons one year, Canberra United the next. They were the Canberra Everythings! They’d run out in the same jumper just with a different name.

“But it seemed to work quite well as a business model. The players kept turning up. They never lost anyone. There was nowhere else to go!” Cox quipped.