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The aesthetics of a game of rugby league remains paramount to the fabric of the game in and around Cherbourg, the largely Aboriginal community in Queensland’s South Burnett, around three hours northwest of Brisbane.
In the cities and suburbs of the larger metro regions, the Pasifika revolution has changed the dynamics of the sport forever. At a certain stage, power and size become premium, to the point where the best age-group teams are locked in a physical arms race in which you either bulk up or get bulldozed.
Queensland debutants Patrick Carrigan, Selwyn Cobbo, Reuben Cotter and Jeremiah Nanai.Credit:Getty
Head into the bush, to see teams such as the Cherbourg Hornets or the Murgon Mustangs, and something mystical starts to happen. There are sizeable lads, of course, farm-bred stock who wouldn’t wince if a combine harvester claimed an arm or a leg. Or both.
But the structure and rigidity of the modern game evaporates with every kilometre you travel on the Wide Bay Highway. The team song of the Hornets says it all. It speaks of movement, of daring, of a game where speed, skill, agility and ingenuity are prized beyond all manner of physical prowess.
Keep the ball in motion, like a rolling ocean,
Cherbourg plays the game,
Keep the forwards moving, and the wingers dashing
We just play the same.
If the game is dirty, and the crowd is ‘shirty’
We just play the same,
Keep the ball in motion, like a rolling ocean,
Cherbourg plays the game.
That’s the genesis of Selwyn Cobbo, the latest in a long line of South Burnett magicians who plays with the kind of relaxed foresight that sees them float about the field as if they are walking on air. It’s no surprise Cobbo has such Pavlovian hand-eye skills; his great grandfather was the legendary fast bowler Eddie Gilbert, who once sent Sir Donald Bradman ducking for cover.
Eddie Gilbert.
At just 19, Cobbo will make his debut for Queensland next week in Sydney. Predictably, critics have suggested it is too soon for the winger and Billy Slater and the selectors should have gone with a safer option. Inevitably, they will look foolish, for even if this isn’t his series, his brief but blistering NRL career has put everyone on notice.
“Back in the day, rugby league brought the community together. There is so much talent because it’s just a diehard rugby league area,” said Steve Renouf, who came out of Murgon to become the Prince of Centres.