The Irish Kangaroos - In a League of their Own

This weekend sees the Rugby League World Cup kick off in England, with Ireland among the 16 teams taking part.

Northern England is the spiritual home of rugby league, but in 1908 the sport gathered momentum around Sydney.

Like northern England, the game was strongest within the working class community and, among those playing key roles in the new sport, were people with Irish heritage.

Thanks to these people and others, rugby league has progressed to the point where the Kangaroos have won 11 out of 15 World Cups and are the favourites to win the World Cup again.

So while rugby league has never really prospered in Ireland itself, the Irish made a remarkable impact on rugby league in Australia in its early days.

Among the early promoters of the new game was James Joseph Giltinan. His grandfather Kingsmill Giltinan had left Cork for Sydney in 1837. Kingsmill, who was a cooper, left of his own volition at a time when most Irish arriving in New South Wales were convicts.

His grandson JJ was one of the key organisers in bringing a professional team from New Zealand in 1907 to play in New South Wales. Rugby was amateur at this time and the players on the All Golds, as they were nicknamed, were banned from rugby union for life.

The tour played three games in Sydney under rugby union rules but it was a resounding success which encouraged those in Sydney to set up a meeting that saw the formation of a new league and clubs in NSW.

Giltinan was elected the first secretary of the New South Wales Football League and was heavily involved in advancing the sport.

After his death in 1950, the New South Wales Rugby Football League introduced the JJ Giltinan Shield for the team that tops the league standings at the end of the season before the