RUGBY LEAGUE, the most popular sport in the eastern States of Australia is a game of opportunity. It provides the maximum in enjoyment for the player, whether he be an international champion or the youngest schoolboy. It provides a thrilling spectacle which has the honour of having Her Majesty the Queen as its patron and the Duke of Edinburgh as the patron of the Australian Rugby League.

In the N.S.W. Rugby League we have as patron one of Australia's most distinguished sons in Sir William McKell, the former Governor-General.

The game in the Southern Hemisphere was born in adversity and had to face considerable pressure in its early days. It succeeded in spite of all opposition and I am happy to say that now it has become the major code there is no animosity shown to any others.

Australia has always been able to produce magnificent players and strong teams and at present has a vintage crop of young champions who have brought the Ashes back from England for the first time since 1912.

With these great players as models for an ever-increasing army of schoolboy footballers Australia's present high standards must be maintained in the years to come.

Rugby League players are always eager to pass on their knowledge and I am sure this interesting publication will be avidly read by the countless thousands of young players and those interested in their football welfare.

Former champion players in Dave Brown and Ken McCaffery have collaborated with the well-known Rugby League writer, E.E. Christensen, and have incorporated many of the ideas of the N.S.W. Rugby League Coaching Panel comprising Messrs McCaffery as principal, Keith Holman, Ferris Ashton, Johnny Graves, Frank Johnson and Keith Gittoes.

For a game to appeal to players it must be one which can make the sacrifices necessary to reach the top worthwhile. Rugby League is sufficiently attractive to players to make them train hard and to make a study of the game.

Any sport is to be commended and one like Rugby League which helps in the physical development of so many of our young people is doing a praiseworthy job for the nation.

All players obviously cannot be internationals but any lad who plays Rugby League, learns to take bumps, and to be conscious of the need for teamwork must be a better citizen for his experiences on the football field.

Rugby League has always been a man's game but it is also a game for boys and a very good game at that. This book should give a greater appreciation of the finer points of our sport and I commend it to all interested in Rugby League.

This book has been  written for young Rugby League players in an attempt to give them a better understanding of "the greatest game of all". We hope that all followers and players will find it useful.

The successful compilation of this of this book would not have been possible without the help and assistance of Mr. Bill Buckley, President of the Australian Board of Control, Mr. Harold Mathews, Secretary of the same body, the Sydney Morning Herald and Sun and Mirror, coach and players of the New South Wales Rugby League team. To one and all we say "thank you".