No Forward Pass: Canadian Rugby Football League

[durante]

Hey folks, an idea I've toyed with for years, seeing if there is interest in following such a TL or in collaboration.

Would cover the entire origins and development of Canadian Rugby/Canadian football, with the major POD being the 1929 season.

For those of you who dont know, this is the first year that the forward pass was allowed in what was then called "Rugby Football" in Canada. Its adoption was largely at the behest of the Western teams, (and it took a few more seasons to be widespread in the east) who had far more paid Americans on their clubs...(the forward pass having been introduced at least 20 years prior in the USA).

By 1932 the University teams which had previously dominated the Grey Cup were no longer competitive against the increasingly professional teams.

In this TL, the PoD would involve a more Commonwealth-oriented board seeking to speed up the Canadian game by not introducing the forward pass, but by replacing the "snap-back" with the "Play the Ball", first introduces in the NSWRFL in 1926.

This would see the sport develop increasingly closer to Rugby League (especially after the 1966 introduction of the 6 tackle limit by the IRFB)...

My vision is a modern Canadian game that is 12-a-side rugby league (remove a back) with 6 tackles to the half, 3 points for penalties and drop goals taken on the sixth tackle, 7 points for converted tries and the scoring team kicking off.

Other possibilities abound, of course.

Any thoughts?

 

[Dr Dee]

Not a rugby league expert, still less an expert in North American varieties of 'football'. But it always seemed to me that Canada was/is a potential rugby superpower. It'll be interesting to see how this thread develops.

 

[durante]

Not a rugby league expert, still less an expert in North American varieties of 'football'. But it always seemed to me that Canada was/is a potential rugby superpower. It'll be interesting to see how this thread develops.

Here is some OTL historical context:

At the time of the 1895 amateur/pro crisis that led to the creation of the NRFU in the UK, Canadian "football" was still "rugby union" as it was played at the time, there was an amateur ethos which pervaded the game and it was definitely the most popular code of football in the country.

The earliest substantial rule change by Rugby League was in 1897 when they abolished lineouts and reduced to 13 men a side. They also decreased the value of goals from 4 points (or 3 for penalties) to 2 to increase the value of tries...I believe at the time tries were worth 3 points.

In 1903, the three most prominent leagues in Canada were the Canadian Intercollegiate RFU (CIRFU), the Ontario RFU (ORFU), the Quebec RFU (QRFU), and the governing body was the Canadian RU (CRU).

This year the ORFU adopted the "Burnside Rules", which eliminated lineouts, reduced teams to 12 players aside, introduced the American-style "down and distance" rules with a snap-back and 6 men on the line of "scrummage". They also increased tries to 5 points. The down and distance was 3 tackles to move 10 yards.

The rules were not adopted by CRU or the other unions, the Ottawa RFU moved to the QRU and until 1907 there was a split between the rugby playing clubs and the ORFU.

In 1906, the NSWRFL introduced the earliest version of the "play-the-ball" rule.

By 1907, the big clubs from the QRU and ORFU formed the new Interprovincial RFU (IRFU) and adopted the burnside rules. The CRU followed suit.

Rugby Union, as it was played at the time, remained the most popular code in BC and the Atlantic Provinces (into the 1950s generally and arguably to this day on Vancouver Island, PEI and Newfoundland).

At the time, the Burnside rules wouldve been considered to be in between American gridiron and Rugby League. But they are functionally very similar to the way Rugby League is played today.

The play the ball was reduced to 2 men per team in 1926 in NSWRFL, and it was very popular at the time for speeding up the game. It was adopted by the RFL the following season. By this time, the forward pass was a fundamental part of American football.

If the PTB is introduced in 1929 I see the focus shifting from hiring Yanks to hiring Aussies and Northerners...(in the case of northerners, there are actually a lot in Canada at the time. Such as my great grandfather).

A further back POD could be the CRU adopting a modified Burnside rules which have 3 tackles to a scrum rather than down and distance...this would see the sport more firmly in the rugby world.

As an aside, the CFL ball was white into the 1950s. It was also in the 1950s that touchdowns were increased to 6 points. It was far from inevitable for the CRU to become the CFL.

 

[More Than A Feeling]

I might start being involved in this thread if it crosses over into American sports.

 

[durante]

I might start being involved in this thread if it crosses over into American sports.

Well I guess if the CFL becomes the CRFL, this means it could evolve into a NARFL. Meanwhile, the NFL could have teams in Canada...

 

[More Than A Feeling]

Well I guess if the CFL becomes the CRFL, this means it could evolve into a NARFL. Meanwhile, the NFL could have teams in Canada...

Why not have the NBA and MLB enter Canada earlier too? Maybe have the 70s NASL succeed? Maybe if the NBA doesn't have Canadian teams by the 70s the ABA can have some?

 

[Dr Dee]

Fascinating stuff. If at the same time, a union/league hybrid developed as the mainstream version of 'rugby' in the UK, I could easily imagine ATL British and Irish Lions teams doing tours of Canada (along with NZ, Oz and SA) and playing the various provinces before tests in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, perhaps.

If SA teams can cross the Indian Ocean to take part in Super Rugby, I could easily imagine strong Canadian provinces crossing the North Atlantic to take part in the European Cup, or maybe the Pro 14. Then again, with a greater population than Oz and NZ combined, perhaps Canada would be strong enough domestically not to need cross border competitions.

If rugby league is the nearest analogue to Canadian rules rugby, perhaps there'd be a State of Origin match between, I don't know, Quebec and Ontario?

As for international competition, you wonder about Canada taking part in the Five/Six/Seven Nations.

 

[durante]

Fascinating stuff. If at the same time, a union/league hybrid developed as the mainstream version of 'rugby' in the UK, I could easily imagine ATL British and Irish Lions teams doing tours of Canada (along with NZ, Oz and SA) and playing the various provinces before tests in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, perhaps.

If SA teams can cross the Indian Ocean to take part in Super Rugby, I could easily imagine strong Canadian provinces crossing the North Atlantic to take part in the European Cup, or maybe the Pro 14. Then again, with a greater population than Oz and NZ combined, perhaps Canada would be strong enough domestically not to need cross border competitions.

If rugby league is the nearest analogue to Canadian rules rugby, perhaps there'd be a State of Origin match between, I don't know, Quebec and Ontario?

As for international competition, you wonder about Canada taking part in the Five/Six/Seven Nations.

All great points! The rough TL I have has the CRFL broadly indeed being closest to rugby league, but adopting (current) rugby union scoring (as it is familiar to gridiron fans) and having an opportunity to gain a second set of six by crossing halfway on one of your first six tackles.

A report from the IRB suggested that at international level, tier 1 clubs on average retain possession for 13 tackles. (Citation needed, I'll look for it).

This means after the rule changes of the 70s and 80s (and crucially leading up to professionalization) that Rugby Football or "Canadian Rugby" could actually position itself as a hybrid version of the sport...after professionalization, the CRFL could easily be the league that pushes for this kind of hybrid code.

As you imply though, the butterflies are around. Professionalization could occur earlier. With Canada in the mix as another potential Australia (in terms of popularity of league and union; I can see union staying strong at the universities here) RL may be more popular than union...the codes could grow more similar earlier.

Also, after WWII the CFL was already a nation wide sport playing in largish stadiums in major cities across the country. Until the advent of television they could compete with the NFL for salaries. It's not unimaginable that the CRFL would become the top paying rugby league on the planet, poaching Aussies and Brits with wages unimaginable at home. The CRFL may end up with outsized importance in the world of rugby!

 

[Dr Dee]

Also, after WWII the CFL was already a nation wide sport playing in largish stadiums in major cities across the country. Until the advent of television they could compete with the NFL for salaries. It's not unimaginable that the CRFL would become the top paying rugby league on the planet, poaching Aussies and Brits with wages unimaginable at home. The CRFL may end up with outsized importance in the world of rugby!

As a Welsh rugby fan, I could have cried seeing our best players 'go North' to play league. That's chicken feed compared to what would happen to all British players when they now 'go west'!

 

[durante]

As a Welsh rugby fan, I could have cried seeing our best players 'go North' to play league. That's chicken feed compared to what would happen to all British players when they now 'go west'!

Dont fear too much. I'm also a Welsh Rugby fan! The 70s will be no less glorious.

 

[durante]

https://boards.sportslogos.net/topic/112531-canadian-football-league-canadian-rugby-league/

Here is a link to a graphic concept done by someone a few years ago (he calls himself kiwi_canadian; I've included the link to the original site rather than post his work here). They are RL inspired mock ups of each of the 10* extant CFL teams (the 9 actually extant ones plus the Atlantic Schooners, the elusive 10th...)

In this world, I think Quebec City will likely end up with a team as well as Victoria...

But I'm thinking that maybe the CRFL looks to have perhaps 12 teams in Canada and 12 in the USA...rather than continuing expansion into ever more marginal markets like London, Windsor, Kitchener, Moncton, St John's...

 

[durante]

Fascinating stuff. If at the same time, a union/league hybrid developed as the mainstream version of 'rugby' in the UK, I could easily imagine ATL British and Irish Lions teams doing tours of Canada (along with NZ, Oz and SA) and playing the various provinces before tests in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, perhaps.

If SA teams can cross the Indian Ocean to take part in Super Rugby, I could easily imagine strong Canadian provinces crossing the North Atlantic to take part in the European Cup, or maybe the Pro 14. Then again, with a greater population than Oz and NZ combined, perhaps Canada would be strong enough domestically not to need cross border competitions.

If rugby league is the nearest analogue to Canadian rules rugby, perhaps there'd be a State of Origin match between, I don't know, Quebec and Ontario?

As for international competition, you wonder about Canada taking part in the Five/Six/Seven Nations.

If Rugby League is as popular in Canada as the OTL CFL (second most popular spectator sport in the country), it's hard to see our national rugby union team (comparing with Australia) being worse than Georgia...making Canada the natural Sixth Nation...also possible that an Americas Rugby Championship with relatively even USA, Canada and Argentina...

As far as our "State of Origin" matches, the obvious match in Canada is West vs. East. However, another analogue is our incredibly popular Labour Day "derby" matches...

Instead of one "State of Origin" match I could see annual matches of BC vs Alberta, Manitoba vs Saskatchewan, E Ontario v W Ontario and Quebec vs. Atlantic

 

[ArtosStark]

I can’t speak for other provinces, but what really draws a crowd in Alberta is seeing both provincial teams battling it out with each other. “The Battle of Alberta” would likely trump any match with another Province. As long as Calgary and Edmonton both have teams, at least.

 

[durante]

I can’t speak for other provinces, but what really draws a crowd in Alberta is seeing both provincial teams battling it out with each other. “The Battle of Alberta” would likely trump any match with another Province. As long as Calgary and Edmonton both have teams, at least.

Definitely! Every Labour Day. That wont change. Any objections to the Edmonton Elks as a team nickname?

 

[ArtosStark]

Definitely! Every Labour Day. That wont change. Any objections to the Edmonton Elks as a team nickname?

Not really. We already call them the Esks. Elks doesn’t have quite the ring, but it avoids racism accusations, so I think it evens out alright. 😉

 

[Dr Dee]

Dont fear too much. I'm also a Welsh Rugby fan! The 70s will be no less glorious.

Makes me think I'd like to start a Welsh rugby TL that doesn't just feature occasional golden ages but sustained success; maybe a union/league hybrid would be part of that so the likes of Jim Sullivan and Billy Boston would have played for Wales rather than just Wales RL.

Anyway, liking this thread - a lot. I'm quite 'invested' in Canada through relatives so it'll be interesting to see this develop. I also remember Canada beating Wales in 1993...there's scar that'll stay...!!

 

[durante]

Not really. We already call them the Esks. Elks doesn’t have quite the ring, but it avoids racism accusations, so I think it evens out alright. 😉

There is a bit of history, as they were called the Elks for one season in 1922. They could also easily keep the EE logo, Green & Gold colour scheme and maybe have some cool antlers on the arms of the uniform...

As an aside it turns out the current Edmonton Rugby League club is called the Elks, as well. I have a sneaking suspicion that Rugby fans and History fans overlap ALOT...

 

[durante]

Ok, learned two more tidbits from Football Canada. (the Canadian Rugby Union until 1966).

One is that the "snap back" (which is usually used to refer to someone using their hand to move the ball backward to the "quarterback" (which itself is an old Scottish term for the scrum half)), as introduced in the 1903 Burnside Rules, and was the first clearly American influence in the Canadian game...was actually a "heel-back" version of the snap back until 1921. It seems that even the early Americanizers were uncomfortable with this kind of handling. This makes the Burnside rules even more functionally similar to modern rugby league. The 1903-1907 split between the ORFU and the CRU took place against the backdrop of the widespread abandonment of "shamateurism" across Canadian sports, which had largely been replaced by 1910 with outright semi-professionalism across the country in virtually all sports.

The American "snap back" introduction in 1921 can be butterflied by either an adoption in 1907 of the new Play The Ball rules OR possibly by the "three tackles to a scrum rule"...and then the modified PTB is ripe to be adopted by 1929.

The other bit of information is that it was in fact the Canadian Rugby Union's adoption of the forward pass on a limited basis (in 1929) that led to the creation of a new Canadian Rugby Football Union (in 1929). This new organization organized Canada's first union test series in 1932 (Canada vs Japan all though virtually every player was from BC). This Union didn't survive the war, but was revived after, and adopted the name Rugby Canada in 1965 just before the CRU officially changed their name to Football Canada.

So without further ado...

May 1929. A park near CRU headquarters. Ottawa.

"No!" Said the tall American with a laugh. "You've got to snap your wrist as you release...that's how you get it to spiral!"

Dr Dee, who was giving it his best shot to try to "spiral" the rugby ball, found it less than natural. Of course, being born in Wales, moving a rugby ball forward with your hand was the least natural thing imaginable.

The oblate spheroid failed to have the graceful look of the tightly spiraled, smaller, and more pointed American footballs popular down south.

"This doesnt feel right. What's the point?" Dr Dee asked the American.
"Well the clubs out west all have at least of few of us who know how to toss the pigskin"
"Its made from cowhide!" Exclaimed the Doctor.
"Whatever. If we add this to your running game, it will balance out the divisions and you could have a real nation-wide Cup on your hands! Folks down south love a Hail Mary pass!"
"But do our players?" Asked Dee.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"
A member of the CRU board known only as Durante brusquely arrived on the scene.

"Just showing the other board members how we forward pass down south..."
"If you pass the ball forward, you're not playing rugby. Understood? As Chairman of the CRU, I will not allow this abomination. Henceforth, any club or union engaging in games with a forward pass will be declared rebel American organizations. They will be defunded, their titles removed and all assets seized by the CRU..."
"Can you do that?" Asked one of the board members.
"I just did."

Meanwhile, the GM of the Imperial Oil refinery in Sarnia, Ontario, (across the river from Port Huron, Michigan) had been anticipating a different result in today's demonstration. As such, he had spent the spring heavily recruiting across the American midwest. The Sarnia Imperials were a minor club of note at the time in the second-tier ORFU, but he had big dreams. He anticipated the forward pass being adopted, at the behest of the Western Canadian teams, and looked to gain an advantage over his larger, older and wealthier competitors in Eastern Canada. Yes, he planned on the Sarnia Imperials being the team of the 1930s. Maybe a decade straight of ORFU titles. A Grey Cup championship or two...

And he had been spending big to get there. With the forward pass off the docket forever, the Sarnia Imperials and there American-heavy (and expensive) club failed to win many games against their opponents. Fans failed to materialize. The costs were unmanageable, and by the mid 1930s the Imperials withdrew from the ORFU to become just another Workers' club team playing in Southwestern Ontario against places like St Thomas and Petrolia.

The remaining top calibre talented was purchased by the other ORFU clubs.

 

[Dr Dee]

Ok, learned two more tidbits from Football Canada. (the Canadian Rugby Union until 1966).

One is that the "snap back" (which is usually used to refer to someone using their hand to move the ball backward to the "quarterback" (which itself is an old Scottish term for the scrum half)), as introduced in the 1903 Burnside Rules, and was the first clearly American influence in the Canadian game...was actually a "heel-back" version of the snap back until 1921. It seems that even the early Americanizers were uncomfortable with this kind of handling. This makes the Burnside rules even more functionally similar to modern rugby league. The 1903-1907 split between the ORFU and the CRU took place against the backdrop of the widespread abandonment of "shamateurism" across Canadian sports, which had largely been replaced by 1910 with outright semi-professionalism across the country in virtually all sports.

The American "snap back" introduction in 1921 can be butterflied by either an adoption in 1907 of the new Play The Ball rules OR possibly by the "three tackles to a scrum rule"...and then the modified PTB is ripe to be adopted by 1929.

The other bit of information is that it was in fact the Canadian Rugby Union's adoption of the forward pass on a limited basis (in 1929) that led to the creation of a new Canadian Rugby Football Union (in 1929). This new organization organized Canada's first union test series in 1932 (Canada vs Japan all though virtually every player was from BC). This Union didn't survive the war, but was revived after, and adopted the name Rugby Canada in 1965 just before the CRU officially changed their name to Football Canada.

So without further ado...

May 1929. A park near CRU headquarters. Ottawa.

"No!" Said the tall American with a laugh. "You've got to snap your wrist as you release...that's how you get it to spiral!"

Dr Dee, who was giving it his best shot to try to "spiral" the rugby ball, found it less than natural. Of course, being born in Wales, moving a rugby ball forward with your hand was the least natural thing imaginable.

The oblate spheroid failed to have the graceful look of the tightly spiraled, smaller, and more pointed American footballs popular down south.

"This doesnt feel right. What's the point?" Dr Dee asked the American.
"Well the clubs out west all have at least of few of us who know how to toss the pigskin"
"Its made from cowhide!" Exclaimed the Doctor.
"Whatever. If we add this to your running game, it will balance out the divisions and you could have a real nation-wide Cup on your hands! Folks down south love a Hail Mary pass!"
"But do our players?" Asked Dee.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"
A member of the CRU board known only as Durante brusquely arrived on the scene.

"Just showing the other board members how we forward pass down south..."
"If you pass the ball forward, you're not playing rugby. Understood? As Chairman of the CRU, I will not allow this abomination. Henceforth, any club or union engaging in games with a forward pass will be declared rebel American organizations. They will be defunded, their titles removed and all assets seized by the CRU..."
"Can you do that?" Asked one of the board members.
"I just did."

Meanwhile, the GM of the Imperial Oil refinery in Sarnia, Ontario, (across the river from Port Huron, Michigan) had been anticipating a different result in today's demonstration. As such, he had spent the spring heavily recruiting across the American midwest. The Sarnia Imperials were a minor club of note at the time in the second-tier ORFU, but he had big dreams. He anticipated the forward pass being adopted, at the behest of the Western Canadian teams, and looked to gain an advantage over his larger, older and wealthier competitors in Eastern Canada. Yes, he planned on the Sarnia Imperials being the team of the 1930s. Maybe a decade straight of ORFU titles. A Grey Cup championship or two...

And he had been spending big to get there. With the forward pass off the docket forever, the Sarnia Imperials and there American-heavy (and expensive) club failed to win many games against their opponents. Fans failed to materialize. The costs were unmanageable, and by the mid 1930s the Imperials withdrew from the ORFU to become just another Workers' club team playing in Southwestern Ontario against places like St Thomas and Petrolia.

The remaining top calibre talented was purchased by the other ORFU clubs.

Glad to see a distant relative of mine was so active in the formative years of Canadian Rugby!

 

[durante]

FEAR THE DEER: Art Stark, the Edmonton Elks and the 1934 Grey Cup Final.

It wasnt until 1921 that the dominant Eastern Unions had deemed the calibre of the Western clubs to be sufficient to organize an end of year challenge for the Grey Cup, the Dominion Rugby Football Championship donated by the GG in 1909.

The Edmonton Elks, after winning the Alberta Provincial League, defeated the Regina Roughriders of the Saskatchewan League in a Western semi-final before making the trek east, where they would be thrashed by the Toronto Argonauts.

The Elks would return to the final the following year with a similar result, and Regina would then reel off 5 straight Western Finals, with 5 straight Grey Cup Final losses.

Although the East vs West format was very popular nationwide, the lopsided results led to clamoring from some clubs to abandon this game as the final; many felt that Intercollegiate Champion should earn the final place or play the Western Champ in a semifinal.

The Western teams, for there part, argued that since they were already compelled to travel east each year, they should not have to do so unless it was for the final.

During Regina's run, the Pacific Coast Hockey League and Western Canada Hockey League, by far the two most popular spectator sports leagues in the Western part of the country, collapsed due to financial pressure from the big eastern teams in the NHL. After 1926 the Stanley Cup became sole possession of the NHL.

The Western Rugby Football season began its ascendancy during this time. The BCRFL was formed, where previously Union had been the only code played.

The Western teams began to pack their clubs with paid stars to get them over the eastern teams, and the increase in Americans even saw a failed attempt to introduce the forward pass.

This failed of course, and was in fact met with limitations on the number of Americans per club, as well as a few tweaks to the play-the-ball system to ensure that the game drifted ever further away from what was happening "down south".

After the fiasco of 1929 and the forward pass, the Regina Roughriders, who had led the "charge" of Americanization in the West, went through a rebuilding period where they had to re-tool their lineup with British and Australsian imports instead of Americans (like all western clubs).

This opened up a power vacuum in the west in the early 1930s. Edmonton, able to attract many players from BC as well as across the prairies, was well poised to take advantage.

Led by captain and Fullback Art Stark, they upset Regina in the 1934 Western final with a stunning last minute drop goal which earned their ticket east.

The would play the Ottawa Rough Riders on October 24, 1934. Nearly 10,000 paying spectators packed into Exhibition stadium in Toronto to watch a 15th straight year of Eastern Dominance.

At the kick-off, the largely Eastern crowd was raucous, with beer flowing freely and the end result hardly in question.

However, time and time again, the Riders failed to capitalize on their field position, failed to expose cracks in the vaunted western defence, and the Elks held firm. As rain began to drizzle, the players left the field at halftime, muddied, to a score of 0-0.

A quiet crowd turned in the second half when they began to realize they may be witnessing history. As the game progressed, it became increasingly obvious that the Riders were being outplayed by the Elks. Art Stark's defense and kicking propelled the team through the second half.

With only a few minutes remaining, after the Elks once again held the Riders back deep in their zone, Art recovered a punt on the fly, hit his stride within a few paces of half, and was flying up the right sideline before many of the Rough Riders knew what to make of it. A sidestep, a dummy, and finally a perfectly placed offload to the wing and the Elks were in. A Try was scored. Stark converted. The crowd burst into cheers and applause at the most exciting play of the day.

After 14 seasons of anguish and heartbreak, Western Canada finally had a nationwide champion to call their own.

The Edmonton Elks had brought the Grey Cup West!