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Story: Rugby league

Going professional

Sportspeople getting paid and going professional was the focus of considerable attention. This cartoon appeared in the New Zealand Freelance in 1907, following the planning of a professional tour from New Zealand to Britain to play the northern counties.

Using this item

National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past

Reference: Free Lance, 1 June, 1907, p. 17

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

John Coffey, Rugby league – Origins of rugby league, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/39013/going-professional (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by John Coffey, published 30 November 2012.