Rugby League: Last-minute Christmas gift ideas

Rugby League: Last minute Christmas gift ideas, sport

Terry Newton's Coming Clean was published shortly before his suicide

Ive actually been asked this week for a few last minute Christmas present suggestions.

Well, this doesnt count as last-minute in my book; that would be next week. But, ignoring that quibble for a moment, there is some good stuff around this year.

If your intended recipient is a St Helens fan, or even uncommitted, the choice is easy. So Long Our Home by Alex Service and Charles Nevin is a suitable memorial to the departure from Knowsley Road, beautifully written and lavishly illustrated. I cant think of many equivalent Goodbye to books that could measure up to it.

It is beaten to the title of Most Poignant Book of the Year by the late Terry Newtons Coming Clean, published shortly before his suicide. Im not sure about its suitability as a Christmas present, but the new paperback edition includes a tribute by co-author Phil Wilkinson in which he no doubt valiantly attempts to make sense of it all.

My mates at Scratching Shed have been as productive as ever. I can recommend John Holmes biography, Reluctant Hero, Ray French and Rugby, and a volume of Eddie Warings writings on the game, The Great One. I havent yet read Calm in the Cauldron, the John Dorahy biog from London League Publications, but thats one for the long January nights.

If DVDs are your gift of choice, theres a beauty available this year. Rugby Leagues Greatest Ever Tries casts the net wide enough to have a good chance of including your favourites and the clarity of even the oldest clips is remarkable.


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