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‘Can You Imagine the Shire Without the Sharks!?’: Building the Community Capital of the Cronulla-Sutherland Rugby League Club – From 1967 to the Eve of Super League in 1996

2012; Routledge; Volume: 29; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09523367.2012.662585

1743-9035

Sean Brawley,

Cultural Industries and Urban Development

Abstract The relationships between sporting clubs and their geographical communities are far from straightforward. Using the Australian National Rugby League team the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks as a case study, this article explores such relationships through the notion of 'community capital'. Central to building such capital is the construction of 'legends' that connect the club to the community. Accordingly, an examination of the local media and publicity produced by the club, and the way in which the Sharks sought to first build and then utilise this capital, is provided. Keywords: Rugby Leaguecommunity capitalCronulla Sharks, Sutherland Shiremedia Acknowledgements Thanks to Erik Nielsen, Tony Hughes, Andrew Moore, Simon Lumsden, Günter Minnerup, David Miller and Tony Collins for useful discussions around this topic. Notes 1. May, 'Living in the Sutherland Shire'. 2. Lester, The Sharks, 32. 3. Crawford, Consuming Sport, 53. 4. Crawford, Consuming Sport, 111. 5. Maguire, Sport Worlds, 137. See also Hoberman, 'Sport and Ideology in the Post-Communist Age', 15–36, and Hoberman, 'Sportive Nationalism and Globalization', 177–188. 6. Little held reservations about how sports scholars bandied about the phrase 'community' without any significant effort to define it. 'Community', Little insisted, was in fact a very elastic term that could refer to a 'feeling of belonging' that related to geographical locality, social system, sense of identity or ideology. In Australia, however, sports history had tended to connect 'community' with 'locality', in part because of the long history of sporting organisations in this country being focused on the district or suburb. Little's study of South Sydney found that sport, notably rugby league, 'did not serve to create one homogenized community of common identity'. Little, 'Sport, Communities and Identities', pp. 5, 7–8, 390 (quotation). Little's thesis has since been published. See Through Thick and Thin. Garry Crawford is also in agreement: 'Though sport can often be seen as representative of a particular location, it does not necessarily mean that this will represent all communities or individuals within that specific location' (Crawford, Consuming Sport, 53). 7. Swedberg and Agevall, The Max Weber Dictionary, 269; Bourdieu, 'Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction'. Bourdieu associated cultural capital with Marxian class identity but this 'narrow' approach has been critiqued and the focus extended. See During, Cultural Studies, 206. Some work has moved the notion of 'cultural capital' out of the Marxist framework from which it was created, and appropriated the term to refer to phenomena closer to the area of interest in this paper. Such extensions, however, tend to rob the term of its original pedagogical power, hence the decision taken in this paper. For a discussion of 'local cultural capital' (though the authors prefer the term 'social capital'), see Church and Outram, Strikes and Solidarity, 17. For a discussion of cultural capital within a sporting context, see Smith, 'Black Against Gold'. Smith notes that 'Crucial to a community's cultural capital and collective identity are sporting traditions, with their capacity for relentless reaffirmation and reinvention' (Smith, 'Black Against Gold', 174). 8. Horne, The Public Culture. 9. Giulianotti et al., Football, Violence and Social Identity, 100. See also Hill and Williams, Sport and Identity, 102. 10. Swedberg and Agevall, The Weber Dictionary, 269. 11. For a case study of relationship management in an Australian context see, Bennet et al., 'On the Field the Brisbane AFL Lions Roar', 70–73. 12. For a reference to 'God's Country', see the Daily Telegraph, 11 February 2008. 13. Larkin, Sutherland Shire, 166. 14. Larkin, 'Sutherland Shire: Shaped by History', 117. 15. As Larkin has observed: 'There are pockets of high and low income but overall living standard might be described as comfortable'. Larkin, 'Sutherland Shire: Shaped by History', 117. 16. See for example, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 December 2005. A useful introduction to the Cronulla riots (which challenge and complicate) are the collection of papers published in the Australian Journal of Anthropology, 18, no. 3, 2007. 17. See Jock Collins, 'The Landmark of Cronulla', 68. In December 2006, rumours circulated in the press that former right-wing anti-immigration independent member of Federal Parliament and One Nation political party leader Pauline Hanson had identified the Federal seat of Cook as a suitable place to re-launch her political career. See Sydney Morning Herald, 7 December 2006. 18. As one recent promotional story on the Shire noted: 'If there is one constant in the Shire, it's sport. It might be all talk, but Shire dwellers profess a love of sport that goes way beyond just watching it on TV'. See May, 'Living in the Sutherland Shire'. This fact is unfortunately a major omission from the most recent history of the Shire. See Ashton, Cornwall and Salt, Sutherland Shire. 19. Kerr went on to note 'before the Sharks, Sutherland Shire was very much Dragons support territory. We all grew up hearing names like Johnny Raper, Reg Gasnier and Kevin Ryan'. Hansard, Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, 6 May 2003, 280. After the split from rugby union in 1908, rugby league would quickly emerge as the most popular winter spectator sport in the Sydney metropolitan area. See Fagan, The Rugby Rebellion. 20. The phrase has been perpetuated by Gary Lester. See Lester, The Sharks, 22. 21. Larkin, The Sutherland Shire, 63. Interestingly Larkin reports an east/west divide in sporting loyalties in the early years of the Shire. The western parts embraced league while the more affluent eastern precincts remained loyal to rugby through the support of the 'Cronulla Football Club'. 22. Larkin, The Sutherland Shire, 63. 23. For potted histories of St George and Port Hacking rugby clubs, visit the Southern Districts Rugby Club website, http://www.southerndistricts.com.au/clubhistory.html (accessed 14 February 2008). It should be noted that as a participant sport rugby league has and remains fourth placed to soccer, cricket and netball. 24. Moore, The Mighty Bears!, 29. 25. Phillips and Hutchins, 'Losing Control of the Ball', 218. 26. Ibid., 219; Moore, The Mighty Bears!, 29. 27. Observer, 21 July 1966. 28. Ashton, Cornwall and Salt note that the 150th anniversary of the First Fleet's arrival in 1938 had a similar impact on local identity. Ashton, Cornwall and Salt, Sutherland Shire, 104. 29. The use of this motif by the rugby league club has helped to perpetuate a myth that has recently appeared in rugby league circles. Both Sean Fagan and Gary Lester have asserted that the nickname 'Sharks' for the Club did not emerge 'until well after its entry into the premiership'. This assertion is simply untrue. The Leader, 18 January 1967, for example refers to the team preparing for its first season as the 'Sharks'. See Fagan's 'Rugby League 08' website http://www.rl1908.com/Clubs/Cronulla-Sharks.htm, accessed 1 May 2008, and Lester, The Sharks, 20. 30. Kaniss, Making Local News, 3. 31. Schirato and Yell, Communication and Cultural Literacy, 183. 32. Hill and Williams, Sport and Identity, 86. Another contribution has come from Lorenz who explored the notion of a 'community of interest' through her examination of the mass media and Canadian sport. See Lorenz, "'A Lively Interest on the Prairies"', 195–227. 33. For a discussion of this notion see Franklin and Murphy, What News?, 58. 34. Shire Pictorial, 13 July 1966. 35. Observer, 14 July 1966. 36. Shire Pictorial, 5 May 1965, 22 June 1966, 29 June 1966 and 13 July 1966; Observer 23 June 1966. 37. A 2003 report suggested the sale price was about one sixth of its market value. See, Shire Life, July 2003, 4. 38. See for example, St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, 18 January 1967. 39. Leader, 18 January 1967. 40. Rugby League News, 8, 11 and 12 April 1971. 41. Sun, 11 September 1973. 42. Club Topics, vol 8, no. 9, October 1973. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 43. See Leader, 12 and 19 September 1973. 44. Club Topics, vol 8, no 9, October 1973. 45. Sutherland Shire Voice, 22 August 1978. 46. Ibid. 47. Lester sees this as one of the Sharks' achievements. See Lester, The Sharks, 28. 48. Leader, 13 September 1978. 49. Ibid. 50. For a discussion of the imaginary grandstand concept see Davison, 'The Imaginary Grandstand', 4–18. 51. Voice, 19 September 1978. 52. Club Topics, News and Views, vol 7, no 11, November 1972. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 53. Ibid. 54. Ashton, Cornwall and Salt, Sutherland Shire, 4. For a discussion of this broader theme consult White, Inventing Australia. 55. Sydney Morning Herald, 7 October 1974. 56. Sydney Morning Herald, 26 August 1988. 57. Sharks League, vol 14, no 2, March/April 1977. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 58. Sharks League, vol 11 (sic), no 1, March/April 1978. 59. Sharks League, vol 15, no 5, October 1982. 'Defection' was a strongly emotional word in the Cold War world of the early 1980s. 60. An uncited Rugby League Week article from 1983 which has been archived in the 'Shark's Forever' website. 61. Sydney Morning Herald, 19 February 1987. An out-of-court settlement took place in early 1987. 62. Sharks League, vol 16, no 2, May 1983. 63. Sydney Morning Herald, 27 January 1983; Lester, The Sharks, 156. 64. The quotation is from former Cronulla player and Queensland and Australian representative player, Matt Rogers. See Rogers and Whittacker, Off the Wing on a Prayer, 78. 65. An uncited clipping of a Big League article from 2003 which has been archived on the 'Shark's Forever' website. 66. Sharks League, March/April 1984. 67. SUPPORT!, Cronulla Leagues Club, 1984. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 68. Ibid. 69. Vamplew, 'Australian Sports Review', 56. 70. SUPPORT!, Cronulla Leagues Club, 1984. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 71. SUPPORT!, Cronulla Leagues Club, 1984. 72. Ibid. 73. Cronulla-Sutherland Leagues Club, Annual Report, 1984–85. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 74. Sharks League, December 1984/January 1985. 75. Sharks League, October 1984. 76. Cronulla-Sutherland Leagues Club, Annual Report, 1984–85. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 77. Cronulla-Sutherland Leagues Club, Annual Report, 1985–86. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 78. Sydney Morning Herald, 5 June 1985. 79. Uncited newspaper clipping, 1985, which has been archived on the 'Shark's Forever' website. 80. Ibid. 81. Sydney Morning Herald, 5 June 1985. 82. Cronulla-Sutherland Leagues Club, Annual Report, 1985-86. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 83. Leader, 13 August 1985. 84. Leader, 28 August 1985. 85. Cronulla-Sutherland Leagues Club, Annual Report, 1985-86. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 86. Leader, 12 August 1987, 20 September 1988 and 21 September 1989; Sydney Morning Herald, 21 September 1988. One initiative was to seek permission from Council to stage two rock concerts at the ground each year. Pictorial, 23 April 1996. 87. Leader, 4 October 1988 and 1 November 1988; Sydney Morning Herald, 12 September 1991. 88. Leader, 29 November 1994; Sydney Morning Herald, 11 October 1992 and March 1993. 89. In 1992 Gow's profile had increased when he became chair of a new Ways and Means Committee. One of his first planned activities was to place his daughter, Elle McPherson, and Andrew Ettinghausen in a Club Calendar. Sydney Morning Herald, 25 October 1992 and 1 March 1993. See also Sun Herald, 17 November 1991. 90. An uncited clipping from an unidentified Rugby League magazine which has been archived on the 'Shark's Forever' website. 91. Shark Attack News, November 1993, 2. 92. Cronulla-Sutherland Leagues Club, Annual Report, 1995-96. Held at Sutherland Shire Local Studies Collection, Sutherland Library. 93. For an examination of the Cronulla Sharks during the Super League period, consult Brawley, "'Your Shire, Your Sharks"'. For a general introduction to Super League consult Colman, Super League, and Rowe, 'Rugby League in Australia'.