Tom Brock Lecture

The Tom Brock Lecture is an annual scholarly lecture organised by the Australian Society for Sports History at the bequest of Australian sports historian Tom Brock.[1] The topic of the lecture is the history of rugby league football. It has been given by leading writers and academics every year since 1999, at the New South Wales Rugby League's headquarters at Phillip Street in the Sydney CBD.

David Rowe, an academic, caused some controversy when he used his 2006 lecture to question football's prospects in the future following negative off-field media coverage.[2] Shane Webcke was set to become the first player to give the lecture when he was invited to do so in 2007,[2] but this did not eventuate.

In 2010, the Australian Society for Sports History and the Tom Brock Bequest Committee published Tales From Coathanger City: Ten Years of Tom Brock Lectures.[3] The book includes the Tom Brock lectures delivered from 1999 to 2008, an essay considering 10 years of lectures and study of the game, a biography of Tom Brock and some information on the Bequest Committee.[3]

  1. ^ "Lessons abound in courage and defiance of past". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia: Fairfax Media. 22 September 2004. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b Rothfield, Phil; Heads, Phillip (17 December 2006). "Webcke to speak his mind". The Sunday Telegraph. Australia: News Limited. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Tom Brock Lecture". Australian Society for Sports History. 2 January 2011. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2011.