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Inside the forgotten Rugby League Ashes: blood, boats and broken bones

In the early 1900s, rugby league's fiercest battles weren't fought on TV screens or in stadiums with tens of thousands of fans: they were fought across oceans, in mud-soaked fields, with players exhausted from weeks at sea.

England and Australia clashed not just for victory, but for national pride, endurance, and the very soul of the sport.

The first Ashes series in 1908–09 saw an Australian side tour Britain for almost a year, playing more than forty matches.

When England returned the favour, the rivalry was born - and with it, the idea of rugby league's own "Ashes," echoing cricket's fierce competition between the two nations.

Those early encounters were raw and punishing.

Players often n

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