Paul Barrière

Yeah.

Um, so the push originally came from the French in the early 1950s, led by an administrator called Paul Barriere, which is why the trophy is named after him.

So the first tournament was held in France in 1954, and from there it was a little bit sporadic.

There was one in 1957, another one in 1960.

And it's an amazing story.

I think the cockerel at the top, which was there to represent the Frenchness, uh, the Paul Barriere Trophy, that's only just been restored a couple of years ago, hasn't it? So-

Yeah.

It was sort of the last World-

Magnificent.

The last World Cup, um, restored it, and they did a great job on restoring the trophy.

And also they gave it the name the Paul Barriere Trophy because this had been...

Paul Barriere was, um, a leader of the French Resistance, uh, during World War II.

And it's an amazing story.

I think the cockerel at the top, which was there to represent the Frenchness, the Paul Barriere trophy, That's only just been restored a couple of years ago, hasn't it? And

it's a magnificent trophy.

It's a magnificent trophy.

Yes, yes.

I just wanna let you know about the history of the s- of the cup, this World Rugby League cup, right? It's two and a half foot tall, it weighs 25 KG, right? It's called the Paul Barriere, B-A-R-R-I-E-R-E, trophy.

Submitted in 1954 by the French Rugby League, right, for the World Cup.

All right.

Can you imagine the USA touring Australia now, Tony? [laughs]

Well, the, uh, it, this is one of the great, um, sliding door moments of rugby league because, um, the Americans also toured France in early 1954 because, um, Paul Barriere, who was the president of the French Rugby League who had organized the first, um, World Cup, wanted the Americans to be in it.

And so they came over, played, uh, played a handful of games against French teams, and then c- came over to Britain, and I think they played a couple of games in Britain.

Um, but the prob- And, D- I mean, obviously they weren't, they were no great shakes, but they were great athletes.

And then the, so the French said, "Well, why don't we, because there's so many Australian players in, uh, playing in the British competition, uh, why don't we organize a team based on those players?" And obviously the Australian authorities didn't like that at all because the team would've been out of their control.

So the idea kinda stalled, then World War II broke out, broke out, and so there's obviously no chance.

And it was revived again in 1947 by Paul Barriere, who I'm sure listeners will know was a, was the pres- uh, just become president of the French Rugby League.

Uh, was a, a wartime French resistance hero who'd fought against of, uh, uh, in the underground war against the Na- Nazi occupiers.

Can you imagine the USA touring Australia now, Tony? [laughs]

Well, the, uh, it, this is one of the great, um, sliding door moments of Rugby League because, um, the Americans also toured France in early 1954 because, um, Paul Barriere, who was the president of the French Rugby League, who had organized the first, um, World Cup, wanted the Americans to be in it.

And so they came over, played, uh, played a handful of games against French teams, and then c- came over to Britain, and I think they played a couple of games in Britain.

Um, but the prob- And, I mean, obviously they weren't g- they were no great shakes, but they were great athletes.

So the idea kind of stalled.

Then World War II broke out, broke out, and so there's obviously no chance.

And it was revived again in 1947 by Paul Barriere, who I'm sure listeners will know was a, was the presi- uh, just become president of the French Rugby League.

Uh, was a, a, a wartime French resistance hero who'd fought against, uh, uh, in the underground war against the Naz- Nazi occupiers.