KEY POINTS:
They're not exactly 100 years old but the All Golds were planning to bring out a handful of old-school moves in the centenary match against the Northern Union this morning.
In a week that has been all about recognising history and traditions, it was felt that some time-honoured
plays would be appropriate.
The team named the moves Albert, Henry and Baskerville in honour of the man who conceived the idea for the All Golds tour and, as such, has been credited as the father of international rugby league.
They were a throwback to the days when Parramatta started using walls and decoy runners more than 20 years ago. One play even involved someone in the wall chip-kicking over his head for a team-mate to run onto.
"Some of the boys must have been watching a few old tapes and thought they would like to build a wall," All Golds coach Wayne Bennett said. "They were plays I ran 20 years ago. It's that sort of game you can experiment with and have a bit of fun."
The 10m rule signalled the death of walls because teams had more time and space to evaluate what the attacking side was up to.
Overwhelming
It's unlikely Ruben Wiki will forget his role in the moves but he admitted forgetting his team-mates names as he introduced them to the Queen.
The All Golds ventured to Buckingham Palace to meet, as Wiki described her, the most important person in the world. The occasion seemed to get the better of the All Golds skipper.
"I was more nervous about meeting her than playing any game," said Wiki, who was under strict instructions from his wife to wear the New Zealand Order of Merit medal he was awarded this year.
"I had sweaty palms and was really fidgety and when I introduced her to all the boys I had a bit of a memory lapse because I was so overwhelmed. I forgot half of the boys' names but just got them at the last second."
Fervour short-lived
Nationalistic fervour swept England last week but it cooled as if hit by a wind off the Yorkshire Dales.
Some media were even trumpeting a week of glory with the England football side on the verge of clinching a European championship place, England one step away (sigh) from hanging onto the William Webb Ellis trophy and Lewis Hamilton a few chicanes from winning the Formula One crown in his rookie season.
But glory turned to despair when the England football side were beaten by Russia, and they are now odds-on to become the first team to miss qualifying for a major championship since 1994.
Englishmen are unlikely to switch their interest to rugby league because few outside of Yorkshire and Lancashire are aware Great Britain are to play three tests against New Zealand but, for the Kiwis' sake, hopefully it was a sign of things to come.
