Cranbourne senior constable Barry Randall is a veteran of police rugby, which has taken him overseas to play.By Marc McGowan
THE Victoria Police is preparing for the annual Australian Police Rugby League Championships later this year, where the state’s finest will take on the best police-affiliated players in Australia.
The local charge will be led by Barry Randall (Cranbourne) and Craig Merry and Tony Davies (both Pakenham).
The Victoria Police Rugby League Club, the Vikings, has played in the championships since their inception in 1999 and, after early struggles, is making Victoria a force in police rugby.
In the tournament’s debut year, two police, Randall and Phil Edge, were selected for the Australian team that toured the US.
This offered those selected the chance to accompany police in New York and Philadelphia on their daily beats and monitor how they went about their jobs.
Since then, the numbers of Victoria’s Australian representatives have continued to grow, including one player, Chris Henderson, who had to learn the rules of the game on the bus trip up north in the inaugural tournament in Queensland.
“He (Henderson) was a very good Aussie Rules player,” Randall said. “He was roped in by one of his mates and on the way up we just put a tape in (of a New South Wales versus Queensland State of Origin match) and said you need to watch this and learn the rules.”
One year on, after joining a domestic rugby league club, Henderson was in the Australian police side.
The state team is generally made up from police from all over the state, making it difficult to have regular training sessions.
“It is always an uphill battle against the northern states but a lot of our guys are new to the sport and, considering we’ve only been around for seven years, we don’t do too bad,” Randall said.
It has opened the doors to many opportunities for the team, including the chance to play curtain-raising games before National Rugby League (NRL) games.
As an individual, Randall has benefited most from the championships.
“I played in the President’s Cup (an under-21 NRL competition) for South Sydney Rabbitohs but policing had more interest for me,” Randall said.
“Then after the inaugural tournament I was offered the chance to captain-coach New Jersey in the USA Super League, so I took two years off without pay to do that. Then I got some interest from England and I got to play over there in 2001.”
The highlight? “Playing for your country; representing the green and gold,” Randall said.
