Rugby League Jersey Nerd is well-known on social media for sharing their incredible collection of classic jerseys. While, as a Canberra fan, most of them are Raiders jerseys, there are also some rare international ones. It’s an impressive collection that keeps growing.
Hello Rugby League Jersey Nerd, tell us how you got your social media pages started?
Hey mate, basically I had been collecting in some way or another or another since I was a kid. I started meeting a few cool collectors around the place. Then I saw a few pages on Insta like “All Things Cronulla Sharks” and “Mt Wellington” and thought…’why not give it a crack!’ I used to run a footy shop here in Canberra and worked on the website, which I enjoyed, so I just carried on that enjoyment.
You have an incredibly rare range of jerseys displayed on your page. To paraphrase Jack Nicholson’s The Joker, “where you do get those wonderful toys?’
Haha thanks and also thank you for making reference to the Batman world…I am also Jersey Nerd cause I love collecting comics and Batman is my favourite! Mate, all over the place, it would take too long to recount. Mostly it is just luck usually.
With footy – and world sports – going through uncertain times, do you believe that sharing classic jerseys with the fans will give them a morale boost?
I think it did yes, [it] gave us all something to focus on without footy. Working from home it gave me something to enjoy, rather than the blanket coverage that was affecting us all. But these times also remind you of how lucky we all are. Hopefully when we can support our teams properly again, we come back with a vengeance and the days of half full stadiums are a thing of the past.
You’re a Raiders fan, tell us how you became one?
Born and bred, mate…coming from Canberra it was meant to be. I went to a lot of games at Seiffert Oval, saw Mal break his arm, played on the field after the full time siren, was at Bruce in the good times and the tough times. I just loved them from the start. Plus green and blue are my favourite colours, so that helps!
In your opinion, why is rugby league the greatest game of all?
It is tough, fast and exciting! I do also follow other sports such as Super Rugby, NFL and so on, but nothing has the skill, agility and drama that league has. I have always said if you can sell union to the world then league should be easy as. But we never seem to have the right people running the game and fans seem to not think outside the box. I really think this is a game that could be played around the world with the right effort. I would love to see more players from other nations like the pommy boys playing in the NRL. Loved following the likes of Noa Nadruku, Brent Todd, Quentin Pongia, Sean Hoppe in the green back in the 80s and 90s.
What are your plans for the Rugby League Jersey Nerd social media channels in the future?
Got a few things in the pipeline, COVID has kind of affected that. But basically continue to showcase the amazing memorabilia and merchandise the mighty Raiders and league in general has had while hopefully providing stories and educating fans along the way. Also meeting new fans and collectors out there. There have been some absolute champions I’ve met so far!
