Denis Carnahan's Rugby League: the Musical celebrates the sport

"I don't write Rugby League: the Musical - rugby league writes it.

"I just put music to it."

The show, now in its 10^th version, has always been a satirical celebration of the misbehaviour, controversy, villainy, treachery and pantomime - both on and off the field - that characterises the sport.

"When I compare Rugby League: the Musical to other musicals I say it has more men in drag than The Rocky Horror Show, greater rivalries than West Side Story, more treachery than Jesus Christ Superstar and more arse than A Chorus Line."

There are even complimentary half-time oranges.

And there's no shortage of shenanigans, stuff-ups and shockers to draw on for inspiration, with the game producing a neverending stream - recently there have been crackdowns, lockdowns, bunker bungles, COVID lockdown violations, the rise of a new regime and questionable haircuts, to name just a few.

Carnahan is bringing the latest version of the show - "85 per cent new" - to his home town as part of the "2023 National Tour of Queensland".

In fact, the tour ranges much further afield than its name would suggest.

It does not, however, extend as far as the Sunshine State's reach in plucking players who come from various places in NSW, New Zealand, and even Fiji for State of Origin - celebrated, or at least pointed out and heavily underlined, in Carnahan's song That's in Queensland.

That's a wholly original number: sometimes Carnahan writes new lyrics to existing tunes - for example, commemorating the 2022 sacking of coaches Trent Barrett, Nathan Brown and Michael McGuire to the tune of Don McLean's American Pie.

A song about Victor Radley's frequent stints in the sin bin is set to The Doors' Love Her Madly and the claiming of dubious injuries some players have adopted as a tactic is noted in Taking a Dive, to the tune of the Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive.

And the activities of the Rugby League Players Association are recounted to the strains of the Village People's YMCA.

Carnahan said he had often performed numbers right in front of their subjects, and that - luckily for him - people who "are comfortable with 120 kilograms of anger running at [them] as fast as they can" are usually able to see the humour.

Perhaps it was lucky for Carnahan that he wasn't present at the event where New Zealander Ben Te'o took offence at someone playing That's in Queensland.

"[Coach] Mal Meninga shut the press conference down."

Although the Raiders' last grand final win was in 1994, and he left Canberra in 1988, Carnahan sounded taken aback by the suggestion his allegiances might have changed.

"I still bleed green. I feel like my resolve has hardened and my skin thickened after years and years of almost but not quite."

One of the early motivations for his music was to fight back at the taunts from other teams and their supporters. The songs helped him retain his sense of humour as he entered each season hoping the Raiders would make it to the top again.

Carnahan, 56, grew up in Canberra and abandoned a university science degree to study, write and play music. He's toured with various bands and works at the ABC as a sound engineer (in sport).

For the past couple of decades Carnahan has written songs and original music for, among others, The Footy Show, Fox Sports, Channel Nine, and Triple M's Grill Team.

But not everyone respects his achievements. Last year he attended his 40^th Campbell High School reunion for Campbell High School and mentioned his show. The general feeling seemed to be his classmates had suffered 12 years of his foolishness, so why would they pay for more? Pretty withering - though, Carnahan hastened to add, some of them were planning to go.

Even worse, perhaps, was the reaction of his father, Dr John Carnahan, a longtime senior lecturer in botany and forestry at ANU, when the younger Carnahan said he wanted to be a musician.

"He wouldn't believe I was a musician until I performed at the Uni Bar."

Sadly, Carnahan never did get a gig there before his father died - nor did John live to see his son's 2018 performance at The Street Theatre. But there was one performance that might have made the old man proud.

"He did see me perform at Bruce Stadium as the half-time entertainment in 2008 in front of 20,000 people."

Rugby League the Musical is on at The Street Theatre on Thursday, July 13 at 7.30pm. See: thestreet.org.au.