1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain

The 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fifth Kangaroo tour, and took the Australia national rugby league team around the north of England, to London and Paris. The tour also featured the 11th Ashes series which comprised three Test matches and was the first to be won by Great Britain in a clean sweep. The squad's outbound journey was marred by tragedy when Sydney University centre Ray Morris contracted meningitis en-route and died in hospital. The tour match played at Stade Pershing in Paris on New Year's Day 1934 was the first rugby league international played in France.

Touring squad

Mick Madsen, 2nd Test captain

Vic Hey, three Tests at five-eighth

Dave Brown set an unsurpassed touring score record

Frank McMillan was named as captain-coach of the touring squad after his Queensland counterpart Herb Steinohrt declared himself unavailable to tour. George Bishop and Ernie Norman were selected but ruled out of the tour before the squad left Sydney. Vic Hey and "Mick" Glasheen took their places.

The journey

Les Heidke was suffering from leg ulcers before the squad left Sydney and Dan Dempsey was brought in to take his place. The Queenslanders in the squad all contributed ₤10 to enable Heidke to make the tour as a private citizen and to perhaps recover in time to play. Heidke sailed with the squad from Sydney on the SS Manduna bound for Melbourne where they boarded the SS Jervis Bay for England. At sea Heidke's condition did not improve and he was put off the ship in Perth and headed home.

Exhibition matches were played in Colombo, Sri Lanka and in Egypt. Sydney University centre Ray Morris contracted an ear infection at sea. In the Mediterranean his condition worsened and he was put off the ship in Malta and hospitalised in Valletta. Two days later he died of meningitis.^[1]

1st Test

7 October 1933

England	4 – 0	Australia
Goals Jim Sullivan (2)

Belle Vue, Manchester Attendance: 34,000 [2] Referee/s: F Peel

The Australian team enjoyed an eleven match winning streak on the tour matches leading into the first Test. For the first sixty-five minutes of the match there was no score in the muddy conditions, then English fullback Jim Sullivan proved the difference with two penalty goals.^[3]

2nd Test

England	7 – 5	Australia
Tries Jack Woods Goals Jim Sullivan (2)		Tries Dave Brown Goals Dave Brown

Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 29,688 [2] Referee/s: F Peel

3rd Test

England	19 – 14	Australia
Tries Barney Hudson Jack Feetham Stan Smith Goals Jim Sullivan (5)		Tries Vic Hey Wally Prigg Goals Dave Brown (5)

Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 10,990 [2] Referee/s: F Peel

In winning the match which was played in thick fog, England became the first team to post a 3–0 clean sweep in an Anglo-Australian Test series.

Matches of the tour

N°	Opposing Team	F	A	Date	Venue	Attendance	Status
1	St Helens Recs	13	9	Aug 26, 1933	City Road, St Helens	8,880	Tour match
2	Leigh	16	7	Aug 30, 1933	Mather Lane, Leigh	4,590	Tour match
3	Hull Kingston Rovers	20	0	Sep 2, 1933	Craven Park, Hull	7,831	Tour match
4	Bramley RLFC	53	6	Sep 6, 1933	Barley Mow, Bramley	1,902	Tour match
5	Oldham Roughyeds	38	6	Sep 9, 1933	The Watersheddings, Oldham	15,281	Tour match
6	Yorkshire	13	0	Sep 13, 1933	Headingley, Leeds	10,309	Tour match
7	Barrow RLFC	24	5	Sep 16, 1933	Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness	12,221	Tour match
8	Lancashire	33	7	Sep 20, 1933	Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington	16,576	Tour match
9	Wigan	10	4	Sep 23, 1933	Central Park, Wigan	15,712	Tour match
10	Castleford	39	6	Sep 27,1933	Wheldon Road, Castleford	4,250	Tour match
11	Halifax RLFC	16	5	Sep 30,1933	Thrum Hall, Halifax	10,358	Tour match
12	England	0	4	Oct 7, 1933	Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, Manchester	34,000	Test match
13	Bradford Northern	7	5	Oct 11, 1933	Birch Lane, Bradford	3,328	Tour match
14	Warrington	15	2	Oct 14, 1933	Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington	16,431	Tour match
15	Hunslet FC	22	18	Oct 18, 1933	Parkside, Hunslet	6,227	Tour match
16	Salford	9	16	Oct 21, 1933	The Willows, Salford	15,761	Tour match
17	Widnes FC	31	0	Oct 26, 1933	Lowerhouse Lane, Widnes	6,691	Tour match
18	Wakefield Trinity	17	6	Oct 28, 1933	Belle Vue, Wakefield	5,596	Tour match
19	Bradford Northern	10	7	Oct 30, 1933	Birch Lane, Bradford	3,328	Tour match
20	English League	5	7	Nov 1, 1933	Wigginton Road Cricket Ground, York	3,158	Tour match
21	Swinton	4	10	Nov 4, 1933	Station Road, Swinton	13,341	Tour match
22	England	5	7	Nov 11, 1933	Headingley, Leeds	29,618	Test match
23	Keighley Cougars	14	7	Nov 14, 1933	Lawkholme Lane, Bradford	3,800	Tour match
24	Huddersfield FC	13	5	Nov 18, 1933	Fartown Ground, Huddersfield	7,522	Tour match
25	London Highfield	20	75	Nov 22, 1933	White City Stadium, London	10,541	Tour match
26	Broughton Rangers	19	0	Nov 25, 1933	Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, Manchester	5,527	Tour match
27	Leeds	15	7	Nov 29, 1933	Headingley, Leeds	5,295	Tour match
28	St Helens RLFC	20	11	Dec 2, 1933	Knowsley Road, St Helens	5,735	Tour match
29	Rochdale Hornets	26	4	Dec 5, 1933	Athletic Grounds, Rochdale	3,603	Tour match
30	Cumberland	16	17	Dec 9, 1933	Recreation Ground, Whitehaven	5,800	Tour match
31	England	16	19	Dec 16, 1933	Station Road, Swinton	10,900	Test match
32	York	15	17	Dec 23, 1933	Wigginton Road Cricket Ground, York	6,500	Tour match
33	Hull FC	19	5	Dec 25, 1933	The Boulevard, Hull	16,341	Tour match
34	Wales	51	19	Dec 30, 1933	Wembley Stadium, London	10,000	International
35	England	63	13	Dec 31, 1933	Stade Pershing, Paris	5,000	International

Tour firsts

• The first Australian side to play a rugby exhibition match in Ceylon and Egypt.
• The first Australian side to play a match under lights.
• The first English side to win the Ashes in a clean sweep.
• The first rugby international to be played in France.
• Dave Brown's tour point-scoring record of 285 points (19 tries and 114 goals) remains unsurpassed.

Published sources

• Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
• Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney

References

Rugby league Ashes 1908–09 1910 1911-12 1914 1920 1921-22 1924 1928 1929–30 1932 1933 1936 1937 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1959 1962 1963 1966 1967 1970 1973 1974 1978 1979 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 2001 2003 Related Kangaroo tour Australia national rugby league team Australasia rugby league team Great Britain national rugby league team