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Kangaroo Tour: 1908-1909
Sean Fagan of RL1908.com
 Led
by entrepreneur James J. Giltinan, the First Kangaroos sailed for
England on the RMS Macedonia in August of 1908.
Dally
Messenger was the star player of the squad but there were also many
other fine players to support him - the likes of Sid 'Sandy' Pearce,
Jim Devereux, Dan Frawley, Albert Rosenfeld, Arthur 'Pony' Halloway,
Larry O'Malley and Sid Deane. Norths' 'Dinny' Lutge was captain,
with Messenger vice-captain.
Pat
'Nimmo' Walsh was a late call up to the original Kangaroos touring
squad of 1908. His addition was a wise choice as he ended up playing
in all three Test matches.
Having
doubled as stokers aboard the shipto keep fitness levels up, the
Kangaroos began their tour in early October with victory over newly
recruited Welsh club, Mid-Rhondda, 20-6 and ended it on March 8,
1909, with a 14-9 win against Lancashire.
They played 46 games through a long hard English winter, winning
18, drawing six and losing 22. The record is a moderate one statistically,
but there were some outstanding performances amongst them.
However,
as the English winter closed in the Kangaroos fortunes soon turned
for the worse and their form became haphazard. The NU decided the
First Test ought to be played in London.
In front of only 2000 supporters England and Australia produced
an epic contest with a 22-all draw the final result.
Although
not winning, the Australian's certainly proved the credibility of
themselves as a team and the fledgling Sydney competition.
In
the 2nd Test a spectacular individual try by Messenger wasn't enough
to get the injury riddled Kangaroos a win, going down to England
15-5. On the positive though a great crowd of over 22,000 poured
into Newcastle United Soccer Club's home ground to watch the spectacle.
For
the deciding 3rd Test at Birmingham, Australia were without an injured
Messenger. Though they put in a spirited display the English held
on to win 6-5.
Financially, the tour was a disaster and the NU paid the players
passage home. Ten of the players joined English clubs - some stayed
for years and became very familiar faces to English supporters,
notably Jim Devereux (Hull) and Albert Rosenfeld (Huddersfield,
Wakefield Trinity and Bradford Northern).
Tour
Details:
1908/09
v England
1st Test
- 12 December : drawn 22-all / Park Royal, London (2,000)
2nd
Test - 23 January : lost 5-15 / St. James' Park, Newcastle (22,000)
3rd Test - 10 February : lost 5-6 / Villa Park, Birmingham (9,000)
RECORD:
P: 45 W: 17 D: 6 L: 22 FOR: 513 AGST: 474
TEST SERIES: Lost 0-2, one drawn.
AGGREGATE
ATTENDANCE: 250,777
v
Mid-Rhondda W 20-6 7,500 @ Tonypandy, Wales
v Bradford Northern W 12-11 4,000 @ Bradford
v Rochdale Hornets W 5-0 3,000 @ Rochdale
v York D 5-5 3,000 @ York
v Salford D 9-9 6,100 @ Salford
v Runcorn W 9-7 3,000 @ Runcorn
v Cumberland League W 52-10 4,000 @ Whitehaven
v Leigh L 11-14 6,000 @ Leigh
v Dewsbury L 0-15 2,000 @ Dewsbury
v Yorkshire W 24-11 3,500 @ Hull
v Hunslet W 12-11 6,000 @ Hunslet
v Aberdare W 37-10 5,000 @ Aberdare, Wales
v Warrington L 3-10 5,000 @ Warrington
v Northern League W 10-9 6,000 @ Everton
v Hull Kingston Rovers L 16-21 7,000 @ Hull
v Lancashire W 20-6 4,000 @ Wigan
v Barrow W 21-5 6,500 @ Barrow
v Halifax L 8-12 6,000 @ Halifax
v Swinton W 10-9 1,500 @ Swinton
v ENGLAND D 22-22 2,000 @ Park Royal, London
v Treherbert W 6-3 4,000 Treherbert, Wales
v Wakefield Trinity L 13-20 3,000 @ Wakefield
v Leeds W 14-10 12,000 @ Leeds
v Oldham L 5-11 12,000 @ Oldham
v England L 9-14 7,000 @ Huddersfield
v Widnes W 13-2 1,000 @ Widnes
v Wigan L 7-10 4,000 @ Wigan
v Batley L 5-12 2,000 @ Batley
v Welsh League L 13-14 6,000 @ Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
v Ebbw Vale W 9-8 5,000 @ Ebbw Vale, Wales
v Wigan L 8-16 8,000 @ Wigan
v ENGLAND L 5-15 22,000 @ St. James Park, Newcastle
v Keighley D 8-8 1,000 @ Keighley
v Hull L 8-9 10,000 @ Hull
v England D 17-17 3,000 @ Glasgow, Scotland
v Cumberland L 2-11 2,000 @ Carlisle
v Broughton Rovers L 12-14 12,000 @ Broughton
v St Helens L 0-9 1,500 @ St Helens
v Warrington D 8-8 7,000 @ Warrington
v ENGLAND L 5-6 9,000 @ Villa Park, Birmingham
v Huddersfield L 3-5 9,677 @ Huddersfield
v Barrow L 3-11 6,000 @ Barrow
v Merthyr Tydfil L 13-15 4,000 @ Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
v England L 7-14 4,500 @ Everton
v Lancashire L 14-19 4,000 @ Wigan
v Widnes W 55-3 1,200 @ Southport
EASTERN
SUBURBS 6 (Dan Frawley, Lou Jones, Dally Messenger, Larry O'Malley,
Albert Rosenfeld, Sandy Pearce)
GLEBE 6 (Alec Burdon, Albert Conlon, Arthur Holloway, Charlie Hedley,
Tom McCabe, Peter Moir)
SOUTH SYDNEY 6 (Tommy Anderson, Arthur Butler, Bill Cann, James
Davis, Arthur Hennessy, Johnny Rosewell)
NORTH SYDNEY 4 (Dinny Lutge Capt., Sid Deane, Jim Devereux, Andy
Morton)
NEWTOWN 3 (Frank Cheadle, Ed Courtney, Bill Noble)
NEWCASTLE 2 ( Bill Bailey, Pat Walsh)
BALMAIN 2 (Alf Dobbs, Bob Graves)
WESTERN SUBURBS 1 (Jim Abercrombie)
CUMBERLAND 0
QUEENSLAND 4 (Mick Bolewski, Jack Fihelly, Bill Hardcastle, Bill
Heidke)
NSW COUNTRY 1 (Alec Anlezark)
Copyright
© 2006 - Sean Fagan. All rights reserved - the article above may
not be reproduced (in full or part) in any form without written
permission.
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