|
Kangaroo
Tour: 1982
Sean Fagan of RL1908.com
 The
1982 Kangaroos achieved what none of their predecessors had been
able to do - they came home from the tour unbeaten.
They
came to be known as "The Invincibles".
The
28 players were captained by Max Krilich, with Wally Lewis his deputy
and Frank Stanton returning for another Ashes campaign as coach.
Before flying to England, half the squad went to Perth to play Western
Australia, while the other half travelled to Papua New Guinea for
a match against the Kumuls.
Once
on English soil controversy surfaced when the incumbent Test halves
Steve Mortimer and Wally Lewis were not chosen for the opening match.
Instead, Sterling and Kenny took the field against Hull KR and set
about locking up their positions for the First Test.
While
Australia's side for the opening Test was built around the new breed
of young players such as Grothe, Pearce, Meninga, Kenny and Sterling,
the Brits chose five players who were 30 plus.
Still
the homeside did well in the first half and were down by 10-4 at
the break. In the 2nd half the Kangaroos unleashed their skills
- pace, guile, teamwork and fitness - and blazed six stunning tries
to leave the British game stunned (Australia 40 - Britain 4).
Despite
ten changes to the Lions' side the 2nd Test was hardly an improvement
as the Kangaroos won by 27-6. A measure of the Kangaroos' ability
was the fact that they played with only 12 men for over half the
match after Boyd was sent off.
With
the Ashes decided, the 3rd Test turned out to be a contest - well
until the final ten minutes. At that point the Aussies were holding-off
Britain by 14-8 and an intense finish loomed. It seemed Britain
had not been so far behind Australia's standard after all.
However, Lee Crooks was sent off for fighting and the Kangaroos
ripped the home side apart with 4 tries to win by 32-8.
The
tourists found the French Tests more of a challenge than the British,
but in the end the Kangaroos prevailed and finished their tour unbeaten.
Tour
Details:
1982
v Great Britain & France
GREAT
BRITAIN
1st Test - 30 October : won 40-4 / Boothferry Park, Hull (26,711)
2nd Test - 20 November : won 27-6 / Central Park, Wigan (23,126)
3rd Test - 28 November : won 32-8 / Headingley, Leeds (17,328)
RECORD: P: 15
W: 15 L:0
TEST SERIES: Won 3-0
AGGREGATE
ATTENDANCE: 182,069
v
Hull Kingston Rovers W 30-10 10,742 Hull
v Wigan W 13-9 12,158 Wigan
v Barrow W 29-2 6,282 Barrow
v St Helens W 32-0 8,190 St Helens
v Leeds W 31-4 11,570 Leeds
v Wales W 37-7 5,617 Cardiff
v GREAT BRITAIN W 40-4 26,771 Boothferry Park, Hull
v Leigh W 44-4 7,680 Leigh
v Bradford Northern W 13-6 10,506 Bradford
v Cumbria W 41-2 5,748 Carlisle
v Fulham W 22-5 10,432 Fulham
v Hull W 13-7 16,049 Hull
v GREAT BRITAIN W 27-6 23,126 Central Park, Wigan
v Widnes W 19-6 9,790 Widnes
v GREAT BRITAIN W 32-8 17,318 Headingley, Leeds
FRANCE
1st Test : won 15-4 /
Avignon
(8,000)
2nd
Test :
won 23-9 / Narbonne (7,000)
RECORD:
P: 7 W: 7 L: 0
FOR:
291 AGST: 20
TEST SERIES: Won 2-0
AGGREGATE
ATTENDANCE: 23,579
v FRANCE W 15-4 8,000 Avignon
v FRANCE W 23-9 7,000 Narbonne
v Roanne W 65-0 2,000 Roanne
v Villeneuve W 67-2 3,579 Villeneuve
v Les Espoirs W 42-3 2,000 Toulouse
v Catalan XIII W 53-2 4,000 Perpignan
v Midi-Pyrenees W 26-0 1,000 Pamiers
MANLY
WARRINGAH 7 (Max Krilich Capt., Kerry Boustead, John Ribot,
Les Boyd, Paul McCabe, Ian Schubert, Ray Brown)
PARRAMATTA
6 (Brett Kenny, Peter Sterling, Steve Ella, Eric Grothe,
Ray Price, John Muggleton)
CANTERBURY
3 (Greg Brentnall, Chris Anderson, Steve Mortimer)
ST
GEORGE 2 (Rod Reddy, Craig Young)
CRONULLA
1 (Steve Rogers)
NORTH
SYDNEY 1 (Don McKinnon)
BALMAIN 1 (Wayne Pearce)
EASTERN
SUBURBS 0
SOUTH SYDNEY
0
NEWTOWN 0
WESTERN SUBURBS 0
PENRITH
0
QUEENSLAND 7 (Wally Lewis, Mal Meninga, Gene Miles, Rod Morris,
Mark Murray, Rohan Hancock, Greg Conescu)
Copyright
© 2006 - Sean Fagan. All rights reserved - the article above may
not be reproduced (in full or part) in any form without written
permission.
|
