Close Encounters Of The Kiwi Kind

Sean Fagan of RL1908.com

As we saw in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup Final, for some reason the Kiwis seem to save their best efforts for games in Brisbane.

It’s a habit that stretches back a century, to the pioneering days of 1909, when the Kangaroos made their inaugural Gabba (Brisbane Cricket Ground) outing against the feisty New Zealanders.

After the Kiwis defeated the ‘Roos 19-11 in Sydney, nine Queenslanders were brought into the local team for the Brisbane Test. Wearing home town maroon jerseys, no one really gave the Queensland-stacked Aussies much hope of a win over the experienced NZrs.

However, the game turned on a gritty contest, and edged in Australia’s favour early in the second half via two tries from Brisbane Norths’ three-quarter Charlie Woodhead. The Aussies then repelled raid after raid during the remainder of the match to take a surprise 10-5 win.

When the Kiwis arrived in Brisbane in 1956, Australia had not won a home series against New Zealand since that 1909 series. The Kangaroos won the opening Test in Sydney, and were confronted in Brisbane by a determined Kiwi outfit.

In what was the last ever Gabba Test, torrential rain turned the field into a quagmire, and the going under foot was understandably heavy. Players were quickly covered in mud, and Australian prop Roy Bull, so uncertain as to who was friend or foe, tackled his captain Ken Kearney.

The New Zealanders spent most of the game camped in the Kangaroos’ quarter, but through a combination of stout defence and luck, Australia held on. Prop Cliff Johnson bombed a try for the back-and-whites when the mud-caked footy slipped from his grasp over the line.

Aussie centre Dick Poole scored the first try by toeing the ball over the line and diving on it through a clash of bodies. The Kiwis claimed to have grounded the ball first, but referee Darcy Lawler ruled otherwise.

The day’s only clean break belonged to Brisbane Wests’ centre Alex Watson, who ran 40m to the line after Keith Holman put him into the clear. It proved the decisive play, and the Kangaroos won 8-2 to take the Test and the series.

The first Lang Park match-up came in 1963. Again Australia had won the Sydney Test, and the Kiwis needed to stand up to keep the series alive. The visitors though were confronted by a Kangaroos backline that included Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Ken Irvine, Michael Cleary and Ken Thornett, and forwards Johnny Raper, Brian Hambly, Billy Wilson and Ian Walsh.

The New Zealanders matched the much vaunted Kangaroos all afternoon long via superior team work, taking their chances by spreading the ball. Winger Brian ‘Speedy’ Reidy collected three tries for the Kiwis, and only a trademark Thornett tackle that pushed him into the corner post stopped it being four.

With five minutes left on the clock, scores were level at 13-all, when the Aussies dropped the ball while on the attack. The Kangaroos threw their hands up ruing the lost opportunity, and in a flash Jim Bond snapped up the leather for the Kiwis, and after a mesmerising inter-change of passes, winger Ken McCracken (father of Jarrod) flashed over out wide to nail a spectacular 16-13 win. The Kangaroos won the third Test and the series, but the New Zealanders had proven their mettle in the Brisbane victory.

Through the 1980s Australia had no difficulty in handling Great Britain, but the Kiwis were frequently another story – a surprising state of play given New Zealand teams were still largely chosen from their local semi-amateur leagues.

Either side of their undefeated 1982 “Invincibles” tour, the Kangaroos struggled with the Kiwis in Brisbane. In July 1982 Mark Graham was at the forefront of a powerful Kiwis pack that relentlessly tore into the Aussies, with Graeme West, Mark Broadhurst and the Tamati brothers (Howie and Kevin) prominent. The NZrs led 8-2 (all goals), then 8-6 within three minutes of the siren.

The Kiwis were struggling desperately to hang on, and it took a short pass from prop Craig Young to reserve forward John Muggleton to get the Aussies out of gaol 11-8 with a converted try.

A year later, the teams met again in Brisbane, and no one gave the Kiwis any hope of rolling the “Invincibles” after the carnage they wreaked in England and France, especially following a 16-4 win by the Kangaroos in Auckland four weeks earlier.

When giant winger Eric Grothe scored a try inside four minutes, an Aussie avalanche seemed inevitable – but it never eventuated. The Kangaroos failed to score again until very late, and by then New Zealand had racked up 19 points. Broadhurst and Dane Sorenson ran roughshod over the green-and-gold forwards, which allowed centres Fred Ah Kuoi and James Leuluai the room to outsmart and out-run their bigger opponents Gene Miles and Mal Meninga.

In 1985 it took two late tries masterminded by Wally Lewis for Australia to turn a 20-14 shortfall into a 26-20 victory. Two years later an inspired performance from Hugh McGahan saw the New Zealanders grab a 12-6 lead, then nudge their advantage to 13-6 via a field goal on half-time. In a scoreless second half, despite seeing very little possession, the New Zealanders held on to win.

Remarkably, both the 1982 “Invincibles” and the 1986 “Unbeatables” met their unexpected demise at the hands of the upstart Kiwis in Brisbane.

The original version of this article was first published in the May 2009 Aust v NZ Test program.