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Australia v France - 1990 Test - 27 June : won 34-2 / Pionner Oval, Parkes (12,384) A
Once In A Lifetime Chance For League Fans
Despite chilling winds, rain and sleet, a ground record 12,384 people turned out to see the stars in action. "Considering the conditions, we were thrilled", President of Parkes Rugby League, Wayne 'Jock' Colley said. "I thank everyone for supporting us. We have once again shown we are more than capable of hosting these big games. I thank everyone that was involved in putting togther the Test promotion led admirably by our promotions officer Michael Greenwood." Australian hooker Kerrod Walters said after the 34-2 win that despite the cold conditions he thought playing in Parkes was "great". "It was a little cooler than we anticipated but having such a great crowd urging us on made up for that. Coming to Parkes is good because everyone is so friendly. The playing surface was fantastic despite it being a little mucked up from the early games." Australia
Find Their Winning Touch In Style Australia mostly fulfilled their obligation to provide entertainment when they overran France 34-2 at Pioneer Oval, Parkes, last night. The Australians did their best to make the Test a game of touch football, running at every opportunity and scoring eight tries. The 12,384 record crowd which braved the bitter cold deserved it and some sort of medal for devotion. A razzle dazzle display was the least the Australians could do. How cold? The ground announcer said towards the end: "Those people returning to Orange drive carefully. It's snowing." Said a spectator: "It will be bloody snowing here soon." The Australians tried to score at every opportunity against the game French who never gave up: in fact the Australians tried too hard, attempting tries off almost every play. At least a dozen passes went to ground in the second half with tries beckoning. The Test was notable for a sensational debut by lock forward Brad Mackay, who scored three tries and was judged Man of the Match. He was assisted by strong performances from the likes of Steve Roach, Paul Sironen, David Gillespie, Laurie Daley and Mal Meninga. Australia fulfilled the predictions by leading 20-2 at half-time, a margin that would have been greater but for the Australians missing all their conversion attempts. The crowd of Rugby League junkies and hero worshippers - they had to be in the conditions - came to see the Australians play football, and weren't disappointed. The intensity and competitiveness of a Test match were lacking, but no matter. The monstrous and mobile Australian forwards ran rampant against their game but lighter and less organised opponents. The earth and tacklers shook every time Sironen got the ball, and he was the big bad mad No 1. Not far behind were Roach and Gillespie, who did the hard graft, enabling the backs plenty of room. Mackay was having the proverbial dream Test debut, with two tries, the first after just three minutes. Daley, McGaw and Gary Belcher enjoyed themselves in the space provided by the dominant forwards, and captain Meninga was menacing whenever he roused himself. Meninga said afterwards: "It was a funny old Test match. It wasn't normal. There were a lot more dropped balls and we made a lot of mistakes." Asked if the players had felt the bitter cold, Meninga said: "We had frost bitten fingers at half-time. We had to wrap them in hot towels to get the feeling back." Meninga said the slippery muddy surface and the rain and wind had also made it difficult to play. Meninga said of the tactics in the second half: "We were running against the wind, so it was just heads down, bums up. We didn't know what to expect from the French. We went out there and hoped for the best." Meninga said despite the ease of the win his successful captaincy of the team is rated as one of his career highlights. He said there was no surprise in the successful debuts of players like Mackay, and the depth of Australian Rugby League was such there would be inevitably disappointed players when the Kangaroo touring squad was chosen at the end of the season. Mackay said: "It was just my night. Just a matter of being in the right position at the right time. Admittedly though it was only against France. My big test will come if I ever get a chance against New Zealand or Great Britain." Despite the Australians' superiority, it could be seen why the French had upset Great Britain earlier this year. They showed pace and some initiative with the ball and some tactical appreciation, but lacked size and organisation in the forwards, and specifically a couple of big, ball-playing forwards of the Roach variety. Second-rower and former Manly junior Daniel Divet showed himself to be a tough and willing customer and hooker. Francis Lope made some smart dashes while halves Patrick Etat and Gilles Dumas were a lively pairing. The opening try came when Mackay emerged from a melee with the ball after a Belcher bomb. Belcher was the man again when he put Daley spearing through and the five-eighth kicked ahead. McGaw in turn put his toe to the ball and easily won the race. A characteristic burst from Roach before slipping a great ball around defenders saw Daley cross. It elicited perhaps the longest description of a try ever heard from the French radio commentator present. The high decibel stuff went on for minutes and the only word decipherable was a quote "superb" in reference to Roach. A menacing Meninga charge in which he pushed away winger Cyrille Pons and carried three defenders with him brought up the next four-pointer. Scoring for the half was completed when Mackay pounced on an Allan Langer grubber kick. The only flare up had been a high tackle on Dale Shearer by Etat. Papua New Guinea referee Grahame Anui assisted the free-flowing play be letting knock-ons and blatant forward passes go unchecked. He certainly provided an open game and looks wonderful material to referee a Rugby Union Test. The French did extremely well to restrict Australia to three tries in the second half. A runaway looked certain when McGaw brushed through tacklers in the 10th minute after the break, but from there French resolution and basketball from the Australians kept the score comparatively respectable. Shearer snapped up a loose ball to sprint 60 metres three minutes later, but after that the Australians could manage only one more try. It came when hooker Kerrod Walters sent Mackay in for his hat-trick. Additional quotes - compiled from The Parkes Champion-Post and The Sydney Morning Herald Sydney fans would never have responded to last night's game if it had been played at the Sydney Football Stadium. The inevitable slaughter of the part-time Frenchmen might have drawn 6,000 spectators at best. The ARL knew this, so chose a country venue where League is appreciated. The response in Parkes was excitement bordering on hysteria. The best players in the world, giants in stature and reputation like Mal Meninga and Steve Roach, came to a town where, apart from a telescope, the major crowd-pullers are a vintage car museum and the Mugincoble wheat terminal.
The Parkes hotels and motels had been booked solid for months. Even the caravan parks were full, so travelling fans spilled into nearby towns such as Forbes, Orange and Peak Hill. On the Tuesday 5,000 people ignored icy conditions to line the major road and watch a parade of the players. Some 3,000 school children attended a coaching clinic starring the Australians. The front and back pages of local newspapers were devoted to the match. The Parkes Champion-Post carried a 16-page supplement. "It is just a huge, huge event," said Wayne Colley, the president of the Parkes Rugby League Club. "It is something which has captured everyone's imagination. Never has there been this much interest in a sporting event in the central west. The publicity it has brought the town - the national exposure - is something which can't be measured, can't be bought." There was much done to prepare Pioneer Oval for an international fixture. In April, Parkes copped sustained torrential rain and the oval was reduced to a quagmire. "It took thousands of volunteers hours to regrass the surface," Colley said, "and it's now like carpet. We also had to borrow the portable grandstand from the local showground." According to Tas Batieri, the French team's tour co-ordinator, there were mixed feelings. "Obviously, it is every player's dream to play at the Mecca of League - the Sydney Football Stadium or Lang Park," he said. But, in Parkes, the French were afforded a level of adulation they would not have received in the capital cities. "They have been VIPs here," Batieri said. "And some of them can't fathom it. In France, it is the Rugby Union and soccer players who are treated as heroes." There was good fortune for one Parkes youngster who had set his sights on obtaining a French jersey. Advised that he had no chance of success, he went to a training session anyway - armed with a Cronulla jersey and his father's Parramatta jersey. He approached the players and managed a trade that saw him secure a 1984 France test jersey, along with a French Grand Final jersey, two pairs of shorts, socks and some tracksuit pants. Ironically, one of the prime movers in bringing the match to Parkes, ARL boss Ken Arthurson, suffered a life-threatening injury on Pioneer Oval decades earlier. Captaining a country side as a promising 23-year-old halfback, Arthurson suffered a fractured skull from a stray knee and was given 48 hours to live. He spent three months in hospital and never played football again. AUSTRALIA 34 (B. Mackay 3, m. McGaw 2, L. Daley, M. Meninga, D. Shearer tries; G. Belcher goal) d. FRANCE 2 (G. Dumas goal) at Pioneer Ova, Parkes. Referee: G. Anui (PNG). Crowd: 12,384. Australia: Gary
Belcher, Michael O'Connor, Mal Meninga (c), Mark McGraw, Dale Shearer,
Laurie Daley, Allan Langer, Brad Mackay, Paul Sironen, David Gillespie,
Steve Roach, Kerrod Walters, Martin Bella. Replacements: Mark Carroll,
Andrew Ettingshausen. Page prepared with the assistance of the Development / Promotions Unit, Parkes Shire Council
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Parkes
could be in line for yet more big league games following the great response
to Wednesday's historic Australia-France Test at Pioneer Oval.