Kiwis Were Out For Keeps

Sean Fagan of RL1908.com

Australian rugby league owes a great debt to their New Zealand counterparts.

Quite rightly, credit is given to visit of the "All Golds" to Sydney in August 1907 for helping to kick-start the professional movement.

However, it was upon the New Zealanders return from England, in April and May 1908, that they gave their greatest contribution.

Some of the team, including George Smith, had chosen to accept the lucrative offers from English clubs and stayed behind. The team's founder and leader, Albert Baskerville, agonised over whether to remain himself, as he "wanted to see more" of Britain, so intrigued was he of the 'old country'.

In the end, Baskerville felt it was important to return to Australia and home, to help establish rugby league. It was a fateful decision for Baskerville.

Arriving in time for the last of the pre-season trial matches, the 'professional All Blacks' spread themselves out across the various clubs, giving their first-hand knowledge of the 13-man game.

Dick Wynyard, the Kiwi's half-back (who came from Hawke's Bay), told Sydney footballers that the key difference from rugby union was to stop kicking the ball into touch.

Success, Wynyard explained, would come from maintaining possession. "Use the ball through passing and having players back-up each other," said Wynyard. Arthur Hennessy was one who quickly grasped the significance of Wynyard's insight, and immediately adopted this philosophy at South Sydney. The Rabbitohs went on to win the first ever club premiership.

The New Zealanders visited Newcastle, playing the first ever League match in that city, before returning for two matches against NSW in Sydney. Wasting no time, the NSWRL scheduled the first Test match between the two countries for Saturday May 9 at the Agricultural Ground.

Despite rugby league not yet having taken the field in Brisbane, the NSWRL made sure the Australian team included Queenslanders. Three players travelled down to play their first ever rugby league game in the Test - Mickey Dore, Doug McLean and Bob Tubman. Souths' Hennessy was elected captain of the home team, that included Dally Messenger, Albert Rosenfeld, Jimmy Devereux and Dinny Lutge.

While the 25 year old Baskerville had been content to rarely play during the British tour, preferring to focus on his managerial role, the New Zealanders convinced him to take a place in the first Test team.

On a perfect Sydney winter's day, over 20,000 patrons pushed through the turnstiles. Just before 3.15p.m. Australia, wearing the light blue jerseys of NSW (with a kangaroo badge), came out from the pavilion, where 'the men were greeted with a roar of welcome'.

'Soon the redoubtable warriors in the black jersey came striding into the arena,' recorded The Herald, 'and were greeted with salvos of applause at a fever pitch.' After the New Zealanders performed their war-cry, the match kicked-off. 'Right from the start it could be seen that the New Zealanders were out for keeps - their forwards attacked like tigers.'

In a thrilling contest, the visitors held out the fast-finishing Australians 11-10. Ironically, it was Messenger's inability to land some relatively easy goals that proved the difference.

Baskerville, despite 'having taken a gruelling' at the hands of the Australians, was widely praised. 'Baskerville's form was an eye-opener in the New Zealand three-quarter line, and took any amount of stopping,' wrote one newspaper. Another added, 'it was due, in a great way, to his efforts that the All Blacks won'.

The match was regarded as a fine example of the greater possibilities for more spectacular play under the 'Northern Union' rules. The gate-money taken boosted the financial reserves of the NSWRL. With a further Sydney Test, and the New Zealand Maori team about to hit Sydney, the future of the new code looked reasonably assured.

Three days after the Test, the Kiwis sailed to Brisbane, where they would meet Queensland and play the second Test - the first rugby league games in the northern state.

Baskerville though had not fully recovered from the Sydney match, and caught the flu during the sea journey. In Brisbane his condition quickly deteriorated, and he was hospitalised with a case of acute pneumonia.

In a time long before anti-biotics, very little could be done for Baskerville, and he passed away on May 20.

Understandably, the New Zealanders were devastated and wanted to return home. However, they resolved to complete the tour's commitments and played the final two Test matches.

This article is based on Pioneers of Rugby League.

Seemingly in tribute to Baskerville, the Kiwis rallied for the Brisbane Test and achieved a 24-12 victory, which also secured the series.

The visit of the New Zealanders in 1908 showcased the 13-man game to the Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane public and footballers. It also garnered much needed initial funds for the NSWRL and QRL.

Had Baskerville and the Kiwis chosen to put their own interests first, the professional rugby movement in NSW and Queensland may not have seen out its first season.