The 1937–38 Kangaroo tour was the sixth

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours too ...

, in which the

Australian national rugby league team The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Comm ...

travelled to New Zealand, Great Britain and France and played thirty-eight matches, including the

Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, i ...

of three

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, and two Test matches each against the Kiwis and French. It followed the tour of 1933-34. Following a cessation of overseas international tours due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the next tour was staged in 1948-49.

The squad's leadership

The team was selected with Wally Prigg as captain and Jack Reardon as vice-captain. Tour co-managers were

Harry Sunderland Harry Sunderland (23 November 1889 – 15 January 1964) was an Australian rugby league football administrator and journalist. Sunderland was born in Gympie, Queensland in 1889. From 1913 to 1922, Sunderland was the Queensland Rugby League's ...

and Robert Savage.

Touring squad

The ''Rugby League News'' published headshots of the touring party, including the managers, in successive issues
July 3July 10
an
July 17
The names, weight and height of the players was also published. Collins, Gilbert, Heidke, McLean, Reardon, Robison, and Whittle were selected from Queensland clubs. Dawson, Gibbs, Hazelton, Prigg and Bert Williams were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney-based clubs during the 1937 season. Notes: * Tallies in the table below are compiled from match reports that appeared in Australian newspapers. Most articles were provided by the

Australian Associated Press Australian Associated Press Ltd (AAP) is an Australian news agency. It was founded in 1935 by Keith Murdoch. AAP employs around 90 journalists who work in bureaus in all states and territories of Australia except the Northern Territory. It al ...

and were amended by local editors.

Claude Corbett Claude Gordon Corbett (1885–1944) was an Australian sporting journalist and was the sporting editor for Sydney's ''Sun'' newspaper in the early twentieth century. Early life Claude Corbett was born in Waterloo, New South Wales in 1885 and ...

was present for the England leg of the tour, reporting for ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'', Sydney and the ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

'', Brisbane. Tour Manager

provided articles for ''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

'', Brisbane. * For nearly all matches, one or more newspapers listed the Australian team with the match report. An exception is the match against Catalans. The point-scorers in the Catalans match include two players who were not named in the team prior to the match. Consequently, 15 players are included in the tallies for the Catalans match. * Under the rules of the time, teams were limited to 13 players, with no ability to replace injured players. * Following a broken leg injury to Joe Pearce, sustained during the Second Test match in New Zealand,

Herb Narvo Hermann Olaf Frances "Herb" Narvo (19 August 1912 – 28 July 1958) was an Australian rugby league footballer and boxer of the 1930s and 1940s. He was a national representative rugby league player and national heavyweight boxing champion. He ...

was added to the squad. Narvo travelled to England separately from the touring party. Joe Pearce was permitted to continue with the group, and he travelled with the team to England and France.

Nez Zealand leg

1st Test

---- ----

2nd Test

----

England leg

Matches scheduled in December 1937 against Castleford, Cumberland, Hull Kingston Rovers and Hunslet were abandoned or cancelled due to snow or fog. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

1st Test

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

2nd Test

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

3rd Test

---- ----

France leg

Four years previously, the Kangaroos had travelled to France to play an international against England, in Paris, on New Year's Eve, 1933. On this tour, Australia played rugby league matches against French teams for the first time. France had played their first international against England in April 1934. Matches involving France against England and Wales had followed in the 1934–35, 1935–36 and 1936–37 European Championships. The 1st Test against Australia was France's 8th Test Match.

1st Test

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

2nd Test

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

References

External links

1937-38 Kangaroo Tour at Rugby League Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:1937-38 Kangaroo tour Australia national rugby league team tours Rugby league tours of Great Britain Rugby league tours of France