The 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fifth

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian 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 to ...

, and took the

Australia national rugby league team The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of Rugby league in Australia, the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Admin ...

around the north of England, to London and Paris. The tour also featured the 11th Ashes series which comprised three

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

and was the first to be won by Great Britain in a clean sweep. The squad's outbound journey was marred by tragedy when Sydney University centre

Ray Morris Ray Morris (1908-1933) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. A New South Wales representative three-quarter back, he played his club football in Sydney for Western Suburbs (with whom he won t ...

contracted meningitis en route and died in hospital. The tour match played at Stade Pershing in Paris on New Year's Day 1934 was the first rugby league international played in France.

Touring squad

Frank McMillan Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

was named as captain-coach of the touring squad after his Queensland counterpart

Herb Steinohrt Herbert Walt Steinohrt (21 October 1897 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s as a front row forward for the Australian national team. He played in 9 Tests between 1928 and 1932 ...

declared himself unavailable to tour.

George Bishop George Bishop is the name of: * George Bishop (astronomer) (1785–1861), British astronomer ** George Bishop's Observatory, the observatory built by Bishop in London * George Bishop (priest) (1852–1939), Australian Anglican, Archdeacon of Kynet ...

and

Ernie Norman Ernest James Norman (12 October 1912 – 3 August 1993) was an Australian rugby league player - a state and national representative or . His club career was with the Eastern Suburbs club in the New South Wales Rugby Football League competition. ...

were selected but ruled out of the tour before the squad left Sydney. Vic Hey and "Mick" Glasheen took their places.

The journey

Les Heidke Les Heidke, also known by the nickname of "Monty", was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. An Australian international and Queensland interstate representative forward, he played club football in the Ips ...

was suffering from leg ulcers before the squad left Sydney and

Dan Dempsey Dan Dempsey (15 January 1902 – 9 January 1960) was an Australian rugby league Australian Kangaroos, national and Queensland Maroons, Queensland state representative player. He played his career at and is considered one of the nation's finest f ...

was brought in to take his place. The Queenslanders in the squad all contributed £10 to enable Heidke to make the tour as a private citizen and to perhaps recover in time to play. Heidke sailed with the squad from Sydney on the ''SS Manduna'' bound for Melbourne where they boarded the ''SS Jervis Bay'' for England. At sea Heidke's condition did not improve and he was put off the ship in Perth and headed home. Exhibition matches were played in Colombo, Sri Lanka and in Egypt.

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

centre

contracted an ear infection at sea. In the Mediterranean his condition worsened and he was put off the ship in Malta and hospitalised in Valletta. Two days later he died of meningitis.

Test Venues

The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues. Two of the tests were played at Swinton.

1st Test

The Australian team enjoyed an eleven match winning streak on the tour matches leading into the first Test. For the first sixty-five minutes of the match there was no score in the muddy conditions, then Lions fullback Jim Sullivan proved the difference with two penalty goals.Whiticker p97 ----

2nd Test

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3rd Test

In winning the match which was played in thick fog, England became the first team to post a 3–0 clean sweep in an Anglo-Australian Test series. ----

Matches of the tour

Tour firsts

* The first Australian side to play a rugby exhibition match in Ceylon and Egypt. * The first Australian side to play a match under lights. * The first English side to win the Ashes in a clean sweep. * The first rugby international to be played in France. * Dave Brown's tour point-scoring record of 285 points (19 tries and 114 goals) remains unsurpassed.

Published sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1933-34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Australia national rugby league team tours Rugby league tours of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain