The 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fifth Kangaroo tour, 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 competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Com ...

around the north of England, to London and Paris. The tour also featured the 11th Ashes series which comprised three Test matches and was the first to be won by

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 ...

in a clean sweep. The squad's outbound journey was marred by tragedy when Sydney University centre Ray Morris contracted meningitis en route and died in hospital. The tour match played at Stade Pershing in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on New Year's Day 1934 was the first rugby league international played in France.

Touring squad

Frank McMillan was named as captain-coach of the touring squad after his Queensland counterpart Herb Steinohrt declared himself unavailable to tour (it would not be until Wally Lewis led the 1986 Kangaroos that another Queensland player would captain a Kangaroo Tour of Great Britain and France). George Bishop and Ernie Norman were selected but ruled out of the tour before the squad left Sydney.

Vic Hey Victor John Hey (18 November 1912 in Liverpool, New South Wales – 11 April 1995), also known by the nickname of "The Human Bullet", was an Australian rugby league national and state representative and later a successful first-grade and natio ...

and "Mick" Glasheen took their places.

The journey

Les Heidke was suffering from leg ulcers before the squad left Sydney and Dan Dempsey 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 Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Sri Lanka and in Egypt.

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

centre Ray Morris 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 Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

. 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

----

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

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...