The 1952–53 Kangaroo tour was the eighth

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 Great Britain and France and played forty 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 three Test matches against the French. It followed the tour of 1948-49 and the next was staged in 1956-57.

The squad's leadership

The team was captained by

Clive Churchill Clive Bernard Churchill Order of Australia, AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australians, Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian Kangaroos, Australian international and Ne ...

with Frank Stanmore as vice-captain. Tour co-managers were Doug MacLean and

Norm Robinson Norman "Latchem" Robinson (29 January 1901 – 18 March 1980) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer, coach, selector and club administrator for the Balmain Tigers club in Sydney and a City vs Country Origin, City, New South Wa ...

. In the matches in which neither Churchill nor Stanmore played, the Kangaroos were captained by

Duncan Hall Duncan Hall (24 August 192518 January 2011) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, singled out as having been amongst the greatest of the 20th century. He played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership fo ...

on 4 occasions (Wigan, Swinton, Dewsbury, and Selection de Midi) and Albert Paul on 3 occasions (French Selection, French Selection, Paris-Lyon). Three players captained the team in one match: Keith Holman (Doncaster),

Ferris Ashton Ferris Arthur Ashton (21 August 1926 – 29 January 2013) was an Australian rugby league footballer who represented his country in 8 test matches. Ferris was also a member of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during the Second World War. Club c ...

(Wakefield Trinity) and Noel Hazzard (French Selection).

Touring squad

The ''Rugby League News'' published
photo
and details of the touring team including the players' ages, weights, heights, and occupations. Match details - listing surnames of both teams and the point scorers - were included in ''E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook'', as was a summary of the players' point-scoring.
Crocker, Davies, Flannery, Hall, Hazzard, McCaffery, McGovern, and Rooney were selected from Queensland clubs. Carlson, Duncan, Gill, Paul, and Wells were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney-based clubs during the 1952 season.

Test Venues

The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.

Match Results

The touring party departed the eastern states before the conclusion of the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Brisbane and various regional competitions. On July 27, 1952, they played a match against

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

in Perth, winning 883. Travelling aboard the , the team arrived in England on August 24, 1952. Australia played 27 matches in England before moving in mid-December to France for a further 13 matches. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

1st Test

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2nd Test

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3rd Test

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1st Test

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2nd Test

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3rd Test

---- ---- ---- The tourists returned from France to London to meet the , departing England on the evening of February 2, 1953. The ship arrived in Fremantle on March 6 and to Sydney on March 17. The players were welcomed home by local League authorities.
A team selected from the touring Kangaroos played a match against ''The Rest of Australia'' on April 15, 1953. The Kangaroos won 33-21.

Sources

References

External links

1952-53 Kangaroo Tour at Rugby League Project
Australia national rugby league team tours Rugby league tours of Great Britain Rugby league tours of France

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