1928 Great Britain Lions tour

Last updated

1928 Great Britain Lions tour
ManagerG.F. Hutchins and E. Osborne
Tour captain(s) Jonty Parkin
Top point scorer(s) Jim Sullivan (113) [1]
Top try scorer(s) Alf Ellaby (20) [1]
Summary
PWDL
Total
24 1815
Test match
6402
Opponent
PWDL
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
3 2 0 1
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
3 2 0 1
Tour chronology
Previous tour 1924
Next tour 1932

The 1928 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team of Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and August 1928. The tour involved a schedule of 24 games; 16 in Australia, including a three-test series against Australia for the Ashes and a further eight in New Zealand, including a three-test series against New Zealand.

Contents

Captained by Jonty Parkin, the Lions returned home having won 18, lost five and drawn one of their games. They won the Ashes against Australia by two tests to one, and also two out of three tests against New Zealand.

Squad

An initial 23-man squad for the tour was named on 29 February 1928, [2] with three additional players being selected two weeks later and Jonty Parkin being appointed as captain. [3] In April, Frank Gallagher declined his tour invitation for business reasons, [4] and Joe Thompson was selected as a replacement. [5]

NamePositionNationalityClub
Walter Gowers Fullback Flag of England.svg  England Rochdale Hornets
Jim Sullivan Fullback Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Wigan
Tom Askin Three-quarter Flag of England.svg  England Featherstone Rovers
Jim Brough Three-quarter Flag of England.svg  England Leeds
Alf Ellaby Three-quarter Flag of England.svg  England St Helens
John Evans Three-quarter Flag of England.svg  England Swinton
Alf Frodsham Three-quarter Flag of England.svg  England St Helens
Emlyn Gwynne Three-quarter Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Hull
Joe Oliver Three-quarter Flag of England.svg  England Batley
Mel Rosser Three-quarter Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Leeds
Bryn Evans Half-back Flag of England.svg  England Swinton
Les Fairclough Half-back Flag of England.svg  England St Helens
Jonty Parkin (c) Half-back Flag of England.svg  England Wakefield Trinity
William Rees Half-back Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Swinton
Nat Bentham Forward Flag of England.svg  England Wigan Highfield
Harold Bowman Forward Flag of England.svg  England Hull
Frank Bowen Forward Flag of England.svg  England St Helens Recs
Bill Burgess Forward Flag of England.svg  England Barrow
Oliver Dolan Forward Flag of England.svg  England St Helens Recs
Albert Fildes Forward Flag of England.svg  England St Helens Recs
Ben Halfpenny Forward Flag of England.svg  England St Helens
Bill Horton Forward Flag of England.svg  England Wakefield Trinity
Bob Sloman Forward Flag of England.svg  England Oldham
Joe Thompson Forward Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Leeds
Billy Williams Forward Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Salford
Harold Young Forward Flag of England.svg  England Bradford Northern

The two team managers were G.F. Hutchins of Oldham and E. Osborne of Warrington. [2]

Schedule and results

The touring party departed from Tilbury on 20 April 1928 on board the SS Cathay. [6] The team arrived in Melbourne on 28 May, with thirteen players travelling by train for the opening game of the tour in Cootamundra, while the rest of the team continued their journey via ship to Sydney. [7]

DateOpponentsScore (GB first)VenueAttendanceNotes
30 MaySouth West District14–14 Cootamundra 8,000
2 June New South Wales 15–20 Sydney 55,000
4 JuneNew South Wales22–9Sydney48,000
9 JuneNew South Wales7–22Sydney38,000
13 JuneFar Northern Coast20–9 Lismore 6,500
16 June Queensland 7–21 Brisbane 25,000
20 June Ipswich 23–13 Ipswich 2,000
23 JuneFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 15–12Brisbane39,200
27 June Central Queensland 27–11 Rockhampton 10,000
30 June Northern Queensland 30–16 Townsville 11,000
4 July Wide Bay 61–13 Bundaberg 4,000
7 JulyToowoomba17–12 Toowoomba 12,000
11 JulyNewcastle19–17 Newcastle 7,000
14 JulyFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 8–0Sydney44,548
18 JulyWestern NSW22–9 Parkes 9,000
21 JulyFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 14–21Sydney37,000
1 August South Auckland 31–5 Hamilton
4 AugustFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 13–17 Auckland 28,000
8 August Auckland 14–9Auckland15,000
11 AugustAuckland City26–15Auckland25,000
14 AugustBuller72–3 Westport
15 August West Coast 62–13 Greymouth
18 AugustFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 13–5 Dunedin 12,000
25 AugustFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 6–5 Christchurch 21,000

Following the end of the third test against New Zealand, the team departed Auckland aboard the RMS Niagara, and played two exhibition games in Canada before returning home. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 Saxton, Irvin (ed.). History of Rugby League: No.33 1927–1928. League Publications. p. 16.
  2. 1 2 "Rugby League Tour" . Leeds Mercury. 1 March 1928. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ↑ "Rugby Tour Party Completed" . Leeds Mercury. 15 March 1928. p. 11 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "Gallagher And Tour" . Hull Daily Mail. 3 April 1928. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ "Joe Thompson To Tour" . Athletic News. 9 April 1928. p. 14 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Rugby League Tourists" . Yorkshire Post. 21 April 1928. p. 23 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "English League Team". Newcastle Sun. 29 May 1928. p. 6 – via Trove.
  8. ↑ "The Niagara Sails". Auckland Star. 28 August 1928. p. 8 – via Papers Past.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.