This article contains information on rugby league played in 2006. The season commenced with the World Club Challenge in England in February and concluded with the Tri-Nations Final in Australia in November.
Women's rugby league is the female-only version of rugby league.
The Country New South Wales rugby league team is a representative rugby league football team. Between 1987 and 2017 there were two tiers: the Origin team that consisted of professional players who originated from clubs of the Country Rugby League and a representative team of amateur and semi-professional players. The Country Origin team played annually in the City vs Country Origin competition against the City New South Wales rugby league team, which was made up of players originating from Sydney. This match was discontinued in 2017.
The 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand was the first ever tour of Australasia by any French sports team in history. Puig Aubert captained the France national rugby league team who played 28 matches in total in both Australia and New Zealand, winning 21 of them in what is regarded as the high point in the history of rugby league in France. The Australian Test series resulted in a 2–1 victory to France; however, the tourists then lost their match against the New Zealand national rugby league team. Welcoming the team home to Marseille, more than 150,000 people turned out for a street parade.
The Newcastle rugby league team is a representative rugby league football team made up of players selected from the Newcastle Rugby League's first grade clubs. Also called Newcastle Firsts, the team has been assembled occasionally since rugby league's first season in Australia in 1908.
The 1920 Great Britain Lions tour was the third British national rugby league team or 'Lions' tour of Australasia, where it was winter and matches were played against the Australian and New Zealand national sides, as well as several local teams. In Australia, the three-Test match series was won by the hosts. In New Zealand another three-Test series was played and won by the visitors. The tour was a success and brought in a handsome profit.
The 1985 Kangaroo Tour of New Zealand was a mid-season tour of New Zealand by the Australia national rugby league team. The Australians played six matches on tour, including the final two games of a three-game test series against the New Zealand with the first test taking place in Brisbane on 18 June. The NZ tour began on 19 June and finished on 10 July.
Women's rugby league is a popular women's sport in Australia. The sport has a high level of participation in the country both recreational and professional. Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) is the national governing body of the sport in Australia, organising the Australian Women's Rugby League, the Australian women's national team, and the nine state governing bodies of the game, among other duties. Women's participation of modern rugby league has been recorded since the early 1920s. It has since become one of Australia's most popular women's team sports.
The 1946 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team of Australia and New Zealand which took place between April and August 1946. The tour involved a schedule of 27 games: 20 in Australia including a three-test series against Australia for the Ashes, and a further 7 in New Zealand including one test match against New Zealand.
The 1980 Kangaroo Tour of New Zealand was a mid-season tour of New Zealand by the Australia national rugby league team. The Australians played seven matches on tour, including a two test series against the New Zealand national rugby league team. The tour began on 1 June and finished on 17 June.
Nita Maynard is a New Zealand rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL Women's Premiership.
The 1959 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia was the nineteenth tour of by New Zealand's national rugby league team, and the fourteen tour to visit Australia. The team lost the first two Test Matches of a three match series, but won every other match.
The 1950 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 1950. The tour involved a schedule of 25 games: 19 in Australia including a three-test series against Australia for the Ashes, and a further 6 in New Zealand including two test matches against New Zealand. A scheduled fixture in Forbes, New South Wales, against a Western Districts team, was abandoned when the chartered plane could not land due to bad weather. Captained by Ernest Ward, the Lions returned home having won 19 and lost 6 of their games. The team won the first test match of the tour but lost the second and third to lose the Ashes Test series to Australia. The team also lost both Test Matches in and against New Zealand. Despite being a British team – five of the squad were Welsh – the team played, and were often referred to by both the press at home and away, as England.
The 1954 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 1954. Captained by Dickie Williams, the tour involved a schedule of 32 games: 22 in Australia and 10 in New Zealand, with two three-match Test Series against both nations.
The tour began inauspiciously, with Great Britain losing four of their first seven matches, including the First Test against Australia in Sydney. Moving into the Queensland leg, the Lions' results improved, and they won all nine of their matches in the state. This included victory in the Second Test in Brisbane.
A common feature of many of the tour matches was rough play, punches being throw in and out of tackles. The July 10 match against New South Wales was abandoned by the referee seventeen minutes into the second half due to persistent brawling by the players.
One week after the abandoned game, Australia won the Third Test to claim the Ashes by a 2–1 margin.
Moving to New Zealand, Great Britain lost the Second Test, but recovered to win the Third Test and the series, by a 2–1 margin.
The tour concluded with three matches in five days back in Australia at Sydney, Canberra and Maitland.
Despite being a British team – five of the squad were Welsh, two from Scotland and hooker Tom McKinney from Northern Ireland – the team played, and were often referred to by both the press at home and away, as England.
The 1952 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia was the sixteenth tour by New Zealand's national rugby league team, and the twelfth tour to visit Australia. The thirteen-match tour included three Test Matches.
Captained by Travers Hardwick and coached by Jim Amos, the Kiwis completed a successful tour, winning ten of the thirteen matches. The team recovered from losing the First Test Match, to win – in the space of five days – the Second and Third Tests and claim the series by a two-one margin.
The 1953 American All Stars rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand was a tour by a group of twenty men who had not previously played the sport of Rugby League. Most of the team were current or former College Gridiron footballers with Stanford University, the University of California, Los Angeles, or the University of Southern California. Some of the party had played rugby union at their colleges, during gridiron off-seasons.
The 1956 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia was the eighteenth tour by New Zealand's national rugby league team, and the thirteenth tour to visit Australia. The fifteen-match tour included three Test Matches.
The touring team began with a pair of wins but then lost the next two, against Newcastle and the First Test in Sydney. Five strong performances in Queensland followed, with wins by wide margins in high-scoring matches. In contrast, the Second Test was a low-scoring match, Australia winning 8 to 2 to secure their first Trans-Tasman series win since 1935. New Zealand lost the Third Test, and thus the series three-nil, and also the two tour matches that followed.
The 1952–53 Kangaroo tour was the eighth Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team travelled to Great Britain and France and played forty matches, including the Ashes series of three Test matches against Great Britain and three Test matches against the French. It followed the tour of 1948-49 and the next was staged in 1956-57.
The 1948–49 Kangaroo tour was the seventh Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team travelled to Great Britain and France and played thirty-seven matches, including the Ashes series of three Test matches against Great Britain, an international match against Wales and two Test matches against the French. It followed the tour of 1937-38 and a cessation of overseas international tours due to World War II. The next was staged in 1952-53.
The 1937–38 Kangaroo tour was the sixth Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team travelled to New Zealand, Great Britain and France and played thirty-eight matches, including the Ashes series of three Test matches against Great Britain, 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, the next tour was staged in 1948-49.
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