# 1928 Great Britain Lions tour

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.
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, with three additional players being selected two weeks later and Jonty Parkin being appointed as captain. In April, Frank Gallagher declined his tour invitation for business reasons, and Joe Thompson was selected as a replacement.
| Name | Position | Nationality | Club |
| Walter Gowers | Fullback | England | Rochdale Hornets |
| Jim Sullivan | Fullback | Wales | Wigan |
| Tom Askin | Three-quarter | England | Featherstone Rovers |
| Jim Brough | Three-quarter | England | Leeds |
| Alf Ellaby | Three-quarter | England | St Helens |
| John Evans | Three-quarter | England | Swinton |
| Alf Frodsham | Three-quarter | England | St Helens |
| Emlyn Gwynne | Three-quarter | Wales | Hull |
| Joe Oliver | Three-quarter | England | Batley |
| Mel Rosser | Three-quarter | Wales | Leeds |
| Bryn Evans | Half-back | England | Swinton |
| Les Fairclough | Half-back | England | St Helens |
| Jonty Parkin (c) | Half-back | England | Wakefield Trinity |
| William Rees | Half-back | Wales | Swinton |
| Nat Bentham | Forward | England | Wigan Highfield |
| Harold Bowman | Forward | England | Hull |
| Frank Bowen | Forward | England | St Helens Recs |
| Bill Burgess | Forward | England | Barrow |
| Oliver Dolan | Forward | England | St Helens Recs |
| Albert Fildes | Forward | England | St Helens Recs |
| Ben Halfpenny | Forward | England | St Helens |
| Bill Horton | Forward | England | Wakefield Trinity |
| Bob Sloman | Forward | England | Oldham |
| Joe Thompson | Forward | Wales | Leeds |
| Billy Williams | Forward | Wales | Salford |
| Harold Young | Forward | England | Bradford Northern |
The two team managers were G.F. Hutchins of Oldham and E. Osborne of Warrington.

## Schedule and results

The touring party departed from Tilbury on 20 April 1928 on board the SS Cathay. 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.
| Date | Opponents | Score (GB first) | Venue | Attendance |
| 30 May | South West District | 14–14 | Cootamundra | 8,000 |
| 2 June | New South Wales | 15–20 | Sydney | 55,000 |
| 4 June | New South Wales | 22–9 | Sydney | 48,000 |
| 9 June | New South Wales | 7–22 | Sydney | 38,000 |
| 13 June | Far Northern Coast | 20–9 | Lismore | 6,500 |
| 16 June | Queensland | 7–21 | Brisbane | 25,000 |
| 20 June | Ipswich | 23–13 | Ipswich | 2,000 |
| 23 June | Australia | 15–12 | Brisbane | 39,200 |
| 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 July | Toowoomba | 17–12 | Toowoomba | 12,000 |
| 11 July | Newcastle | 19–17 | Newcastle | 7,000 |
| 14 July | Australia | 8–0 | Sydney | 44,548 |
| 18 July | Western NSW | 22–9 | Parkes | 9,000 |
| 21 July | Australia | 14–21 | Sydney | 37,000 |
| 1 August | South Auckland | 31–5 | Hamilton | |
| 4 August | New Zealand | 13–17 | Auckland | 28,000 |
| 8 August | Auckland | 14–9 | Auckland | 15,000 |
| 11 August | Auckland City | 26–15 | Auckland | 25,000 |
| 14 August | Buller | 72–3 | Westport | |
| 15 August | West Coast | 62–13 | Greymouth | |
| 18 August | New Zealand | 13–5 | Dunedin | 12,000 |
| 25 August | 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.