# 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain

The 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fifth Kangaroo tour, and took the Australia national rugby league team 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 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 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 and "Mick" Glasheen took their places.
| Name | Posit. | Club | Tests |
| Dave Brown | centre | Eastern Suburbs | 3 |
| Alan Ridley | Winger | Queanbeyan | 2 |
| Wally Prigg | Lock | Centrals (Newcastle) | 3 |
| Sid Pearce | Second row | Eastern Suburbs | 2 |
| Fred Gardner | Winger | St George Dragons | 1 |
| Vic Hey | Five-eighth | Western Suburbs | 3 |
| Jim Gibbs | Second row | South Newcastle | 2 |
| Jack Why | Winger | South Sydney | 2 |
| Joe Doyle | Second row | Brothers (Toowoomba) | 1 |
| Frank O'Connor | Front row | South Sydney | 2 |
| Cliff Pearce | centre | Western Suburbs | 3 |
| Les Mead | Halfback | Western Suburbs | 1 |
| Fred Laws | Halfback | Newtown (Toowoomba) | 1 |
| Ray Stehr | Front row | Eastern Suburbs | 2 |
| Frank McMillan (c) | Fullback | Western Suburbs | 2 |
| Mick Madsen | Front row | Brothers (Toowoomba) | 3 |
| Bill 'Circy' Smith | Fullback | Starlights (Ipswich) | 1 |
| Viv Thicknesse | Halfback | Eastern Suburbs | 2 |
| Frank Doonar | | Rialto (Ipswich) | 0 |
| Arthur Folwell | Hooker | Newtown | 2 |
| Fred Gilbert | | Valleys (Toowoomba) | 0 |
| Dan Dempsey | Hooker | Booval | 1 |
| Melville Glasheen | | Estates (Townsville) | 0 |
| Fred Neumann | Winger | Fortitude Valley | 0 |
| Frank Curran | Front row | South Sydney | 0 |
| Henry Denny | Forward | Western Suburbs (Brisbane) | 0 |
| Jack Little | Hooker | Fortitude Valley | 0 |
| Les Heidke | Second row | Tivoli | 0 |
| Ray Morris | centre | University | 0 |

## 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, Sri Lanka and in Egypt. Sydney University 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. 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.
| Swinton | Leeds |
| Station Road | Headingley |
| Capacity: 60,000 | Capacity: 40,000 |

## 1st Test

* 7 October 1933
| The Lions | 4 – 0 | Australia |
| Tries: Goals: Jim Sullivan (2) | | Tries: Goals: |
* Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 34,000 Referee: F Peel
| The Lions | Posit. | Australia |
| Jim Sullivan (c) | FB | Frank McMillan (c) |
| Alf Ellaby | WG | Alan Ridley |
| Gus Risman | CE | Cliff Pearce |
| Stan Brogden | CE | Dave Brown |
| Stan Smith | WG | Jack Why |
| Billy Davies | SO | Vic Hey |
| Bryn Evans | SH | Viv Thicknesse |
| Nat Silcock | PR | Ray Stehr |
| Les White | HK | Dan Dempsey |
| Jack Miller | PR | Mick Madsen |
| Martin Hodgson | SR | Sid Pearce |
| Bill Horton | SR | Frank O'Connor |
| Jack Feetham | LF | Wally Prigg |
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.

## 2nd Test

* 11 November 1933
| The Lions | 7 – 5 | Australia |
| Tries: Jack Woods Goals: Jim Sullivan (2) | | Tries: Dave Brown Goals: Dave Brown (1) |
* Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 29,688 Referee: F Peel
| The Lions | Posit. | Australia |
| Jim Sullivan (c) | FB | Bill Smith |
| Jack Woods | WG | Fred Gardner |
| Billy Dingsdale | CE | Cliff Pearce |
| Gus Risman | CE | Dave Brown |
| Barney Hudson | WG | Alan Ridley |
| Stan Brogden | SO | Vic Hey |
| Bryn Evans | SH | Viv Thicknesse |
| Nat Silcock | PR | Mick Madsen (c) |
| Les White | HK | Arthur Folwell |
| Jack Miller | PR | Frank O'Connor |
| Martin Hodgson | SR | Jim Gibbs |
| Bill Horton | SR | Joe Doyle |
| Jack Feetham | LF | Wally Prigg |

## 3rd Test

* 16 December 1933
| The Lions | 19 – 16 | Australia |
| Tries: Barney Hudson Jack Feetham Stan Smith Goals: Jim Sullivan (5) | | Tries: Vic Hey Wally Prigg Goals: Dave Brown (5) |
* Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 10,990 Referee: F Peel
| The Lions | Posit. | Australia |
| Jim Sullivan (c) | FB | Frank McMillan (c) |
| Barney Hudson | WG | Cliff Pearce |
| Gus Risman | CE | Dave Brown |
| Arthur Atkinson | CE | Fred Laws |
| Stan Smith | WG | Jack Why |
| Emlyn Jenkins | SO | Vic Hey |
| Billy Watkins | SH | Les Mead |
| Nat Silcock | PR | Mick Madsen |
| Thomas Armitt | HK | Arthur Folwell |
| Jack Feetham | PR | Ray Stehr |
| Martin Hodgson | SR | Sid Pearce |
| Jack Miller | SR | Jim Gibbs |
| Bill Horton | LF | Wally Prigg |
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

| N° | Opposing Team | F | A | Date | Venue | Attendance | Status |
| 1 | St Helens Recs | 13 | 9 | 26 Aug 1933 | City Road, St. Helens | 8,880 | Tour match |
| 2 | Leigh | 16 | 7 | 30 Aug 1933 | Mather Lane, Leigh | 4,590 | Tour match |
| 3 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 20 | 0 | 2 Sep 1933 | Craven Park, Hull | 7,831 | Tour match |
| 4 | Bramley | 53 | 6 | 6 Sep 1933 | Barley Mow, Bramley | 1,902 | Tour match |
| 5 | Oldham | 38 | 6 | 9 Sep 1933 | Watersheddings, Oldham | 15,281 | Tour match |
| 6 | Yorkshire | 13 | 0 | 13 Sep 1933 | Headingley, Leeds | 10,309 | Tour match |
| 7 | Barrow | 24 | 5 | 16 Sep 1933 | Craven Park, Barrow | 12,221 | Tour match |
| 8 | Lancashire | 33 | 7 | 20 Sep 1933 | Wilderspool, Warrington | 16,576 | Tour match |
| 9 | Wigan | 10 | 4 | 23 Sep 1933 | Central Park, Wigan | 15,712 | Tour match |
| 10 | Castleford | 39 | 6 | 27 Sep 1933 | Wheldon Road, Castleford | 4,250 | Tour match |
| 11 | Halifax | 16 | 5 | 30 Sep 1933 | Thrum Hall, Halifax | 10,358 | Tour match |
| 12 | The Lions | 0 | 4 | 7 Oct 1933 | Station Road, Swinton | 34,000 | Test match |
| 13 | Bradford Northern | 7 | 5 | 11 Oct 1933 | Birch Lane, Bradford | 3,328 | Tour match |
| 14 | Warrington | 15 | 2 | 14 Oct 1933 | Wilderspool, Warrington | 16,431 | Tour match |
| 15 | Hunslet | 22 | 18 | 18 Oct 1933 | Parkside, Hunslet | 6,227 | Tour match |
| 16 | Salford | 9 | 16 | 21 Oct 1933 | The Willows, Salford | 15,761 | Tour match |
| 17 | Widnes | 31 | 0 | 26 Oct 1933 | Naughton Park, Widnes | 6,691 | Tour match |
| 18 | Wakefield Trinity | 17 | 6 | 28 Oct 1933 | Belle Vue, Wakefield | 5,596 | Tour match |
| 19 | Bradford Northern | 10 | 7 | 30 Oct 1933 | Birch Lane, Bradford | 3,328 | Tour match |
| 20 | English League | 5 | 7 | 1 Nov 1933 | Clarence Street, York | 3,158 | Tour match |
| 21 | Swinton | 4 | 10 | 4 Nov 1933 | Station Road, Swinton | 13,341 | Tour match |
| 22 | The Lions | 5 | 7 | 11 Nov 1933 | Headingley, Leeds | 29,618 | Test match |
| 23 | Keighley | 14 | 7 | 14 Nov 1933 | Lawkholme Lane, Keighley | 3,800 | Tour match |
| 24 | Huddersfield | 13 | 5 | 18 Nov 1933 | Fartown, Huddersfield | 7,522 | Tour match |
| 25 | London Highfield | 20 | 5 | 22 Nov 1933 | White City, London | 10,541 | Tour match |
| 26 | Broughton Rangers | 19 | 0 | 25 Nov 1933 | Belle Vue, Manchester | 5,527 | Tour match |
| 27 | Leeds | 15 | 7 | 29 Nov 1933 | Headingley, Leeds | 5,295 | Tour match |
| 28 | St. Helens | 20 | 11 | 2 Dec 1933 | Knowsley Road, St. Helens | 5,735 | Tour match |
| 29 | Rochdale Hornets | 26 | 4 | 5 Dec 1933 | Athletic Grounds, Rochdale | 3,603 | Tour match |
| 30 | Cumberland | 16 | 17 | 9 Dec 1933 | Recreation Ground, Whitehaven | 5,800 | Tour match |
| 31 | The Lions | 16 | 19 | 16 Dec 1933 | Station Road, Swinton | 10,900 | Test match |
| 32 | York | 15 | 7 | 23 Dec 1933 | Clarence Street, York | 6,500 | Tour match |
| 33 | Hull F.C. | 19 | 5 | 25 Dec 1933 | The Boulevard, Hull | 16,341 | Tour match |
| 34 | Wales | 51 | 19 | 30 Dec 1933 | Wembley, London | 10,000 | International |
| 35 | England | 63 | 13 | 31 Dec 1933 | Stade Pershing, Paris | 5,000 | International |
| 36 | Oldham | 38 | 5 | 10 Jan 1934 | Watersheddings, Oldham | 4,000 | Tour match |
| 37 | England | 14 | 19 | 13 Jan 1934 | Redheugh Park, Gateshead | 15,576 | International |

## 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