page_title: 1907–08 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain
section_title: 1907 in Australia
hierarchical_section_title: 1907–08 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain / 1907 in Australia
caption_attribution_description: English: Dally Messenger - 1930 - rugby league player. taken prior to 1 January 1955 from http://www.pictureaustralia.org/
context_page_description: The 1907–1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain was made by a group of New Zealand rugby footballers who played matches in Australia, Ceylon, England and Wales between 1907 and 1908. Most of the matches were played under the rules of the Northern Union, a sport that is today known as rugby league. As such, the team were the immediate predecessors of the New Zealand national rugby league team. The tour had a large role in establishing rugby league in both Australia and New Zealand, and also gave birth to international rugby league. The tour party has come to be known as the professional All Blacks or All Golds, although at the time they were commonly referred to as the All Blacks—a named popularised by the New Zealand rugby union team that toured the Northern Hemisphere in 1905.
  The idea for a professional rugby tour was conceived by Albert Baskiville, a player from the Wellington region of New Zealand. Baskiville managed to recruit a significant number of international and provincial representatives for the team; including George Smith who toured with the All Blacks team of 1905. The team played their first match in Sydney in 1907 against New South Wales.
context_section_description: With the tour plans well underway George Smith contacted Peter Moir, a prominent Sydney player, asking if it would be possible to arrange a set of games in Sydney. Moir contacted others including J J Giltinan, who Smith had already talked to, before replying that a series of games would be able to be arranged. Rugby players in Sydney shared many of the New Zealand players' concerns about payment and rules. On 8 August 1907 the New South Wales Rugby League was formed. The New South Welshmen organised quickly and were ready to welcome the New Zealanders when the main touring party arrived on 13 August 1907. The New South Wales rugby union side had defeated the New Zealand rugby union team 14–0 in their second of two matches in 1907 and so were expected to be tough opponents, especially as the professional All Blacks had yet to form combinations and several of the Auckland-based players had not yet arrived in Sydney.
  The first game was played on the Royal Agricultural Society Ground to a sold out crowd of 20,000. Played under rugby union rules, the visitors led 6–0 at halftime and closed out the match, winning 12–8. The stars of the first game were Richard Wynyard for New Zealand and Dally Messenger for the New South Wales side. The game was deemed to be a great success, as the organisers had not expected a crowd over 12,000.
  The second game, a mid-week game, was held in front of a crowd of approximately 3,000. The All Blacks, who had made several changes, defeated the "All Blues" 19–5.
  The New Zealanders then won the third match of the series 5–3 in front of a crowd of 8,000 at the Agricultural Ground. Dally Messenger, playing his first game as captain, again starred and was invited to join the touring party.
  It is unclear when the decision to invite Messenger was made, with some reports saying that he was recommended to Baskiville in New Zealand by George Gillett when he had to withdraw from the touring party due to injury. Messenger's name was included on the contract bought over from New Zealand, indicating that the decision had already been made. However, Messenger's form against the All Blacks in Sydney was certainly good enough to warrant his inclusion in the touring party. A fourth match had originally been planned in Melbourne, as an attempt to foster rugby in the city, but the plans fell through for unknown reasons. Instead the All Blacks left Australia, having earned £600 from the three games. During their short stay the tourists had helped kick-start the professional movement in Sydney. While leaving Australia news came through that the New Zealand Rugby Union had issued life bans to all of those involved in the tour.
  The financial success of the All Golds' games in Sydney gave valuable momentum to Giltinan and Co.'s scheme to introduce a professional district rugby football competition in Sydney the following season.
caption: Messenger played against the All Blacks in Sydney and then joined them on their tour of Great Britain
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