RL1908 - Rugby League Football History

Rugby League Kangaroos
The 1948 - 49 Tourists

The 1948 Kangaroos side was announced with the astonishing omission of Australia's incumbent captain-coach for the just completed home series against New Zealand, Newtown's Len Smith.

Despite a huge outcry the team was not changed and travelled to England under the direction of Western Suburbs' centre Col Maxwell. Despite the difficult beginning the players all got on well and displayed great team harmony.

The team included Clive Churchill, Les Cowie, Jack Rayner, Johnny Graves, Wally O'Connell, Doug McRitchie, Keith Froome, Fred De Belin and Duncan Hall.

Captaincy for the First Test went to Easts' Wally O'Connell after Maxwell was injured early in the tour. The match was described as one of the best Tests yet seen, with Britain running out winners by 23-21.

However, that was as close as the Kangaroos would get. They were well beaten in the final two Tests 16-7 and 23-9.

The team played much better in France winning both Tests well.

Recommended reading on the 1948-49 Kangaroos: "The Kangaroos" by Ian Heads (published by Ironbark Press 1994).

1948-49 Kangaroos team photo - SCG

1948-49 KANGAROOS

Back Row: B.Hopkins, F.Johnson, N.Mulligan, L.Cowie, L.Furness (trainer),
D.McRitchie, P.McMahon, W.Thompson, W.O'Connell
Middle Row: J.Hawke, F.deBelin, L.Pegg, R.Dimond, J.Horrigan,
J.Rayner, J.Holland, N.Hand, K.Schubert, A.Gibbs
Front Row: E.Brosnan, D.Hall, W.Tyquin, E.Simmonds (manager),
V.Bulgin, I.Benton, J.Graves
In Front: R.Lulham, C.Churchill, K.Froome

Col Maxwell of Western Suburbs

Tour Captain - Col Maxwell

Wally O'Conell (Easts & Manly) with Ernest Ward captain of Great Britain

Stand-in captain Wally O'Connell leads out the Kangaroos onto Headingley at Leeds for the 1st Test against Great Britain (led by captain Ernest Ward) in front of a crowd of over 36,000

Pat McMahon

Kangaroo winger Pat McMahon scores one of his two tries in the First Test against Great Britain. The Kangaroos went down 21-23 in what is viewed as one of the finest Test matches ever played.

Clive Churchill of South Sydney

Clive Churchill turned 21 on the tour and by its end he was well on the way to establishing his place as Australia's greatest ever fullback. Despite his emerging talents the Kangaroos lost a hard-fought 2nd Test 16-7 to Great Britain at Swinton (crowd of 37,137)

Les "Chicka" Cowie of South Sydney

Les "Chicka" Cowie was one of the many young players on this tour who would develop into greats of the Australian team in the years to come. Cowie played 20 games on tour and scored 10 tries.

Fred de Belin of Balmain

Despite the Kangaroos losing the 3rd Test against Great Britain 23-9, Fred de Belin's performance was rated by the English as the best forward on the field (Odsal Stadium in front of a crowd of over 43,000)

1948 Tour Program

The 1948-49 Kangaroos played 37 matches on tour (winning 24) in front of a record tour crowd of over 528,000 spectators. It was the first Kangaroo Tour in 11 years and none of the players had toured before. They lost the Test series to Great Britain 3-0, but beat the French in both Tests played.

Rugby League Kangaroos The 1948 - 49 Tourists

Rugby League Kangaroos
The 1948 - 49 Tourists