The 1911 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. It was the first tour organised by the New Zealand Rugby League.
The trip earned the NZRL £3000 profit, thanks to £4000 from gate takings.[1] The tour served as a selection for the 1911-12 Australasian tour of Great Britain and resulted in the selection of George A. Gillett, Arthur Francis, Charlie Savory and Frank Woodward on that tour.
The touring party included backs; Ernie Asher, Ernie Buckland, Sid Kean, Ronald MacDonald, Frank Morse, Roy Siddells, George Smith, Reg Sprague, Barney Winder, Frank Woodward, forwards; Charles Dunning, Tom Cotterill, Bert Feary, Arthur Francis, Dave Mason, Walter Milne, Jim Rukutai, Charles Savory, Alex Stanaway and utilities; George A. Gillett and George Seagar.[2]
Jim Gilmour and former All Black Billy Mitchell joined the team while in Australia. Mitchell had been bought over to Australia to play in the Queensland Rugby League competition.[3] Gilmour played for Queensland before joining the New Zealand side.[1]
The team was managed by Ted Phelan of Auckland.[4]
Before the tour New Zealand defeated Auckland 16-14 at the Takapuna Racecourse.[5]
They lost three matches to New South Wales, defeated Newcastle by 21-20, defeated Queensland two games to one and defeated Hunter River by 40-8.[6]
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Attendance | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | Loss | 10-35 | 46,000 | |||
| New South Wales | Sydney | Loss | 10-26 | ||||
| Newcastle | Newcastle | Win | 21-20 | ||||
| Queensland | Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane | Win | 24-13 | ||||
| Queensland | Brisbane | Loss | 13-23 | ||||
| Queensland | Brisbane | Win | 18-14 | ||||
| Hunter river | Newcastle | Win | 40-8 | ||||
| New South Wales | Sydney | Loss | 7-39 |