1928 Great Britain Lions tour explained

Manager:G.F. Hutchins and E. Osborne
Captain:Jonty Parkin
Top Point Scorer:Jim Sullivan (113)[1]
Top Try Scorer:Alf Ellaby (20)
Matchplayed:24
Matchwon:18
Matchdraw:1
Matchlost:5
Testplayed:6
Testwon:4
Testdraw:0
Testlost:2
Played1:3
Won1:2
Draw1:0
Lost1:1
Played2:3
Won2:2
Draw2:0
Lost2:1
Previous:1924
Next:1932

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,[2] with three additional players being selected two weeks later and Jonty Parkin being appointed as captain.[3] In April, Frank Gallagher declined his tour invitation for business reasons,[4] and Joe Thompson was selected as a replacement.[5]

NamePositionNationalityClub
Rochdale Hornets
Featherstone Rovers
Leeds
St Helens
Swinton
St Helens
Hull
Batley
Leeds
Swinton
St Helens
Wakefield Trinity
Swinton
Wigan Highfield
Hull
St Helens Recs
Barrow
St Helens Recs
St Helens Recs
St Helens
Wakefield Trinity
Oldham
Leeds
Salford
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.[6] 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.[7]

DateOpponentsScore (GB first)VenueAttendanceNotes
30 May South West District align="center" 8,000
2 June align="center" 55,000
4 June New South Wales align="center" Sydney 48,000
9 June New South Wales align="center" Sydney 38,000
13 June Far Northern Coast align="center" 6,500
16 June align="center" 25,000
20 June align="center" 2,000
23 June align="center" Brisbane 39,200
27 June align="center" 10,000
30 June align="center" 11,000
4 July align="center" 4,000
7 July Toowoomba align="center" 12,000
11 July Newcastle align="center" 7,000
14 July align="center" Sydney 44,548
18 July Western NSW align="center" 9,000
21 July align="center" Sydney 37,000
1 August align="center"
4 August align="center" 28,000
8 August align="center" Auckland 15,000
11 August Auckland City align="center" Auckland 25,000
14 August Buller align="center"
15 August align="center"
18 August align="center" 12,000
25 August align="center" 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.[8]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Saxton . Irvin . History of Rugby League: No.33 1927–1928. League Publications . 16.
  2. News: Rugby League Tour . Leeds Mercury . 1 March 1928 . 9 . . subscription.
  3. News: Rugby Tour Party Completed . Leeds Mercury . 15 March 1928 . 11 . . subscription.
  4. News: Gallagher And Tour . Hull Daily Mail . 3 April 1928 . 5 . . subscription.
  5. News: Joe Thompson To Tour . Athletic News . 9 April 1928 . 14 . . subscription.
  6. News: Rugby League Tourists . Yorkshire Post . 21 April 1928 . 23 . . subscription.
  7. News: English League Team . Newcastle Sun . 29 May 1928 . 6 . Trove.
  8. News: The Niagara Sails . Auckland Star . 28 August 1928 . 8 . Papers Past.