| Tour: | 1953 |
| Team: | Australia |
| Yearstart: | 1953 |
| Yearfinish: | 1953 |
| Destination: | New Zealand |
| Manager: | Dudley F. Locke George McLeod |
| Coach: | Clive Churchill |
| Captain: | Clive Churchill |
| Top Point Scorer: | Noel Pidding 63 |
| Top Try Scorer: | Des McGovern 19 |
| Top Test Point Scorer: | Noel Pidding 13 Des White 24 |
| Top Test Try Scorer: | Ken McCaffery 2 Harry Wells 2 Ron McKay 3 |
| Matchplayed: | 9 |
| Matchwon: | 7 |
| Matchdraw: | 0 |
| Matchlost: | 2 |
| Testplayed: | 3 |
| Testwon: | 1 |
| Testdraw: | 0 |
| Testlost: | 2 |
| Played1: | 3 |
| Won1: | 1 |
| Draw1: | 0 |
| Lost1: | 2 |
| Previous: | 1949 to 1952 to 1952-53 to |
| Next: | 1956 to 1952-53 to 1961 to |
The 1953 Kangaroo Tour of New Zealand was a mid-season tour of New Zealand by the Australia national rugby league team. The Australians played nine matches on tour, including three tests against the New Zealand national rugby league team. The tour began on 24 June and finished on 18 July.[1]
Clive Churchill was both the captain and the coach of the touring side. He appeared in eight of the nine matches.
In the one game in which Churchill was absent, against Northland, Ken McCaffery captained the Australian team.
The team was managed by Dudley Locke of Wollongong and George McLeod of Maryborough.[2]
The Rugby League News published the touring team including the players' ages and weights.[3] Match details - listing surnames of both teams and the point scorers - were included in E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook, as was a summary of the players' point-scoring.[4]
Crocker, Davies, Drew, Hornery, Banks, McCaffery, McGovern and Watson were selected from Queensland clubs. Carlson, Gill and Paul were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney based clubs during the 1953 season.
| Player | Age | Weight | Club | Tests on Tour | Games | Tries | Goals | FG | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | 26 | 14 st. 8 lb. (93 kg) | align=left | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 0 | align=right | 22 | ||||
| align=left | 23 | 14 st. 4 lb. (91 kg) | align=left | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | align=right | 6 | |||||
| align=left | 20 | 13 st. 3 lb. (84 kg) | align=left | Newcastle Northern Suburbs | 2 | 6 | 16 | 5 | align=right | 58 | ||||
| align=left | 26 | 11 st. 7 lb. (73 kg) | align=left | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | align=right | 3 | ||||
| align=left | 28 | 13 st. 4 lb. (84 kg) | align=left | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | align=right | 0 | ||||
| align=left | 24 | 15 st. 0 lb. (95 kg) | align=left | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | align=right | 0 | ||||
| align=left | 22 | 15 st. 0 lb. (95 kg) | align=left | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | align=right | 9 | ||||
| align=left | Bernie Drew | 24 | 13 st. 7 lb. (86 kg) | align=left | Ipswich Railways | 1 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 0 | align=right | 31 | ||
| align=left | 30 | 13 st. 12 lb. (88 kg) | align=left | Newcastle Northern Suburbs | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | align=right | 5 | |||
| align=left | 21 | 13 st. 0 lb. (83 kg) | align=left | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | align=right | 9 | ||||
| align=left | 25 | 11 st. 9 lb. (74 kg) | align=left | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | align=right | 10 | ||||
| align=left | 27 | 13 st. 6 lb. (85 kg) | align=left | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | align=right | 5 | ||||
| align=left | 27 | 14 st. 2 lb. (90 kg) | align=left | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | align=right | 0 | ||||
| align=left | 22 | 12 st. 6 lb. (79 kg) | align=left | Toowoomba Newtown | 3 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | align=right | 16 | |||
| align=left | 23 | 13 st. 0 lb. (83 kg) | align=left | Toowoomba Souths | 3 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | align=right | 24 | |||
| align=left | 24 | 13 st. 4 lb. (84 kg) | align=left | Toowoomba Newtown | 1 | 6 | 19 | 1 | 0 | align=right | 59 | |||
| align=left | Albert Paul | 25 | 14 st. 2 lb. (90 kg) | align=left | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | align=right | 5 | |||
| align=left | 26 | 12 st. 6 lb. (79 kg) | align=left | 3 | 8 | 9 | 18 | 0 | align=right | 63 | ||||
| align=left | 20 | 13 st. 4 lb. (84 kg) | align=left | 0 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | align=right | 20 | ||||
| align=left | 21 | 14 st. 2 lb. (90 kg) | align=left | Wollongong | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | align=right | 21 |
The Australians played nine matches on the tour, winning seven matches and losing two, both being tests against the Kiwis.--------