1973 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France explained

Tour:	1973
Team:	Australia
Yearstart:	1973
Yearfinish:	1973
Destination:	England France
Manager:	Charles Gibson Albert Bishop
Coach:	Graeme Langlands
Captain:	Graeme Langlands Bob McCarthy Tom Raudonikis Arthur Beetson
Top Point Scorer:	Mick Cronin 77
Top Try Scorer:	Bob Fulton 20
Top Test Point Scorer:	Bob Fulton 15
Top Test Try Scorer:	Bob Fulton 5
Matchplayed:	19
Matchwon:	17
Matchdraw:	0
Matchlost:	2
Testplayed:	5
Testwon:	4
Testdraw:	0
Testlost:	1
Played1:	3
Won1:	2
Draw1:	0
Lost1:	1
Played2:	2
Won2:	2
Draw2:	0
Lost2:	0
Previous:	1967-68
Next:	1978

The 1973 Kangaroo Tour was the thirteenth Kangaroo Tour, and saw the Australian national rugby league team travel to Europe and play nineteen matches against British and French club and representative rugby league teams, in addition to three Test matches against Great Britain and two Tests against the French. It followed the tour of 1967-68 and the next was staged in 1978.

The squad's leadership

The team was captain-coached by Graeme Langlands making his third Kangaroo Tour. Managers of the team were Albert Bishop and Charlie Gibson with Alf Richards as the team trainer.

Touring squad

The following players were in the touring squad.^[1] |- bgcolor="#CCCCFF"| Player| Club| Position(s)| Tests| Games| Tries| Goals| F/Goals| Points|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Arthur Beetson (vc)| Eastern Suburbs Roosters| | align=right | 5| align=right | 16| align=right | 3| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 9|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Ray Branighan| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles| | align=right | 4| align=right | 13| align=right | 7| align=right | 2| align=right | 0| align=right | 25|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Mick Cronin| Gerringong Lions| | align=right | 2| align=right | 12| align=right | 7| align=right | 28| align=right | 0| align=right | 77|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Graham Eadie| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles| | align=right | 2| align=right | 10| align=right | 4| align=right | 9 | align=right | 0| align=right | 30|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Bob Fulton| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles| | align=right | 5| align=right | 14| align=right | 20| align=right | 0| align=right | 1| align=right | 61|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Ted Goodwin| St George Dragons| | align=right | 3| align=right | 10| align=right | 7| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 21|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Bill Hamilton| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles| | align=right | 0| align=right | 8| align=right | 1| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 3|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| John Lang| Eastern Suburbs Tigers (Qld)| | align=right | 1| align=right | 7| align=right | 2| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 6|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Graeme Langlands (c)| St George Dragons| | align=right | 1| align=right | 8| align=right | 4| align=right | 27| align=right | 0| align=right | 66|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Ken Maddison| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks| | align=right | 4| align=right | 13| align=right | 6| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 18|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Bob McCarthy (vc)| South Sydney Rabbitohs| | align=right | 2| align=right | 8| align=right | 4| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 12 |-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| John O'Neill| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles| | align=right | 1| align=right | 6| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 0|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Bob O'Reilly| Parramatta Eels| | align=right | 4| align=right | 13| align=right | 0| align=right | 0 | align=right | 0| align=right | 0|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Warren Orr| Wests Panthers (Qld)| | align=right | 0| align=right | 6| align=right | 4| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 12|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Tim Pickup| North Sydney Bears| | align=right | 4| align=right | 12| align=right | 2| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 6|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Greg Pierce| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks| | align=right | 1| align=right | 8| align=right | 1| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 3|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Terry Randall| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles| | align=right | 0| align=right | 5| align=right | 1| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 3|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Tom Raudonikis (vc)| Western Suburbs Magpies| | align=right | 4| align=right | 10| align=right | 3| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 9|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Steve Rogers| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks| | align=right | 0| align=right | 7| align=right | 2| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 6|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Paul Sait| South Sydney Rabbitohs| | align=right | 4| align=right | 13| align=right | 2| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 6|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Geoff Starling| Balmain Tigers| | align=right | 5| align=right | 13| align=right | 8| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 24|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Gary Stevens| South Sydney Rabbitohs| | align=right | 3| align=right | 8| align=right | 1| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 3|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| David Waite| Wests Wollongong| | align=right | 4| align=right | 12| align=right | 4| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 12|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Elwyn Walters| South Sydney Rabbitohs| | align=right | 4| align=right | 15| align=right | 2| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 6|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Dennis Ward| Western Suburbs Rosellas| | align=right | 0| align=right | 8| align=right | 1| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 3|-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| Lionel Williamson| Newtown Bluebags| | align=right | 3| align=right | 9| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 0| align=right | 0|-1973 NSWRFL Premiers Manly-Warringah provided a record 6 players to the Kangaroos.

Great Britain

The Ashes series against Great Britain saw an aggregate crowd of 36,567 attending the Test series

Test Venues

The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.

London	Leeds	Warrington
Wembley	Headingley	Wilderspool
Capacity: 100,000	Capacity: 30,000	Capacity: 15,000

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The Ashes series

First Test

In the first rugby league international played at Wembley since 1963, the Lions shocked the then unbeaten Australian's 21-12 in front of just 9,874 fans. The match had been moved to Wembley from the Central Park ground in Wigan at the request of the Australian team management.

FB 1 Paul Charlton RW 2 Clive Sullivan (c) RC 3 Syd Hynes LC 4 Chris Hesketh LW 5 John Atkinson SO 6 David Topliss SH 7 Steve Nash PR 8 Terry Clawson HK 9 Colin Clarke PR 10 Brian Lockwood SR 11 Phil Lowe SR 12 George Nicholls LK 13 Ray Batten Substitutions: IC 14 IC 15 Coach: Jim Challinor

FB 1 Graeme Langlands (c) RW 2 Ray Branighan RC 3 Bob Fulton LC 4 Geoff Starling LW 5 Ted Goodwin FE 6 Tim Pickup HB 7 Tommy Raudonikis PR 8 Bob O'Reilly HK 9 Elwyn Walters PR 10 Arthur Beetson SR 11 Bob McCarthy SR 12 Ken Maddison LF 13 Paul Sait Substitutions: IC 14 IC 15 Coach: Graeme Langlands

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Second Test

The second test at Headingley in Leeds saw the Australian's tie the series at one game all with a 14-6 win in front of the tours largest attendance of 16,674.

FB 1 Paul Charlton RW 2 Clive Sullivan (c) RC 3 Syd Hynes LC 4 Chris Hesketh LW 5 John Atkinson SO 6 David Topliss SH 7 Steve Nash PR 8 Terry Clawson HK 9 Colin Clarke PR 10 Brian Lockwood SR 11 Phil Lowe SR 12 John Mantle LK 13 Ray Batten Substitutions: IC 14 David Eckersley IC 15 Colin Dixon Coach: Jim Challinor

FB 1 Graham Eadie RW 2 Lionel Williamson RC 3 Geoff Starling LC 4 Ray Branighan LW 5 Ted Goodwin FE 6 Bob Fulton HB 7 Tommy Raudonikis PR 8 Bob O'Reilly HK 9 Elwyn Walters PR 10 Arthur Beetson SR 11 Bob McCarthy (c) SR 12 Gary Stevens LF 13 Paul Sait Substitutions: IC 14 Ken Maddison IC 15 Coach: Graeme Langlands

Kangaroos captain-coach Graeme Langlands was ruled out of the second test with a broken hand. To replace him at fullback, Langlands selected Manly-Warringah's 19 year old dual premiership winning fullback Graham Eadie to make his test debut (Eadie, known affectionately as "Wombat", would turn 20 the next day). Eadie was also handed the goal kicking duties on the day and despite a very strong wind making conditions tricky for kickers, kicked 5 goals which proved vital in the Kangaroos 14-6 win over the Lions to keep The Ashes series alive.

After conceding 4 tries in the first test loss at Wembley, the Kangaroos kept their line intact with the Lions only scores coming from 3 goals by prop forward Terry Clawson.

Third Test

The Kangaroos won back The Ashes with a hard fought 15-5 win in trying conditions at Warrington. The pitch at Wilderspool was frozen which suited the Australians who were used to playing on hard grounds at home.

FB 1 Paul Charlton RW 2 Alan Smith RC 3 Syd Hynes LC 4 Chris Hesketh LW 5 Clive Sullivan (c) SO 6 David Eckersley SH 7 Roger Millward PR 8 Terry Clawson HK 9 Colin Clarke PR 10 Mick Harrison SR 11 George Nicholls SR 12 Phil Lowe LK 13 Doug Laughton Substitutions: IC 14 David Watkins IC 15 Colin Dixon Coach: Jim Challinor

FB 1 Graham Eadie RW 2 Lionel Williamson RC 3 Geoff Starling LC 4 Ray Branighan LW 5 David Waite FE 6 Bob Fulton HB 7 Tommy Raudonikis (c) PR 8 Bob O'Reilly HK 9 Elwyn Walters PR 10 Arthur Beetson SR 11 Ken Maddison SR 12 Gary Stevens LF 13 Paul Sait Substitutions: IC 14 Tim Pickup IC 15 Coach: Graeme Langlands

With coach Graeme Langlands still out with a broken hand and looking on from the sidelines, the Kangaroos wrapped up the Ashes with a 15-5 win on the frozen ground at Wilderspool. Man of the match Ken Maddison crossed for two tries while Warrington born Bob Fulton, centre Geoff Starling and hooker Elwyn Walters also crossed for tries. For the Lions, their only score came from a try and goal from Hull Kingston Rovers halfback Roger Millward.

France

|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF"| Date| Opponent| Score| Ground| Referee| Crowd| Report|- bgcolor=pink| 9 December| France| 9 – 21| Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan| G. Jameau (FRA)| 5,109||-|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| 12 December| France XIII| 12 – 24| Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux|| 2,523||-|- bgcolor=pink| 16 December| France| 3 – 14| Stade des Minimes, Toulouse| M. Caillol (FRA)| 7,060||-

French Tests

First test

FB 1 Maurice de Matos RW 2 Serge Marsolan RC 3 Michel Molinier LC 4 André Ruiz LW 5 Jean-Claude Marty SO 6 Patrick Rives SH 7 Roger Garrigue (c) PR 8 Christian Carré HK 9 Jacques Franc PR 10 Charles Thénégal SR 11 Jean-Jacques Cologni SR 12 Jean-Paul Sauret LK 13 Georges Bonet Substitutions: IC 14 Marius Frattini IC 15 Serge Gleyzes Coach:

FB 1 Ray Branighan RW 2 Lionel Williamson RC 3 Bob Fulton LC 4 Michael Cronin LW 5 David Waite FE 6 Tim Pickup HB 7 Tommy Raudonikis (c) PR 8 Arthur Beetson HK 9 John Lang PR 10 John O'Neill SR 11 Greg Pierce SR 12 Elwyn Walters LF 13 Geoff Starling Substitutions: IC 14 Ted Goodwin IC 15 Coach: Graeme Langlands

Second Test

Arthur Beetson became the first aboriginal player to captain Australia in a rugby league Test match.

FB 1 José Calle RW 2 Serge Marsolan RC 3 Michel Molinier LC 4 André Ruiz LW 5 Jean-Claude Marty SO 6 Michel Mazaré SH 7 Roger Garrigue (c) PR 8 Victor Serrano HK 9 Jacques Franc PR 10 Christian Carré SR 11 Jean-Paul Sauret SR 12 Jean-Jacques Cologni LK 13 Serge Gleyzes Substitutions: IC 14 Georges Bonet IC 15 Lambert Brunet Coach:

FB 1 Ray Branighan RW 2 Ted Goodwin RC 3 Michael Cronin LC 4 Geoff Starling LW 5 David Waite FE 6 Bob Fulton HB 7 Tim Pickup PR 8 Bob O'Reilly HK 9 Elwyn Walters PR 10 Arthur Beetson (c) SR 11 Ken Maddison SR 12 Gary Stevens LF 13 Paul Sait Substitutions: IC 14 IC 15 Coach: Graeme Langlands

External links

• 1973 Kangaroo Tour at Rugby League Project

Notes and References

1. Book: Christensen, E.E. . 1974 . E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Year Book 1974 . State Library of NSW, Sydney . New South Wales Rugby League . 46.