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.
Squad
editThe 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]
Fixtures
editBefore 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 |
The first match against New South Wales was the first match of rugby league held at the Sydney Cricket Ground and netted the New South Wales Rugby League a record gate receipts of £2551 and 10 shillings.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c John Coffey and Bernie Wood, The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League, Hodder Moa, Auckland, 2007, p.p. 42-45.
- ^ W.J.Davidson Rugby League Annual - 1949, New Zealand Rugby League, 1949
- ^ Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987.
- ^ "Obituary - Mr. E. J. Phelan". The Evening Post. 1 April 1961. p. 13.
- ^ Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 9781869693664.
- ^ When Blues & Maroons Saw Black Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine 1908.com