1953 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand
| 1953 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Dudley F. Locke George McLeod | ||||
| Coach(es) | Clive Churchill | ||||
| Tour captain(s) | Clive Churchill | ||||
| Top point scorer(s) | Noel Pidding 63 | ||||
| Top try scorer(s) | Des McGovern 19 | ||||
| Top test point scorer(s) | Noel Pidding 13  Des White 24 | ||||
| Top test try scorer(s) | Ken McCaffery 2 Harry Wells 2 Ron McKay 3 | ||||
| Summary |
| ||||
| Total |
| ||||
| Test match |
| ||||
| Opponent |
| ||||
 New Zealand |
| ||||
| Tour chronology | |||||
| Previous tour | 1949  to 1952 to 1952-53 to   | ||||
| Next tour | 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]
Leadership
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]
Touring squad
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 | Position | Age | Weight | Club | Tests on Tour |
Games | Tries | Goals | FG | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferris Ashton | Second-row | 26 | 14 st. 8 lb. (93 kg) |  Eastern Suburbs | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 22 |
| Roy Bull | Prop | 23 | 14 st. 4 lb. (91 kg) |  Manly-Warringah | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | |
| Brian Carlson | Wing | 20 | 13 st. 3 lb. (84 kg) |  Newcastle Northern Suburbs | 2 | 6 | 16 | 5 | 58 | |
| Clive Churchill | Fullback | 26 | 11 st. 7 lb. (73 kg) |  South Sydney | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Les Cowie | Lock | 28 | 13 st. 4 lb. (84 kg) | South Sydney | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Harold Crocker | Lock | 24 | 15 st. 0 lb. (95 kg) |  South Brisbane | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Davies | Prop | 22 | 15 st. 0 lb. (95 kg) |  Brisbane Brothers | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Bernie Drew | Second-row | 24 | 13 st. 7 lb. (86 kg) |  Ipswich Railways | 1 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 31 |
| Charlie Gill | Prop | 30 | 13 st. 12 lb. (88 kg) | Newcastle Northern Suburbs | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Greg Hawick | Five-eighth | 21 | 13 st. 0 lb. (83 kg) | South Sydney | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| Keith Holman | Halfback | 25 | 11 st. 9 lb. (74 kg) | Western Suburbs | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Alan Hornery | Hooker | 27 | 13 st. 6 lb. (85 kg) |  Brisbane Western Suburbs | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Ken Kearney | Hooker | 27 | 14 st. 2 lb. (90 kg) |  St George | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Banks | Five-eighth | 22 | 12 st. 6 lb. (79 kg) |  Toowoomba Newtown | 3 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| Ken McCaffery | Centre | 23 | 13 st. 0 lb. (83 kg) |  Toowoomba Souths | 3 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Des McGovern | Wing | 24 | 13 st. 4 lb. (84 kg) | Toowoomba Newtown | 1 | 6 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 59 |
| Albert Paul | Second-row | 25 | 14 st. 2 lb. (90 kg) | Lakes United | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Noel Pidding | Wing | 26 | 12 st. 6 lb. (79 kg) | St George | 3 | 8 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 63 |
| Alex Watson | Centre | 20 | 13 st. 4 lb. (84 kg) | Brisbane Western Suburbs | 0 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| Harry Wells | Centre | 21 | 14 st. 2 lb. (90 kg) | Wollongong | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
Tour
The Australians played nine matches on the tour, winning seven matches and losing two, both being tests against the Kiwis.
First test
Saturday 27 June |
| New Zealand |
25 – 5 | .svg.png){kind=small} Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Ron McKay (2) George Davidson Jimmy Edwards Des White Goals: Des White (4/4) John Bond (1/1) |
[5] |
Tries: Ferris Ashton Goals: Noel Pidding (1/1) |
Second test
Saturday 4 July |
| New Zealand |
12 – 11 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Ron McKay Bob Neilson Goals: Des White (3/3) |
[6] |
Tries: Ken McCaffery Brian Carlson Goals: Noel Pidding (1/2) |
Third test
Saturday 18 July |
| New Zealand |
16 – 18 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Jimmy Edwards Frank Mulcare Bob Neilson Des White Goals: Des White (2/4) |
[7] |
Tries: Harry Wells (2) Bob Banks Noel Pidding Goals: Noel Pidding (3/4) |
References
- ↑ "Kangaroos Tour 1953 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
- ↑ New South Wales Rugby Football League. (1920). "Manager For N.Z." The Rugby League News. 34 (5 (18 April 1953)). Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League. nla.obj-643706177. Retrieved 17 Jan 2021 – via Trove.
- ↑ New South Wales Rugby Football League. (1920). "Sound Side For N.Z." The Rugby League News. 34 (16 (20 June 1953)). Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League. nla.obj-643864189. Retrieved 16 Jan 2021 – via Trove.
- ↑ E.E.Christensen (1954). "Players' Records in N.Z.". E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook. 8. Sydney: E.E.Christensen.
- ↑ 1953 New Zealand vs Australia – Rugby League Project
- ↑ 1953 New Zealand vs Australia – Rugby League Project
- ↑ 1953 New Zealand vs Australia – Rugby League Project