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| 1908 Team |
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1908 Kangaroos – The Pioneers
It may be more than 100 years ago but the #$ players in the first ever Kangaroo touring side now known as “The Pioneers”, played a pivotal role in the establishment of the game in Australia. Although the party contained some of the greatest names in the history of the code, including such luminaries as Dally Messenger, Albert Rosenfeld, Jimmy Devereux, Sandy Pearce, Tedda Courtney and Frank Cheadle to mention but a few, the tour was spectacularly unsuccessful in the financial sense. The squad played 45 matches on tour, winning 17 of them, with 6 draws and 22 losses. The long-term legacy of the first tour, though, remains to this day so that the traditions founded by this team are as relevant to the 21st century as they were in 1908. |
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| 1954 Kangaroos |
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1954 Kangaroos – The First World Cup
The first Rugby League World Cup was held in 1954 in France with four nations competing. Led by coach Vic Hey and captain Clive Churchill, the Australians boasted the likes of Ken Kearney, Norm Provan, Kel O’Shea, Keith Holman, Duncan Hall, Harry Wells and Brian Davies. Such was the strength of Test football at the time, however, that even though the Australians had defeated Great Britain in The Ashes series earlier that year they were unable to even reach the final, which saw the British defeat France. On the way home Australia and New Zealand stopped if in the USA and played two exhibition games, which were the first games ever staged in that country. Unfortunately heavy fog forced one to be abandoned but so thick was it that winger Dennis Flannery remained on the field for ten minutes before he realized the others had retired to the dressing room! |
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