1911 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia

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

The 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

Before 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]

DateOpponentVenueResultScoreAttendanceReport
New South WalesSydney Cricket Ground, SydneyLoss10-3546,000
New South WalesSydneyLoss10-26
NewcastleNewcastleWin21-20
QueenslandBrisbane Cricket Ground, BrisbaneWin24-13
QueenslandBrisbaneLoss13-23
QueenslandBrisbaneWin18-14
Hunter riverNewcastleWin40-8
New South WalesSydneyLoss7-39

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
  1. John Coffey and Bernie Wood, The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League, Hodder Moa, Auckland, 2007, p.p. 42-45.
  2. W.J.Davidson Rugby League Annual - 1949, New Zealand Rugby League, 1949
  3. Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987.
  4. "Obituary - Mr. E. J. Phelan". The Evening Post. 1 April 1961. p. 13.
  5. Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 9781869693664.
  6. When Blues & Maroons Saw Black Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine 1908.com
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