KANGAROOS PROUD HISTORY

CHAPTER 4 | 1920 to 1930

BRITS RETURN
The Kangaroos overcame formidable odds to win the 1920 Test series against the touring English side. Two days before the opening Test in Brisbane, halfback, Stan Ryan and centre, Paddy Conaghan withdrew from the Australian side, through injury, and their replacements, Jack ‘Junker’ Robinson and Alf ‘Smacker’ Blair did not arrive in time for the match because their train from Sydney was delayed. Into the side came locals, Nev Broadfoot and Harry Frewin for what was to be their only Test appearances.

Over 28,000 people packed into the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds to witness a match played on a muddy pitch, with Australia winning 8-4, scoring two tries to nil. “There were several exchanges of fists in scrummaging and rucks,” wrote one journalist.

Western Suburbs (Sydney) centre, Herb Gilbert replaced Albert ‘Rickety’ Johnston as captain for the Second Test at the SCG, although Johnston retained his spot in the side, albeit at five eighth, with North Sydney’s Duncan Thompson chosen at halfback.

Thompson, who had taken a German bullet during World War 1, was told never to play contact sports. On his return to Australia he took up cricket, and felt so good, he returned to rugby league. He played nine Tests between 1919 and 1924, and toured Britain with the 1921 Kangaroos. Thompson was a member of the 1921 North Sydney premiership winning side.

Originally from Warwick on the Southern Darling Downs of Queensland, Thompson was described by top Sydney journalist, Tom Goodman as ‘The Grand Master of all halfbacks’.

Thompson went on to become a master coach in Toowoomba, and top players, such as Ken McCaffery and Don Furner, left Sydney to play under the man known as ‘The Downs Fox’. Thompson had a great influence on future Hall of Fame coach, Wayne Bennett, who came from Allora, near Warwick.

Thompson had made his Test debut on the 1919 tour of New Zealand, chosen from the romantically named Ipswich Starlights club. He was simply magnificent in the Sydney Test against England, which the Kangaroos won 21-8, to secure the Ashes on home soil for the first time. It was the first Ashes series win by an all-Australian side, given the 1911-12 Kangaroos had included New Zealand players.

A huge crowd gathered at Circular Quay in Sydney to farewell the 1921 Kangaroos, a squad which contained six Queenslanders, and one Kiwi (Bert Laing) as they sailed for England aboard the RMS Tahiti. (A Kiwi was chosen to justify the touring side’s description as an Australasian outfit. But they were still known as the Kangaroos).

The tour captain was Eastern Suburbs Sydney centre, Les Cubitt, but he did not feature in any of the Tests because of a knee injury which he had suffered in Australia. He hoped it would improve, but, after just four games, was admitted to Liverpool Hospital for surgery.

Charles ‘Chook’ Fraser, an Australian rules player at school, was handed the captaincy for the Test matches. England won the First Test 6-5 at Headingley, Leeds, but the Kangaroos hit back in the return clash in Hull, winning 16-2. It was another 10 weeks and 18 tour matches before the Third Test was played. Ice had to be scraped off the field before the decider at Salford, with straw spread across the playing surface. Fraser was taken from the field with a knee injury just before halftime, and England won 6-0.

North Sydney winger, Cec Blinkhorn scored 39 tries on tour, impressing English crowds with his pace and formidable fend, while lock, Frank Burge scored 33 tries in 23 games. By the end of his career he had amassed 218 tries in 213 senior matches.

On that tour the players were divided into 14 drinkers and 14 teetotallers. Their ship sailed to England via North America, and one night out from San Francisco there was a boozy session, with damage done and glasses broken. Management decided to make an example of the revellers by sending youthful George Carstairs from the St George club, back to Australia. The non-drinkers came to the rescue, declaring that if he went, they would go too. Carstairs was allowed to stay.

The Kangaroos’ next international assignment was against the touring English side in 1924, with Ipswich star, Jimmy Craig the Australian skipper. Craig, a product of Balmain juniors, was described by the Immortal, Dally Messenger as the greatest player he ever saw. Craig moved from Sydney to Queensland in 1923 and played a huge role in the coming of age of Queensland football, with a record 10 Queenslanders in the Third Test side. By that time Britain, captained by the legendary Wigan fullback, Jim Sullivan, had wrapped up the series and retained the Ashes.

Australian forward, Norm Potter was sent off in the First Test in Sydney with referee, Tom McMahon and one of his touch judges punched in the midst of a wild melee in the Members’ Stand at the end of the game (shades of Lords). The ‘Sportsman’ newspaper observed that “England did most of the nasty bits” during the game.

THE GREEN AND GOLD

When England toured again in 1928, Australia wore green and gold for the first time. The colours were first used by the Australian cricket side in 1899.

Led by Jonty Parkin from the Wakefield Trinity club, the English revelled in heavy conditions in the First two Tests at the SCG, just as they had in 1924, and went to Brisbane for the third match having already retained the Ashes. 

Australia salvaged pride with a lively 21-11 victory on a firm track at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds, with Queensland Team of the Century winger, Cec Aynsley from Brisbane Wests, scoring two tries.

Australia’s captain was Tommy Gorman from Toowoomba, a man known for his acceleration and a swerve that was “sheer grace”. In 1929 Gorman became the first Queenslander to captain a Kangaroo touring side. It wasn’t until 1986 that another Queenslander – Immortal, Wally Lewis – also was given that honor. There were 11 Maroons in that 1929-30 touring side.

When news hit Toowoomba that Gorman would lead the team in the UK, he was given a send-off by the City Council, with thousands lining the streets to wave him off as he was driven to the city’s railway station, for the trip to Brisbane.

Gorman’s Kangaroos won 24 and drew three of 35 games, and were acclaimed for their ‘delightful football’, which attracted big crowds. But they lost the Test series. A fourth Test was played after the Third and deciding match finished 0-0. Australia’s Joe ‘Chimpy’ Busch was denied a try when a touch judge ruled he had gone out before crossing in the corner. The Australians were adamant Busch was well inside the field of play. England won the Fourth Test 3-0 at Rochdale.

Gorman was known as ‘Gentleman Tom’, something illustrated by this quote from George Mott, Mayor of Bradford City Council: “Tom Gorman’s presence in the country will be remembered for years to come by all who have met him and seen him play.”

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