1983 Queensland rugby league tour of Papua New Guinea and England

The 1983 Queensland rugby league tour of Papua New Guinea and England was a tour that took place in two parts. In June 1983 the Queensland team took in a one-week tour of Papua New Guinea, then following the end of the 1983 Brisbane Rugby League season, the team embarked on a 3-game, 2 week tour of England in October.[1][2]

Leadership

The team was coached by Arthur Beetson and was captained by Wally Lewis.

Touring squad

Chris Phelan who played for the 1983 Sydney premiers Parramatta was the only non-Queensland based player in the 21 man touring squad.

  • Note: Table only includes statistics from the English leg of the tour.
Player Club Position(s) Games Tries Goals F/Goals Points
Shane Bernardin Norths Devils Hooker 2
Mitch Brennan Redcliffe Dolphins Wing, Centre 3 2 8
Larry Briggenshaw Easts Tigers Halfback 2
Greg Dowling Wynnum Manly Seagulls Prop 2 1 4
Brett French Wynnum Manly Seagulls Wing, Centre 3 2 8
Wally Fullerton Smith Redcliffe Dolphins Second-row 2 1 4
Cavill Heugh Easts Tigers Prop 2 1 4
Gavin Jones Easts Tigers Prop 3
Paul Khan Easts Tigers Prop 1
Joe Kilroy Norths Devils Wing, Fullback 3 2 8
Wally Lewis (c) Fortitude Valley Diehards Five-eighth, Lock, Centre 3 3 1 14
Wayne Lindenberg Easts Tigers Halfback, Five-eighth 2 2 8
Shane McNally Easts Tigers Hooker 2 11 22
Gene Miles Wynnum Manly Seagulls Centre 3 3 12
Mark Murray Redcliffe Dolphins Halfback 2
Bryan Niebling Redcliffe Dolphins Prop, Second-row 2
Trevor Paterson Easts Tigers Lock, Second-row, Hooker 2
Chris Phelan Parramatta Eels (NSWRFL) Prop 3 1 4
Colin Scott Wynnum Manly Seagulls Fullback 2 2 8
Steve Stacey Easts Tigers Wing 1
Brad Tessmann Souths Magpies Prop 1

Papua New Guinea

Wednesday, 15 June
Highlands Zone 16 – 34 Queensland
Tries:

Goals:
[3] Tries:

Goals:
Rebiamul Oval, Mount Hagen
Attendance: 8,000

Saturday, 18 June
Presidents XIII 16 – 104 Queensland
Tries:

Goals:
[4] Tries:

Goals:
Lloyd Robson Oval, Port Moresby
Attendance: 12,000

England

Sunday, 16 October
Hull Kingston Rovers 8 – 6 Queensland
Tries:
Mike Smith
Goals:
George Fairbairn (2)
[5] Tries:
Wally Lewis
Goals:
Wally Lewis (1)
Craven Park, Hull
Attendance: 6,383
Referee: Robin Whitfield
Man of the Match: Gordon Smith

Hull KR: George Fairbairn (c), Garry Clark, Mike Smith, John Dorahy, Gary Prohm, Steve Hartley, Gordon Smith, Roy Holdstock, David Watkinson, Mark Broadhurst, Phil Hogan, Chris Burton, David Hall. Res – David Laws, Andy Kelly, Tracy Lazenby. Coach – Roger Millward

Queensland: Colin Scott, Steve Stacey, Gene Miles, Brett French, Mitch Brennan, Wally Lewis (c), Mark Murray, Paul Khan, Shane Bernardin, Brad Tessmann, Bryan Neibling, Chris Phelan, Wally Fullerton-Smith. Res – Joe Kilroy, Wayne Lindenberg, Trevor Paterson, Gavin Jones


Sunday, 23 October
Wigan 2 – 40 Queensland
Tries:

Goals:
Colin Whitfield (1)
[6] Tries:
Wayne Lindenberg (2), Mitch Brennan, Brett French, Cavill Heugh, Joe Kilroy, Gene Miles, Chris Phelan
Goals:
Shane McNally (4)
Central Park, Wigan
Attendance: 9,749
Referee: Ron Campbell
Man of the Match: Wayne Lindenberg

Wigan: Colin Whitfield, Ronnie Braithwaite, David Stephenson, Tim Wilby, Henderson Gill, David Wood, Jimmy Fairhurst, Kerry Hemsley, Howie Tamati, Brian Case, Danny Campbell, Graeme West (c), John Pendlebury. Res – Shaun Wane, Mick Scott, Brian Dunn. Coach – Alex Murphy

Queensland: Joe Kilroy, Brett French, Gene Miles, Wally Lewis (c), Mitch Brennan, Wayne Lindenberg, Larry Briggenshaw, Greg Dowling, Shane McNally, Chris Phelan, Gavin Jones, Cavill Heugh, Trevor Paterson


Sunday, 29 October
Leeds 2 – 58 Queensland
Tries:

Goals:
David Creasser (1)
[7] Tries:
Wally Lewis (2), Gene Miles (2), Colin Scott (2), Mitch Brennan, Greg Dowling, Wally Fullerton-Smith, Joe Kilroy
Goals:
Shane McNally (7)
Headingley, Leeds
Attendance: 5,647
Referee: Billy Thompson
Man of the Match: Wally Lewis

Leeds: Ian Wilkinson, Paul Prendiville, David Creasser, Steve Martin, Andrew Smith, John Holmes, Kevin Dick, Ron Dickinson, Russ Sowden, Keith Rayne, Kevin Rayne, Kevin Squire, David Herron. Res – David Heselwood, Colin Cooper, Garry Clark Kevin James. Coach – Robin Dewhurst

Queensland: Joe Kilroy, Brett French, Gene Miles, Mitch Brennan, Colin Scott, Wally Lewis (c), Mark Murray, Greg Dowling, Shane McNally, Shane Bernardin, Chris Phelan, Bryan Neibling, Wally Fullerton-Smith. Res – Gavin Jones, Cavill Heugh, Larry Briggenshaw


Aftermath

As had happened at the end of the unbeaten 1982 Kangaroo tour (which Wally Lewis, Gene Miles and Mark Murray had all been a part of with Lewis the Kangaroos vice-captain), a number of the Queensland players were targeted by cashed-up English clubs. Wally Lewis, despite feeling jaded due to not having a break from the game since the end of the 1981 BRL season, accepted a £30,000 offer to join Wakefield Trinity for 10 games before returning to Australia for the start of the 1984 BRL season where he would move from his junior club Fortitude Valley Diehards to join the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

Greg Dowling would join Wigan for a season in 1985–86 season. Wally Fullerton Smith joined Leeds for the 1984–85 season. Joe Kilroy joined Halifax and Chris Phelan joined Oldham.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.