1953 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand

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]

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	P W D L
Total	09 07 00 02
Test match	03 01 00 02
Opponent	P W D L
New Zealand	3 1 0 2
Tour chronology
Previous tour	1949 to 1952 to 1952-53 to
Next tour	1956 to 1952-53 to 1961 to

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.

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Wednesday 24 June

West Coast	11 – 17	Australia
	^[5]

Wingham Park, Greymouth Attendance: 2,003

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First test

Saturday 27 June

New Zealand	25 – 5	Australia
Tries: Ron McKay (2) George Davidson Jimmy Edwards Des White Goals: Des White (4/4) John Bond (1/1)	^[6]	Tries: Ferris Ashton Goals: Noel Pidding (1/1)

Rugby League Park, Christchurch Attendance: 5,509 Referee: Wally Wilkinson

New Zealand	Australia
FB 1   Des White RW 2   Jimmy Edwards RC 3   Ron McKay LC 4   Tommy Baxter LW 5   Bevin Hough FE 6   Bill Sorensen HB 7   Jimmy Haig (c) PR 8   John Bond HK 9   George Davidson PR 10   Bill McLennan SR 11   Bob Neilson SR 12   Frank Mulcare LF 13   Alister Atkinson Coach:   Jim Amos	FB 1   Clive Churchill (c) RW 2   Brian Carlson RC 3   Harry Wells LC 4   Ken McCaffery LW 5   Noel Pidding FE 6   Bob Banks HB 7   Keith Holman PR 8   Roy Bull HK 9   Ken Kearney PR 10   Charlie Gill SR 11   Brian Davies SR 12   Ferris Ashton LF 13   Harold Crocker Coach:   Clive Churchill

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Tuesday 30 June

South Island	9 – 66	Australia
	^[7]

Tahuna Park, Dunedin Attendance: 2,956

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Second test

Saturday 4 July

New Zealand	12 – 11	Australia
Tries: Ron McKay Bob Neilson Goals: Des White (3/3)	^[8]	Tries: Ken McCaffery Brian Carlson Goals: Noel Pidding (1/2)

Basin Reserve, Wellington Attendance: 5,394 Referee: Wally Wilkinson

New Zealand	Australia
FB 1   Des White RW 2   Cyril Paskell RC 3   Ron McKay LC 4   Tommy Baxter LW 5   Jimmy Edwards FE 6   Bill Sorensen HB 7   Jimmy Haig (c) PR 8   Bill McLennan HK 9   George Davidson PR 10   John Bond SR 11   Bob Neilson SR 12   Frank Mulcare LF 13   Alister Atkinson Coach:   Jim Amos	FB 1   Clive Churchill (c) RW 2   Brian Carlson RC 3   Harry Wells LC 4   Ken McCaffery LW 5   Noel Pidding FE 6   Bob Banks HB 7   Greg Hawick PR 8   Roy Bull HK 9   Ken Kearney PR 10   Charlie Gill SR 11   Brian Davies SR 12   Harold Crocker LF 13   Les Cowie Coach:   Clive Churchill

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Monday 6 July

Taranaki	3 – 62	Australia
	^[9]

Pukekura Park, New Plymouth Attendance: 1,950

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Wednesday 8 July

South Auckland	11 – 63	Australia
	^[10]

Davies Park, Huntly Attendance: 1,044

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Saturday 11 July

Auckland	4 – 26	Australia
	^[11]

Carlaw Park, Auckland Attendance: 8,556

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Wednesday 15 July

Northland	7 – 98	Australia
	^[12]

Okara Park, Whangarei Attendance: 1,051

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Third test

Saturday 18 July

New Zealand	16 – 18	Australia
Tries: Jimmy Edwards Frank Mulcare Bob Neilson Des White Goals: Des White (2/4)	^[13]	Tries: Harry Wells (2) Bob Banks Noel Pidding Goals: Noel Pidding (3/4)

Carlaw Park, Auckland Attendance: 16,033 Referee: Roland Avery

New Zealand	Australia
FB 1   Des White RW 2   Jimmy Edwards RC 3   Ron McKay LC 4   Tommy Baxter LW 5   Vern Bakalich FE 6   Cyril Eastlake HB 7   Jimmy Haig (c) PR 8   John Bond HK 9   George Davidson PR 10   Bill McLennan SR 11   Bob Neilson SR 12   Frank Mulcare LF 13   Alister Atkinson Coach:   Jim Amos	FB 1   Clive Churchill (c) RW 2   Des McGovern RC 3   Harry Wells LC 4   Ken McCaffery LW 5   Noel Pidding FE 6   Bob Banks HB 7   Greg Hawick PR 8   Roy Bull HK 9   Ken Kearney PR 10   Charlie Gill SR 11   Brian Davies SR 12   Bernie Drew LF 13   Harold Crocker Coach:   Clive Churchill

References

1. "Kangaroos Tour 1953 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
2. New South Wales Rugby Football League. (1920). "Manager For N.Z." The Rugby League news. Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League (Vol. 34 No. 5 (18 April 1953)). nla.obj-643706177. Retrieved 17 Jan 2021 – via Trove.
3. New South Wales Rugby Football League. (1920). "Sound Side For N.Z." The Rugby League news. Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League (Vol. 34 No. 16 (20 June 1953)). nla.obj-643864189. Retrieved 16 Jan 2021 – via Trove.
4. E.E.Christensen (1954). "Players' Records in N.Z.". E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook. Sydney: E.E.Christensen (Vol. 8).
5. 1953 West Coast vs Australia – Rugby League Project
6. 1953 New Zealand vs Australia – Rugby League Project
7. 1953 South Island vs Australia – Rugby League Project
8. 1953 New Zealand vs Australia – Rugby League Project
9. 1953 Taranaki vs Australia – Rugby League Project
10. 1953 South Auckland vs Australia – Rugby League Project
11. 1953 Auckland vs Australia – Rugby League Project
12. 1953 Northland vs Australia – Rugby League Project
13. 1953 New Zealand vs Australia – Rugby League Project