1961 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand

The 1961 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 two tests against the New Zealand national rugby league team. The tour began on 17 June and finished on 10 July.^[1]

1961 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand
Manager	Jack Kessey G.W. (Jock) Allen
Coach(es)	Brian Carlson
Tour captain(s)	Brian Carlson Barry Muir
Top point scorer(s)	Don Parish 58
Top try scorer(s)	Ken Irvine 10
Top test point scorer(s)	Don Parish 11
Top test try scorer(s)	6 tries by 6 players (4 Aus, 2 NZ)
Summary	P W D L
Total	09 07 00 02
Test match	02 01 00 01
Opponent	P W D L
New Zealand	2 1 0 1
Tour chronology
Previous tour	1953 by to 1959 by to 1959-60 to 1960 by
Next tour	1962 by 1963 by to 1963-64 to 1965 by to

Leadership

Brian Carlson was both the captain and the coach of the touring side. Carlson did not play in the Second Test and tour vice-captain Barry Muir led Australia in that match.
In the two matches in which neither Carlson nor Muir played, the Kangaroos were captained by Reg Gasnier (against Taranaki) and Ian Walsh (against Auckland).
The team was managed by Jack Kessey of Newtown, New South Wales and G.W. (Jock) Allen of Toowooomba, Queensland.^[2]

Touring squad

The Rugby League News published

• details of the touring team including the players' ages and weights;^[3] and
• a summary of match results and players' appearances and points scoring.^[4]

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.^[5]
Beattie, Day, Gehrke, Gil, Muir, Paterson and Rasmussen were selected from Queensland clubs. Beaven, Crowe and Owen were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney based clubs during the 1961 season.

Player	Position	Age	Weight st.lb (kg)	Club	Tests on Tour	Games	Tries	Goals	FG	Points
Dud Beattie	Prop	25	14.12 (94)	Ipswich Railways	1	7	0	0	0	0
Ray Beavan	Five-eighth	24	11.2 (71)	Tumut	0	4	0	0	0	0
Brian Carlson	Utility Back	28	14.4 (91)	St George	1	3	0	3	0	6
Ron Crowe	Prop	27	14.12 (94)	West Wyalong	2	7	1	1	0	5
Ken Day	Lock	25	15.0 (95)	Brisbane Western Suburbs	0	1	0	0	0	0
Frank Drake	Fullback	22	11.6 (73)	Western Suburbs	1	7	9	0	0	27
Reg Gasnier	Centre	22	12.8 (80)	St George	2	6	6	0	0	18
Bob Gehrke	Hooker	23	11.7 (73)	Brisbane Valleys	0	5	2	0	0	6
Alan Gil	Centre	22	12.4 (78)	Toowoomba All Whites	0	6	1	0	0	3
Ken Irvine	Wing	21	12.4 (78)	North Sydney	2	8	10	1	0	32
Eddie Lumsden	Wing	24	13.9 (87)	St George	2	8	6	0	0	18
Ron Lynch	Second-row	21	13.10 (87)	Parramatta	2	6	0	0	0	0
Barry Muir	Halfback	23	10.11 (68)	Brisbane Western Suburbs	2	7	4	2	0	16
Bill Owen	Second-row	25	13.7 (86)	Newcastle Northern Suburbs	0	6	1	0	0	3
Don Parish	Utility Back	23	12.0 (76)	Western Suburbs	2	7	4	23	0	58
Jim Paterson	Second-row	25	14.10 (93)	Innisfail	2	6	2	0	0	6
Elton Rasmussen	Prop, Second-row	23	15.4 (97)	Toowoomba All Whites	2	7	0	1	0	2
Jack Sinclair	Lock	24	13.4 (84)	Manly-Warringah	1	5	3	0	0	9
Arthur Summons	Halfback	25	11.0 (70)	Western Suburbs	2	6	1	0	0	3
Ian Walsh	Hooker	27	13.6 (85)	St George	2	5	1	0	0	3

Tour

The Australians played nine matches on the tour, winning seven matches and losing the last two.

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Saturday 17 June

New Zealand Māori	13 – 25	Australia
	^[6]

Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua Attendance: 1,787

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Wednesday 21 June

Wellington	3 – 66	Australia
	^[7]

Basin Reserve, Wellington Attendance: 707

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Friday 23 June

National Coaching School	4 – 9	Australia
	^[8]

Rugby League Park, Christchurch Attendance: 2,793

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Saturday 24 June

West Coast	7 – 27	Australia
	^[9]

Wingham Park, Greymouth Attendance: 1,682

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Tuesday 27 June

Taranaki	0 – 34	Australia
	^[10]

Burnside Showgrounds, Hāwera Attendance: 600

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First test

Saturday 1 July

New Zealand	12 – 10	Australia
Tries: Maunga Emery Graeme Farrar Goals: Reg Cooke (2/2) Field Goals Gary Phillips	^[11]	Tries: Ken Irvine Don Parish Goals: Don Parish (2/2)

Carlaw Park, Auckland Attendance: 11,485 Referee: Roland Avery

New Zealand	Australia
FB 1   Gary Phillips RW 2   Brian Reidy RC 3   George H. Turner LC 4   Tom Hadfield LW 5   Reg Cooke FE 6   George Menzies HB 7   Graeme Farrar PR 8   Jim Patterson HK 9   Jock Butterfield PR 10   Maunga Emery SR 11   Don Hammond SR 12   Ron Ackland (c) LF 13   Mel Cooke Coach:   Des White	FB 1   Don Parish RW 2   Ken Irvine RC 3   Reg Gasnier LC 4   Brian Carlson (c) LW 5   Eddie Lumsden FE 6   Arthur Summons HB 7   Barry Muir PR 8   Elton Rasmussen HK 9   Ian Walsh PR 10   Ron Crowe SR 11   Jim Paterson SR 12   Ron Lynch LF 13   Jack Sinclair Coach:   Brian Carlson

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Wednesday 5 July

Waikato	8 – 26	Australia
	^[12]

Steele Park, Hamilton Attendance: 886

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Second test

Saturday 8 July

New Zealand	8 – 10	Australia
Tries: Goals: Reg Cooke (3/3) Gary Phillips (1/1)	^[13]	Tries: Reg Gasnier (2) Arthur Summons Goals: Don Parish (2/2)

Carlaw Park, Auckland Attendance: 12,424 Referee: Roland Avery

New Zealand	Australia
FB 1   Gary Phillips RW 2   Brian Reidy RC 3   George H. Turner LC 4   Tom Hadfield LW 5   Reg Cooke FE 6   George Menzies HB 7   Bill Snowden PR 8   Jim Patterson HK 9   Tom Reid PR 10   Maunga Emery SR 11   Don Hammond SR 12   Ron Ackland (c) LF 13   Mel Cooke Coach:   Des White	FB 1   Frank Drake RW 2   Ken Irvine RC 3   Don Parish LC 4   Reg Gasnier LW 5   Eddie Lumsden FE 6   Arthur Summons HB 7   Barry Muir (c) PR 8   Ron Crowe HK 9   Ian Walsh PR 10   Dud Beattie SR 11   Elton Rasmussen SR 12   Jim Paterson LF 13   Ron Lynch Coach:   Brian Carlson

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Monday 10 July

Auckland	13 – 8	Australia
	^[14]

Carlaw Park, Auckland Attendance: 5,148

References

1. "Kangaroos Tour 1961 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
2. New South Wales Rugby Football League. (1920). "Popular Pair As Managers To N.Z." The Rugby League news. Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League (Vol. 42 No. 11 (12 June 1961)). nla.obj-757061231. Retrieved 17 Jan 2021 – via Trove.
3. New South Wales Rugby Football League. (1920). "Australia's Team For New Zealand". The Rugby League news. Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League (Vol. 42 No. 12 (17 June 1961)). nla.obj-757066769. Retrieved 17 Jan 2021 – via Trove.
4. New South Wales Rugby Football League. (1920). "Aust. Team's Record in N.Z." The Rugby League news. Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League (Vol. 42 No. 16 (15 July 1961)). nla.obj-758558770. Retrieved 17 Jan 2021 – via Trove.
5. E.E.Christensen (1962). "Players' Records in N.Z.". E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook. Sydney: E.E.Christensen (Vol. 16).
6. 1961 NZ Maori vs Australia – Rugby League Project
7. 1961 Wellington vs Australia – Rugby League Project
8. 1961 Coaching School (NZ) vs Australia – Rugby League Project
9. 1961 West Coast vs Australia – Rugby League Project
10. 1961 Taranaki vs Australia – Rugby League Project
11. 1961 New Zealand vs Australia – Rugby League Project
12. 1961 Waikato vs Australia – Rugby League Project
13. 1961 New Zealand vs Australia – Rugby League Project
14. 1961 Auckland vs Australia – Rugby League Project