The Kangaroos have landed in England, set to start their three-Test series against England at Wembley Stadium this weekend. Whilst this is being touted as the resurrection of the Kangaroo Tour, it is a mere shadow of it's greatest iterations; the "good old days" when a squad of rugby league legends would journey to the other side of the world to face the best of England for two frosty months.
Kangaroo Tours date back to the inception of rugby league, with the first squad journeying by ship back in 1908. The concept arguably hit its heights during the 1970s and 80s, with squads large enough to almost field two full teams sent to England every four years. The Kangaroos would play a three-Test Ashes series against Great Britain and in between the Emus would take on the best local club sides. The Emus were the back-up squad players, with a couple of Test players thrown in to work on their games. The Emus played not only with pride in their Australia tour jerseys, but with the burning desire to be noticed and perhaps promoted to the Test side.
My memories centre largely around the 1982, 1986 and 1990 tours when Australia sent some of the best rugby league players ever to lace a boot to England to battle the determined, if somewhat out-classed locals. Staying up late at night to watch the mid-week clashes and on the weekends for the Tests, was a struggle at times, but there was an overwhelming feeling of national pride, mixed in with an added interest in seeing how your own club players were fairing. If your favourite club players weren't in the Test squad, you still got to watch and cheer them on against the club sides.
In 1982 a battle for the halves positions was waged between Steve Mortimer, Peter Sterling, Wally Lewis and Brett Kenny. In the first Test, won 40-4 by Australia, Sterling and Kenny were shock selections, with Lewis on the bench. In the forwards Australia had locks Ray Price and the younger Wayne Pearce, with Pearce finding himself in the second row to accommodate the pair. With the same lineup Australia won the second Test 27-6, before wrapping up the sweep with a 32-8 win in the third Test. They also won a game against Papua New Guinea on the way over and one against France on the way home. The Emus played 22 games in all, winning each and every one.
In 1986, the younger '82 tourists had matured into seasoned champions of the game, while a group of new stars lined up for the opportunity to continue the Kangaroo Tour legacy. The Kangaroos played and won two Tests against France and all three Ashes Tests. Bulldogs five-eighth Terry Lamb was behind Wally Lewis in the pecking order, but still managed to make it onto the bench for the Tests. He would become the first and only player to ever take the field in every tour game. Lewis had become such a star of the game, that Brett Kenny was pushed into the centres for the Test matches. The Emus played and won 20 mid-week games. Another memorable and undefeated tour.
The 1990 tourists faced a much more polished Great Britain side, with interest in the series seeing the first Test played at Wembley in front of 54,569 fans. The home side won 19-12 setting up one of the greatest Test series in history. The second Test played at Old Trafford in front of 46,615 fans saw Great Britain level the scores at 10-10 with ten minutes remaining. With time running out, Australia had some magic left in their bag of tricks. Gathering the ball from a scrum on his own 10-metre line Ricky Stuart was able to make a break, streaking downfield before finding Mal Meninga for the memorable try. I was jumping up and down in the loungeroom, trying not to wake my mother who was less of a rugby league fan. Australia went on to win the decider 14-0 to retain the Ashes, but for the first time in three tours they had been beaten.
Australia's 1994 Kangaroo Tour was to be the last full tour, with the mid-week clashes against English club sides. The Super League war hit the game like a run-away truck shortly after and many established traditions were simply blown away. It was no longer deemed acceptable for the best players in the game, with their new lofty salaries, to risk life and limb on a frosty winter's night somewhere in Cumbria. In its place, were limited tours with Test matches only, which ended with the 2003 tour.
The 2025 Kangaroos are finally back in England and will play three fierce Tests, but it won't be the same as those glory days. There will be no staying up late on a school night to watch the Emus battling to impress the selectors. There won't be the brutality of taking on club teams on icy pitches, facing players looking to make a name for themselves against the highly touted tourists. The romance of the Kangaroo Tour is well and truly over.