BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

In 2019 the Great Britain Lions toured New Zealand and Papua New Guinea – the first time the Lions had appeared on the international stage since way back in 2007.

The short trip saw them lose all four games. In Hamilton to Tonga, then New Zealand in Auckland and Christchurch. It got worse for the Lions when they were rolled by the Kumuls in Port Moresby, 28-10.

A far cry from the magic of the Lions’ last tour of Australia in 1992.

The era is full of nostalgia for footy fans in the southern hemisphere. Tina Turner’s legendary voice echoed through stadiums across the land. Household names like Mal Meninga, Wally Lewis, Allan Langer, Greg Alexander and Brad Fittler. Seagulls, Magpies, Bears and Steelers. The Winfield Cup.

British fans had high hopes for the Lions on tour.

It had been 22 years since Great Britain had won the Ashes – ironically in Australia.

Manly-Warringah great Mal Reilly as coach, was headed to Australia for the fourth time, the first time as the boss. His captain was the masterful Ellery Hanley who had starred for Balmain in 1988 and was infamously knocked out of the grand final at the Sydney Football Stadium by Canterbury’s Terry Lamb.

Hanley, however, was battling a hamstring concern and didn’t appear until the 10th match on tour against the Knights in Newcastle and hobbled from the field.

The great English commentator Eddie Hemmings mused: “The gamble has failed. Hanley is off. Dejection on his face and I think that’s the last we’ll see of Hanley on this tour.”

They would also start the tour without two of their stars.

Bobbie Goulding was ruled out due to suspension while the classy Welshman Jonathan Davies, who turned out at Belmore for the Bulldogs a year prior in the Sydney premiership, didn’t tour due to injury.

It was still an impressive squad on its way to face the Kangaroos.

An eye-watering 39 players represented Great Britain over the journey due to several injuries. Of the 39 men on tour, 21 had, or would, play first grade premiership football in the NSWRL and included the likes of Martin Offiah, Dennis Betts, Garry Schofield, Gary Connolly, Phil Clarke and Andy Gregory.

The tour began in Goroka, 422 kilometres north of Port Moresby. Great Britain would defeat Highlands Zone 24-15 before downing Islands Zone in Rabaul. On the 31st of May, the Lions beat Papua New Guinea 20-14 with stand-in skipper Scofield leading the side from the centres.

Researching the tour for this story, your writer felt slightly jealous of the huge travelling army of fans that had made the trip from the Old Dart. Mid-week trips down the south coast to Wollongong, witnessing a pre-match 100-metre sprint showdown between Offiah and Eels rookie Lee Oudenryn and a Test match victory over Australia at the home of the Carlton Blues AFL club in Melbourne.

As good as the Lions looked in their awesome tour strip – three NSWRL clubs donned one-off jerseys for their tour matches and have become the stuff of legend for footy jumper buffs.

The blue Video Ezy Raiders jersey, Illawarra running out onto WIN Stadium in a different version of their scarlet and the Knights in a fantastic hooped number which included a red V across the front.

Not to be outdone, the Lions wore an alternate top for their trip to Tweed Heads to play the Gold Coast.

Majority blue on front.

Red on back.

Great Britain then entered Australia and beat Queensland Residents in Townsville.

Interestingly, a very young Jason Hetherington [assuming with hair] played five-eight that night for QLD.

He’d go on to become a tough-as-nails hooker for the Bulldogs, Maroons and Australia.

Their first match against Sydney competition came when they headed to Canberra on a cold Saturday night in June. Due to some shoddy scheduling, the Raiders had to back up the next day at Bruce in a match against the Eels. The Lions won 24-12 with Ricky Stuart, Jason Croker and Brett Mullins backing up against Parramatta. The Raiders won their premiership match 31-12.

Two days later, the Lions held off the Steelers in Wollongong 11-10.

In a classic moment of English commentary from Mike Stephenson and the Lions up 11-4 late in the match, Illawarra pressed the try line at the southern end in front of over 10,000 fans on a Monday afternoon.

“Well for years they said we couldn’t tackle in Britain! Watch it…” Stephenson was then cut off as Steelers number 6 Aaron Whittacker crashed over.

The first Ashes clash at the SFS attracted a full house of 40,000 supporters in what would be Paul ‘The Chief’ Harragon’s test debut. Australia controlled most of the contest and ran out 22-6 winners with Brad Clyde named man of the match.

Any confidence British fans had was soon sucked away.

That would all change in Melbourne not long after.

The following Tuesday, Great Britain disposed of NSW Country in Parkes, 24-6.

They would then make the trip back to Sydney to face the battling Eels at Parramatta Stadium. Despite the Eels’ poor run of form, over 20,000 fans packed out the stadium for Friday night football.

In an event that would be frowned upon today by first grade coaches and doctors alike – the world’s fastest rugby league player Martin Offiah was challenged pre-match to a 100-metre dash by young Parramatta counterpart Lee Oudenryn.

They’d both then trot back into sheds to run out for their respective teams.

In a major boilover, Oudenryn won the sprint.

There have been rumours ever since that bets were put on the race and that British players had chucked a few quid on Oudenryn and had reportedly conned Offiah into throwing the race so his teammates could collect.

Nevertheless, Offiah then came out and scored two tries but it wasn’t enough with the Eels scoring a shock victory against the mighty Lions.

Another very British moment stood out with big Leeds front-rower Karl Harrison penalised in the first minute for the straightest forearm you could ever imagine which almost decapitated a poor Eel. On the call, Stephenson labeled it a fair shot with first contact in the chest.

The entire starting Eels side played again just a few days later in a loss to Manly at Brookvale Oval.

Parramatta would finish the club season 15th – one ahead of wooden spooners South Sydney.

After beating the Knights 22-0, a day after the death of young Panther Ben Alexander, the Lions flew to Melbourne.

The Kangaroos were hot favourites and deservedly so.

What happened next would send Lions fans into a meltdown and put faith back into supporters watching over in the United Kingdom that the Ashes were finally coming home.

Coach Reilly announced an all-Wigan starting pack for the second Test with cold, blustery conditions suiting the visitors. The Lions shot out to a 22-0 half-time lead and never looked in trouble, winning 33-10 in front of 31,005 fans.

Some pubs in Melbourne still haven’t recovered.

With ‘The King’ Wally Lewis a late scratching for the Seagulls, Britain won comfortably 28-10 against Gold Coast, perhaps with an eye on the leagues club that stood over the small stadium.

In the final Ashes Test at Lang Park, with points going toward the ongoing 1989-1992 World Cup, Mal Meninga surpassed Reg Gasnier as the most capped Kangaroo on 37 games. His try would also see him equal Keith Holman for most tries against the Lions [11]. With a further four goals, Meninga became the highest points scorer for either side in Ashes matches.

While Hemmings and Stephenson presented the contest for fans back in the UK, Channel 7’s call was headed by Graeme Hughes alongside Pat Welsh, Wally Lewis and Kiwi star Garry Freeman.

What cost the Lions, in contrast to the freezing conditions in Victoria, was the dry humidity of Queensland which favoured Australia. The Kangaroos took an 8-4 lead into the break with the first try of the game not coming until midway through the second stanza to Laurie Daley. Offiah scored Britain’s only try of the match but Australia would hold on 16-10 to retain the Ashes.

Freeman would then star for New Zealand as the Kiwis and Lions split their two-test series at one apiece.

Two years later, Australia would fly to England and France for the last time as a true Kangaroo tour but there was something special about Great Britain and their last great challenge of the Aussies Down Under.

@woodward_curtis