  Kangaroos beat Lions at Wilderspool Sat 01 Dec 2007 Wilderspool said farewell to Test matches on Saturday 1st December when it staged the third and deciding Test of the 1973 Anglo-Australian series. The match itself was in doubt right up to kick-off because of a frozen pitch. It certainly would not have been played had it been a run-of-the-mill league fixture, but because of its status, the fact that it was scheduled for television coverage, and the tight travelling schedule organised for the Kangaroos, the match went ahead. Australia seemed oblivious of the danger posed by the dreadful playing surface. They also kept their feet better as the Lions slithered across the frost-bound pitch, chasing the shadows which were the speedy Kangaroos. Warrington born stand-off Bobby Fulton (Manly) intercepted a Terry Clawson pass to score an early try. Cronulla second-rower Ken Maddison scored twice, and was also involved in the fourth Australian try scored by centre Geoff Starling (Balmain). Earlier Roger Millward (Hull Kingston Rovers) had landed a penalty, so Britain turned round 12-2 in arrears. Millward scored an excellent try early in the second half, but the British recovery was short lived, as South Sydney hooker Elwyn Walters scored again to give Australia a 15-5 victory. It would have been more emphatic but for some wayward kicking from Graham Eadie and Ray Branigan (both Manly), who contrived to miss seven attempts between them, and some heroic tackling from Widnes loose-forward Doug Laughton, who was by far Britain�s best player. Current British coach David Waite (Wollongong Wests) was included in the Australian line-up for that Test. Their victory meant that Australia regained the Ashes they had lost in Australia in 1970. Great Britain have yet to win them back again. Anderson leads Kangaroos to victory in FranceFormer Kangaroo coach Chris Anderson, a veteran player with the 1982 Australian tour party, captained the side on Wednesday 1st December in the absence of tour skipper Max Krilich and his vice-captain Wally Lewis. The Kangaroos took on Roanne that evening for the opening match of their visit to France. A crowd of 1,506 saw Australia race to a 29-0 interval lead, before going on to win 65-0. Anderson scored two of the fifteen Kangaroo tries, although the top points scorers that evening were wingers Eric Grothe and John Ribot. Grothe crossed for five tries, and Ribot finished with a personal haul of 29 points from three tries and ten goals. Wolves hero can�t save AdelaideTuesday 1st December 1998 was a sad day for the players, staff and supporters of the South Australian club, Adelaide Rams. It was on that day that media giants News Limited announced that they were withdrawing funding for the Super League club, thereby causing the Rams to close down. Adelaide were the last club to join the Australian Super League in its one and only campaign when the Australian game was split into two by the �Super League War�. Under coach Rod Reddy a squad of players was hastily assembled, and they completed the 1997 season under the huge handicap of having no reserve grade team. Under the circumstances the Rams did well to avoid collecting the wooden spoon. They won six and drew one of their eighteen Super League matches. Adelaide laso drew much bigger crowds than was anticipated in a state dominated by the Australian Rules code of football. Their first home game against Hunter Mariners attracted 27,435 spectators, and the season�s average was over 15,000. Adelaide�s second season was a disaster from almost every angle. A dispute with the local cricket authorities saw them move from Adelaide Oval to the Hindmarsh Stadium, a soccer venue. Poor results ended with the sacking of Rod Reddy, but even the improved form under new coach Dean Lance could not save the Rams. Their star performer was Graham Appo, who arrived with Lance and scored 116 points from 12 tries and 34 goals in 14 matches. The board claimed that heavy losses sustained because of disappointing attendances and poor merchandising sales left them no alternative but to wind up operations. Kiwis beat a World XIIIThe 1985 Kiwi tourists to Europe completed the French section of the trip with a 100 percent record from their seven matches. They did receive one fright, however, when they met a �Rest of the World Selection� on Sunday 1st December at the Stade L�Egassiarial, Narbonne. The World XIII was an interesting combination, consisting of nine Australians, two Frenchmen, a Moroccan and an Englishman, the majority of whom were playing out their careers with clubs in the French league. The well travelled Englishman was Tim Wilby, whose colourful career took him literally all over the globe. In England he played principally for Leeds and Hull, whilst he was a member of the Le Pontet team which won both the French Cup and Championship in 1986. Ten years or so later he played in Australia for Campbelltown Collegians under the name Tim Woods, in order to defy a transfer ban which was in force at that time. Unfortunately the former Doncaster and St Helens forward Mervyn Hicks coached an opposing team, and so Wilby�s cover was blown. Skipper of the World XIII was Jean-Jacques Cologni, who was given the honour to commemorate his final international appearance. Between 1973 and 1983 Cologni had appeared in seven Test matches for France, and toured Australasia with the 1977 World Cup squad. The starting line-up for the World XIII was Mick Gooding (Australia); Herbie Abbott (Australia), John McGuire (Australia), Mark Keehan (Australia), Greg McTeigue (Australia); Tim Wilby (England), Guy Alard (France); Bernie Ernst (Australia), Kim Khedhami (Morocco), Bill Hardy (Australia), Brandon Lee (Australia), Jean-Jacques Cologni (France), Rod Bussing (Australia). The World side began well, and tries by Abbott and Bussing, one of which was converted by McGuire, gave them a 10-4 half-time lead. As the game wore on the World XIII tired and the bigger, faster Kiwis were able to maintain their winning sequence with a 22-10 victory. Marty Crequer (2), Mark Bourneville, Ron O�Regan and Shane Horo scored tries with Dane Sorenson landing the solitary Kiwi goal. The New Zealand team was: Darrell Williams (Mount Albert); Mark Bourneville (Mount Albert), Dean Bell (Sydney Eastern Suburbs), Mark Elia (Te Atatu), Marty Crequer (Canterbury); Shane Cooper (Mount Albert), Clayton Friend (Manakau); Dane Sorenson (Cronulla), Howie Tamati (Taranaki), Kurt Sorenson (Cronulla), Hugh McGahan (Sydney Eastern Suburbs), Adrian Shelford (Hornby), Ron O�Regan (City Newton); Subs: Shane Horo (Waring City Tigers), Brent Todd (Canterbury). �A� teams have their dayIt was on this day in 1985, Sunday 1st December, that Widnes �A� won the Lancashire County Challenge Shield with an emphatic 50-0 victory over Whitehaven �A� at Naughton Park. A crowd of 1,306 were in attendance to see the Widnes second string run in nine tries, including three from Duncan Platt, who also landed seven goals. The other touchdowns came from Paul Hulme (2), Ralph Linton, Stuart Wright, Chris Middlehurst and Darren Wright. Four years later, on Friday 1st December 1989, the final between Salford �A� and St Helens �A� was much closer. It took a last minute try from trialist centre Martin Birkett to enable Salford �A� to win 14-11. Earlier Birkett had landed a goal and tries had been scored by Kevin Fox and Andy Mercer. Once again an excellent attendance was recorded, with 1,170 rolling up to the Willows. Previous On This Day Articles 15 Dec 2007 Sad tour for Kiwis 08 Dec 2007 Moses leads the exodus . . . 01 Dec 2007 Kangaroos beat Lions at Wilderspool 24 Nov 2007 Waite makes his Australia debut 17 Nov 2007 Bev makes Warrington debut 10 Nov 2007 When League was the new TV game 03 Nov 2007 Aussies win in London 27 Oct 2007 When Britain defeated the Aussies 20 Oct 2007 When Haven beat the Aussies 13 Oct 2007 Mighty Bulls beat Wigan  TotalRL.com © League Publications Ltd - Wellington House, Briggate, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, HD6 1DN, UK Tel: 01484 401895 - Fax: 01484 401995 - E-Mail: info@TotalRL.com - Privacy Policy |