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
ManagerJack 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 tour1953 by to
1959 by to
1959-60 to
1960 by
Next tour1962 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 BeattieProp2514.12 (94) Ipswich Railways170000
Ray BeavanFive-eighth2411.2 (71) Tumut040000
Brian CarlsonUtility Back2814.4 (91) St George130306
Ron CroweProp2714.12 (94) West Wyalong271105
Ken DayLock2515.0 (95) Brisbane Western Suburbs010000
Frank DrakeFullback2211.6 (73) Western Suburbs1790027
Reg GasnierCentre2212.8 (80) St George2660018
Bob GehrkeHooker2311.7 (73) Brisbane Valleys052006
Alan GilCentre2212.4 (78) Toowoomba All Whites061003
Ken IrvineWing2112.4 (78) North Sydney28101032
Eddie LumsdenWing2413.9 (87) St George2860018
Ron Lynch Second-row2113.10 (87) Parramatta260000
Barry MuirHalfback2310.11 (68) Brisbane Western Suburbs2742016
Bill OwenSecond-row2513.7 (86) Newcastle Northern Suburbs061003
Don ParishUtility Back2312.0 (76) Western Suburbs27423058
Jim PatersonSecond-row2514.10 (93) Innisfail262006
Elton RasmussenProp, Second-row2315.4 (97) Toowoomba All Whites270102
Jack SinclairLock2413.4 (84) Manly-Warringah153009
Arthur SummonsHalfback2511.0 (70) Western Suburbs261003
Ian WalshHooker2713.6 (85) St George251003

Tour

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

Saturday 17 June
New Zealand Māori 13 – 25 Australia
[6]
Wednesday 21 June
Wellington 3 – 66 Australia
[7]
Basin Reserve, Wellington
Attendance: 707
Friday 23 June
National Coaching School 4 – 9 Australia
[8]
Saturday 24 June
West Coast 7 – 27 Australia
[9]
Wingham Park, Greymouth
Attendance: 1,682
Tuesday 27 June
Taranaki 0 – 34 Australia
[10]
Burnside Showgrounds, Hāwera
Attendance: 600

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
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:
New Zealand 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:
Australia Brian Carlson
Wednesday 5 July
Waikato 8 – 26 Australia
[12]
Steele Park, Hamilton
Attendance: 886

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
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:
New Zealand 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:
Australia Brian Carlson
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
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