The 1928 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team of Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and August 1928. The tour involved a schedule of 24 games; 16 in Australia, including a three-test series against Australia for the Ashes and a further eight in New Zealand, including a three-test series against New Zealand.
Captained by Jonty Parkin, the Lions returned home having won 18, lost five and drawn one of their games. They won the Ashes against Australia by two tests to one, and also two out of three tests against New Zealand.
Squad An initial 23-man squad for the tour was named on 29 February 1928, with three additional players being selected two weeks later and Jonty Parkin being appointed as captain. In April, Frank Gallagher declined his tour invitation for business reasons, and Joe Thompson was selected as a replacement.
Name Position Nationality Club Fullback Rochdale Hornets Fullback Wigan Three-quarter Featherstone Rovers Three-quarter Leeds Three-quarter St Helens Three-quarter Swinton Three-quarter St Helens Three-quarter Hull Three-quarter Batley Three-quarter Leeds Half-back Swinton Half-back St Helens (c) Half-back Wakefield Trinity Half-back Swinton Forward Wigan Highfield Forward Hull Forward St Helens Recs Forward Barrow Forward St Helens Recs Forward St Helens Recs Forward St Helens Forward Wakefield Trinity Forward Oldham Forward Leeds Forward Salford Forward Bradford Northern
The two team managers were G.F. Hutchins of Oldham and E. Osborne of Warrington.
Schedule and results The touring party departed from Tilbury on 20 April 1928 on board the SS Cathay. The team arrived in Melbourne on 28 May, with thirteen players travelling by train for the opening game of the tour in Cootamundra, while the rest of the team continued their journey via ship to Sydney. Date Opponents Score (GB first) Venue Attendance Notes 30 May South West District align="center" Cootamundra 8,000 2 June New South Wales align="center" Sydney 55,000 4 June New South Wales align="center" Sydney 48,000 9 June New South Wales align="center" Sydney 38,000 13 June Far Northern Coast align="center" Lismore 6,500 16 June Queensland align="center" Brisbane 25,000 20 June Ipswich align="center" Ipswich 2,000 23 June align="center" Brisbane 39,200 27 June Central Queensland align="center" Rockhampton 10,000 30 June Northern Queensland align="center" Townsville 11,000 4 July Wide Bay align="center" Bundaberg 4,000 7 July Toowoomba align="center" Toowoomba 12,000 11 July Newcastle align="center" Newcastle 7,000 14 July align="center" Sydney 44,548 18 July Western NSW align="center" Parkes 9,000 21 July align="center" Sydney 37,000 1 August South Auckland align="center" Hamilton 4 August align="center" Auckland 28,000 8 August Auckland align="center" Auckland 15,000 11 August Auckland City align="center" Auckland 25,000 14 August Buller align="center" Westport 15 August West Coast align="center" Greymouth 18 August align="center" Dunedin 12,000 25 August align="center" Christchurch 21,000
Following the end of the third test against New Zealand, the team departed Auckland aboard the RMS Niagara, and played two exhibition games in Canada before returning home.
References
External links Lions Tour 1928 at Rugby League Project