The Great Britain women's rugby league tour of Australia was their second tour to Australia, following on from a two to one test series victory in 1996. It was also their third overall, having visited New Zealand in 1998. The tour was the fourth by a national women's rugby league team into Australia, with visits by New Zealand in 1995 and 1999 in addition to Great Britain's 1996 tour. Three of the five matches were full internationals.
Background Great Britain entered into this tour with a record of four wins from five matches against Australia, having won the 1996 three-match series by two to one, and both matches played in the 2000 World Cup.
Australia had played one match since the 2000 World Cup, a loss to New Zealand in Auckland. The team would be selected from small club competitions in two centres – Brisbane and Canberra. The Sydney club competition of the 1990s had collapsed by 2001, with a twelve-team rugby union competition cited as one reason for the decline in playing numbers.
Players from both sides were obligated to self-fund their travel and accommodation expenses for the tour, and several engaged in fund raising activities. Great Britain players were asked to find £1,000 in sponsorship as well as raising or making an individual contribution of £1,300. Collectively, the squad raised over £60,000.
Great Britain squad An extended squad of 34 players met for a training camp on the weekend of 8 and 9 December 2001. The final Great Britain squad of 25 players went into camp prior to departing London on Sunday, 7 July 2002. The team arrived in Sydney on Tuesday, 9 July ahead of their first match, the First Test.
Team leadership Great Britain was led by joint captains Brenda Dobek and Lisa McIntosh, and by coach Jackie Sheldon. In the absence of the joint-captains in the tour game against Queensland, Gemma Walsh was captain. Support staff included assistant coaches John Mitchell (Bradford Thunderbirds) and Dylan Reynard (Milford Storm), physiotherapist Elaine Kirton (Whitehaven), and managers Andrew McDonald (Keighley Albion Cats) and Roland Davis.
Player’s tour record Player Position(s) Club Test Matches Tour Matches Debut 23 Sheffield 40 2000 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 12 11 Bradford Thunderbirds 17 1998 3 1 0 0 4 3 1 0 0 4 19 Hull Dockers 53 2003 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 4 1 Bradford Thunderbirds 27 1998 3 0 0 0 0 5 5 0 0 20 15 Wakefield Townville Panthers 47 2000 2 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 6 Wakefield Townville Panthers 6 1996 3 0 4 1 9 3 0 4 1 9 25 Hillside Hawks 57 2002 2 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 4 18 Keighley Albion Cats 44 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 9 Wakefield Townville Panthers 9 1996 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 4 21 Wakefield Townville Panthers 54 2002 3 1 0 0 4 5 2 0 0 8 8 Bradford Thunderbirds 13 1996 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 Barrow 25 1996 3 4 0 0 16 4 4 0 0 16 16 Hull Dockers 51 2002 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 17 Bradford Thunderbirds 52 2003 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 8 5 Bradford Thunderbirds 2 1996 3 1 0 0 4 4 2 0 0 8 10 Wigan 50 2002 3 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 4 3 Hull Dockers 48 2002 3 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 13 Hull Dockers 41 2000 3 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 4 7 Hull Dockers 49 2002 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 20 Bradford Thunderbirds 32 1998 2 1 0 0 4 4 4 0 0 16 24 Milford Storm 56 2002 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 12 12 Sheffield 33 1998 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 Wakefield Townville Panthers 39 2000 3 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 4 14 Wakefield Townville Panthers 45 2000 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 9 0 26 22 Wakefield Townville Panthers 55 2002 3 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 Notes: Great Britain players were assigned a jersey number for the duration of the tour. For example, Paula McCourt appeared in jersey number 21 in the three Tests, as well as the matches against Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. The match report for the Queensland game listed 19 players, with six on the interchange bench. The tally of appearances reflects this extension beyond the then standard 17 players. Jane Banks toured Australia in 1996 and played in tour matches, but did not make her Test debut until the 1998 tour of New Zealand. Samantha Brook was selected in the squad but withdrew from the tour due to deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Natalie Parsons, at age 17, was the second youngest member of the squad.
Australia squad The Australian squad was selected after the national championships on the June long weekend. This tournament featured two teams from Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, and despite the lack of a club competition in Sydney, New South Wales. Ten members of the Queensland A team were included in the squad, and one member from the Queensland Barbarians team. Three members of the Australian Capital Territory team were selected to in both the Australian squad and to play for NSW in the interstate game, held in Brisbane on 23 June 2002.
Team leadership Australia was led by captain Natalie Dwyer and coach Terry Boland. Karyn Murphy was unavailable to play in the series due to injury, but filled the role of assistant coach. Support staff included manager Jeanette Luker and trainers Tudor Young, Angela Street, and Kate Field.
Player’s test record Player Position(s) Club State / Territory Test Matches Debut 1 North Aspley Qld 39 1998 3 0 0 0 2 Qld 65 2002 3 0 0 0 3, 16 Qld 66 2002 2 0 0 0 4 Toowoomba Qld 60 2001 3 0 0 0 5 Gungahlin Bulls ACT 59 2001 2 0 0 0 6 North Aspley Qld 63 2002 3 0 0 0 7 Brothers Ipswich Qld 1 1995 3 3 0 6 8, 15 ACT 6 1995 3 0 0 0 9 Brothers Ipswich Qld 58 2001 3 0 0 4 10, 15, 8 Toowoomba Qld 55 2001 3 1 0 2 11 Brothers Ipswich Qld 18 1995 3 0 0 12 12 Brothers Ipswich Qld 19 1995 3 0 0 0 13 Brothers Ipswich Qld 42 1998 3 0 0 0 14 Toowoomba Qld 68 2002 3 0 0 8 15, 17 Toowoomba Qld 64 2002 3 0 0 0 16 Toowoomba Qld 67 2002 1 0 0 0 17 Qld 54 1999 1 0 0 0 18 ACT 5 1995 0 0 0 0 3 Brothers Ipswich Qld 46 1999 2 0 0 4 5 Brothers Ipswich Qld 51 2000 2 0 0 8 10 Brothers Ipswich Qld 22 1996 2 0 0 0 Notes: Australia allocated jersey numbers fresh for each Test Match. Members of the Australian squad did not play for Queensland or the ACT against Great Britain.
Results
Notes: The Second Test was played prior to an NRL match between the Brisbane Broncos and Wests Tigers. The Third Test was the third in a four game event day programme. The Test was preceded by Jersey Flegg Cup and Reserve Grade (then named First Division) matches. The Test was followed by an NRL match between the Canberra Raiders and New Zealand Warriors.
Players of the series A player of the series award was selected for one player from each side. Natalie Dwyer (Australia) Teresa Bruce (Great Britain)
Sources
Sources used to inform the creation of this page were drawn from direct online, indirect online and offline resources. Resources with direct online access included: NRL articles on Jillaroos history. Indirect online resources are newspaper and journal content housed on database applications (such as Newsbank and ProQuest) accessed through library eResources. Access may require library membership. As an example, SLNSW eResources requires a membership number, although membership is free to residents of New South Wales. Different titles have different starting dates. Newspaper text content is available in 2002 for all capital city based newspapers in Australia, and many large circulation newspapers in Great Britain. Newspapers that provided some coverage of this tour include: Canberra Times The Courier-Mail The Queensland Times (Ipswich) Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside Counties Publications West Yorkshire & North Yorkshire Counties Publications Offline resources are physical copies of books, journals or microfilm. Items used prior to and during the creation of this page include: Rugby Leaguer & League Express Big League Sydney League News Australian Rugby League - Annual Report (2001 & 2002) New South Wales Rugby League - Annual Report (2002)
References
External links NRL Women List of Australian Jillaroos on NRL website Video of First Test on YouTube Video of Third Test on YouTube Great Britain (Women) matches on Rugby League Records website