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France beating Australia in 1978


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And that was an almost invincible Kangaroo touring side.  They fell short of what was to follow in 1982 and 1986 but only just. From memory, they lost only to Warrington and the second test at Odsal against the 'Dad's Army' Great Britain team.

Blackpool Borough stirred the hornet's nest, though, because the tour opened there and a Bak Diabira drop goal meant that the second worst team in British Rugby League led the world champions 1-0.  It ended 39-1 to Australia and the rest, just like Blackpool Borough, is history.

I was there as a skinny, long-haired, fresh-faced youth with hope for the future. I'm now a bald, fat, middle-aged man and any hope, on the Rugby League front at least, is long gone.

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7 hours ago, CmonTheBorough said:

And that was an almost invincible Kangaroo touring side.  They fell short of what was to follow in 1982 and 1986 but only just. From memory, they lost only to Warrington and the second test at Odsal against the 'Dad's Army' Great Britain team.

Blackpool Borough stirred the hornet's nest, though, because the tour opened there and a Bak Diabira drop goal meant that the second worst team in British Rugby League led the world champions 1-0.  It ended 39-1 to Australia and the rest, just like Blackpool Borough, is history.

I was there as a skinny, long-haired, fresh-faced youth with hope for the future. I'm now a bald, fat, middle-aged man and any hope, on the Rugby League front at least, is long gone.

That ‘almost invincible’ Kangaroo team got beat by Warrington and Widnes as well as a poor Great Britain team and twice to France. The 1978 Kangaroos wouldn’t have lived with the 1982 version.

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I stand corrected about Widnes beating them as well, had forgotten about that. Are you sure, though, that the team on the pitch that day  at Borough Park 40 years ago next week including Craig Young, Bobby Fulton, Les Boyd, Tommy Raudonakis and various others whom you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night couldn't have lived with their successors in 1982?

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4 minutes ago, Lobbygobbler said:

Is this game at Toulouse’s football stadium btw?

The Stadium Municipal de Toulouse was the venue for this, the second test (in December) between France & Australia in 1978.

The first test (in November) was at the Stade Albert Domec.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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8 hours ago, CmonTheBorough said:

I stand corrected about Widnes beating them as well, had forgotten about that. Are you sure, though, that the team on the pitch that day  at Borough Park 40 years ago next week including Craig Young, Bobby Fulton, Les Boyd, Tommy Raudonakis and various others whom you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night couldn't have lived with their successors in 1982?

Boyd and Young both played in 1982 as well so four more years experience would have seen a better player in the later team. 1982 had some of the best players ever to play the game. Sterling, Kenny, Meninga, Rogers, Pearce etc. Wally Lewis could only make the bench. Don’t forget the ‘82 team actually were invincible on the tour. It’s conjecture of course but I’d still take ‘82 over ‘78 every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Another thing to think about is the ‘86 Kangaroos were also invincible with a better for and against record than ‘82!

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1 hour ago, deluded pom? said:

Boyd and Young both played in 1982 as well so four more years experience would have seen a better player in the later team. 1982 had some of the best players ever to play the game. Sterling, Kenny, Meninga, Rogers, Pearce etc. Wally Lewis could only make the bench. Don’t forget the ‘82 team actually were invincible on the tour. It’s conjecture of course but I’d still take ‘82 over ‘78 every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Another thing to think about is the ‘86 Kangaroos were also invincible with a better for and against record than ‘82!

82 and 86 reams went undefeated, but I am not sure they were any better than say the 73 or 67 tourists , they were just meeting much weaker opposition.

Remember in 1983 New Zealand beat Australia in a one off test at Lang Park. and the team they beat was largely the team that flogged Great Britain in 82.

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Just now, Luckycreed said:

82 and 86 reams went undefeated, but I am not sure they were any better than say the 73 or 67 tourists , they were just meeting much weaker opposition.

Remember in 1983 New Zealand beat Australia in a one off test at Lang Park. and the team they beat was largely the team that flogged Great Britain in 82.

As I said above, it’s all conjecture. I never really had the ‘78 Kangaroos down as a great team. They were up against an old, poor Great Britain whereas in ‘82 I think the Australians had moved on rapidly from ‘78 after their club coaches were visiting NFL teams to get new ideas. The ‘82 Great Britain team were simply shell shocked by their opponents. I have the video of the ‘82 tour and I still chuckle to myself when Great Britain coach Johnny Whitekey is interviewed prior to the first Test and he explains why Lee Crooks has been selected at eighteen years of age. The reasoning was that Crooks goalkicking could be an important factor in deciding the game. I believe it ended up 44-4 or thereabouts. At the end of the day it’s all about opinions and you know what they say about them. 

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12 minutes ago, Luckycreed said:

82 and 86 reams went undefeated, but I am not sure they were any better than say the 73 or 67 tourists , they were just meeting much weaker opposition.

Remember in 1983 New Zealand beat Australia in a one off test at Lang Park. and the team they beat was largely the team that flogged Great Britain in 82.

Also bearing in mind that same Kiwi side flogged GB 3-0 on the ‘84 tour. They weren’t slouches by any stretch of the imagination. The ‘85 Kiwis also  nilled Australia in the dead rubber of a three game series after narrowly losing the previous two matches.

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12 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

As I said above, it’s all conjecture. I never really had the ‘78 Kangaroos down as a great team. They were up against an old, poor Great Britain whereas in ‘82 I think the Australians had moved on rapidly from ‘78 after their club coaches were visiting NFL teams to get new ideas. The ‘82 Great Britain team were simply shell shocked by their opponents. I have the video of the ‘82 tour and I still chuckle to myself when Great Britain coach Johnny Whitekey is interviewed prior to the first Test and he explains why Lee Crooks has been selected at eighteen years of age. The reasoning was that Crooks goalkicking could be an important factor in deciding the game. I believe it ended up 44-4 or thereabouts. At the end of the day it’s all about opinions and you know what they say about them. 

It is all conjecture and the warning signs for what unfolded in 82 were there for all to see on the GB tour of Australia in 79, but the fact New Zealand could still give us a hard night at the factory despite the fact that back then most of their players were amateurs playing in the Auckland comp suggests it had more to do with falling standards in England than anything remarkable that was going on down here.

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18 minutes ago, Luckycreed said:

It is all conjecture and the warning signs for what unfolded in 82 were there for all to see on the GB tour of Australia in 79, but the fact New Zealand could still give us a hard night at the factory despite the fact that back then most of their players were amateurs playing in the Auckland comp suggests it had more to do with falling standards in England than anything remarkable that was going on down here.

I would argue that virtually all of the Kiwis who played in ‘83 and ‘85 were at either British or Australian clubs.

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26 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

I would argue that virtually all of the Kiwis who played in ‘83 and ‘85 were at either British or Australian clubs.

I am struggling to find a team sheer for that 83 kiWi side, but I doubt many Of them were playing in Australia, Mark Graham  and the Sorenson brothers would have been about it, Australian clubs didn't recruit from New Zealand much back in those days.

I remember when Graham Lowe got the lob of coaching North's in Brisbane he brought two players with him Graham and  Stan Napa the father of Dylan, they were the only kiwi players in the Brisbane League back then

 Some were probably playing in England, but the main point is they were competitive despite most of the team not playing in Sydney which suggests the  GB problem was lack of talent rather than huge advancements in the Australian game, which begs the question were the 82 and 86 teams that good or were they flattered by playing woeful opposition?.

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If you go back to the 1972 world cup held in France which Great Britain won on a countback after the final with Australia ended in a 10 - 10 draw (GB beat Australia 27 -21 in the preliminary game) the Australian team was

FB Graeme Langlands

RW John Grant

LC  Geoff Starling

RC Mark Harris

LW  Ray Brahnigan

FE  Bob Fulton

HB  Dennis Ward

PR  John O'Neil

HK Elwyn Walters

PR  Bob O'Reilly

SR Arthur Beetson

SR Gary Stevens

LK Gary Sllivan

I would suggest that team would have given the 82 team a fair game yet GB could match it with them.For whatever reason by the very late seventies you blokes just stopped producing quality footballers in large enough numbers to remain competitive,

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41 minutes ago, Luckycreed said:

I am struggling to find a team sheer for that 83 kiWi side, but I doubt many Of them were playing in Australia, Mark Graham  and the Sorenson brothers would have been about it, Australian clubs didn't recruit from New Zealand much back in those days.

I remember when Graham Lowe got the lob of coaching North's in Brisbane he brought two players with him Graham and  Stan Napa the father of Dylan, they were the only kiwi players in the Brisbane League back then

 Some were probably playing in England, but the main point is they were competitive despite most of the team not playing in Sydney which suggests the  GB problem was lack of talent rather than huge advancements in the Australian game, which begs the question were the 82 and 86 teams that good or were they flattered by playing woeful opposition?.

Was ‘83 the game where Filipaina was plucked from reserve grade with Norths?

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Given what had happened in 82 and 86, did the Aussies let us win the 1st tests in both 1990 and 1994, in an attempt to make the series seem more competitive than it otherwise would have been? I'm joking of course, but how the hell in 1994 did we go from winning the 1st test with only 12 players for most of the game, to being thumped 38-8 and 23-4 in the 2nd and 3rd tests! I guess that defeat must have annoyed them a bit.

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1 hour ago, Luckycreed said:

I am struggling to find a team sheer for that 83 kiWi side, but I doubt many Of them were playing in Australia, Mark Graham  and the Sorenson brothers would have been about it, Australian clubs didn't recruit from New Zealand much back in those days.

I remember when Graham Lowe got the lob of coaching North's in Brisbane he brought two players with him Graham and  Stan Napa the father of Dylan, they were the only kiwi players in the Brisbane League back then

 Some were probably playing in England, but the main point is they were competitive despite most of the team not playing in Sydney which suggests the  GB problem was lack of talent rather than huge advancements in the Australian game, which begs the question were the 82 and 86 teams that good or were they flattered by playing woeful opposition?.

Just had a quick search, and can't easily find the 1983 Kiwi side, but the 1982 side players are listed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_New_Zealand_rugby_league_tour_of_Australia_and_Papua_New_Guinea

Wikipedia has an incomplete list for the 1983 tests here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_New_Zealand_rugby_league_season#International_competitions - "New Zealand were coached by Graham Lowe and included; Fred Ah Kuoi, Dean Bell, Ian Bell, Mark Broadhurst, first Test captain Mark Graham, Gary Kemble, James Leuluai, Ron O'Regan, Gary Prohm, Joe Ropati, Gordon Smith, Dane and Kurt Sorensen, PNG Test captain Howie Tamati, Shane Varley, second Test captain Graeme West, Nick Wright, Robin Alfeld, Marty Crequer, Clayton Friend, Frank Tinitelia, Hugh McGahan, Dean Orr and John Ackland."

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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22 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

Was ‘83 the game where Filipaina was plucked from reserve grade with Norths?

No that was 85 and Balmain not North Sydney . but you are correct he was playing in Sydney in 83 .Still searching for a team sheet for that 83 game at Lang Park there must be one on google somewhere.

I was at that game they belted the living daylights out of us, younger people would be shocked at how violent our sport used to be if they managed to get hold of some footage.of that match.

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9 minutes ago, Luckycreed said:

No that was 85 and Balmain not North Sydney . but you are correct he was playing in Sydney in 83 .Still searching for a team sheet for that 83 game at Lang Park there must be one on google somewhere.

I was at that game they belted the living daylights out of us, younger people would be shocked at how violent our sport used to be if they managed to get hold of some footage.of that match.

 

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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6 minutes ago, Luckycreed said:

Thanks boss this should keep me quiet for a couple of hours.I was at this game with my dad who died two weeks ago here in my living room after a long battle with Parkinsons disease so it will brng back some good memories.

The edit was because I originally posted the 1982 Lang Park test, which is also available in full on YouTube. I've just started playing this 1983 video, and I'll raise a glass to your dad while I do it.

I've only seen brief clips of it before, so chapeau to whoever uploaded this.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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46 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

RL with real scrums. ?

Have you made quite sure the pitch markings are accurate, though? :wink:

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Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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