Azkatro for the Kangaroos.
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THE FORGOTTEN FRIENDLY
Beetson, Im going to try and take Millward out.
These are the words of Tom Raudonikis, as told by Arthur Beetson in his autobiography. It was Toms game plan as halfback for Australia who were taking on England in November 1975 at Headingley in Leeds. Despite it being a World Cup year, this game was not a World Cup match. It was instead a long forgotten International Match between the winners and runners-up of the World Cup of 1975. When you read International Match, it doesnt mean Test match, nor does it mean World Cup match. In fact, according to the history of rugby league, it doesnt mean much at all.
The foundations of how this match came about date back to September 27, 1975. Australia took on New Zealand at Carlaw Park in what was the conclusion of the second stage of the drawn out 1975 World Cup tournament. According to reports, the win by Australia confirmed what officials had long feared the third and concluding stage of the tournament, to be hosted in France and England, would be a flop. This was because Australia had all but secured victory in a tournament which did not have a final scheduled. Australia held a 3 point lead over England with three games to play in the third and final stage. Two of their opponents in those games were to be Wales and France, so the likelihood of them losing to either was slim at best.
As it turned out, Australia beat Wales in a canter, and thrashed the French 41-2 to secure the cup. It wasnt long before talks of a finale to be played involving Australia began. Originally, it was to be against a Rest of the World side in France, but this idea was discarded. On October 30, following a meeting in Huddersfield, a Test match between Great Britain and Australia, to be played at Leeds on November 12, was arranged. According to ARL president Kevin Humphries it was to be regarded by both countries as an official Test match.
Englands World Cup coach Alex Murphy then decided to stir the pot with explosive comments regarding the 10-all draw in Sydney between the sides. His claim was that Australia scored a try which should never have been awarded by New Zealand referee John Percival. Thus England could still have had a chance to win the tournament by beating Australia in their last match.
Percival adjudicated Englands 16-13 win at Wigan the following day. As it turned out, there was again controversy as Australia claimed Percival incorrectly awarded a try by Englands John Holmes. Captain Arthur Beetson also stated that Percival was well below standard. Such was Australias disdain that the upcoming Test against Great Britain, which was due to be refereed by Percival, was replaced with a rematch between Australia and England of course with a different referee.
History shows that Australia won that game against a weakened English side 25-0, a game which was refereed by Fred Lindop.
The Test match status of the fixture however was lost. All resources which mention it refer to it as little more than an International Match. Player statistics do not include it in their records. Even when the ARL belatedly announced they would be affording all World Cup matches involving Australia the same status as Test matches in March of this year, this Challenge game was still not included in the corrected player statistics.
It is clear why the proposed referee of the game was changed from John Percival to Fred Lindop. But there seems to be few words written about why Australias opponent was changed from the Rest of the World, to Great Britain, then to England. There is also little indication as to why its Test status was dropped.
Significantly, both the RFL and ARL appear to agree on its status. Therefore the likelihood of it being upgraded to Test status is extremely low. So I guess we should call it a friendly.
It seems a shame when you run your eye over Tommys comments one more time: Beetson, Im going to try and take Millward out.
For the record, he did what he set out to do. In the first scrum of the match he lunged at Englands halfback, captain and key player Roger The Dodger Millward, and after a scuffle both were sent off. Mission accomplished. Millward was so disappointed, he wept in the dressing room afterwards.
Friendly indeed.
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Bibliography
Wire, "Brass boys shine...and 'kill' series", Sun-Herald, 28 Sep, 1975, p. 69
Wire, "League 'Test' mooted", Sydney Morning Herald, 30 Oct, 1975, p. 19
AAP, "League tourists odds on", Sydney Morning Herald, 31 Oct, 1975, p. 11
Wire, "Test match official", Sydney Morning Herald, 31 Oct, 1975, p. 11
Wire, "Murphy sharpens 'needle'", Sydney Morning Herald, 1 Nov, 1975, p. 48
AAP, "Disputed try sinks Aust", Sydney Morning Herald, 3 Nov, 1975, p. 15
Wire "Lindop 'rematch' referee", Sydney Morning Herald, 4 Nov, 1975, p. 14
Wire, "Millward weeps after being ordered off", The Times, 13 Nov, 1975, p. 10
Wire, "League tour has a lame ending", Sydney Morning Herald, 14 Nov, 1975, p. 15
Fletcher, Raymond & Howes, David, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-96, London : Headline Book Publishing, 1995
Beetson, Arthur & Heads, Ian, Big Artie - The Autobiography, Sydney : ABC Books, 2004
Fittler, B. , & Sleeman, R, Freddy The Brad Fittler Story, Sydney : Harper Collins, 2005
Andrews, Malcolm, The ABC Of Rugby League, Third edition, Sydney : ABC Books, 2006
Riccio, David, "Lockyer in reach of most caps", Daily Telegraph, 30 Mar, 2008.
AAP, ARL change Kangaroos records, http://news.smh.com.au/sport/arl-change-kangaroos-records-20080329-22co.html, 29 Mar, 2008, accessed 26 Oct, 2008
Various, "1975 Rugby League World Cup", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Rugby_League_World_Cup, 26 Oct, 2008, accessed 26 Oct, 2008
747 words. Liftoff!