Well received a reply from the NRL .....
Hi
Thanks for your email. We appreciate you taking the time to write to us.
The NRL's Historian posted a feature article on the NRL Museum Facebook page, paying tribute to the match. An interview has also been recorded with other leading Rugby League historians and stakeholders, and this will be shown at the Australia v England Test Match as part of the Four Nations tournament later in the year.
The article from the Rugby league Museum is below;
Rorkes Drift Test match centenary, July 4 2014
Many consider the Third Test of the 1914 Ashes series - known as The Rorkes Drift Test -as the greatest Test match of all time and the fact that it is still recalled is evidence enough its lofty place in the pantheon of great games.
If nothing else it is a cracking story.
The First Test at the old Sydney Showground saw favourites Australia overwhelmed 23-5 by Wagstaff's men. The Second Test was played only two days later and was the first ever staged at the SCG. A revamped Australian team under Sid Deane levelled the series with a narrow 12-7 win. In between the two Tests occurred the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but no one knew at the time that this would be the event which would lead to the First World War.
The original schedule had the Third Test set down for Melbourne in six weeks' time, after the tourists had returned by boat from the New Zealand leg of their tour.
Whilst the team was in Bathurst for a midweek fixture, however, the NSWRL management cabled the Northern Union asking for a reschedule to Saturday, July 4, 1914 and threatened to with-hold money and take legal action if the team refused to comply with their request.
The Northern Union reluctantly agreed and the English team and touring management had no choice but to accept the change when it was presented as a fait accompli.
Indignant at the change and the way the NSWRL Management had handled the situation, England was further motivated by a telegram from home that invoked Nelson's famous message at the Battle of Trafalgar "England expects every man to do his duty". Team manager John Clifford also delivered a stirring speech that told his men "You are playing for England, but you are also playing for Right against Wrong" and written accounts from some present note the way the forwards bristled and clenched their fists as they listened.
By half time in the Third Test England led 9-0 from a converted try and two penalty goals, but already injuries had cut into their ranks.
During the second half winger Frank Williams, who had injured his leg soon after the game commenced, could hobble no longer and was forced to retire. Legendary forward Dougie Clark, who was also a champion wrestler after WWI, had broken a thumb in the first half and then fell and broke a collarbone early in the second term and Billy Hall was forced off with concussion. Forward Albert "Chick" Johnson went out on the wing to fill a gap and scored a try by dribbling the ball soccer-style for 40 metres past the bewildered Australian defence to set up a 14-0 lead.
Australia came back with two tries of their own in the dying moments, both unconverted, but it was too little, too late and not even a further injury to England's Stuart Prosser could help revive Australia's fortunes. By the end of the game the SCG crowd, recognising the bravery of Wagstaff and his team, cheered them to the echo.
After the game, which finished 14-6 in England's favour, a journalist in Sydney attached the epithet Rorkes Drift to the British performance, in reference to a famous battle in the Zulu Wars when in 1879 a group of barely 100 English soldiers had repelled an attack by thousands of Zulu warriors.
The British team duly went to New Zealand and successfully completed that leg of their tour before returning for the final fixture - a match against NSW in Melbourne. Rather than an exhibition, however, the game degenerated into an ugly contest as both teams looked to settle a few scores from the Test series.
Reports suggest it was a worthy precursor to the Wests v Manly exhibition match in 1978 which gave birth to the Fibros v Silvertails feud.
By the time Wagstaff and his team arrived back in England war had been declared and several went straight to military camps. Three of his squad, Fred Longstaff, Billy Jarman and Walter Roman would be killed in action during the war as would Australian centre Bob Tidyman.
100 years later the match still resonates as a triumph against adversity and injustice, and should be remembered and respected by all modern rugby league fans.
To mark the centenary of the match the NRL recorded a panel discussion featuring historians Ian Heads, David Middleton and Englishman Tom Mather, with the RL museum's Terry Williams as moderator. It is planned to use the footage later this year before Australia and England play in the opening match of this year's Four Nations tournament.
Thanks again for taking the time to write into us, and we thank you for your support of the game.
Kind regards
Brett
Supporter liaison
