1948–49 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France

Earlier in the season, Newtown's Len Smith had captain-coached the Australians to a series win over the touring New Zealand team. In what turned out to be a selection controversy, Smith, a dual rugby international was then left out of the 1948 Kangaroo Tour squad altogether. After years of dignified silence on the issue Smith, who promptly retired from playing after his non-selection, would claim in the early-mid 1990s that he believed he was left out of the side as the league (NSWRFL) wanted a Mason to captain the side as Smith believed one had captained every Kangaroo touring team since the inaugural Kangaroos in 1908–09. == The squad's leadership ==

The team was selected with Col Maxwell as captain and Bill Tyquin as vice-captain. Tour co-managers were Bill Buckley and Eric Simmonds. Maxwell captained the team on 12 occasions, including the Second Test against Great Britain. Tyquin captained the team in 10 matches, including the exhibition match against South Australia and in three Test matches, the two victories over France and the Third Test loss to Great Britain. Wally O'Connell captained the Kangaroos in the First Test Match against Great Britain, the international against Wales, and on six other occasions (Salford, Cumberland, St Helens, Bradford Northern, Swindon, and Yorkshire). In the matches in which neither Maxwell, Tyquin nor O’Connell played, the Kangaroos were captained by Keith Froome on 3 occasions (Dewsbury, Hull Kingston Rovers, and Lancashire), Billy Thompson on 3 occasions (Castleford, Languedoc, and Cannes) and Doug McRitchie twice (Hull & Leigh). == Touring squad ==

The Rugby League News published a photo and the names and states of the selected players. Match details - listing surnames of both teams and the point scorers - were included in ''E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook'', as was a summary of the players' point-scoring. Benton, Brosnan, Hall, Horrigan, McMahon, Pegg, Thompson, and Tyquin were selected from Queensland clubs. Dimond, Gibbs, Hawke, and Schubert were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney based clubs during the 1948 season. Note: Tallies in the table above excludes the exhibition match against South Australia. == Match results ==

The tourists travelled to Marseille aboard the , making stops in Adelaide, Perth, Colombo, Mumbai and Aden. A scheduled exhibition match in Perth was cancelled when, due to rough seas in the Great Australian Bight, the arrival of the RMS Maloja into Fremantle was delayed. Also due to delays, arrangements were made to fly the players from Marseille into England. This was accomplished in two flights, with one plane flying into Manchester and the other into the outskirts of London. Exhibition Match ---- In Great Britain ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 1st Test vs Great Britain ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 2nd Test vs Great Britain ---- ---- ---- ---- Only Test vs Wales ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- in France ---- ---- ---- ---- 1st Test vs France ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 2nd Test vs France ---- 3rd Test v Great Britain This Test Match was originally intended to be played on December 18, 1948, Due to dense fog at the ground (Odsal) in the hours prior to the match, play was abandoned and the match rescheduled to occur after the French leg of the tour. Curiously, the fog of December 18 cleared around the scheduled time, 2.45pm, of kick-off. The morning of January 29 again saw fog at the ground (Odsal), but this cleared by lunch-time and the postponed match was played out under clear skies. ---- == References ==