A three-Test series vs England, in England has just been announced. Obviously, the old school three-month-long Kangaroo tours are a thing of the past.
Can you imagine modern-day players playing a full NRL season and then playing up to 20 games on a Roo tour?
Me either, but this might be the next best thing and certainly as good as we can hope for.
Some of my fondest memories involve staying up as a 13-year-old to watch the 1986 tour. Channel 10 (I think) televised all the games – even the Emu games. I’ll never forget the romanticism of watching the Aussies play in pea soup fog against teams with almost exotic-sounding names (to a 13-year-old anyway) like Cumbria and Bradford Northern. The memories are etched in stone.
I remember the excitement of the first game against Wigan. It was almost like an unofficial fourth Test. Given the strength of the Wigan side and it being Australia’s first game in the UK, it was seen as possibly the biggest threat to the Aussies matching the undefeated record of their predecessors – the 1982 Invincibles.
The 1982 games exist for me as highlights, memories. Gold foil stickers in my 1983 Scanlens album. A perfect team that blended the old school stars like captain Krilich, Cronin, Rogers, Reddy, Mortimer and Young with the emerging next generation, including soon-to-be household names like Lewis, Miles, Meninga, Kenny, Sterling and Pearce.
Back to 1986. The heartache of one of 1982s breakout stars – Wayne Pearce – failing a well publicised fitness test. A minor stumble in a sprint ruling him out. The thought of a player coming back from a mid-season ACL tear would be almost fantasy like in 2025. Who can imagine how hard Pearce must have worked in 1986?
Wally Lewis was the first Queensland Kangaroos captain in over 50 years. Us Sydneysiders only saw the Queensland based players a few times a year and for me Wally had reached almost mythical status. I got to shake his hand not long earlier when I showed up to footy training at Reg Bartley Oval in Rushcutters Bay, and we waited for the Queensland Origin team to finish a ball work session.
The Wigan game ended up being a bit of a fizzer – a recurring theme for the tour. Australia burned them in the first half, leading 16-2 at the break.
Wally Lewis. (Photo by Getty Images)
We all know how it played out. A series of big wins in the next tour games and an emphatic 36-16 victory in the first Test had us all believing.
The third Test was the closest of the tour, with the Lions fighting back from 12-0 down to make it a real contest. That man Lewis sealed the game for Australia with a late try.
Memories have faded but I’ll always remember players like Michael O’Connor and Dale Shearer streaming down field. Joe Lyndon doing the same for the Lions. Lewis’ cut out passes, Sterling controlling games. Miles and Kenny combining brute force and sublime skill. Alexander stepping five players in 10 metres in a tour game leaving all his opponents bamboozled. The Aussie forwards smashing their opposition.
It would be remiss not to mention the great man Terry Lamb playing all 20 games on the tour, finishing as the leading try scorer and second highest point scorer.
Will I remember the 2025 version as fondly as I do the 1986 version, in 39 years time? I doubt it, but I still can’t wait!
The Barryhttps://https://ift.tt/bZJA8Ra of the Kangaroos: Remembering the 1980s glory days
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