1983 Queensland rugby league tour of Papua New Guinea and England

The 1983 Queensland rugby league tour of Papua New Guinea and England was a tour that took place in two parts. In June 1983 the Queensland team took in a one-week tour of Papua New Guinea, then following the end of the 1983 Brisbane Rugby League season, the team embarked on a 3-game, 2 week tour of England in October.^[1][2]

Leadership[]

The team was coached by Arthur Beetson and was captained by Wally Lewis.

Touring squad[]

Chris Phelan who played for the 1983 Sydney premiers Parramatta was the only non-Queensland based player in the 21 man touring squad.

• Note: Table only includes statistics from the English leg of the tour.

Player	Club	Position(s)	Games	Tries	Goals	F/Goals	Points
	Norths Devils	Hooker	2	–	–	–	–
Mitch Brennan	Redcliffe Dolphins	Wing, Centre	3	2	–	–	8
	Easts Tigers	Halfback	2	–	–	–	–
Greg Dowling	Wynnum Manly Seagulls	Prop	2	1	–	–	4
Brett French	Wynnum Manly Seagulls	Wing, Centre	3	2	–	–	8
Wally Fullerton Smith	Redcliffe Dolphins	Second-row	2	1	–	–	4
Cavill Heugh	Easts Tigers	Prop	2	1	–	–	4
Gavin Jones	Easts Tigers	Prop	3	–	–	–	–
Paul Khan	Easts Tigers	Prop	1	–	–	–	–
Joe Kilroy	Norths Devils	Wing, Fullback	3	2	–	–	8
Wally Lewis (c)	Fortitude Valley Diehards	Five-eighth, Lock, Centre	3	3	1	–	14
	Easts Tigers	Halfback, Five-eighth	2	2	–	–	8
Shane McNally	Easts Tigers	Hooker	2	–	11	–	22
Gene Miles	Wynnum Manly Seagulls	Centre	3	3	–	–	12
Mark Murray	Redcliffe Dolphins	Halfback	2	–	–	–	–
Bryan Niebling	Redcliffe Dolphins	Prop, Second-row	2	–	–	–	–
	Easts Tigers	Lock, Second-row, Hooker	2	–	–	–	–
Chris Phelan	Parramatta Eels (NSWRFL)	Prop	3	1	–	–	4
Colin Scott	Wynnum Manly Seagulls	Fullback	2	2	–	–	8
Steve Stacey	Easts Tigers	Wing	1	–	–	–	–
Brad Tessmann	Souths Magpies	Prop	1	–	–	–	–

Papua New Guinea[]

Wednesday, 15 June

Highlands Zone	16 – 34	Queensland
Tries: Goals:	[3]	Tries: Goals:

, Mount Hagen Attendance: 8,000

Saturday, 18 June

Presidents XIII	16 – 104	Queensland
Tries: Goals:	[4]	Tries: Goals:

Lloyd Robson Oval, Port Moresby Attendance: 12,000

England[]

Sunday, 16 October

Hull Kingston Rovers	8 – 6	Queensland
Tries: Mike Smith Goals: George Fairbairn (2)	[5]	Tries: Wally Lewis Goals: Wally Lewis (1)

Craven Park, Hull Attendance: 6,383 Referee: Robin Whitfield Player of the Match: Gordon Smith

Hull KR: George Fairbairn (c), Garry Clark, Mike Smith, John Dorahy, Gary Prohm, Steve Hartley, Gordon Smith, Roy Holdstock, David Watkinson, Mark Broadhurst, Phil Hogan, Chris Burton, David Hall. Res – David Laws, Andy Kelly, Tracy Lazenby. Coach – Roger Millward

Queensland: Colin Scott, Steve Stacey, Gene Miles, Brett French, Mitch Brennan, Wally Lewis (c), Mark Murray, Paul Khan, , Brad Tessmann, Bryan Neibling, Chris Phelan, Wally Fullerton-Smith. Res – Joe Kilroy, , , Gavin Jones

Sunday, 23 October

Wigan	2 – 40	Queensland
Tries: Goals: Colin Whitfield (1)	[6]	Tries: (2), Mitch Brennan, Brett French, Cavill Heugh, Joe Kilroy, Gene Miles, Chris Phelan Goals: Shane McNally (4)

Central Park, Wigan Attendance: 9,749 Referee: Ron Campbell Player of the Match:

Wigan: Colin Whitfield, , David Stephenson, , Henderson Gill, , , Kerry Hemsley, Howie Tamati, Brian Case, Danny Campbell, Graeme West (c), John Pendlebury. Res – Shaun Wane, Mick Scott, . Coach – Alex Murphy

Queensland: Joe Kilroy, Brett French, Gene Miles, Wally Lewis (c), Mitch Brennan, , , Greg Dowling, Shane McNally, Chris Phelan, Gavin Jones, Cavill Heugh,

Sunday, 29 October

Leeds	2 – 58	Queensland
Tries: Goals: David Creasser (1)	[7]	Tries: Wally Lewis (2), Gene Miles (2), Colin Scott (2), Mitch Brennan, Greg Dowling, Wally Fullerton-Smith, Joe Kilroy Goals: Shane McNally (7)

Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 5,647 Referee: Billy Thompson Player of the Match: Wally Lewis

Leeds: Ian Wilkinson, Paul Prendiville, David Creasser, Steve Martin, , John Holmes, Kevin Dick, , , Keith Rayne, Kevin Rayne, , David Herron. Res – , , . Coach –

Queensland: Joe Kilroy, Brett French, Gene Miles, Mitch Brennan, Colin Scott, Wally Lewis (c), Mark Murray, Greg Dowling, Shane McNally, , Chris Phelan, Bryan Neibling, Wally Fullerton-Smith. Res – Gavin Jones, Cavill Heugh,

Aftermath[]

As had happened at the end of the unbeaten 1982 Kangaroo tour (which Wally Lewis, Gene Miles and Mark Murray had all been a part of with Lewis the Kangaroos vice-captain), a number of the Queensland players were targeted by cashed-up English clubs. Wally Lewis, despite feeling jaded due to not having a break from the game since the end of the 1981 BRL season, accepted a £30,000 offer to join Wakefield Trinity for 10 games before returning to Australia for the start of the 1984 BRL season where he would move from his junior club Fortitude Valley Diehards to join the Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

Greg Dowling would join Wigan for a season in 1985–86 season. Wally Fullerton Smith joined Leeds for the 1984–85 season. Joe Kilroy joined Halifax and Chris Phelan joined Oldham.

References[]