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1979 Great Britain Lions tour
1979 Great Britain Lions tour
Date	25 May 1979 – ; 13 August 1979
Manager	Harry Womersley; Dick Gemmell
Coach(es)	Eric Ashton
Tour captain(s)	Doug Laughton
Top point scorer(s)	John Woods (171)
Top try scorer(s)	Steve Evans (16)
Summary
P	W
Total
27	21
Test match
06	02
Opponent
P	W
Australia
3	0
New Zealand
3	2
Tour chronology
Previous tour	1974
Next tour	1984

The 1979 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 16th tour of Australasia and took place from May to August 1979. A total of 27 matches were played against local club and representative sides during the tour, including a three match Test match series against Australia and New Zealand respectively.

Touring squad

In March 1979, a 30-man squad was selected for the tour, with Doug Laughton appointed as captain.^[1] The squad included Widnes prop Jim Mills, who was banned from playing in New Zealand due to an incident in 1975 when Mills played for Wales against New Zealand.^[2] Despite an appeal to overturn the ban, the International Board confirmed the ban would be upheld.^[3]

After the squad was selected, John Bevan and Stuart Wright were forced to withdraw due to injury, and were replaced by Roy Mathias and David Barends.^[4] Ken Kelly also suffered an injury shortly before the tour departed, and was replaced by John Holmes.^[5]

Name	Position	Club	Apps	Tests	Tries	Goals	Drop goals	Points	Notes
Mick Adams	Forward	Widnes	16	5	0	8	1	17
David Barends	Back	Bradford Northern	16	2	10	0	0	30
John Burke	Forward	Wakefield Trinity	9	0	0	0	0	0	^[a]
Len Casey	Forward	Bradford Northern	14	5	4	0	0	12
Steve Evans	Back	Featherstone Rovers	19	6	16	0	0	48
George Fairbairn	Back	Wigan	10	5	3	18	1	46	^[b]
Peter Glynn	Back	St Helens	15	0	6	0	0	18
Jeff Grayshon	Forward	Bradford Northern	14	5	2	0	0	6
Phil Hogan	Forward	Hull Kingston Rovers	14	4	5	0	0	15
John Holmes	Back	Leeds	13	6	1	2	0	7
Eric Hughes	Back	Widnes	17	6	8	0	0	24
Melvyn James	Forward	St Helens	13	0	3	0	0	9
John Joyner	Back	Castleford	14	6	6	0	0	18
Doug Laughton (c)	Forward	Widnes	5	1	0	0	0	0
Graham Liptrot	Forward	St Helens	11	0	1	0	0	3
Brian Lockwood	Forward	Hull Kingston Rovers	12	1	1	0	0	3
Tommy Martyn	Forward	Warrington	5	0	3	0	0	9	^[b]
Roy Mathias	Back	St Helens	17	1	10	0	0	30
Jim Mills	Forward	Widnes	5	1	2	0	0	6	^[a]
Roger Millward	Back	Hull Kingston Rovers	3	0	0	4	0	8	^[c]
Keith Mumby	Back	Bradford Northern	13	0	1	8	0	19
Steve Nash	Back	Salford	6	0	2	0	0	6
George Nicholls	Forward	St Helens	13	6	2	0	0	6
Steve Norton	Forward	Hull	9	2	0	0	0	0
Alan Redfearn	Back	Bradford Northern	10	1	1	0	0	3
Trevor Skerrett	Forward	Wakefield Trinity	12	4	1	0	0	3
Mike Smith	Back	Hull Kingston Rovers	11	3	4	0	0	12
Gary Stephens	Back	Castleford	15	5	6	0	0	18
Charlie Stone	Forward	Hull	12	0	0	0	0	0
David Topliss	Back	Wakefield Trinity	7	1	2	0	0	6	^[c]
David Ward	Forward	Leeds	11	6	0	0	0	0
David Watkinson	Forward	Hull Kingston Rovers	12	1	2	0	0	6
John Woods	Back	Leigh	17	4	12	67	1	171

Results

Australia

25 May 1979

North Queensland	5 – 29	Great Britain

Mackay

27 May 1979

Central Queensland	11 – 20	Great Britain

Rockhampton

30 May 1979

Wide Bay	7 – 27	Great Britain

Maryborough

2 June 1979

North Coast	6 – 33	Great Britain

Tweed Heads

5 June 1979

Northern Division	11 – 20	Great Britain

Tamworth

8 June 1979

Queensland	19 – 25	Great Britain

Brisbane

10 June 1979

Toowoomba	19 – 16	Great Britain

Toowoomba

First Test

16 June 1979

Australia	35 – 0	Great Britain
Tries: Boustead (2), Price (2), Corowa Goals: Cronin (10)	^[8]

Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 23,051
Referee: Eddie Ward
Player of the Match: Ray Price

18 June 1979

Brisbane	7 – 10	Great Britain

Brisbane

20 June 1979

Southern Division	10 – 10	Great Britain

Campbelltown

24 June 1979

Newcastle	12 – 25	Great Britain

Newcastle

26 June 1979

Riverina	10 – 37	Great Britain

Wagga Wagga

Second Test

30 June 1979

Australia	24 – 16	Great Britain
Tries: Cronin (2), Reddy, Rogers Goals: Cronin (6)	^[9]	Tries: Hughes, Joyner Goals: Woods (5)

Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 26,857
Referee: Greg Hartley
Player of the Match: Rod Reddy

1 July 1979

Illawarra	13 – 18	Great Britain

Wollongong

4 July 1979

Western Division	12 – 19	Great Britain

Orange

7 July 1979

New South Wales	17 – 19	Great Britain

Sydney

8 July 1979

Monaro	7 – 21	Great Britain

Queanbeyan

Third Test

14 July 1979

Australia	28 – 2	Great Britain
Tries: Boyd, Eadie, Price, Reddy Goals: Cronin (8)	^[10]	Goals: Fairbairn

Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 16,844
Referee: Eddie Ward
Player of the Match: Ray Price

New Zealand

17 July 1979

Maoris	13 – 15	Great Britain

Whangārei

First Test

21 July 1979

New Zealand	8 – 16	Great Britain
Tries: Ah Kuoi, Uluave Goals: Collicoat	^[11]	Tries: Evans, Fairbairn, Hughes, Smith Goals: Fairbairn (2)

Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: John Percival

22 July 1979

Northern District	5 – 58	Great Britain

Huntly

25 July 1979

Central District	5 – 14	Great Britain

New Plymouth

29 July 1979

Wellington	3 – 39	Great Britain

Wellington

Second Test

5 August 1979

New Zealand	7 – 22	Great Britain
Tries: Filipaina Goals: Filipaina (2)	^[12]	Tries: Casey, Evans, Grayshon, Hughes Goals: Fairbairn (5)

Addington Showgrounds, Christchurch
Attendance: 8,500
Referee: John Percival

7 August 1979

West Coast	0 – 19	Great Britain

Greymouth

Third Test

11 August 1979

New Zealand	18 – 11	Great Britain
Tries: Fisher, Graham, Leuluai, O'Hara Goals: Filipaina (3)	^[13]	Tries: Hughes, Smith, Stephens Goals: Fairbairn

Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Kevin Steel

13 August 1979

Auckland	10 – 18	Great Britain

Auckland

Notes

^ ^a ^b John Burke was called up as a replacement for Jim Mills due to injury.^[6]
^ ^a ^b George Fairbairn was called up as a replacement for Tommy Martyn due to injury.^[6]
^ ^a ^b David Topliss was called up as a replacement for Roger Millward due to injury.^[7]

References

^ Fitzpatrick, Paul (28 March 1979). "Dyl left out of overseas tour". The Guardian. London. p. 27. ProQuest 186084158.
^ Fitzpatrick, Paul (29 March 1979). "New Zealand adamant on Mills ban". The Guardian. London. p. 27.
^ Fitzpatrick, Paul (14 June 1979). "Mills tour ban stands". The Guardian. London. p. 24. ProQuest 186063885.
^ Fitzpatrick, Paul (11 May 1979). "Replacements have right credentials". The Guardian. London. p. 26. ProQuest 186162353.
^ "Holmes called up for tour". The Guardian. London. 21 May 1979. p. 28. ProQuest 186186261.
^ ^a ^b "Burke and Fairbairn face instant action on tour". The Guardian. London. 22 June 1979. p. 25. ProQuest 186129790.
^ Kennedy, Edward (28 June 1979). "Hogan is out". The Guardian. London. p. 22. ProQuest 186193946.
^ "Ashes Series 1979 Series - Game 1". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
^ "Ashes Series 1979 Series - Game 2". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
^ "Ashes Series 1979 Series - Game 3". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
^ "New Zealand vs Great Britain 1979 Series - Game 1". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
^ "New Zealand vs Great Britain 1979 Series - Game 2". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
^ "New Zealand vs Great Britain 1984 Series - Game 3". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 16 April 2023.