Being an old bugger, matters of nostalgia always catch my attention. I have several record and statistic books relating to Bradford Northern, but as they’ve been in storage for some time, I have to work from memory and the scant records available on the internet. There’s numerous archive sites containing football stats going back into the nineteenth century, yet I can never find any similar archives relating to rugby league.
From memory I can’t remember anything of the 1982 Australia game, but with the help of a few internet records, I recall two other Australia games played in 1967 and 1972 – I think.
The December 67 game resulted in a narrow 7-3 win for the Aussies in front of 14,173, with- if I remember, a try apiece being scored, and Terry Ramshaw going over for Northern. I’d always thought this a superb effort by Northern, as the touring squad included great names like Sadler, Sattler, Coote, Walters, Gasnier, Langlands and Raper, but research throws up some interesting results from that tour.
While the Aussies won the test series 2-1, they suffered six other losses against Yorkshire, Wigan, Hull KR, St. Helens, Castleford, Cumberland and a draw at Barrow. They also drew one and lost two test matches during the tour of France which followed. Maybe their second string was not so strong, and the French ref’s biased.
While records of the 67 game are available under ‘Kangaroo tours,’ I believe the November ‘1972’ game took place during the staging of that years World Cup, and internet records are difficult to find. If I’m correct on the year, one aspect of this game sticks out, as it was played in a real pea-souper, with the Aussies winning 32-16 or maybe 28-16. Standing at the bottom of the Rooley end terracing, it was almost impossible to see any further than the 25 yard line, with players occasionally appearing out of the gloom to score tries. I think Mick Lamb went over in the corner, and as we couldn’t see Eddie Tees taking the conversion; we just waited for the thud of boot on ball.
We often had thick fogs around Odsal back in the 60/70’s, but that was during the winters, and I don’t know if the area still suffers from them. Many games were called off. Were it not a tour game with little at stake, this game would not have taken place. My other abiding memory is being stood by the old changing rooms at the top, waiting for the teams to emerge, for the long trek to the pitch. I remember being struck by the size of the Aussies, and particularly Mark Harris, who was bloody enormous for a centre.
