SOMEWHERE around the Eiffel Tower, on the rooftop area of a barge carrying 400 people along the Seine, I encounter Thomas Bosc. “This is a great day,” the celebrated French halfback half-whispers as we pass.

Bosc was only 11 when the ’94 Kangaroos came to France and he was not here in the capital, of course. Bosc was born in Perpignan, a Dragon through a…

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THROUGHOUT this rather extravagant raking of coals, it’s doubtful the author experienced a more transcendent moment that on November 5, walking down Wellington Street in Leeds headed for the Crowne Plaza.

This book is about the 1994 Kangaroos - not me. But if you’ll excuse this indulgence, the entire intervening three decades seemed to coalesce in the ni…

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Image: SWpix

THE truth is, I have no recollection at all of visiting the ‘Wembley Of The North” with the Kangaroos.

I was clearly there - my match report from that day tells of a 40-0 win in which utility Jason Smith starred, leading to coach Bob Fulton admitting that he may push for Test selection.

My visit to Odsal decades later while working on this thi…

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Hi everybody, Steve here. We’re just two days away from the start of the 2026 Super League season and there’s a lot happening at rugbyleaguehub.com. The biggest job I have over these two days is to bring back rugbyleague.com radio. This year it will operate Thursday morning to Sunday night UK time.

We still have the rights to Hull KR, London and Warrington at home and at the time of writing it would appear we’ll have MORE rights than we had last year even though there has been quite a shakeup in the off-season, with Jason Costigan and myself running things now and European Sports Media becoming an at-arms-length collaborator.

The reason I’m telling you this is that rugbyleaguehub.com and rugbyleague.com will be, in many ways, the same organisation in 2026 and that will allow us to do some exciting things. To kick off this new era I want to offer you the chance to promote your business - or the business of a friend - through our new consolidated channels for pretty much peanuts.

For just £20 or A$40 I am offering you:

500 radio ads

A permanent 2026 place on a home page carousel banner at rugbyleaguehub.com

A permanent 2026 banner ad on our new weekly free newsletter

An explanation now and some Ts and Cs.

I would have happily offered you all this for free. You already support us here at Long Reads and that’s enough for me. But there are other people involved in the free site and the radio station - namely Marc Bazeley and Jasin Costigan - who are not involved in Long Reads. Their services are not to be given away by me, they deserve something.

Secondly the artwork and audio for the ads must be provided by you and must be of a professional standard. Just saying ‘come to Auntie Velma’s Chippery - it’s great” into your iPhone will, unfortunately not cut it. Ads are 30 seconds.

Thirdly if you have nothing to sell but Aunty Velma does, you can transfer this offer to her. But please, only one referral each. This offer will go to the public at £49 and A$99 in the next week.

If you’re interested, email me at steve.mascord@rugbyleaguehub.com

Thanks again for your ongoing support.

THIS was a stop on the old Wild Ghost Chase I was dreading - because a ghost that’s very special to me resides in Warrington.

When I was 13 I wrote to Harry Edgar’s Open Rugby magazine looking for a penpal. I can still remember the excitement when I found a copy of that magazine in suburban Wollongong newsagent, begging my mother for enough money to buy …

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WHEN we flew into Manchester at the start of the tour, I briefly convinced my Australian Associated Press colleague Jeff Dunne the Illawarra Mercury was on sale at the news agency in the terminal.

Dunney picked up the rental car, we drove to Leeds with me checking the maps and the weird (to us, then) traffic information on the radio that came on without …

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NINE times out of 10, driving in the UK is not fun.

After seven years living here, having survived motorway traffic jams so intense you could get out and walk to the services before returning to your car to wait longer, I take the train where possible. And so on October 30 it’s a 10.48 from Paddington to Cardiff Central to find what’s left of Ninian Park, where the Kangaroos took on Wales in front of 8729 fans in ‘94

The original home of rugby league’s Magic Weekend/Round (it was called “magic” to illiterate will Millennium, the name of the stadium that now towers over the city), Cardiff’s always loomed in my mind as a party town. I’m a middle aged man travelling on my own, midweek … so I’m not really anticipating that much of a party on this visit.

After checking into my cunningly-concealed hotel, the Indigo, I go back to Cardiff Central, play the role of confused tourist regarding local trains, and head out to Ninian Park Station, on of the few structures that reminds us the venue was once there.

It’s a wet and windy day, though not particularly cold, as I set off from the station trying to find the footprint of the old ground. It hosted its last match in 2009, after 99 years as home to the national football/soccer team, Cardiff City in the same sport, the Cardiff Blue Dragons league side and - at times - the Wales Dragons as well.

I soon realise my memory of this venue is somewhat corrupted. I have it mixed up in my mind’s eye with Vetch Field in Swansea, which confuses my ghost-hunting no end.

There’s a new venue in the vicinity, the 28,000-seat Cardiff City Stadium, and I aimlessly circumnavigate it after crossing a leafy park, trying to get my bearings with the help of trusty old Mr Google.

Doubling back, catching sight through the cracks in the gates of sun lamps baking the pitch, I discover the old gates of the Ninian Park are standing by a memorial garden back in the direction of the station.

Those gates, though, are not in their original location. They’ve been moved over the road and as promised by the internet, there’s little garden commemorating long-term fans of the football club nearby.

The actual footprint of the ground is beyond these structures and it’s a completely nondescript housing development - like St Helens but older and shabbier.

I remember a few things from my previous visit three decades previously. I recall a few nights out in the preceding days, including offending a local nurse by telling her I could not do her job due to all the blood and gore.

I remember going to a rock club and trying to file via copytaker at the end of the night - not wise as I could barely speak and, with MTV on in my hotel room, actually spelt out the name of the singer from INXS.

H-U-T-C-H-E-N-C-E.

Guitarist Tommy Emmanuel somehow found his way into this pile of dictated gibberish, too.

The deputy sports editor Gary Smith probably should have kept the copy - which came with a note that I had been “tired and emotional” - but I will always be grateful to him for not doing so. RIP Gary.

Jonathan Davies had dislocated his shoulder in London and was never really going to play in this game - but he was involved in the build-up to boost ticket sales.

Australia won 46-4, with Wales centre John Devereux suffering four breaks to his jaw after trying to tackle Mal Meninga.

Devereux had played 15 games for Manly the previous year and the year before that, famously missed a tackle on Steve Renouf in the Wold Cup final.

More recently he’s received publicity for some social media posts, most notably this one: “Every bloody game now of men’s football and rugby for that matter on BBC has a woman summariser in it.

“Any chance we can have a red button choice, with and without? Just asking for a few male friends of mine!”

I had forgotten that Devereux blocked me for highlighting the post and did try to contact him for this chapter.

Then I remembered. Nah. Don’t worry about it.

WHEN 11-year-old Sebastien Munoz heard the mighty Kangaroos were staying at a hotel just north of Perpignan’s town centre, he could barely contain himself.

A day or two before the match against a Catalans-Roussillon Selection at Stade Gilbert Brutus, Sebastien walked up and down the street outside the hotel, hoping to meet a player. “My father said ‘it’s…

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By STEVE MASCORD

JUST three months after suffering the indignity of being dropped to reserve grade, Brisbane prop Glenn Lazarus has tied with Brad Fittler as the players of the Kangaroo Tour.

Under a new system, players not involved in each match were asked to award points on a 3-2-1 basis.

Going into yesterday’s 74-0 Test win against France, Fittler appeared unbeatable with 12 votes, leaving Lazarus and second-rower David Fairleigh needing a man-of-the-match performance to tie.

That’s exactly what Lazarus did, taking the award from centre Steve Renouf and winger Andrew Ettingshausen.

“Freddie [Fittler] already had 12 points by the end of the British leg but ‘Lazo’ managed to catch him in the last game,” said Kangaroos trainer Frank Ponissi.

Lazarus came to Europe a member of the second-string side some after some indifferent form and Fittler buried a ghost as he erased the memory of his 1990 tour.

The Kangaroos recorded the highest per-game points average in the history of Kangaroo Tours and winger Rod Wishart’s 174 points made him the most prolific scorer since the 1952 tour.

The Kangaroos also broke numerous attendance and pointscoring records for provincial games, culminating in yesterday’s extraordinary scoreline the 13-try romp was the highest score for any team in a Test.

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By STEVE MASCORD

PROP Paul Harragon will end his “pretty ordinary tour” now on a high after last night being called up to the Australian bench for today’s Test against France at Beziers.

The world champion Kangaroos’ nine-week trek through England, Wales and France is tipped to come to a free-scoring end in Australia’s 46th Test against the struggling Frenchmen.

Harragon, injured in the First Test loss to Britain eight weeks ago, replaces utility Greg Florimo, who is unavailable with an Achilles tendon injury.

Coach Bob Fulton chose Harragon ahead of second rower Jason Smith, saying the Newcastle front-rower’s form made him impossible to leave out.

“It’s good to be back,” said Harragon, who went on tour as an incumbent Test prop.

“It’s been a pretty ordinary tour for me. You’re here to play Tests and I’ve missed two of them.

“I was happy with my performance in the First Test, with 41 tackles and 17 hit-ups, but frọm then on I was struggling with injury.”

Fulton named his side before a light training run just outside Beziers, with winger Andrew Ettingshausen cleared of an ankle ligament problem and confirmed as a starter at Stade de la Mediterranee.

Prop Glenn Lazarus and reserve forward David Fairleigh can tie for player of the tour honours with big performances in the Test.

And Brad Fittler, who has admitted he let himself down on the 1990 tour, cannot be overtaken in the vote for the first players’ player award.

Fittler, one of only a few players not to play a Test in 1990, has 12 votes, with Lazarus, Fairleigh and Florimo trailing him with nine each.

Retiring captain Mal Meninga will play his 45th Test and his 24th in charge.

LIKELY TEAMS

France: Franz Martial; Frederic Banquet, David Despin, Pierre Chamorin, David Fraisse; Jean-Marc Garda, Patrick Entat; Pascal Jampy, Didier Cabestany (c), Daniel Divet, Frederic Telxedo, Thierry Valero, Hadj Boudebza. Res: Kart Juaavo, Matheiu Khedimi, Claude Sirvent, Jacques Pech.

Australla (Iikely): Brett Mullins; Rod Wishart, Mal Meninga (c), Steve Renouf, Andrew Ettingshausen; Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart; Brad Fittler, Brad Clyde, Dean Pay, lan Roberts, Steve Walters, Glenn Lazarus. Res: Allan Langer, Tim Brasher, Paul Harragon, David Fairleigh.

Referee: Bill Harrigan

MY only real memory of the Kangaroos’ visit to Sheffield is a weird one: I received a lift with The Australian’s John Hogan and when another member of the fourth estate - the identity of whom I can’t recall - began arguing with a carpark attendant, ‘Hoges’ admonished him, saying: “we’re guests in their country!”.

I had never looked at my interactions wit…

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By STEVE MASCORD

RETIRING Australian captain Mal Meninga has endorsed Paul McGregor as his centre replacement and predicted Laurie Daley can succeed him as captain for the next eight years.

Meninga’s 45th and final Test at Beziers on Sunday has drawn unprecedented interest on both sides of the Channel, with several leading London dailies sending reporters to Stade de la Mediterranee to cover the occasion.

The 34-year-old record-breaking centre said yesterday he was convinced Australia’s domination of world rugby league would continue without him and that he had plenty of worthy successors.

“’Mary’ McGregor, I think, is a very good player and he’s probably got the front-running at the moment,” said Meninga.

“There’s Terry [Hill) and Pearl [Steve Renouf] is going to be there as long he’s playing well - definitely. There’s heaps of them going around at the moment.”

Meninga predicted Daley would be in the unusual situation of captaining his country but not his club, with Canberra coach Tim Sheens,set to appoint Ricky Stuart as the Raiders’ skipper.

Daley led Australia while Meninga was under suspension in New Zealand last year and is a runaway favourite to take the job full-time from 1995.

“Laurie’s done his apprenticeship,” said Meninga.

“It’s going to be a strange scenario because it looks as though Ricky’s going to get the Canberra job and it’s going to be strange for Laurie... to, all of a sudden, be captain of the NSW side, which he has been, very succeessfully, the last three years.

“Then it’s a natural progression for him to take the Australian job. I think he’ll do a marvellous job; he’s got the right pedigree.

“He’s at a young age where he could hold it for five, six, seven, eight years.”

Coach Bob Fulton must decide between Paul Harragon and Jason Smith as the replacement for the injured reserve Greg Florimo, while a final assessment of winger Andrew Ettingshausen’s ankle ligament strain will also be made.

But such details pale into insignificance compared with the attention being afforded Meninga’s swan song.

He revealed today he had been battling a painful shoulder injury all year to achieve his goal of a record fourth Kangaroo tour.

“I’ve got two bad shoulders which have needed pain-killing injections all season,” he said.

The French hope to begin a new era under new coach Yvan Greseque, with would-be saviour Jacques Fouroux watching from the stands at the 22,000-capacity stadium. But they admit their task in keeping the Australian scoreline down is mountainous.

FRANCE: Franz Martial; Frederic Banquet, David Despin, Pierre Chamorin, David Fraisse; Jean-Marc Garcia, Patrick Entet; Pascal Jampy, Didier Cabestany (c), Daniel Divet, Frederic Teixido, Thierry Valero, Hadj Boudebza. Res: Karl Juaavo, Mathieu Khedimi, Claude Sirvent, Jacques Pech.

AUSTRALIA: (likely) Brett Mullins; Rod Wishart, Mal Meninga (c), Steve Renouf, Andrew Ettingshausen; Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart; Brad Fittier, Brad Clyde, Dean Pay, lan Roberts, Steve Walters, Glenn Lazarus. Res: Allan Langer, Tim Brasher, Paul Harragon, David Fairleigh.

Referee: Bill Harrigan (Australia).

• Great Britain fullback Jonathan Davies will have a second stint in Australia, this time weaving his attacking magic for the North Queensland Cowboys.

In his last Down Under club assignment, Davies scored 100 points in 14 appearances for Canterbury-Bankstown in 1991.

It is widely rumoured he will receive close to $10,000 a game from the Cowboys.

RETIRING Australian captain Mal Meninga says his new ambition is to win a senior post in rugby league’s hierarchy.

Meninga, who plays his 45th and final Test against France at Beziers on Sunday, will take up a marketing post with the Canberra Raiders when he returns to Australia next week.

But despite numerous stories in recent years linking him to coaching jobs, he said it was offices of power which attracted him most.

“Long term, and I’ve made no secret of this, I’d like to have some say in the game in the future,” he said.

“Hopefully, I can contribute in that area. Some of the decisions that have to be made in the game, I’d like to be there for its benefit and try and play a part.”

The 34-year-old centre did not rule out a stint of coaching but said it was not his ideal career.

“I’d like to have a go at coaching I would have to say that administration is the way for me to go in the future,” he said.

“Whether I could take a break from administration and have a go at coaching, I’m unsure about.

“If you get involved in sports administration, and if something doesn’t work out in league terms, there’s something you can move onto. There’s a good opportunity there.”

Meanwhile, Canterbury’s Jason Smith and Newcastle’s Paul Harragon are pitted against each other for Test selection on Sunday after Greg Florimo was ruled out last night of the clash with France.

Florimo aggravated a chronic Achilles tendon problem in Australia’s 64-9 romp against France B at Stade Le Fargues, last night.

“I’ve been carrying the injury since the final series and I’ve been lucky to get through until now,” Florimo said. “I went into tonight’s game pretty sore and it just got worse and worse.”

Hooker Jim Serdaris also finished his tour in a symbolic way - with an injury. He now has ankle ligament damage to go with his badly bruised ribs.

Smith and Harragon excelled in the sometimes laughable 11-try win, with coach Bob Fulton expected to decide between them when he names his Test side for Beziers on Saturday morning.

Providing winger Andrew Ettingshausen overcomes his ankle ligament problem as hoped, Fulton is otherwise sure to stick with the 16 players who retained the Ashes with a 23-4 win over Great Britain two weeks ago.

Wendell Sailor, who crossed twice last night, and winger, Michael Hancock, who had a disallowed in outlandish fashion, and fullback Tim Brasher are on standby for Ettingshausen.

Dropped after the First Test loss to Britain, Harragon rose above the end-of-season trip atmosphere with a deadly serious performance.

He scored his first two tries of the tour on the way to the Kangaroos’ 46-7 half-time lead and punished just about every France B player with wincing defence.

The match, watched by about 2,000, was saved from complete obscurity by the same touch of the bizarre characterised by a touch judge urinating against the fence in Paris last week.

The home side chose to shoot for penalty goals when down 16-4, 34-6 and 46-7, and five-eighth Pascal Mons decided a field goal was the best option with Australia leading 46-6.

If these memorable tactics were intended purely to waste time, they worked to an extent, because the tourists were held to just three second-half tries.

But the most peculiar occurrence was a result of Australian cockiness rather than French eccentricity.

Winger Michael Hancock had already been to the sin-bin for a professional foul when he streaked away for what seemed a certain try with a minute remaining. With France B’s cover defence having long given up, Hancock chose to stroll the last 20m.

Well over the tryline, he was overcome by generosity and slipped the ball to an unsuspecting Smith. Referee Guy Vigouroux called a forward pass and disallowed the try.

“I don’t know what happened,” Smith admitted.

Teams

Australian co-manager Ron Wilkinson was to return home today after suffering a severe bout of influenza.

Leeds half-back Patrick Entat has been sacked as French captain under new coach Yvan Greseque.

Officials are hoping for a Test crowd of about 10,000 at the 22,000-capacity Stade de la Mediterranee.

AUSTRALIAN coach Bob Fulton admitted giving his players a licence to retaliate minutes before an ugly brawl marred the Kangaroos’ win yesterday.

All 26 players were involved in a wild melee midway through the second half as the Australians defeated a Roussillon-Catalan selection 60-16 at Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Centre Terry Hill was spat on in the grandstand, the wife of Roussillon second-rower Didier Cabestany abused the Australian players from the sideline and there were unconfirmed reports of two Kangaroos being eye-gouged.

“It’s the worst brawl I’ve seen in my time as Australian coach,” Fulton said. “And I can’t recall a worse one when I was a player.

“Myself and [team manager] Geoff Carr spoke to the referee at half-time, telling him that unless he took a stand the game was going to erupt. Unfortunately, it did.

“I went back to our dressingroom and, I must admit, my instructions were: ‘If they keep it up, just go for it’.

“I said to defend yourselves, defend your mates. No player under my control is going to be a punching bag, and that’s what they were.”

The injection of prop Ian Roberts into the game in the 46th minute proved to be the final centimetre of a fuse that had been burning since kick-off.

Upset at being jostled after a shoulder charge tackle, Roberts clashed with lock Pascal Jampy in the 52nd minute.

Jampy was forced off the field injured after the altercation, but the home side received a penalty from referee Claude Abla.

Roberts tried to rake the ball from the marker seconds later after tackling second-rower Didier Cabestany.

“I ended up on the ground and was getting punched and kicked,” Roberts said. “If that’s way they want to play ... you fight fire with fire.”

Five-eighth Laurie Daley’s attempt to separate Roberts and Cabestany was fruitless. A flurry of punches left Cabestany ground as the mayhem spread.

Prop Glenn Lazarus and second-rower Brad Clyde traded blows with the French forwards, Allan Langer entertained two opponents, centre Steve Renouf left Catalan’s replacement Vincent Banet with a bloodied head.

On the other side of the field, Australian winger Rod Wishart and his opposite, Yannick Sautrice, danced and jabbed like long-time sparring partners.

As Cabestany, face down, received attention, his wife stood on the touchline, shouting abuse at Abla and the Australians.

Fulton said he then instructed his players to “cool it”.

Because of the crowd situation, and the fact there were apparently no police at the ground, it could have become dangerous,” he said.

Cabestany and Jampy have been given a rematch with the Australians after their selection in the Test side at Beziers next Sunday.

New coach Yvan Greseque named new caps St Esteve prop Atch Boudebiza and reserve forward Karl Jauvo for the match.

Australian second-rower Jason Smiths (flu) and winger Andrew Ettingshausen (leg) remain in the running for Test caps.

Teams

The French team is:

Franz Martial (St Esteve): Frederic Banquet (Featherstone) David Despin (Limoux), Pierre Chamorin (St Esteve) David Fraisse (Bradford); Jean-Marc Garcia (St Esteve) Patrick Entat (Leeds); Pascal Jampy (St Esteve) Didier Cabestany (CataIan), Daniel Divet (Featherstone) Frederick Teixido (Limoux), Thierry Valero (Lezignan), Hadj Boudebza (St Esteve). Reserves: Karl Jaavuo (Pia), Mathieu Khedimi (St Esteve), Claude Sirvent (St Gaudens) (one reserve to be added).

By STEVE MASCORD

HOOKER Jim Serdaris will need painkillers when he lines up in the opening match of the Kangaroos’ French tour on Thursday.

Serdaris, who injured a rib midway through the British leg of the 18-match tour, has aggravated the problem.

Serdaris had doubted he would play again on the Kangaroo tour, but was named in the side for the opening match of the French leg against a President’s XIII.

“The ribs are still giving me problems,” said Serdaris, who is on his first representative tour.

Two key French players will be missing because Britain’s Rugby Football League, just two weeks after pledging unqualified support for a new French super league here, has refused to release them.

Bradford’s David Fraisse and Leeds’ Patrick Entat had been selected for the game but their clubs refused them permission to play despite the pair not having any conflicting domestic commitments.

The RFL’s chief executive, Maurice Lindsay, who was here earlier this month to pledge support for Jacques Fouroux’s league circus, has upheld the ruling.

Australian Tas Batieri, the international board French appointee, said a new team would be announced later today but refused to comment on what may be a rupture in relations between the French and the British.

French Coach Yvan Greseque told the Herald through an interpreter: “At this stage the only British-based player assured of selection is Featherstone’s Daniel Divet.

“The rest will have to be decided.”

Greseque, one of the few players to score a try against the 1982 Kangaroos, said: “I hope they are kind to us.”

The tourists spent little time during their first day in France concentrating on the December 4 Test at Bezier, with players either sleeping off the effects of their Ashes celebrations or exploring the French capital with their wives and girlfriends.

Thursday night’s game is due to kick off at the unusual time of 8.30 pm, intended to offset the effects of choking Paris traffic, with the Australians tipped to rack up a sizeable scoreline.

Image: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix

SYDNEY Tigers and Parramatta are leading the race to sign Great Britain Test halfback Bobby Goulding for next year.

Goulding said today from Leeds he had received approaches from both clubs, whose officials were continuing talks with his manager David McKnight. He said he hoped to make a decision shortly.

He would become the third St Helens player, after winger Alan Hunte and centre Scott Gibbs, to sign short-term contracts with Australian clubs for 1995. Gibbs and Hunte are to join Manly for four months next year.

“Although both Balmain (now the Sydney Tigers) and Parramatta finished a fair down the table last year, I’m eager to have go,” said Goulding, who started the second Ashes Test and was a reserve for the first and third.

“If whichever club I join can be more successful next year, then I will have been some help.

“With new clubs coming in next year, it’s going to be very interesting and it would be great to be a part of.”

Goulding still has two years to run on his St Helens contract, which allows him to spend the off-season in Australia. Clearly, the days of the guest stint are not over yet.

While Australian players demand much more money than most British clubs are prepared to pay, the desperate scramble for talent which has come with expansion has given new opportunities for foreign players.

But the traffic may not be one-way before long.

Would-be French league svengali Jacques Fouroux attended a function the Kangaroos’ honour at the Australian Embassy in Paris last night.

The International Board’s appointee in France, Tas Baiteri, said Fouroux was keen to use Australian talent in his “super league”, set to kick off next July.

“At the moment, there is an import quota of two per club here, but that would be waived under the Fouroux plan,” Baiteri said.

“None of the players at tonight’s function could be considered because, as internationals, they have so many opportunities at home.

“But we could certainly compete with British clubs for the sort of players who go there at the moment.”

Baiteri said Fouroux had a “50 per cent positive” response in his current sponsorship drive and was already well supported financially.

The Kangaroos have been further depleted by injury for their four-match French tour.

Wingers Rod Wishart (knee) and Michael Hancock (shoulder) pulled out of the tour opener against a President’s XIII at Stade Bobin in Paris, resulting in Test five-eighth Laurie Daley volunteering to play on the flank.

Hooker Jim Serdaris did not want to play again on tour because of a rib problem but has been asked to do so because of doubt over Test No 9 Steve Walters.

“They want me to keep playing because there’s a chance I might play a Test,’ Serdaris said.

“Steve picked up a few minor injuries at the weekend and although it’s pretty unlikely he’ll miss the Test, they want me to be around just in case.

“I’ll keep having needles and take time off to get it right when I get back. It’s just bruising.”

Centre Paul McGregor’s unfortunate tour will end tomorrow when he flies home for treatment on his hamstring injury.

The rest of the squad will leave for Perpignan, where it takes on a Roussilon Selection at Stade Gilbert Brutus on Sunday.

In other news, the Perth Western Reds open their tour of South Africa on Monday against Transvaal at Pretoria.

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Image: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix

By STEVE MASCORD

THE AUSTRALIAN Rugby League will take home a booty of more than $2.8 million from the British leg of the Kangaroo tour.

Rugby Football League chief executive Maurice Lindsay said total Test crowds of 139,892 meant the tour made $8 million, to be split between the Leagues.

“And if I get my way, our share will go into junior development,” he said.

“The tour has been a great success and the Australians will go home with quite a lot of money.”

The Kangaroos’ 535 points in Britain make them the most prolific side since 1952 and give them the highest points-per-game average ever.

Winger Rod Wishart’s 130 points is just five short of the mark set by fellow Illawarra product Graeme Langlands 30 years ago, although the legendary Dave Brown scored 285 points in 1933.

• Great Britain lock Phil Clarke will announce his intentions for next season within the next two weeks.

“I’ve got to speak to a few people. At this stage I honestly don’t know what I’m doing,” he said.

Clarke has been strongly linked to a full-time contract at Eastern Suburbs - an eventuality Lindsay said would make him “heartily sick”.

Lindsay said that any British player who joined an Australian club full-time would not be selected for national duty, but he is under increasing pressure to change his mind.