Part one of a historic Great Britain Rugby League tour. Here we look at the teams progress in Australia and the Ashes Series.
The 1932 Great Britain Tour to Australia and New Zealand, led by the legendary Jim Sullivan (Wigan) was one of the closest ever Ashes Test Series. The tourists who featured some all-time greats of GBRL, included the likes of Gus Risman (Salford), Alf Ellaby (St Helen’s), Stanley Brogden (Huddersfield), Stanley Smith (Leeds), Billy Dingsdale (Warrington) and Nat Silcock (Widnes) in their line-up.
Great Britain started their campaign with a hard-fought 18-5 victory against New South Wales on the 4th June 1932 and went in to first Test confident. In front of over 70,000 in Sydney, the Lions defeated the Aussies by 8-6 with tries from Artie Atkinson (Castleford) and Alf Ellaby (St Helens).
Next up they accounted for Queensland 15-10 it their build-up to the Second Test. This was one of the most brutal Test matches in history, named ‘The Battle of Brisbane’. Joe Thompson (Leeds) got carried off after five minutes play. Martin Hodgson (Swinton) and Les White (Hunslet) had gashes to their heads stitched up and Aussies, Dan Dempsey broke his arm and Eric Weissel broke his leg. Despite being down to ten men the Kangaroos managed to hold out 15-6 to set-up a Third Test decider.
Great Britain were back to winning action when they defeated New South Wales for the second time, much more convincing than the first encounter by 22-5. The tourists clinched the Ashes with an 18-13 victory, outscoring their hosts by three tries to one, Stanley Smith (Leeds) scoring a brace and Stanley Brogden (Huddersfield) the other.
Jim Sullivan’s team of 1932 provide the inspiration for this collection, featuring the iconic GBRL jersey, along with vintage Polo, Zipper and T Shirts. This collection will appeal to all Rugby League supporters.

Celebrate the heritage of international rugby football with our vintage collection, including ruggers, polos and t-shirts, visit ellisrugby.com