23rd July….
The 1910 and 1914 tours had moved on to New Zealand and today in 1910 saw one of Hunslet’s players (Bill Jukes) playing against Auckland. He scored two tries in a 52-9 win. Walter Guerin, Fred Smith and John Smales were the 1914 representatives against Taranaki at Eltham, Fred scoring a try in an easy 43-11 win.
1966 was the third and deciding Test against Australia and Bill Ramsey was in the pack in Sydney. The result turned on an incident in the second half involving GB hooker Peter Flanagan and Aussie Peter Dimond where Flanagan was floored. Dimond received a caution from the referee (one of three he received in the match) and GB forward Cliff Watson was sent off. They did bring the score to 7-8 when Alan Hardisty scored a try but a disputed try by Ken Irvine (he fumbled a pass and dived on the loose ball. The referee awarded a try, not a knock on) eased the Aussies to four point lead and they kept their noses in front for the last 23 minutes, winning the game 19-14.
24th July….
The papers today were reporting on Geoff Gunney’s aims of keeping the Hunslet name alive by taking over the old club’s fixtures and playing home games at Elland Road Greyhound Stadium. The old club had looked at the same move and the RL initially rejected the Stadium as unsuitable but had later reversed it’s decision. A big issue was player registrations and contracts. Technically they were free agents, but the RL asked other clubs not to sign them as it could scupper Geoff’s attempts to resurrect the club. Around eight players wanted to sign for other clubs but eventually only Dave Marshall, Phil Sanderson and George Clark refused to sign.
After the 1965 Wembley appearance, the Hunslet team was breaking up due to retirements and transfers. Half back was a particular problem following the loss of Brian Gabbitas and Alan Marchant. Hunslet had already brought in Welsh scrum-half Cliff Williams and today in 1967 again raided the valleys to register stand-off Phil Morgan. They paid £3,000 for the Cardiff RU player and he gave good service to Hunslet over three difficult seasons playing 61 matches and scoring 14 tries and 6 goals. He played five games for Wales whilst at Hunslet.
Two of Hunslet’s internationals were playing today. Geoff Gunney was in the GB team in the first 1954 Test against New Zealand in Auckland and in the Tour Match in Durban South Africa against France in 1957. The Carlaw Park pitch was a mud bath but a controlled performance by GB saw them overcome the Kiwis 27-7. The backs were praised for their performance in the difficult conditions and Geoff’s partnership with fellow second rower Charlie Pawsey was singled out as the best of the tour. The match in Durban saw GB win easily 32-11.
In 1966 Geoff Shelton was assisting the Tourists an a match against Riverina at Narrandera NSW. He scored a try as GB won 34-20.
