The 1954 Rugby League World Cup featured the national teams (selected from eighteen-man squads) of four nations.
Statistics Match details - listing surnames of each team and the point scorers - were included in E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook, as was a summary of the players' point-scoring. This information is reflected in the Rugby League Project website.
Australia
For Australian players, the World Cup tournament took place in 1954's post-season. Their coach was Vic Hey The team was managed by Spencer O'Neill of Parramatta, NSW and Jack McMahon of Queensland.
The Rugby League News published details of the touring team including each player's age and weight.
Banks, Davies, Flannery, Hall, McCaffery, O'Shea and Watson were selected from Queensland clubs. Pidding was selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. This lineup of the squad played for Sydney-based clubs during the 1954 season.
Player Age Weightst.lb (kg) Club Games Tries Goals FG Points Bob Banks 23 12.10 (81) Toowoomba Newtown 2 0 0 0 0 Roy Bull 25 14.7 (92) Manly-Warringah 3 1 0 0 3 Clive Churchill 27 11.7 (73) South Sydney 3 0 0 0 0 Harold Crocker 25 15.0 (95) Parramatta 2 0 0 0 0 Brian Davies , 23 14.12 (94) Booval Swifts 3 0 0 0 0 Peter Diversi 22 14.4 (91) North Sydney 3 1 0 0 3 Denis Flannery 25 13.8 (86) Ipswich Brothers 2 0 0 0 0 Duncan Hall 28 14.12 (94) Brisbane Western Suburbs 1 0 0 0 0 Greg Hawick Utility Back 22 13.5 (85) South Sydney 2 1 0 0 3 Keith Holman 27 11.9 (74) Western Suburbs 2 0 0 0 0 Ken Kearney 28 13.9 (87) St George 3 2 0 0 6 Ken McCaffery 24 13.0 (83) Toowoomba Souths 1 0 0 0 0 Ian Moir 22 11.4 (72) South Sydney 1 0 0 0 0 Kel O'Shea 21 15.1 (96) Ayr 2 2 0 0 6 Noel Pidding 27 12.0 (76) Maitland 3 0 7 0 14 Norm Provan 22 15.1 (96) St George 1 0 0 0 0 Alex Watson 22 13.4 (84) Brisbane Western Suburbs 3 3 0 0 9 Harry Wells 22 14.2 (90) Wollongong 2 2 0 0 6
New Zealand Manager: Tom McKenzie (West Coast) Coach: Jim Amos (Canterbury) The Rugby League News published details of the Kiwi touring team including each player's provincial team, weight, height, ageand occupation.
Player Age Weightst.lb (kg) Province Games Tries Goals FG Points Doug Anderson 27 12. 1 (77) Auckland 1 0 0 0 0 Alister Atkinson 28 12. 10 (81) Canterbury 3 0 0 0 0 Jim Austin , 24 12. 2 (77) Auckland 2 0 0 0 0 Lory Blanchard 30 14. 3 (90) Canterbury 3 0 0 0 0 John Bond , 22 14. 7 (92) Canterbury 2 0 2 0 4 Jock Butterfield 22 14. 0 (89) Canterbury 2 0 0 0 0 Neville Denton 20 12. 0 (76) Auckland 1 0 0 0 0 Cyril Eastlake (c) , 24 11. 9 (74) Auckland 3 1 0 0 3 Jimmy Edwards 27 12. 0 (76) Auckland 3 1 0 0 3 Len Eriksen 27 10. 0 (64) Auckland 3 1 0 0 3 Ian Grey 23 12. 7 (79) Auckland 1 0 0 0 0 Cliff Johnson 25 14. 3 (90) Auckland 2 0 0 0 0 George McDonald 20 13. 10 (87) South Auckland 1 0 0 0 0 Ron McKay 22 12. 9 (80) Taranaki 3 1 9 0 21 Bill McLennan 26 15. 10 (100) West Coast 3 0 0 0 0 George Menzies 23 11. 4 (72) West Coast 1 0 0 0 0 Bill Sorensen 22 13. 4 (84) Auckland 3 0 0 0 0 John Yates 24 14. 11 (94) Auckland 2 0 0 0 0
Great Britain For British players, the World Cup tournament took place during the 1954–55 Northern Rugby Football League season. Their coach was Mr Gideon Shaw. The Rugby League News published the selected British touring team. The following seven players listed in this article did not play a match in the tournament: Billy Boston (Wigan), Willie Horne (Barrow), Geoff Gunney (Hunslet), W. Banks, Ron Rylance (Huddersfield), Alvin Ackerley (Halifax) and Johnny Whiteley (Hull). English representative Phil Jackson was born in Canada. David Rose and captain Dave Valentine were representatives from Scotland, and John Thorley from Wales.
Player Club Games Tries Goals FG Points Gordon Brown Leeds 4 6 0 0 18 Bob Coverdale Hull 4 0 0 0 0 Gerry Helme Warrington 4 2 0 0 6 Phil Jackson Barrow 4 3 0 0 9 Frank Kitchen Leigh 2 3 0 0 9 Jimmy Ledgard Leigh 4 1 13 0 29 Albert Naughton Warrington 2 0 0 0 0 Don Robinson Wakefield Trinity 4 0 0 0 0 David Rose Leeds 4 4 0 0 12 Sam Smith Hunslet 4 0 0 0 0 Mick Sullivan Huddersfield 4 0 0 0 0 John Thorley Halifax 4 0 0 0 0 Dave Valentine (c) Huddersfield 4 0 0 0 0 Basil Watts York 4 0 0 0 0
France
Coaches: Jean Duhau and René Duffort The French squad was:
Player Age Club Games Tries Goals FG Points Jean Audoubert 30 Lyon Villeurbanne 4 1 0 0 3 Gilbert Benausse , 22 AS Carcassonne 2 0 0 0 0 Vincent Cantoni 27 Toulouse Olympique 4 2 0 0 6 André Carrère 30 Villeneuve XIII RLLG 0 0 0 0 0 Raymond Contrastin 29 4 5 0 0 15 Joseph Crespo 29 Lyon Villeurbanne 4 1 0 0 3 Guy Delaye 25 Sporting Olympique Avignon 3 1 0 0 3 Roger Guilhem 28 AS Carcassonne 1 0 0 0 0 Antoine Jimenez , 25 Villeneuve XIII RLLG 4 0 0 0 0 Joseph Krawzyck - Lyon Villeurbanne 4 1 0 0 3 Jacques Merquey 25 Sporting Olympique Avignon 4 1 0 0 3 Jean Pambrun 24 Marseille XIII 4 0 0 0 0 Puig Aubert 29 XIII Catalan 4 0 13 0 26 François Rinaldi - Marseille XIII 4 0 0 0 0 Armand Save 23 1 0 0 0 0 Claude Teisseire , 23 AS Carcassonne 3 0 0 0 0 Gilbert Verdié 26 Racing Club Albi XIII 2 0 0 0 0 Maurice Voron - Lyon Villeurbanne 0 0 0 0 0 Note: The Rugby League Project has Roger Guilhem playing one match and Gilbert Verdié two, whilst EE Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook has Roger Guilhem playing two matches (the round matches against Great Britain and Australia) and Gilbert Verdié playing one match (the Final against Great Britain).
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