The last senior British team to complete an Ashes series victory over Australia are to be recognised by becoming the first team to be inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame.
The 1996 Great Britain Lionesses were the first women’s team to tour Australia and made an indelible impact on Rugby League history by winning six of their seven games Down Under, including the second and third Test matches against Australia.
Their achievement was all the more remarkable given the obstacles they faced simply to make the tour happen: women’s Rugby League was not recognised or supported by the RFL in the UK in 1996 and the players had to self-fund the entire trip.
On arriving in Australia, the tourists received little assistance from their hosts and had to arrange their own accommodation, transport and training facilities during their three-week trip.
Despite those hurdles, and a gruelling schedule, the Lionesses rose to the challenge in magnificent style: victories over a Sydney Select XIII (86-0) and Australian Capital Territories (36-0) were followed by their only defeat, a narrow 16-14 loss in the first Test in Canberra.
They returned to winning ways three days later with a 22-8 win against Queensland in Brisbane and followed that up with a series-levelling 18-12 success in the second Test at the same venue.
The Lionesses then defeated a President’s Select XIII 30-0 and wrapped up their historic tour – and the Ashes series – by completing a famous 20-18 win in the third Test decider at the Redfern Oval in Sydney.
The tour squad comprised 26 players and four members of staff, including head coach Ian Harris and his assistant, Jackie Sheldon.
RFL Chief Executive Tony Sutton said: “When introducing a new teams category into the Hall of Fame we wanted to set a very high bar for entry and there can be no doubt that the Great Britain Women’s tour team of 1996 meet that bar.
“What they achieved with so little backing, both at home or in Australia, is simply outstanding and a huge credit to the quality of everyone involved.
“Thankfully, women’s and girl’s Rugby League now gets the recognition and support it so richly deserves and the many thousands of female players we have in the game owe a great debt to these pioneering legends.”
Of the 26 players on the 1996 women’s tour, five have been elevated into the Rugby League Hall of Fame – Brenda Dobek, Lisa McIntosh and Sally Milburn, who were inducted in 2022; and Jane Banks and Michelle Land, who will take their place in the sport’s most exclusive and prestigious club at the Hall of Fame induction dinner hosted by Rugby League Cares at The Edge, Wigan, on Tuesday October 22.
The Hall of Fame dinner will also see four men inducted – Jamie Peacock MBE, Paul Sculthorpe MBE, James Lomas and Alan Prescott – on an unmissable night. The dinner sees people from across the sport, including fans, sponsors and the clubs whose players have been recognised as the greatest of all time, come together to celebrate sporting heroes.
Tickets for the RL Hall of Fame dinner at The Edge, Wigan, on Tuesday October 22 (7.00pm start) purchased before September 20 are available from RL Cares at the special early bird price of £60 per head (£600 for a table of 10, inc VAT) – please email events@rlcares.org.uk for more details.
Full details of the RL Hall of Fame can be found here
