Does anyone have any original source / contemporary details of the England line up for the game against Papua New Guinea on 6 July 1975 (I'm especially interested in the subs). Any help much appreciated.
Hi Neil,
There are are a number of articles and photos of this match accessible on Trove. Although most newspapers digitised by the National Library of Australia end at 1954, the Canberra Times (to 1995) and for your query, the Papua New Guinea Post Courier (to 1981) cover July 1975.
Photos https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250389068 and https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250389553
Match Report https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250388939
Regards, John
P.S. I've taken photos of some pages from EE Christensen's yearbooks. From the 1976 Yearbook, the section with team lists and point-scorers has the teams for
England v Southern Division 15 June 1975
Combined Lithgow-Oberon v France 25 June 1975
Group 6 v France 27 June 1975 (won 2-0 by Group 6 after the floodlights went out early in the match)
England v Illawarra 29 June 1975
France v Monaro 29 June 1975
and
Australia v Auckland, Rourergue, Oldham, York and England (at Leeds on 12 November 1975).
and all the World Series matches.
But, not the PNG v England match.
There might be a reference to that match in another section of the yearbook, but I didn't make copies of the full book. Originals are held in the State Library of NSW.
It's possible that there was a report in the Rugby League Week, but the bound volume of 1975 issues is missing from the SLNSW collection. All other years are held. At a glance the SLQ (Brisbane) catalogue suggests they don't hold any RLW issues, and the NLA (Canberra) does, but not for 1975.
Hi all, new to the site. Just checked the 1975 RLW and no mention of the game in the issue after the game. There was mention of the hotel that the English stayed at during the World Series and that the team loved the Aussie oysters.
Thanks everyone for input. The info being sought on the England subs was to confirm that all 5 that are listed played: this match is not listed as a Full International / first-class match as it was played with excess players, outside the rules of the time. I was hoping one of the subs didn't play, so this could be included, but it seems that this will remain excluded unless this could be proven.