The Ashes (rugby league)

The Ashes series, similar to the cricket series of the same name, was a best-of-three series of test matches between Australia and Great Britain national rugby league football teams. It had been contested 39 times from 1908 until 2003 largely with hosting rights alternating between the two countries. Since 1973, Australia has won a record thirteen consecutive Ashes series.

In 2023, the series was revived as a best-of-three series of test matches between Australia and this time England national rugby league football teams, starting in 2025. Unlike the original, this would feature both a men's and women's series.

This came after two failed revivals, one in 2020 which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and another in 2022 (set for 2024) as part of a potential Australian tour of Great Britain.

Original series
Several sports and events adopted cricket's Ashes concept and by the beginning of the 20th century it was an "accepted principle" that a series had to have at least three matches to be a true test of which side was the best.

On 27 September 1908, the first touring Australian rugby league side arrived in England, and played their first ever Test against the England side in December in London. Two further Tests were played. The Australians suggested that the series should be called "The Ashes" and the name stuck.

The format used is that three matches are played, with the winning team being decided on the basis of most matches won. If one team has already won two matches the series is already won, however the final game is usually still played. In the 1929–30 Ashes series both the teams won one game and one game was drawn; it was therefore decided to hold a further match to determine the outcome.

The British side has not always been termed Great Britain; in the past the titles "Northern Union XIII", "England" and "The Lions" have also been used. Similarly, the first two tours to Britain (1911–12 and 1921–22), included New Zealand players so were styled "Australasia", though when playing at home they always played as Australia.

Since 1964 the Harry Sunderland Medal is awarded to the best Australian player in a home Ashes series. Since Great Britain's win in Australia in 1970, the series has been very one sided with Australia having won 13 consecutive ashes, 5 of those (1979, 1982, 1984, 1986 and 2003) being 3–0 series whitewashes while the 1988 series had already been won by Australia in the first two tests before the Lions won a famous third test in Sydney 26–12 for their first test win over Australia since the second test of the 1978 Kangaroo tour, a streak of 15 wins for the Kangaroos.

The performance gap between the two teams became wider during the mid-late 1970s and Great Britain struggled to compete with Australia. The 1982 Kangaroos became the first side to go through a tour of Great Britain and France undefeated (something never achieved on a Lions tour, though they came close in 1954 losing just 2 games). This earned the team the nickname "The Invincibles". The 1986 Kangaroos repeated this feat and would be known as "The Unbeatables".

The final Ashes series was contested in 2003.

Planned revivals
In 2009 with the prospect of not contesting them until after the 2013 World Cup, Britain's Rugby Football League (RFL) challenged the Australian Rugby League (ARL) to play the round-robin stage match of the Four Nations tournament with the Ashes at stake. The one-off game would be a departure from the usual three-match series, additionally the contest would be between England, rather than Great Britain, and Australia. The ARL initially agreed to the proposal but later, facing hostility from former Ashes players and fans who thought the proposals devalued the Ashes, the two governing bodies decided not to proceed.

In 2016, newly appointed Australian team coach Mal Meninga, who as a player was selected to a record 4 Kangaroo Tours (the last two as captain) and played in a record 6 Ashes series (1982, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1992 and 1994 - playing a record 17 Ashes tests, only missing 1988 through injury), publicly advocated for a return of the Kangaroo Tours which would see The Ashes revived in 2020. The proposed 2020 series was cancelled in June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was later suggested that the series may instead be played in 2022, however this never eventuated. In October 2022, Meninga stated that talks were underway for a potential Ashes tour of England in 2024.

Modern series
On 3 August 2023, The revival of The Ashes was announced by International Rugby League as part of their new 7-year international calendar and long-term strategy for growth of the international game. The revamped competition will also feature a women's test series for the first time with the first edition to take place in 2025.

Trophy
In 1928, the City Tattersalls Club in Sydney, Australia donated a trophy to be the prize, the "Ashes Cup". The Cup's inscription reads: INTERNATIONAL

RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Australia v England

(THE ASHES)

Presented by

CITY TATTERSALLS CLUB

The Cup was first presented in 1928 to The Lions, after they defeated Australia 2–1 in the series. Following the 1933–34 series, in which England retained the Cup for the third time since first being presented with it, the Cup disappeared in the United Kingdom and was not found until October 1945. The trophy had been on display at a function in Ilkley, Yorkshire and afterwards was returned to the manager of the Griffin Hotel, Leeds - where the English Rugby League management met - but this was not made clear to the English authorities and instead in laid overlooked in a box for 12 years. During the period it was missing, Great Britain had won each series and the Cup's disappearance was not widely known. The Australian team first won the Cup in 1950.

In preparation for the Legends of League exhibition at the National Museum of Australia in 2008, marking a Centenary of Rugby League in Australia, the Ashes Cup underwent preservation work.

Highest attendance

 * Australia – 70,204 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, 6 June 1932
 * Great Britain – 57,034 at Wembley Stadium, London, 22 October 1994

Lowest attendance

 * Australia – 15,944 at the Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, 9 July 1988
 * Great Britain – 2,000 at the Park Royal Ground, London, 12 October 1908

Highest attended Ashes series

 * Australia – 179,816 in 1954
 * Great Britain – 140,432 in 1994

Lowest attended Ashes series

 * Australia – 60,000 in 1910
 * Great Britain – 33,000 in 1908–09

Highest score

 * Australia 50–12 Great Britain at Station Road, Swinton, 9 November 1963
 * Great Britain 40–17 Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, 19 July 1958

Biggest win

 * 38 points – Australia 50–12 Great Britain at Station Road, Swinton, 9 November 1963
 * 23 points – Great Britain 40–17 Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, 19 July 1958 23 points - Great Britain 33–10 Australia at Princes Park, Melbourne, 26 June 1992

Most tries in an Ashes test

 * Australia 3 – Reg Gasnier at Station Road, Swinton, 17 October 1959 3 – Reg Gasnier at Wembley Stadium, 16 October 1963 3 – Ken Irvine at Station Road, Swinton, 9 November 1963 3 – Ken Irvine at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, 23 July 1966 3 – Gene Miles at Old Trafford, Manchester, 25 October 1986 3 – Michael O'Connor at Old Trafford, Manchester, 25 October 1986
 * Great Britain 3 – Jim Devereux at Park Royal Ground, London, 12 December 1908

Most goals in an Ashes test

 * Australia 8 – by Noel Pidding at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, 12 June 1954 8 - by Mal Meninga at Boothferry Park, Hull, 30 October 1982
 * Great Britain 10 – by Lewis Jones at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane, 9 July 1954

Most points in an Ashes test

 * Australia 22 (3 tries, 5 goals) by Michael O'Connor at Old Trafford, Manchester, 25 October 1986
 * Great Britain 20 (10 goals) by Lewis Jones at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane, 9 July 1954 20 (2 tries, 6 goals, 1 field goal) - Roger Millward at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, 20 June 1970

Most points in an Ashes series

 * Australia 48 (2 tries, 21 goals) by Mal Meninga in 1982
 * Great Britain 30 (15 goals) by Lewis Jones in 1954

Most points in all Ashes tests

 * Australia 108 (9 tries, 37 goals) by Mal Meninga (17 tests – 1982–1994)
 * Great Britain 62 (31 goals) by Jim Sullivan (15 tests – 1924–1933)

Tries in each test of an Ashes series

 * Australia Ken Irvine, 1962 and 1963 Sam Backo, 1988 Mal Meninga, 1990
 * Great Britain George Tyson, 1908–09 Johnny Thomas, 1908–09 and 1910 Jim Leytham, 1910 Jonty Parkin, 1924 Ike Southward, 1958 Garry Schofield, 1986

Most games as captain

 * Australia 9 by Clive Churchill (1950–1954) 9 by Wally Lewis (1984–1988) 9 by Mal Meninga (1990–1994)
 * Great Britain 10 by Jim Sullivan (1928–1933)

Most games as coach

 * Australia – 12 by Frank Stanton (1978–1984)
 * Great Britain – 9 by Mal Reilly (1988–1992)