(Image: Archives)
The 1946 Great Britain touring squad, famously known as the 'Indomitables', are the second team inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame, in recognition of one of the most remarkable achievements in the sport’s international history.
The team was packed with Bradford Northern icons like Trevor Foster, Ernest Ward and Frank Whitcombe.
The latter’s son, Martin, has co-authored a book celebrating the tour, which was published earlier this year.
The squad, which also included Bradford players Eric Batten, Jack Kitching and Willie Davies, travelled to Australia and New Zealand less than a year after the end of the Second World War, for the first major overseas sporting tour by a British team following the conflict.
Officially playing as England (the Great Britain title arrived in 1947), the team, captained by Gus Risman, were away from home for five months.
They played 27 matches, and returned with 21 wins, one draw and only five defeats, clinching an historic Ashes success along the way.
They remain the only Great Britain Rugby League team to have gone unbeaten in an away Test series against Australia.
Frank Whitcombe scored in the tense 8-8 draw in the first Test, but Great Britain (playing under the England banner) then won in Brisbane and Sydney to claim a 2-0 Ashes victory. (Image: Archives)
Their enduring nickname came from HMS Indomitable, the Royal Navy aircraft carrier on which they sailed to Australia over a four-week period.
RFL chairman Nigel Wood OBE, who chaired the Hall of Fame selection panel meeting and was in charge at Bradford until last year, said: “The 1946 Great Britain tourists occupy a very special place in Rugby League history.
"At a time when the country was still emerging from the hardships and losses suffered during the war, they carried the hopes of our sport across the world.
"Invited by the Australian Rugby League to re-introduce international sporting events, revive the Ashes and boost the morale of both nations, they went on to produce a performance of courage, resilience and quality which has stood the test of time.
“To travel by warship, to spend five months away from home, to play such a demanding schedule and then to go unbeaten in an Ashes series in Australia was an astonishing feat.
"The title ‘Indomitables’ could not have been more appropriate, and it is entirely fitting that this outstanding squad should now be honoured together in the Rugby League Hall of Fame.”