Leeds Rugby League Heritage Podcast | Ep 5: The Californian who came to Leeds

A podcast from Rugby League club Leeds Rhinos which sees members of the club's Heritage Committee bring stories from the Rhinos past into the present, including key players and figures, as well as major events in the club's history.

This episode recalls the remarkable story of the American All Stars Rugby League team that toured to Australia, New Zealand and France in the 1950s and their star back, Californian Al Kirkland, who impressed so much that he got the chance to play for Parramatta and Leeds despite never having played Rugby League before his first game for the national US team.

We are joined by the author of No Helmets Required: The remarkable story of the American All Stars, Gavin Willacy for this episode to tell us more about the team and in particular how Kirkland came to play for Leeds, scoring on his debut.