1995 Trans-Tasman Test series

The 1995 Trans-Tasman Test series was an international rugby league, three test series played in Australia between the Australian Kangaroos and New Zealand Kiwis. As the series was played in the middle of the 1995 ARL season and most of the Kiwis selected came from Australian Rugby League (ARL) clubs, New Zealand did not play in any tour matches while in Australia (of their first test team, only Lock forward Brendon Tuuta (Featherstone Rovers) and reserve back Henry Paul (Wigan) were playing for non-ARL clubs), but prior to the series against Australia they had a two test home series against France.

The series was shrouded in controversy due to the ARL's refusal to select Super League (SL) aligned players to play for the Kangaroos, due to the Super League war. However, ARL loyal players playing for SL aligned clubs were still eligible for selection while the ARL did not stand in the way of New Zealand selecting SL loyal players from the ARL premiership.

The Kangaroos, coached by Bob Fulton in his 7th year in charge of the national team, and coming off their successful 1994 Kangaroo Tour, were clouded with controversy due to the ARL's stance on SL players in the wake of the Super League War. 1994 Kangaroo test players such as Brett Mullins, Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart, Steve Walters and Bradley Clyde (Canberra) and Brisbane Broncos players Michael Hancock, Steve Renouf, Allan Langer, Glenn Lazarus and Kevin Walters, along with Cronulla's Andrew Ettingshausen, Manly-Warringah's Ian Roberts and Canterbury-Bankstown's Dean Pay, were ruled ineligible to play representative football (though Pay would be one of four Bulldogs players to go back on their SL contracts and re-join the ARL, thus he was eligible and selected for the World Cup at the end of the 1995 ARL season). Stuart was a central figure in the controversy, with the ARL trying to entice the test halfback to their side with a promise of the Australian captaincy should he stick with the establishment (the Kangaroos captaincy being vacant as Mal Meninga had retired at the end of the Kangaroo Tour). However, Stuart ultimately decided to stick with both Canberra and the Super League.

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