Men's rugby league Ashes (original series)

[4] 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.

[5] 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.

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.

The performance gap between the two teams became wider during the mid-late 1970s and Great Britain struggled to compete with Australia.

The event is scheduled to return in 2025 - with talks taking place over the series being staged in England, having initially been set to be in Australia.

[6] In 1928, the City Tattersalls Club in Sydney, Australia donated a trophy to be the prize, the "Ashes Cup".