1986 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia and Papua New Guinea match victory against New Zealand and their first test win since defeating France 37-6 in 1977. The Kumuls would not win another test until 1990. Following the loss to Papua New Guinea, Graham Lowe resigned in August to take up the position of head coach with English club side Wigan. Tony Gordon was appointed as his replacement in September. Dun Furner and Wally Lewis would lead the Australian team on the undefeated 1986 Kangaroo Tour of Great Britain and France at the end of the NSWRL and BRL seasons. 1986 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia and Papua New
Territory of Papua and New Guinea de Menezes came upon the principal island "Papua". In 1545, the Spaniard Iñigo Ortiz de Retes gave the island the name "New Guinea" because of what he saw as a resemblance between the islands' inhabitants and those found on the African Guinea coast. Knowledge of the interior of the island remained scant for several centuries after these initial European encounters. In 1884, Germany formally took possession of the northeast quarter of the island and it became known as German New Guinea. In 1884, a British protectorate was proclaimed over Papua – the southern coast of New Guinea. The protectorate, called