professionalism, in the late 20th century that this supply of talent ceased.) The 1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, the first ever, took place after the 1909–10 Northern Rugby Football Union season and featured a number of Welsh former rugby union internationals. Several Wallabies players changed codes to play against this touring team, which was anticipated to be one of the best sides ever to visit Australasia. In Australasia, the game centred around local, regional or statewide leagues, and there were no national competitions in either country until late in the 20th century. In both Australia and New Zealand, club championships were based on one set of home and away matches leading to a play-off, rather than the multiplicity of trophies available to British clubs. Rugby league quickly took over from rugby union as the most popular form of football in New South Wales and Queensland. The rest of the country was already dominated by Australian rules football. The amateur code still held sway in New Zealand, although the emergence of rugby league meant that it was no longer unrivalled in popularity. Sport in general suffered as a result of the First World War, and rugby league was no exception. In Britain, the government discouraged all professional sports, and the major competitions were abandoned. In Australia, the situation was slightly less serious, and rugby league continued. The rugby union authorities opted to suspend play throughout the war, and this decision is often cited as one of the prime reasons for the traditional dominance of rugby league over rugby union in Australia. Although the clubs continued to play, many of them were short of players due to the fighting. In 1917, Australia's first rugby league club, the Glebe "Dirty Reds" (founded on 9 January 1908), unleashed controversy when it fielded a player named Dan "Laddo" Davies. Local rivals Annandale protested that Davies lived within their designated recruiting area. Glebe were deducted two competition points and Davies received a lifetime ban. Many Glebe players already believed the NSWRL was biased against them and they went on strike; the league responded by suspending the first grade team until the following April. Davies returned to his native Newcastle, where his previous club, Western Suburbs—not to be confused with the Sydney club of the same name—sought to use him in the local league. They tried repeatedly to have Davies' suspension lifted,