Australia national rugby league team

The Australian national rugby league team (or the Kangaroos) have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the team are the most successful in Rugby League World Cup history, winning 9 out of 13 contested, and failing to reach the final only once, in the inaugural tournament in 1954. The Kangaroos' ranking in the RLIF World Rankings is number 1, even though they were runners up in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Australia has won all but one of their games in the RLIF Rankings period, and thus is still ranked first.

Dating back to 1908, Australia are the fourth oldest national side after England, New Zealand and Wales. The team were first assembled in 1908 for a tour of Great Britain. Since 7 July 1994 the team's official nickname has been the Kangaroos, though they had unofficially been referred to as such since 1908. Previously, the Australian team was only referred to as the Kangaroos when on tours of Great Britain or France. In 1997 Australia was also represented by a Super League Australia team, drawing on players from that year's Super League competition. While in the past players for the side had been selected from clubs in various leagues around the country, in recent years the side has consisted exclusively of players from clubs of the elite National Rugby League.

History

Early days

Rugby football has been played in Australia...
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