Australian national rugby league team
| Nickname (s) | Kangaroos | ||
| Association | Australian Rugby League Commission | ||
| Trainer |
 Mal Meninga
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| captain | Cameron Smith | ||
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Most international matches Darren Lockyer (59) |
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Most Points Scored Johnathan Thurston (342) |
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Most attempts scored Darren Lockyer (35) |
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First international 10:11 New Zealand (May 9, 1908)  |
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Biggest win 110: 4 Russia (November 4, 2000)  |
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Biggest defeat 25:49 New Zealand (July 28, 1952) 0:24 New Zealand (November 26, 2005) |
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World Championship participations: 15 Best results: World Champion 1957, 1968, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2013, 2017 |
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The Australian national rugby league team , also known by its nickname Kangaroos , represents Australia on an international level in the sport of rugby league . The team in green jerseys, green shorts and gold socks is by far the most successful in their discipline. Australia has won the title 11 times in the 15 rugby league world championships held so far . The Kangaroos have a positive record against any other team in the world.
history
In 1908, the Australian National Rugby League team was formed as a result of the separation of the New South Wales Rugby Football League and Queensland Rugby League from the Southern Rugby Football Union . As in the north of England in 1895, this was preceded by a dispute over the professionalization of players. From then on , the amateurs played rugby union , the professional rugby league , which became the dominant rugby code in Australia. The first international game of the Kangaroos was lost on May 9, 1908 at 10:11 against New Zealand .
In the first few decades the national team of Great Britain still dominated at international level. The so-called Ashes series was held regularly between Australia and Great Britain , which the Kangaroos only won in 1920 . It took until 1958 for the first success on the British Isles. In 1954 the first Rugby League World Cup took place in France. Although with New Zealand , Australia , France and the UK only four teams took part, it was enough for the Australians only to third place, still the worst result of the Kangaroos at a World Cup. Three years later, the Australians also won their first title at the first home World Cup with an unchanged field of participants. In 1960 they won the silver medal in Great Britain, in 1968 and 1970 the title again. The 1972 World Cup final against their big rivals from Great Britain ended in a 10-10 draw, but the British were declared the winners due to their better placement in the group stage.
Between 1975 and 2008, the Kangaroos managed the feat of remaining reigning world champions for 33 years in a row. Because the tournament was held extremely irregularly, six title wins were enough. At the home World Cup in 2008 they surprisingly lost the final in Brisbane with 20:34 against New Zealand . In 2013 , however, the revenge took place at the final at Old Trafford in Manchester , and the Kangaroos took back the World Cup crown with a dominant 34-2 win against the Kiwis . The final of the 2013 World Cup set a new international record in rugby league with 74,468 spectators.
During this time, New Zealand became Australia's most important competitor on the international level, and the kangaroos sometimes even challenged their leadership role. For example, the Kiwis succeeded in beating Australia in the final of the Four Nations 2014 and one year later left them behind in the RLIF World Rankings for the first time. In 2016, however, Australia clearly defeated the New Zealanders in the final of the Four Nations with 34: 8 and reclaimed first place in the world rankings. At the 2017 World Cup, the Australians underlined their outstanding position when they were able to win the title in front of a home crowd for the first time since 1977. In Brisbane they defeated England 6-0 in the final with the lowest points in World Cup history.
Others
The kangaroos traditionally have a very high proportion of indigenous Australians in their ranks. Between 1908 and 1967 , the team performed a war dance, similar to the New Zealanders' haka, before the game .
successes
- World Championships (11): 1957, 1968, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2013, 2017
- Tri-Nations / Four Nations (6): 1999, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2016