New Zealand national Australian rules football team
Encyclopedia
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
national Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
team nicknamed the Falcons, is the national team for the sport of Australian rules football in New Zealand
Australian rules football in New Zealand
Australian rules football in New Zealand is currently a minority sport in a nation where rugby union is the national sport and predominant football code...
. The team is selected from the best New Zealand born and developed players, primarily from the clubs of the New Zealand AFL
New Zealand AFL
AFL New Zealand is the governing body of Australian rules football in New Zealand.AFL New Zealand currently has around 536 senior players. New Zealand, like Papua New Guinea and Queensland, has experienced a boom in junior participation in recent years with reports of as many as 10,000 junior...
. New Zealand-born players in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
are not considered for selection. The team mainly plays only for the purposes of the Australian Football International Cup
Australian Football International Cup
The Australian Football International Cup is an international sport competition in Australian rules football...
, and won the tournament in 2005
2005 Australian Football International Cup
The 2005 Australian Football International Cup was the second time that the Australian Football International Cup tournament, an international Australian rules football competition was held....
, and finished runners-up in 2008
2008 Australian Football International Cup
The 2008 Australian Football International Cup was the third time the Australian Football International Cup, an international Australian rules football competition, has been contested....
.
Identity
The team is name after the country's only native falconFalcon
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
species, the New Zealand Falcon or Karearea
Karearea
The New Zealand Falcon or Kārearea, Falco novaeseelandiae, is New Zealand's only endemic falcon and the only remaining bird of prey endemic to New Zealand. Other common names for the bird are Bush Hawk and Sparrow Hawk...
.
Like the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
NZ national rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team, the Falcons perform the Maori ritual wardance, the haka
Haka
Haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment...
before each game.
The team wears an all black guernsey with the silver fern, a national symbol of New Zealand.
History
The Falcons are the modern version of the team that defeated both New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
at the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival. Australian Football was seldom played in New Zealand between 1908 and 1974.
New Zealand was reintroduced to international Australian Football at the Arafura Games
Arafura Games
The Arafura Games is a Multi-sport event held every 2 years in the Australian city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory. It is an international event which draws its competitors from around the world. First held in 1991, the most recent Games, held in 2009, involved over 30 nations and over 3,000...
in 1995. The team also competed in the 1997 and 1999 games, winning the Silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
in each year of the competition as runners up to Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
The team competed in the inaugural 2002 Australian Football International Cup
2002 Australian Football International Cup
The 2002 Australian Football International Cup was the inaugural international Australian rules football tournament held in Melbourne, Australia in 2002....
finishing in 3rd place.
Warming up for the 2005 International Cup, the Falcons played a touring Maffra (from the strong Victorian Country Football League
Victorian Country Football League
The Victorian Country Football League is the governing body for Australian rules football in Victoria outside of metropolitan Melbourne on behalf of AFL Victoria...
in Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
, Victoria, Australia) at Manurewa
Manurewa
Manurewa is the southernmost major suburb of Manukau City, one of the four cities that make up the metropolitan area of Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 6km south of the Manukau City Centre, and 26km southeast of the Auckland CBD....
in New Zealand but were defeated by 70 points, dulling expectations of the team's appearance in the next international event, but at the same time displaying the massive disparity between the competitive level of the sport in the two countries.
However with the growing popularity of Aussie Rules in New Zealand, the much improved 2005 New Zealand International Cup side went through the competition undefeated, claiming the title of International Champions by defeating Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
in the Grand Final
Grand Final
Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sport term used to describe a match that decides a league champion.It originated in Victoria and South Australia and has become specifically significant Australian culture...
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, effectively claiming the title from previous winners Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The team took most by surprise and no other side was able to come close to winning against them.
The Falcon's best and fairest player (from the 2005 International Cup) was Matthew Callaghan.
Following the overwhelming success of the team's 2005 International Cup appearance, the Falcons were invited to play at the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Country Championships in 2006 to be held on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
. The qualification rules of this competition are more lenient, and the Falcons were able to play non New Zealand born players to make them competitive against Australian sides from country leagues. The Falcons were not successful at the event, losing heavily to Queensland, by 9 points to Victoria B and by 63 points to the Indigenous All-Stars.
Warming up for the 2008 cup, New Zealand were once again convincingly defeated by Maffra. The team, however went on to win all of its first 3 rounds by massive margins, leading its pool by a massive percentage to play off in the finals against Ireland, Papua New Guinea and South Africa. Though the Falcons lost to a determined Papua New Guinea in the Grand Final. Richard Bradley was the tournament's equal leading goalkicker with Canada's Scott Fleming and was one of three New Zealanders selected in the All-International (world) team.
International Cup
- 20022002 Australian Football International CupThe 2002 Australian Football International Cup was the inaugural international Australian rules football tournament held in Melbourne, Australia in 2002....
: 3rd - 20052005 Australian Football International CupThe 2005 Australian Football International Cup was the second time that the Australian Football International Cup tournament, an international Australian rules football competition was held....
: 1st - 20082008 Australian Football International CupThe 2008 Australian Football International Cup was the third time the Australian Football International Cup, an international Australian rules football competition, has been contested....
: 2nd - 20112011 Australian Football International CupThe 2011 Australian Football International Cup is the fourth edition of the Australian Football International Cup, an international Australian rules football competition run by the Australian Football League....
: TBC
2008 AFL International Cup Squad
| Number | Name | Club | Height (cm) | Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mitchell Mace | Hamilton Tuis | 176 | 74 |
| 2 | Liam Ackland | Mt Roskill Saints | 176 | 65 |
| 3 | Scott McNally | Old Melburnians (VAFA) | 185 | 84 |
| 4 | Michael Boyce | Mt Roskill Saints | 166 | 60 |
| 5 | James Monaghan | University Blues | 171 | 88 |
| 6 | Geoffrey Thomas (VC) | Eastern Blues | 174 | 75 |
| 7 | Morgan Jones (VC) | University of Queensland AFC University of Queensland Australian Football Club The University of Queensland Australian Football Club is an amateur Australian rules football club playing in Divisions 1 and 2 of the AFLQ State Association competition overseen by AFL Queensland. UQAFC home games are played at the University of Queensland's No... |
179 | 79 |
| 8 | Paul Gunning | Warnbro Swans | 171 | 79 |
| 9 | Andrew Congalton (C) | Takapuna Eagles | 184 | 94 |
| 10 | Marcus Jones | Mt Roskill Saints | 180 | 79 |
| 11 | James Bowden | Eastern Blues | 184 | 89 |
| 12 | John Maling | Waitakere Magpies | 180 | 59 |
| 13 | Lewis Hurst | Mt Roskill Saints | 179 | 85 |
| 14 | Andrew Buckthought | University Blues | 176 | 87 |
| 15 | David Rattenbury | Waitakere Magpies | 184 | 76 |
| 16 | David Cory-Toussaint | University Blues | 188 | 85 |
| 17 | Richie Marsden | Eastern Blues | 187 | 104 |
| 19 | Andrew Crighton | North Shore Tigers | 180 | 90 |
| 20 | Andriu Sucu | North Shore Tigers | 185 | 79 |
| 21 | Nic Cunneen | North Shore Tigers | 187 | 91 |
| 23 | Matthew Callaghan | Thornlie Lions | 194 | 96 |
| 24 | Luke Kneebone | Hamilton Mavericks | 178 | 88 |
| 26 | Richard Bradley | Eastern Blues | 192 | 90 |
| 27 | Sam Whitehead | Ashburton Eagles | 195 | 113 |
| 28 | Matthew Van Wijk | Hamilton Mavericks | 170 | 75 |
| 29 | Graham Rattenbury | Eastern Bulldogs | 176 | 79 |
| 30 | Shane Browne | Eastern Blues | 176 | 84 |
| 31 | Matt Crighton | North Shore Tigers | 185 | 85 |
| 33 | Aaron Harris | University Cougars | 184 | 89 |
| 34 | Jared Court | Eastern Blues | 180 | 94 |
| 35 | Moss Doran | Sth Warrnambool Roosters | 192 | 95 |