The 2008 Rugby League World Cup featured the national teams (selected from twenty-four-man squads) of ten nations: Australia, England, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, France, Scotland, Ireland, Samoa, and Tonga.

Pool A

Australia

Head coach:

Ricky Stuart Ricky John Stuart (born 7 January 1967) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Canberra Raiders in the NRL and a former rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. H ...

Assistant coaches: John Cartwright and

Allan Langer Allan Jeffrey "Alfie" Langer AM (born 30 July 1966) is an Australian former multi-award-winning rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s and worked as an assistant coach for the Australian national team, the Queensland ...

Australia national rugby league team (26 October 2008)

¹ Replaced originally selected Brett Stewart and

Justin Hodges Justin Hodges (born 25 May 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative , Hodges started his career in the Nati ...

who withdrew on 16 October. ² Replaced originally selected

Michael Crocker Michael "Croc" Crocker (born 21 June 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a typ ...

who withdrew due to injury on 9 October.Tupou a Kangaroo again, replaces Crocker
''NRL Official website'', 9 October 2008

England

Head coach: Tony Smith /
Assistant coach:

Steve McNamara Steve McNamara (born 18 September 1971) is an English professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League and a former professional player. He is a former coach of England, and a Gr ...

New Zealand

Head coach: Stephen Kearney
Assistant coach: Wayne Bennett New Zealand national rugby league team (26 October 2008)

¹ Replaced originally named

Iosia Soliola Iosia Soliola (born 4 August 1986) is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL). He played for New Zealand and Samoa at international level. He previously played as ...

who withdrew due to injury on 21 October. ² Replaced originally named

Brent Webb Brent Douglas Webb (born 9 November 1979) is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a . He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, before moving the Leeds Rhinos and the Catalans Dragons i ...

and Jeff Lima who withdrew due to injury on 7 October.

Papua New Guinea

Head coach:

Adrian Lam Adrian Lam (born 25 August 1970) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Super League Club Leigh Leopards (was Leigh Centurions), and a former rugby league footballer. He played for the Sydney Rooste ...

Pool B

Fiji

Head coach:

Joe Dakuitoga Josaia Rabele "Joe" Dakuitoga (born 25 September 1965), also known as Jo Rabele, is a Fijian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Fijian national team, and a former professional rugby league footballer. In his playing ...

France

Head coach:

John Monie John Stephen Monie (born 6 October 1946) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He is probably best known for his coaching career where he won p ...

Scotland

Except for

Edinburgh Eagles Edinburgh Eagles are a rugby league team based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club plays in the Scottish National League (rugby league), Scottish National League and North East Rugby League. The club was founded in 1998. The ''Eagles'' have won t ...

stand-off Paddy Couper, all of the Scottish team's players were selected under the

grandparent rule The grandfather rule, in sports which usually only permit participants to play for the team of their country of birth, is an exception which gives participants the option to play for the country of any of their ancestors up to the grandparents. ...

. Head coach:

Steve McCormack Steve McCormack is a rugby league coach. He was head coach of Scotland until 2017 and was the longest reigning coach in the nation's history having held the role since 2004. He has also had an extensive club coaching career, having coached Salf ...

Pool C

Ireland

Head coach: Andy Kelly * Brett White was originally named but withdrew due to injury on 9 October. He was replaced by Brendan Guilfoyle. *

Shannon McDonnell Shannon Jay McDonnell (born 5 August 1987) is a former Ireland international rugby league footballer who last played for St Helens in the Super League. He had previously played for National Rugby League clubs the Wests Tigers and the Newcast ...

has also withdrawn due to injury. He was replaced by Shayne McMenemy.

Samoa

Head coach: John Ackland

Tonga

Head coach:

Jim Dymock Jim Dymock (born 4 April 1972) is a professional rugby league coach who is the assistant coach of the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Tonga and Australia inter ...

Fuifui Moimoi Fuifui Moimoi (born 26 September 1980) is a rugby league footballer who plays as a . He most notably played for the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League (NRL) from 2004 to 2014, in addition to playing for Leigh Centurions in the RFL C ...

and Taniela Tuiaki were originally named for Tonga but were ruled ineligible by the Rugby League International Federation after both switched from Tonga to New Zealand in 2007. A New South Wales court later ruled that they could join the team after 12 November, making them available if Tonga made the Semi-finals. *

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal e ...

and

Louis Anderson Louis Manu Anderson (born 27 June 1985) is a New Zealand rugby league footballer who plays for Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII in the Elite Two Championship. A New Zealand former international representative forward, he previously played for the Ne ...

both were originally named but withdrew due to injury. They were replaced by Kim Usai and Sam Moa. *

Anthony Tupou Anthony Tupou (born 1 March 1983) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative, he played for the Sydney Roosters, ...

was originally named but withdrew on 9 October after being called into the Australian squad.

Welcome to Country

As part of the official opening of the World Cup on 26 October, an exhibition game was played between an Aboriginal selection and a New Zealand Māori side.

Indigenous Dreamtime Team

Head coach:

Neil Henry Neil Henry (born 23 January 1961) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He was formerly the head coach for the Canberra Raiders, North Queensland Cowboys and Gold Coast Titans of the National Rugby League ...

New Zealand Māori

Head coach: Luke Goodwin Maori side to play Indigenous
@ RLWC08 Official Site, 22 October 2008.

Notes and references

Positions

References

External links

"World Cup team guide" at ''The Guardian''
{{2008 in rugby league

Squads In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

Rugby League World Cup squads