The

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

featured fourteen international teams, with each consisting of a twenty-four-man squad.

Pool A

Australia

Head coach:

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

Australia's 24-man squad is composed entirely of players who play in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

. In the days following the initial squad announcement,

Andrew Fifita Andrew Fifita ( to, ʻAnitelū Fifita) (born 28 June 1989) is a retired professional rugby league footballer who played as a . He has played for Tonga national rugby league team, Tonga and Australia national rugby league team, Australia at inte ...

withdrew from the squad in order to represent

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

while

Darius Boyd Darius Boyd (born 17 July 1987) is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer who played , , and for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL and has played for Australia at international level and State of Origin for Queensland. Boyd c ...

withdrew due to an ongoing hamstring injury. Campbell-Gillard and Mansour were named as the respective replacements. Seven members of the squad are uncapped for the Kangaroos (Campbell-Gillard, Gagai, Graham, Kaufusi, McLean, Munster, and T. Trbojevic).

England

Head coach: Wayne Bennett Uncapped players Currie and Walmsley have been included in a squad that is very similar to the one that was named to played Samoa earlier in the year.

Zak Hardaker Zak Alexander Hardaker (born 17 October 1991) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Leigh Leopards in the Super League. He has played for the England Knights, England and Great Britain at international l ...

was not considered for selection after he tested positive for

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

four weeks prior to the squad announcement, the details of which were publicly reported only hours before said announcement. All 24 players were selected from the top-tier Super League or NRL competitions.

France

Head coach:

Aurélien Cologni Aurélien Cologni (born 11 February 1978 in France) is the head coach of FC Lezignan in the Elite One Championship and the French national rugby league team. Cologni is a former player, a French international who played for the Lézignan San ...

In addition to the twenty-four man squad, four players were named as alternatives:

Kevin Larroyer Kevin Larroyer (born 19 June 1989) is a French professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for the Halifax in the Betfred Championship. He previously played for Toulouse Olympique, Catalans Dragons, Hull Kingston Rov ...

, Lambert Belmas,

Rémy Marginet Rémy Marginet is a French rugby league footballer who plays as a for Ille-sur-Têt XIII in Elite Two Championship. He is a French international. Playing career He has previously played for the Catalans Dragons, Featherstone Rovers, Newcastl ...

and Ilias Bergal.

Gadwin Springer Gadwin Springer (born 4 April 1993) is a French professional rugby league footballer who last played as a for Featherstone Rovers in the Betfred Championship and France at international level. He previously played for the Catalans Dragons and ...

was initially named in the squad but withdrew due to a groin injury. He was replaced by Belmas.

Guillaume Bonnet Guillaume Bonnet (died 3 or 12 April 1312) was the archdeacon of Passais in the fourteenth century. Biography Guillaume Bonnet, the son of Bertrand Bonnet, lord of Beuvillers, Calvados, Beuville and La Chapelle, was raised in the diocese of Ange ...

was initially named in the squad but withdrew due to a ligament injury. He was replaced by Marginet. Hakim Miloudi was initially named in the squad but was dropped due to disciplinary reasons. He was replaced by Bergal.

Lebanon

Head coach:

Brad Fittler Bradley Scott Fittler (born 5 February 1972), also known by the nickname of "Freddy", is the head coach of the New South Wales State of Origin team, a commentator and a television presenter. Fittler has previously coached the Sydney Roosters in ...

Reece Robinson Reece Robinson (born 13 June 1987) is a Lebanon international rugby league footballer who most recently played for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL. He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos, Canberra Raiders and Parramatta Eels in the Nat ...

was initially named in the squad but withdrew due to injury. He was replaced by

Daniel Abou-Sleiman Daniel Abou Sleiman is a Lebanese international rugby footballer who plays as a full-back or on the . Abou Sleiman is a Lebanese rugby league international. Abou-Sleiman has played first grade rugby union in Japan. He has previously played ...

Pool B

New Zealand

Head coach:

David Kidwell David Kidwell (born 23 April 1977) is a professional rugby football, rugby coach (sport), coach who is the defence coach at Los Pumas, the national rugby union team of Argentina, and a former rugby league player. As a player, he represented New ...

Kevin Proctor Kevin Proctor (born 28 February 1989) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a forward for Wakefield Trinity in the Super League, and the New Zealand Māori and New Zealand at international level. Proctor was a me ...

and captain

Jesse Bromwich Jesse Bromwich (born 3 May 1989) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Dolphins in the National Rugby League and New Zealand at international level. He played for and captained the Storm, with whom he won ...

were not considered for selection after being caught buying and using

following the

2017 Anzac Test The 2017 Anzac Test was a rugby league test match played between Australia and New Zealand at Canberra Stadium. It was the 18th and last Anzac Test played between the two nations since the first was played under the Super League banner in 1997 ...

in May; Blair was subsequently named captain for the tournament. Five uncapped players (Asofa-Solomona, Fonua-Blake, Levi, Liu, and Takairangi) are included in the squad as

Tohu Harris Tohu Harris (born 7 January 1992) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and forward and captains the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, and New Zealand and the New Zealand Māori at international level. He prev ...

Jordan Kahu Jordan Kahu (born 28 January 1991) is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a and er for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL and New Zealand at international level. Kahu has played for the Brisbane Broncos and the Nort ...

Kieran Foran Kieran Foran (born 13 July 1990) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL and New Zealand at international level. Foran previously played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, ...

, and

Ben Matulino Ben Andrew Matulino (born 3 January 1989) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s as a or . He played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League, NRL, ...

were ruled out by injury, while

Jason Taumalolo Vaai "Jason" Taumalolo (born 31 May 1993) is a professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a or forward for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL. He has played for Tonga and New Zealand at international level. Taumalol ...

opted to represent his Tongan heritage over the Kiwis.

Samoa

Head coach:

Matt Parish Matt Parish is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of Samoa and a former professional rugby league footballer. Playing career Parish played in 55 first-grade matches for the Balmain Tigers between 1988 ...

Sione Mata'utia Sione Mata'utia-Leifi (pronounced ma-ta-oo-tee-a) (born 25 June 1996) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and forward for St Helens in the Betfred Super League. He has represented both Australia and Samoa at internationa ...

and

Tautau Moga Tautau Moga (born 6 December 1993) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a and er for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL. He previously played for the Sydney Roosters, North Queensland Cowboys, Brisbane Bronc ...

were initially named in the squad but withdrew due to injury. They were replaced by Lafai and Winterstein. Luai, Musgrove, Papalii, and Tevaga are the only uncapped players for Samoa, with Luai making an unexpected appearance in the squad as the only player without NRL experience.

Scotland

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 ...

Ryan Brierley Ryan Brierley (born 12 March 1992) is a Scotland international rugby league footballer who plays as a goal-kicking or for the Salford Red Devils in the Betfred Super League. He previously played for the Leigh Centurions over two separate spe ...

was originally selected, but withdrew after failing a fitness test. He was replaced by Oakes. Brooks, Brough, and Walker were dropped on 5 November for disciplinary reasons.

Tonga

Head coach:

Kristian Woolf Kristian Woolf (born 6 July 1975) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the assistant coach of the Dolphins in the NRL and the head coach of Tonga at international level. He previously was the head coach of St Hele ...

Pool C

Ireland

Head coach:

Mark Aston Mark Aston (born 27 September 1967) is the head coach of Sheffield Eagles in the Betfred Championship. He is an English rugby league coach, and former rugby league who spent the majority of his playing career with Sheffield Eagles. He also had ...

Mikey Russell is the travelling reserve. Toby King was initially named in the squad but withdrew due to injury. He was replaced by Michael Morgan.

Papua New Guinea

Head coach:

Michael Marum Michael Marum (born 8 October 1973) is a Papua New Guinean rugby league coach and former player who was the first head coach of the Port Moresby-based PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup and the Papua New Guinea national team. During his playing c ...

Wales

Head coach:

John Kear John Kear (born 25 November 1954) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Widnes Vikings in the Betfred Championship and the Wales national rugby league team. He also works as a pundit for BBC Sport and is a f ...

Pool D

Fiji

Head coach:

Mick Potter Michael Potter (born 24 September 1963) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the interim head coach of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League, and a former professional rugby league football ...

Nabua Broncos' Etuate Bola was named as a reserve player. Sokobalavu was called into the squad following injuries to Evans and K. Sims.

Italy

Head coach:

Cameron Ciraldo Cameron Ciraldo (born 30 October 1984) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL, and a former professional rugby league footballer. He is known as the defens ...

Italy named a squad of 33 players before shortening the squad to 24 players. Four shadow players were also named: Jake Campagnolo, Dean Parata, Ricardo Parata, and Kieran Quabba.

United States

Head coach: Brian McDermott The Hawks continue to support the growth of

rugby league in the United States Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

by selecting fourteen players who have played in the amateur

USA Rugby League The USA Rugby League (USARL) is the official governing body for rugby league, a code of rugby football, in the United States. The organization also runs the national amateur competition for club teams in the US. The league consists of six te ...

competition, three of whom have since been signed by professional clubs (Burroughs, Eichner, and Offerdahl). Nine members of the squad (Faraimo, Farley, Freed, both Howard brothers, Marando, Offerdahl, Pettybourne, and Shipway) previously represented the Tomahawks at the 2013 World Cup, and three players have experience in the

, all of whom are eligible to represent the US through their

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

n heritage (Faraimo, Pettybourne, and Vaivai). Samoa, also of American Samoan descent, was a late inclusion to the squad due to an injury to Matt Walsh.

References

{{Rlwc

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