The Junior Kangaroos side represents

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in the sport of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from 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 ...

. They are administered by the

Australian Rugby League Commission The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...

History

Prior to 2010, the Junior Kangaroos was selected on an under-19 age basis. The best Australian players 19 years of age or younger, would represent the country against the likes of the Junior Kiwis,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and

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 ...

, sometimes as curtain raisers to the senior Kangaroos games. Players such as Greg Bird,

Matt Bowen Matthew Jeremy Bowen (born 9 March 1982) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australia international and Queensland State of Origin representative , he played in the National Rugb ...

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 ...

, Luke Lewis, Jamie Lyon, Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston represented the Junior Kangaroos early in their careers and went on to play at the senior level for Australia. The last Junior Kangaroos side selected under the under 19 rules was in 2007. This would be the last Junior Kangaroos team until 2010. In 2010, with the advent of the National Youth Competition, the Junior Kangaroos was switched to an under-20 team and played in a two Test series against the Junior Kiwis. From 2011 to 2018, the Junior Kangaroos have faced the Junior Kiwis at the end of each season in a one-off Test match, usually as a curtain raiser to a senior level Australia-New Zealand Test match. In 2019, the ARL announced that Junior Kangaroos would be moving to an under-23 format and would play

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

WIN Stadium Wollongong Showground, known as WIN Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Wollongong, Australia. The stadium was officially opened in 1911. From 1982 until 1998 it played host to every home match for the Illa ...

2010 series

1st Test

Played as a curtain raiser to the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Four Nations match.

2nd Test

Played as a curtain raiser to the

Four Nations match.

2011 match

Played as a curtain raiser to the

pre- Four Nations tournament match. Both coaches agreed to allow an 18th man be used during the match.

2012 match

Played as a curtain raiser to the

end of year Test match.

2013 match

2014 match

2015 match

Played as a curtain raiser to the

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

Melanesian Cup match and the

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

Polynesian Cup The Pacific Rugby League International is a rugby league test match that has been played between two Pacific Island nations during the National Rugby League's annual representative weekend since 2013. The fixture was held at Penrith Stadium for ...

match.

2016 match

Played as a curtain raiser to the

Melanesian Cup match and the

match.

2017 match

Played as a curtain raiser to 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. ...

2018 match

Played as a curtain raiser to the

end of year Test match.

2019 match

Played as a curtain raiser to the

Oceania Cup match.

Players

Captains

* Ben Jones (2010) * Dale Finucane (2011) * Chad Townsend (2011) * Alex McKinnon (2012) * Mitchell Cornish (2013) * Michael Lichaa (2013) *

Cameron McInnes Cameron McInnes (born 1 February 1994) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL. He previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and St George Illawarra Drag ...

(2014) * Matthew Lodge (2015) *

Tevita Pangai Junior Tevita Pangai Junior (born 4 February 1996) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the NRL. He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos and Penrith Panthers with whom wa ...

(2016) *

Brodie Croft Brodie Croft (born 14 July 1997) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. He previously played for the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. Early ...

(2017) * Jake Clifford (2018) * David Fifita (2019)

Coaches

*David Hamilton (2010) *Andrew Patmore (2011) *Kelly Egan (2012–2014) *

Justin Holbrook Justin Holbrook (born 13 January 1976) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL and former professional rugby league footballer. He previously coached St Helens in the Super ...

(2015–2017) * Neil Henry (2018–present)

References

{{National sports teams of Australia Junior rugby league Rugby league representative teams in Australia

History

2010 series

1st Test

2nd Test

2011 match

2012 match

2013 match

2014 match

2015 match

2016 match

2017 match

2018 match

2019 match

Players

Captains

Coaches

See also

References