This year’s tournaments co-host is without doubt the most successful nation in the history of the Rugby League World Cup.

Rugby League was established in Australia in 1907 with three games against New Zealand at the now out of use Sydney Showground.

Domestically, Australia has one of the top competitions in the world with the NRL, which takes place between March and September. The league involves three teams from Queensland, one from Newland, one from Melbourne, one from Canberra, and one from Newcastle, with the other nine based within the wider metropolitan area of Sydney. The NRL is a development Australia's top-level rugby league club competition which has been running continuously since 1908. St.George Illawarra Dragons hold an enviable world record of winning 11 successive premierships, 1956-67.

Road to the World Cup

Australia, along with France, England (previously known as Great Britain), New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, were given automatic entry into the 2008 World Cup due to being the original five that entered the tournament between 1954 and 1992.

The top four ranked sides have been grouped together in Pool 1 with Australia facing England, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The top three from the group will all qualify for the knock out stages along with the winner of the qualifying semi-final.

World Cup history

Australia are one of only three teams to have appeared in every tournament since the Rugby League World Cup was first established in 1954, and are by far the most successful side to have competed in it.

Australia have won 9 and finished runner up in two, of the twelve World Cups to date, and their only failure to appear in the final occurred in the inaugural tournament in 1954.

The Kangaroos tasted their first World Cup success in the 1957 tournament held in Sydney and Brisbane. With three wins out of three against New Zealand (25-5), Great Britain (31-6) and France (26-9), Australia finished alone at the top of the table and no final was required.

After success in the tournaments of 1968 and 1970, Australia went on to become an ever more dominant force in Rugby League and have won the last six consecutive World Cups (1975-2000).

In the 2000 tournament, Australia featured in Pool 1 alongside England, Fiji and Russia, and easily claimed top spot in the group by winning all of their games. Australia defeated England 22-2 in the opening game at Twickenham, before four tries from Mat Rogers helped them to a comprehensive 66-8 victory over Fiji in Gateshead. Australia couldn’t have asked for a more perfect end to the group stages with a 19-try demolition of Russia (110-4) at the Boulevard in Hull.

Australia eased into the semi finals with a 66-10 victory over Samoa in their quarter final clash at Vicarage Road, Watford. The Kangaroos continued their dominant form with a 46-22 win over Wales at the McAlpine Stadium (now known as the Galpharm Stadium), Huddersfield, to book their place in the final. The Australian dream ended in style with a 40-12 victory over rivals New Zealand at Old Trafford.

Head Coach

Ricky Stuart is currently the coach of the Australian national side, and is also in charge of NRL side Cronulla Sharks.

Stuart was appointed as the coach of New South Wales, before joining up with the national side in 2006 to replace former coach Wayne Bennett. His reign at the helm of the national side has so far been a success with victory in the Anzac tests in 2006 and 2007. But Stuart’s most notable achievement to date with the national side was winning the Tri Nations series in 2006 to regain Australia’s title as World Champions. Up until the end of 2007 Stuart won six games from seven matches, and will no doubt be aiming to lead Australia to further glory at the 2008 World Cup.

Before joining the coaching staff at the Sharks, Stuart previously enjoyed huge success with the Sydney Roosters between 2002 and 2006, reaching the grand final on three occasions.

Players to watch

18-year-old centre/winger Israel Folau is fast becoming a sensational talent after his first full season for Australian Rugby League outfit Melbourne Storm.

Folau’s debut came sooner than expected due to the injury of fellow winger Steve Turner, but the young Australian made an immediate impact in a hugely successful season for the Storm despite being the youngest player in the history of the club. He scored the match winning try on his debut in an 18-16 victory over West Tigers and went on to become the only Storm player to play in every single match of the 2007 season. Folau ended the regular season in tremendous form finishing with 21 tries in 26 matches. With the addition of five goals, his debut season couldn’t have been any better as he ended with a total of 94 points. Not only that, but he finished joint top try scorer, alongside Matt Bowen (North Queensland Cowboys) for 2007.

In October 2007, Folau achieved the accolade of becoming the youngest ever rugby league player to represent Australia, and went on to score two tries in a 58-0 victory.

Melbourne Storms’ Cameron Smith will be one to watch at this year’s World Cup, after walking away with the Rugby League World Golden Boot last season. The hooker was selected in the World XIII at the end of the 2006/07 season, showing his world class on the rugby league stage.

Smith first appeared for Storm in 2002 and has already amassed almost 600 points for the club. At the age of just 23, Smith captained Australia to a 58-0 victory over New Zealand, skippered Melbourne Storm to the NRL title and also helped Queensland win the State of Origin. There is no doubt just how big an impact he has on the field, and he will be a hard man to stop at the World Cup in Australia.