The Kiwis celebrates winning the Rugby League World Cup in 2008. Photo / Photosport
A look back on New Zealand's history at the Rugby League World Cup.
Hosts: France
Champions: Great Britain
Four teams contested the inaugural battle for the Paul Barriere trophy. New Zealand lost all three pool games, while Great Britain beat France 16-12 in the final at the Parc des Princes in Paris, with Australia third.
Hosts: Australia
Champions: Australia
The Kiwis beat Great Britain 29-21 at the Sydney Cricket Ground but lost their other two matches in the round robin format, while the Kangaroos were unbeaten. Bill Sorensen was named New Zealand's player of the tournament.
Hosts: England
Champions: Great Britain
The Kiwis topped France and fell to Australia (21-15) to claim third place again, as Great Britain topped the round robin format.
Hosts: Australia and New Zealand
Champions: Australia
The Kiwis opened their campaign against France at Carlaw Park — their first Cup match at home — but had a player sent off in the 12th minute. They went down in other pool games against Australia (Brisbane) and Great Britain (Sydney).
Hosts: England
Champions: Australia
New Zealand beat France at Hull before a loss to Great Britain at Swinton ended their hopes. The Kiwis also lost to the Kangaroos. Australia were fortunate; they scraped into the final after losing two group games but beat Great Britain 12-7 in the decider.
Hosts: France
Champions: Great Britain
The Kiwis lost all three games, with their best performance coming in a 9-5 defeat to Australia in Paris. In the final the Kangaroos and Great Britain couldn't be separated after 20 minutes of extra time (10-10) with the hosts awarded the trophy on points differential.
Hosts: Various
Champions: Australia
Wales expanded the field to five teams, in an elongated series of home and away games spread across eight months. The Kiwis beat Wales in Auckland and France in Christchurch but two other draws (with England and France) and a one point loss in Swansea consigned them to fourth place on points differential. Australia had lost and drawn with England in pool play, but won comfortably in the final, 25-0.
Hosts: Australia and New Zealand
Champions: Australia
The Kiwis' only win came over France at Carlaw Park, as Australia prevailed 13-12 over Great Britain in the SCG decider.
Hosts: Various
Despite a convoluted format over four years, there were some memorable matches, particularly the 18-0 humbling of the Kangaroos at Carlaw Park in 1985. The Kiwis were unlucky to draw 6-6 at Headingley later that year before they slipped to a shock 24-22 defeat in PNG in 1986.
That result set up the unforgettable battle with Great Britain at Addington Showgrounds, where the Kiwis prevailed 12-10 thanks to two Gary Freeman tries, to progress to the final.
However, the decider is a dark memory for local league followers. In front of 47,000 fans at Eden Park, the Kiwis were outplayed and outwitted by the Kangaroos, who anticipated New Zealand's aggressive approach and capitalised on the inexperience of referee Graham Ainui, while a young Allan Langer was a standout. It was a sad end to the international careers of icons like Mark Graham and Dean Bell and a huge missed opportunity for the sport.
Hosts: Various
The Kiwis won five of eight preliminary games, including a 21-18 victory over Great Britain in Christchurch in 1991, with young lock Tawera Nikau prominent. But New Zealand was edged out of claiming a place in the final on points differential, with Australia trumping Great Britain 10-6 in front of 73,000 fans at Wembley.
Hosts: England
Champions: Australia
The first standalone tournament of the modern era, with 10 teams. The Kiwis survived a scare from Tonga in the pool stages — with a late comeback to seal a 25-24 win — to top group B. That set up the semi-final with Australia, who had been upset by England in the opening game.
It was a thriller and Kiwis players from that era still wonder what might have been. They had a superb lineup — Matthew Ridge, Sean Hoppe, Stacey Jones, Stephen Kearney, Quentin Pongia, Henry Paul and Ruben Wiki among others — but trailed Australia 20-6 before a remarkable final-quarter comeback.
Tries to Richie Barnett and Tony Iro got them within touching distance, before Kevin Iro crossed in the 79th minute after brilliant unstructured play. But Ridge missed the sideline conversion, then saw a 40 metre left-footed field goal attempt sail fractionally wide in the dying seconds of the match. Australia prevailed 30-20 after extra time, before beating England 16-8 in the final.
Hosts: United Kingdom, France
Champions: Australia
A record 16 teams contested this tournament, including an Aotearoa Māori side which featured Kiwis legends Tawera Nikau and David Kidwell. After strolling through the group stages, the Kiwis beat France in the quarter-finals, then smashed England at Bolton to make their second final. The Kiwis had narrowly lost the 1999 Tri Nations final and hopes were boosted when third-quarter tries to Tonie Carroll and Lesley Vainikolo reduced the deficit to 18-12. But the Kangaroos were too good, crossing four times in the final 15 minutes for an emphatic 40-12 result.
Hosts: Australia
Champions: New Zealand
If you want to see grown men cry, ask anyone who attended this final to recall their feelings. It was unquestionably the greatest moment in New Zealand league history, as the Kiwis managed the ultimate boilover. On a balmy night in Brisbane, the Kiwis triumphed 34-20, with The Guardian describing it as the "most significant upset in the history of international league, given the stage and the stakes".
Australia had never lost a Cup match to their transtasman neighbours — dating back to 1954 — and were on an eight-game winning streak over the Kiwis.
The Kiwis build up had been less than ideal, with coach Gary Kemble resigning in January 2008, after player unrest. But the New Zealand Rugby League then persuaded Wayne Bennett to join the fold — after visiting him at his Queensland farm — as an assistant and mentor to new coach Stephen Kearney.
The Kiwis beat Papua New Guinea and England in group play, after losing 30-6 to Australia first up. That set up a semifinal with England, with the Kiwis prevailing 32-22. The Kangaroos looked untouchable though, having scoring 180 points in four matches — including a 52-4 rout of England – and only conceded three tries en route to the final.
They had a formidable lineup, including Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Israel Folau, Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston and Cameron Smith and were unbackable favourites. But the Kiwis had forged strong belief in camp, while Bennett's legendary motivational skills added another layer, particularly after the team were ignored at a pre-final dinner. The final was a classic.
The Kiwis recovered from an early 10-0 deficit — which could have been worse when Lockyer just failed to ground a grubber — to trail 16-12 at halftime. A Lance Hohaia try took the Kiwis into the lead, before Marshall capitalised on a Slater error to score.
An Inglis touchdown reduced the margin, before a controversial, but correct, penalty try was awarded after Hohaia was taken out pursuing a kick. The result was sealed by Adam Blair's late try. Lock Jeremy Smith was a standout, but there were so many strong performers, with halves Marshall and Nathan Fien combining brilliantly, Jerome Ropati, Simon Mannering and Manu Vatuvei superb in the backs and captain Nathan Cayless (left) anchoring a strong pack.
Hosts: England
Champions: Australia
Shaun Johnson produced one of the most unforgettable plays in tournament history in the semi-final. With the Kiwis seemingly dead and buried, Johnson's solo try — and composed conversion — stunned more than 80,000 English fans at Wembley and millions watching the BBC coverage.
"The ball was in the air for a long time and that ended up helping me because the defender [Kevin Sinfield] felt like he could come out and get me," Johnson told the Herald in 2017. "I was able to get past him and the rest is history."
With 25 seconds remaining and the Kiwis trailing 18-14, Johnson produced two outrageous sidesteps to score untouched, after receiving a looping pass from Frank Paul-Nu'uausala at dummy half. His conversion after the siren sealed New Zealand's comeback, though the final was a major disappointment, as the Kangaroos won 34-2 in a procession against a misfiring Kiwis team.
The dramatic about-turn by Sonny Bill Williams, which led to Tohu Harris losing his place, dominated pre-tournament headlines. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was a breakout star with eight tries, while the United States Tomahawks marked their first appearance with wins over Wales and the Cook Islands.
Hosts: Australia and New Zealand
Champions: Australia
The Kiwis suffered a major blow on the eve of the tournament, with several players, including Jason Taumalolo, making last minute decisions to align with Tonga. Rookie coach David Kidwell had already lost captain Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor, after a cocaine scandal earlier that year. The Kiwis accounted for Samoa and Scotland but fell to Tonga in an epic clash in Hamilton. There were questions over some of Kidwell's unconventional methods and the team never really gelled, while also lacking genuine star power. Still, their 4-2 quarter-final exit in Wellington at the hands of Fiji was a shock and one of the lowest moments in New Zealand league history.
Tonga were the story of the tournament, attracting sell-out crowds wherever they played and their semi final with England in Auckland was a barnstormer. England defied a late Tongan comeback to prevail 20-18, before losing an absorbing final 6-0 to the Kangaroos in Brisbane.
On the surface, the Warriors draw for the 2025 season is quite kind