The New Zealand national Australian rules football team (; nicknamed the Falcons (); previously the Hawks (), is the national men's team for the sport of Australian rules football in New Zealand. The International Cup team is selected from strict criteria from the best New Zealand born and developed players, primarily from the clubs of the AFL New Zealand. Test and touring squads are selected using similar criteria to other international football codes, additionally allowing players with a New Zealand born parent to play.

New Zealand first competed internationally in 1888 and participated in the 1908 Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival. Since the 1970s it has regularly toured Australia and more recently, has hosted Australian teams.

New Zealand participated in every Australian Football International Cup, taking out the tournament in 2005 and was runner up in 2008 and 2017. New Zealand also competed annually against the AFL Academy from 2012 to 2019. It has competed in the AFL Pacific Cup since 2024. It has never won against Australia, though came within a goal in 2014.

A national women's team formed in 2015 compete under the name of the New Zealand Kahu.

Identity The NZ side wear a distinctive silver and black uniform which consists of a guernsey (singlet), shorts and socks. The guernsey contains New Zealand's silver fern. Before every match, similar to the all blacks, the NZ team will perform a Haka.

The moniker is the Falcons, having originally adopted the Falcons moniker in 1997. AFL New Zealand sought to change the name to the Hawks in 2017, but reverted to the Falcons in 2021.

History

First New Zealand teams The first Australian Football team from New Zealand was the New Zealand Native football team who competed against the colony of New South Wales in Sydney, on 29 June 1889 with the result being a 4-goal each drawNew South Wales vs New Zealand from NSW Australian Football History Society along with matches against Victorian clubs including an impressive two goal win against the powerhouse Victorian club South Melbourne.

In 1905, two New Zealand representatives (one from the North Island and one from the South) attended the Australasian Football Conference where the Australasian Football Council was formed. The national team traces its origins back to the forming of the first national body, the New Zealand Football League, formed in 1907 at the Naval & Family Hotel in Auckland, including representatives from all provinces, which set about planning for the Australian tour, noting the rapidly growing popularity of the code across the country.Auckland Star, volume XXXVIII, issue 75, 28 March 1907, page 4. At the meeting, the NZFL adopted a national code of laws and elected its first president Dr Tracy Inglis.Auckland Star, volume XXXVIII, issue 77, 1 April 1907, page 3.

1908 Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival New Zealand lobbied the Australasian Council to participate in the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival in 1908. At the time any player registered with the NZFL qualified for selection (similar rules applied to the Australian state sides), as a result there were a number of Australians in the team including some former non-amateurs. At the tournament the touring side defeated both New South Wales and Queensland, it went on to play matches around the country. It was originally known as the "All Blacks" or the "Silver Ferns" like their rugby counterparts, at a time when it was still common for players to switch codes. This was the only time in the history of Australian rules "interstate" football matches that a team from New Zealand participated. It was anticipated that, immediately following the carnival, and before returning to New Zealand, the New Zealand team would play matches in Adelaide, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Sydney, Brisbane, and Newcastle.New Zealand, The Advertiser, (Monday, 24 February 1908), p.7. New Zealand played a match, in Adelaide, on 1 September 1908 (Eight Hours Day), before the Governor, George Le Hunte,Tuesday's Football Matches, The Register, (Wednesday, 2 September 1908), p.4.) on a very wet ground (in several places the water was inches deep). South Australia won the match 5.8 (38) to 3.10 (28). The match was not as one-sided as the final scores indicate: the score at quarter time was South Australia 4.5 (29) to New Zealand 0.1 (1). In the process of the day, the New Zealand team performed two hakas, one before the match commenced, the other before the second half began.Tuesday's Football Matches, The Register, (Wednesday, 2 September 1908), p. 4; Football: South Australia v. New Zealand: Home Team Successful, The Register, (Wednesday, 2 September 1908), p.8. All in all, the New Zealand team won six out of the eleven matches they played on their tour, including the carnival matches against New South Wales and Queensland, and were described in the Melbourne press as "the surprise packet"; and, due to the fact that only two of their matches were played on dry grounds, they also became known as the "wet weather birds".Returned Athletes, "The Surprise Packet", The (Wellington) Evening Post, Vol.76, No.73, (23 September 1908), p.7.

Exclusion from the Australasian Football Council (1910-1914) The Australasian Football Council had decided in 1906 not to support overseas participation and after a long exclusion campaign led by the VFL's representative Con Hickey pushed for New Zealand's membership from the council to be revoked in 1910. New Zealand's expulsion from the council in 1914 spelled the end of its international Australian Football ambitions for more than half a century.

Revival The Australian Rules Football Council of New Zealand formed in the early 1980s and began requesting representative matches against the Australian Capital Territory. However it was not invited to any national carnivals until the 1990s.

New Zealand was reintroduced to international Australian Football at the Arafura Games in 1995. The team also competed in the 1997 and 1999 games, winning the Silver medal in each year of the competition as runners up to Papua New Guinea.

The team competed in the inaugural 2002 Australian Football International Cup finishing in 3rd place.

Warming up for the 2005 International Cup, the Falcons played a touring Maffra (from the strong Victorian Country Football League in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia) at Manurewa in New Zealand but were defeated by 70 points,New Zealand given a football lesson by touring Maffra Eagles by Aaron Richard for worldfootynews.com dulling expectations of the team's appearance in the next international event, but at the same time displaying the massive disparity between the competitive level of the sport in the two countries.

However, with the growing popularity of Aussie Rules in New Zealand, the much improved 2005 New Zealand International Cup side went through the competition undefeated, claiming the title of International Champions by defeating Papua New Guinea in the Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, effectively claiming the title from previous winners Ireland. The team took most by surprise and no other side was able to come close to winning against them. The Falcon's best and fairest player (from the 2005 International Cup) was Matthew Callaghan.

Following the overwhelming success of the team's 2005 International Cup appearance, the Falcons were invited to play at the Australian Country Championships in 2006 to be held on the Gold Coast. The qualification rules of this competition are more lenient, and the Falcons were able to play non-New Zealand born players to make them competitive against Australian sides from country leagues. The Falcons were not successful at the event, losing heavily to Queensland, by 9 points to Victoria B and by 63 points to the Indigenous All-Stars.Reality Check for International Footy by Brett Northey for worldfootynews.com

Warming up for the 2008 cup, New Zealand were once again convincingly defeated by Maffra. The team, however went on to win all of its first 3 rounds by massive margins, leading its pool by a massive percentage to play-off in the finals against Ireland, Papua New Guinea and South Africa. Though the Falcons lost to a determined Papua New Guinea in the Grand Final. Richard Bradley was the tournament's equal leading goalkicker with Canada's Scott Fleming and was one of three New Zealanders selected in the All-International (world) team.

Since 2009, New Zealand's Under 20s (and the Under 18 since 2011) have competed against the Victorian Amateur Football Association Under 18 squad in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. They are yet to defeat the VAFA.Under 18 VAFA Team

Since 2012 the national side has played against the National Australian Under 17 team (NAB AFL Academy). The first game was won convincingly by the AFL Academy by 91 points. In 2014 New Zealand came within a goal in the final minutes to lose by only 4 points, the closest it has ever come to a historic defeat of Australia at underage level.

AFL New Zealand sponsors AFL St Kilda Football Club Foundation North AVJennings Sport New Zealand Sekem New Zealand Racing Board

International competition

International Cup 2002: 3rd 2005: 1st 2008: 2nd 2011: 3rd 2014: 3rd 2017: 2nd

Arafura Games 1995: 2nd 1997: 2nd 1999: 2nd 2001: Did not enter

Pacific Cup 2024: 3rd

Squads

2017 International Cup squad

The following players were included in the squad for the 2017 Australian Football International Cup:

Coach: Rob Malone

Captain: Andrew Howison

Name Club League RegionAaron Harris Morningside Panthers QAFL Brisbane Adam Simpson Springwood Pumas QAFL Brisbane Andrew Howison Oakleigh Districts SFNL Melbourne Andriu Sucu North Shore Tigers AAFL Auckland Andy Christensen South Melbourne Districts VAFA Melbourne Barclay Miller St Kilda Saints AFL Melbourne Ben Hick University Blues AAFL Auckland Brandon Sucu Wilston Grange QAFL BrisbaneBrendan Clark Maroochydore Roos QAFL BrisbaneCarlos Donnell-Brown Waitakere Magpies AAFL AucklandChristian Blackie Otago Hoops Otago AFL Otago David Rattenbury Waitakere Magpies AAFL AucklandJackson Clince North Shore Tigers AAFL AucklandJames Kusel Hutt Valley Eagles WAFL WellingtonJay Johnson Eastern Blues CAFL CanterburyJoe Baker-Thomas St Kilda Saints AFLMelbourneJosh Cunliffe North Shore Tigers AAFL AucklandJosh Mackie Otago Hoops Otago AFL OtagoLiam Beattie University Blues AAFL AucklandMichael Boyce Mt Roskill Saints AAFL AucklandMisilifi Faimalo North City Demons WAFL WellingtonPeter Halstead Eastern Bulldogs WAFL WellingtonSamuel McKenzie Mt Roskill Saints AAFL AucklandShane Leat Waitakere Magpies AAFL AucklandTe Kopa Tipene-Thomas North Shore Tigers AAFL AucklandTy Smith North Shore Tigers AAFLAucklandWilliam Dickinson Mt Roskill Saints AAFL AucklandWilliam Gregson Sandringham Zebras VFL Melbourne

2014 International Cup squad Coach: Justin Davies

Captain: Andrew Howison

Joe Baker-Thomas (Wellington); Dan Benny (Otago); Michael Boyce (Auckland); Andy Christensen (Wellington); Brendan Clark (Queensland); Justin Clark (Canterbury); Jared Court (Canterbury); Nick Fisher (Canterbury); Michael Gregson (Auckland); Will Gregson (Auckland); Aaron Harris (Auckland); Andrew Howison (Canterbury); Levi Inglis (Canterbury); Jay Johnson (Canterbury); Cam Lubransky (Canterbury); Shane Leat (Auckland); Sam McKenzie (Wellington); Ben Miller (Otago); Tim Morton (Auckland); Chris Mundell (Auckland); David Rattenbury (Auckland); James Roughan (Auckland); Adam Simpson (Auckland); Kyle Smith (Canterbury); Ty Smith (Auckland); Te Kopa Tipene-Thomas (Northland); Logan Toomer (Otago); Matthew Van Wijk (Waikato)Past International Cup NZ squads from AFL New Zealand

2011 International Cup squad Coach: Justin Davies

Captain: Andrew Crighton