2010 Rugby League Four Nations


The 2010 Rugby League Four Nations tournament was played in Australia and New Zealand in October and November 2010. The tournament was the second time the Four Nations had been held, following on from the 2009 edition held in England and France.
The series was contested between Australia, England, New Zealand and the winners of the 2009 Pacific Cup, Papua New Guinea.

Teams

Australia

Coach: Tim Sheens
Of the twenty five players, twenty three were Australian born while two were Fijian born.
Club TeamPlayers
Brisbane BroncosDarren Lockyer, Sam Thaiday
Canberra RaidersTom Learoyd-Lahrs, David Shillington
Cronulla-Sutherland SharksPaul Gallen
Gold Coast TitansGreg Bird
Manly Sea EaglesAnthony Watmough
Melbourne StormCooper Cronk, Billy Slater, Cameron Smith
Newcastle KnightsKurt Gidley
New Zealand WarriorsBrent Tate
North Queensland CowboysMatthew Scott, Willie Tonga
South Sydney RabbitohsGreg Inglis
Penrith PanthersPetero Civoniceva, Luke Lewis
St. George Illawarra DragonsDarius Boyd, Brett Morris, Dean Young
Sydney RoostersTodd Carney, Nate Myles
Wests TigersChris Lawrence, Robbie Farah, Lote Tuqiri*

* Replaced originally selected Jarryd Hayne after he withdrew due to injury.

England

Coach: Steve McNamara
All twenty four players were English born.
Club TeamPlayers
Castleford TigersMichael Shenton1
Tony Clubb
Huddersfield GiantsKevin Brown, Leroy Cudjoe, Luke Robinson, Eorl Crabtree, Darrell Griffin, Shaun Lunt
Hull F.C.Tom Briscoe
Leeds RhinosRyan Hall
Melbourne StormGareth Widdop
South Sydney RabbitohsSam Burgess
St HelensJames Graham, James Roby
Warrington WolvesRyan Atkins, Ben Harrison, Ben Westwood, Garreth Carvell2
Wests TigersGareth Ellis
Wigan WarriorsDarrell Goulding, Sam Tomkins, Joel Tomkins, Stuart Fielden, Sean O'Loughlin

1 Ruled out of the rest of the tournament after round one due to injury.
2 Replaced originally selected Adrian Morley who was originally selected to captain the squad, but withdrew due to an injury suffered in the pre-tournament match against the New Zealand Māori.; while James Graham was named the team captain.

New Zealand

Coach: Stephen Kearney
Of the twenty two players, seventeen were New Zealand born while five were Australian born.
Club TeamPlayers
Canberra RaidersBronson Harrison
Leeds RhinosGreg Eastwood
Melbourne StormAdam Blair, Sika Manu
Newcastle KnightsJunior Sa'u
Penrith PanthersFrank Pritchard, Sam McKendry1
St George Illawarra DragonsNathan Fien, Jason Nightingale, Jeremy Smith
South Sydney RabbitohsIssac Luke
Sydney RoostersShaun Kenny-Dowall, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sam Perrett, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
New Zealand WarriorsLewis Brown, Lance Hohaia, Simon Mannering, Ben Matulino, Manu Vatuvei2
Wests TigersBenji Marshall
Wigan WarriorsThomas Leuluai

1 Replaced originally selected Fuifui Moimoi who withdrew due to injury.
2 Ruled out of the rest of the tournament after round one due to injury.
Antonio Winterstein and Lewis Brown were included in the squad but not selected to play in any of the tournament's matches.

Papua New Guinea

Coach: Stanley Gene
Of the twenty four players, fourteen were Papua New Guinea born while one was Australian born.
Club TeamPlayers
Agmark Rabaul GuriasDion Aiye, Larsen Marabe, George Moni, Rodney Pora, Pidi Tongap
Haswell HornetsJoseph Pombo
Cronulla SharksPaul Aiton
Enga MioksDavid Loko
Featherstone RoversJessie Joe Parker
Gold Coast TitansRyan Tongia
Goroka Bintangor LahanisGlen Nami
HalifaxMakali Aizue
Hunslet HawksMichael Mark, Charlie Wabo
Ipswich JetsDesmond Mok
Masta Mak RangersNickson Kolo, Johnson Kuike
Mendi MuruksElizah Riyong
Newtown JetsRichard Kambo
Northern PrideRod Griffin
North Sydney BearsJames Nightingale*
Parkes SpacemenBenjamin John
Sheffield EaglesMenzie Yere
QRLAlex Haija

* Replaced originally selected Sigfred Gande who withdrew due to injury just hours before the tournament started.

Officials

Three referees were initially appointed to control matches in the Four Nations:
Richard Silverwood suffered a leg injury and missed round two. He was replaced for this round by Australian referee Ben Cummins.

Venues

The games were played at venues in Australia and New Zealand. The tournament final was played in Brisbane.

BrisbaneWellingtonSydney
Suncorp StadiumWestpac StadiumParramatta Stadium
Capacity: 52,500Capacity: 34,500Capacity: 21,500
RotoruaMelbourneAuckland
International StadiumAAMI ParkEden Park
Capacity: 26,000Capacity: 30,050Capacity: 50,000

Round one

New Zealand vs England

In the curtain raiser match the Junior Kangaroos defeated the Junior Kiwis 24-16.

Australia vs Papua New Guinea

In the curtain raiser match Samoa defeated Tonga 22–6.

Round two

New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea

In the curtain raiser match the Junior Kiwis defeated the Junior Kangaroos 32-20 to square the series 1-all. The Junior Kangaroos were ahead 20-0 at half time.

Australia vs England

Round three

England vs Papua New Guinea

New Zealand vs Australia

Points table

Final

Pre-tournament matches

Before the series, New Zealand played an additional Test against Samoa. It was the first time the two nations have clashed. England played Cumbria on 3 October as a memorial match for Gary Purdham.
England also faced the New Zealand Māori rugby league team in a curtain raiser to the New Zealand-Samoa test.

Papua New Guinea vs Prime Ministers XIII

Cumbria vs England

Ipswich Centennial XIII v Papua New Guinea

New Zealand Māori v England

New Zealand vs Samoa

Broadcasting details

The Four Nations was broadcast to over 60 countries worldwide.