The Papua New Guinea national Australian rules football team plays in international Australian rules football tournaments, including the Australian Football International Cup (where their best performance is 2nd place - twice) and the Arafura Games (where their best is the Gold Medal), and has in the past represented PNG in the Teal Cup and against teams from the AFL Cairns and the Gold Coast, Queensland. The Mosquitos represent the best PNG born players from the clubs and teams of AFL PNG and is one of the nation's most successful sporting teams, currently ranked 3rd in the world behind Australia and New Zealand. The national team has competed since 1973 and debuted internationally against Australia Under 17s in 1977. PNG's national junior team also competes Under 14, U16 and U18 levels in the Queensland Country Australian Football Championships and more recently, the Queensland State Australian Football Championships.
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Identity
The team's nickname is the Mosquitos or "Mozzies" (aka Binatangs - local PNG name for small insects, similar to a mosquito). The Mosquito's guernsey has the "Kumul" Bird of Paradise, a national symbol of PNG (and element of the national flag of Papua New Guinea), in the national colours of red, black and yellow.
History
In the early 1970s, Australian clubs began touring PNG to compete against selections of local players but it wasn't until 1973 that the national team first began to form. 1977 was a historic year for Papua New Guinean footy. The year saw the first ever international matches involving Australia at under 17 level between Australia and Papua New Guinea. The Australian Under 17 squad toured Papua New Guinea, and the PNG team reciprocated in Adelaide, with Australia dominating the game and taking the honours. [1] Subsequent decline in the sport in PNG and growth of the sport in Australia did not see the Mosquitos compete until 1995, when Aussie Rules was first played at the Arafura Games in Darwin, Northern Territory. That year PNG won the gold medal of the International division defeating New Zealand. In the same competition, PNG also competed against sides from Nauru, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. In 1996 the Mosquitoes played a curtain raiser to an Australian Football League match in Perth overwhelmingly defeating the Central Desert Eagles. In 1997, PNG successfully defended their Arafura Games title again defeating New Zealand. In 1999 won the gold medal again at the games, once again defeating New Zealand in the final. In 2000, the Mosquitoes were invited to play New Zealand in a curtain raiser to a pre-season AFL match in Wellington, but were unable to raise the funds required. In 2002, Papua New Guinea competed in the International Cup in Melbourne. PNG went through the competition undefeated only to lose to Ireland in the Grand Final. A minor setback to the representation of the Mosquitos was the cancellation of the 2003 Arafura Games due to SARS fears. In the 2005 International Cup, PNG again went through the competition unbeaten only to lose the Grand Final to a much improved New Zealand national team.
Notable Players
Papua New Guinea's best and fairest player (from the 2005 International Cup) is Navu Maha. Navu also won the award for the best player in the 2005 International Cup series.
See also
References
External links
| Australian Football International Cup |
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Participants |
Papua New Guinea | 
