# 2005 Australian Football International Cup

The 2005 Australian Football International Cup was the second time that the Australian Football International Cup tournament, an international Australian rules football competition was held.
The event was hosted by both Melbourne and Wangaratta, Australia, in 2005.
10 nations participated following the late withdrawal of both Nauru and Denmark and the introduction of Spain.
All sides were scheduled to play 4 games, after which the top 4 sides played off in semi-finals for a berth in the Grand Final decider. The Grand Final was between Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. Both sides went through the tournament undefeated. It was played as a curtain raiser to an official Australian Football League premiership season match and was replayed on Fox Sports (Australia) and the Fox Footy Channel.
New Zealand were crowned international champions for the first time.

## Tournament results
### Round 1

(Wednesday 3 August 2005)
| Japan | 88–17 | Spain | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 13 10 | Goals Behinds | 2 5 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Ireland | 31–23 | Canada | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 4 7 | Goals Behinds | 3 5 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| United States | 62–34 | South Africa | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 9 8 | Goals Behinds | 4 10 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| New Zealand | 56–22 | Great Britain | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 8 8 | Goals Behinds | 3 4 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Papua New Guinea | 59–42 | Samoa | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 8 11 | Goals Behinds | 6 6 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |

### Round 2

(Friday 5 August 2005)
| New Zealand | 105–3 | Spain | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 15 15 | Goals Behinds | 0 3 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Papua New Guinea | 41–27 | Canada | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 5 11 | Goals Behinds | 4 3 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| USA | 17–13 | Ireland | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 2 5 | Goals Behinds | 1 7 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| South Africa | 30–28 | Japan | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 4 6 | Goals Behinds | 4 4 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Samoa | 78–8 | Great Britain | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 12 6 | Goals Behinds | 1 2 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |

### Round 3

(Sunday 7 August 2005)
| Ireland | 69–10 | South Africa | Stadium: TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 10 9 | Goals Behinds | 1 4 | Stadium: TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| USA | 41–12 | Spain | Stadium: TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 5 11 | Goals Behinds | 2 0 | Stadium: TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Samoa | 46–42 | Canada | Stadium: Optus Oval, Carlton, Victoria |
| 7 4 | Goals Behinds | 6 6 | Stadium: Optus Oval, Carlton, Victoria |
| New Zealand | 79–6 | Japan | Stadium: TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 11 13 | Goals Behinds | 1 0 | Stadium: TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Papua New Guinea | 59–14 | Great Britain | Stadium: Optus Oval, Carlton, Victoria |
| 8 11 | Goals Behinds | 2 2 | Stadium: Optus Oval, Carlton, Victoria |

### Round 4

(Tuesday 9 August 2005)
| Ireland | 53–6 | Japan | Stadium: City Oval, Wangaratta, Victoria |
| 7 11 | Goals Behinds | 1 0 | Stadium: City Oval, Wangaratta, Victoria |
| Great Britain | 25–23 | Canada | Stadium: The Showgrounds, Wangaratta, Wangaratta, Victoria |
| 3 7 | Goals Behinds | 3 5 | Stadium: The Showgrounds, Wangaratta, Wangaratta, Victoria |
| Papua New Guinea | 47–46 | USA | Stadium: City Oval, Wangaratta, Victoria |
| 7 5 | Goals Behinds | 7 4 | Stadium: City Oval, Wangaratta, Victoria |
| South Africa | 84–13 | Spain | Stadium: City Oval, Wangaratta, Victoria |
| 12 12 | Goals Behinds | 2 1 | Stadium: City Oval, Wangaratta, Victoria |
| New Zealand | 98–27 | Samoa | Stadium: The Showgrounds, Wangaratta, Wangaratta, Victoria |
| 16 2 | Goals Behinds | 4 3 | Stadium: The Showgrounds, Wangaratta, Wangaratta, Victoria |

### Ladder after four rounds

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PP |
| 1 | New Zealand | 4 | 4 | 0 | 338 | 58 | 582.8 |
| 2 | Papua New Guinea | 4 | 4 | 0 | 206 | 129 | 159.7 |
| 3 | Ireland | 4 | 3 | 1 | 166 | 56 | 296.4 |
| 4 | United States | 4 | 3 | 1 | 166 | 106 | 156.6 |
| 5 | Samoa | 4 | 2 | 2 | 193 | 207 | 93.2 |
| 6 | South Africa | 4 | 2 | 2 | 158 | 172 | 91.9 |
| 7 | Japan | 4 | 1 | 3 | 128 | 179 | 71.5 |
| 8 | Great Britain | 4 | 1 | 3 | 69 | 216 | 31.9 |
| 9 | Canada | 4 | 0 | 4 | 115 | 143 | 80.4 |
| 10 | Spain | 4 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 318 | 14.2 |

### Semifinals

(Thursday 11 August 2005)
| New Zealand | 64–46 | USA | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 10 4 | Goals Behinds | 7 4 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Papua New Guinea | 34–25 | Ireland | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 5 4 | Goals Behinds | 3 7 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |

### Qualifying finals round

(Thursday 11 August 2005)
| Canada | Canada won by forfeit | Spain | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Great Britain | 63–23 | Japan | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 9 9 | Goals Behinds | 3 5 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Samoa | 50–21 | South Africa | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| 7 8 | Goals Behinds | 3 3 | Stadium: Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne, Victoria |

### Minor placing finals

(Saturday 13 August 2005)
| Seventh place |
| Seventh place | Canada | 29–18 | South Africa | Stadium: Optus Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Seventh place | 4 5 | Goals Behinds | 2 6 | Stadium: Optus Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Fifth place |
| Fifth place | Samoa | 27–15 | Great Britain | Stadium: TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Fifth place | 3 9 | Goals Behinds | 2 3 | Stadium: TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Ninth place |
| Ninth place | Japan | 73–13 | Spain | Stadium: Optus Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Ninth place | 11 7 | Goals Behinds | 2 1 | Stadium: Optus Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Third place |
| Third place | USA | 65–30 | Ireland | Stadium: TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |
| Third place | 10 5 | Goals Behinds | 4 6 | Stadium: TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, Victoria |

### Grand final

(Saturday 13 August 2005)
| New Zealand | 50–32 | Papua New Guinea | Stadium: Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendance: 48,287 |
| 7 8 | Goals Behinds | 5 2 | Stadium: Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendance: 48,287 |
The grand final was replayed on Fox Sports (Australia) and the Fox Footy Channel.
The best and fairest medal was awarded to New Zealand's James Bowden.
Note: the grand final was played as a curtain-raiser to the round 20 AFL match between Collingwood vs Carlton, so this figure is the total crowd for the match, although not all spectators were inside the stadium at the start or conclusion of the curtain-raiser event.

## Final standings

* New Zealand
* Papua New Guinea
* USA
* Ireland
* Samoa
* Great Britain
* Canada
* South Africa
* Japan
* Spain

## 2005 Australian Football International Cup All Stars Team

Like the All-Australian Team in the Australian Football League, a team selected from the best players in the International Cup was selected. Team members were unplaced and not allocated to any specific field position.
| Player | Nation | Club |
| Navu Maha | Papua New Guinea | Centrals |
| David Gavara-Nanu | Papua New Guinea | New Ireland |
| Stanley Tapend | Papua New Guinea | Enga |
| Alister Sioni | Papua New Guinea | West New Britain |
| Richard Bradley | New Zealand | Eastern Blues |
| Craig Ashton | New Zealand | Takapuna Eagles |
| James Bowden | New Zealand | Eastern Blues |
| Andrew Congalton | New Zealand | Takapuna Eagles |
| Todd Danks | New Zealand | North Shore Tigers |
| James Brunmeier | United States | Milwaukee Bombers |
| Donnie Lucero | United States | Orange County Bombers |
| Michito Sakaki | Japan | Waseda University |
| Mtutuzeli Hlomela | South Africa | Eldorado Park |
| Steven Malinga | South Africa | Itoseng |
| Clifford Richardson | Ireland | Edinburgh Old Town Bloods |
| Mike Finn | Ireland | |
| Rob Burgess | Great Britain | Wandsworth Demons |
| Jose Francisco Lorente | Spain | Madrid Bears |
| Fia Tootoo | Samoa | Moorabbin Kangaroos / Fasitoo-Uta Tigers |
| Mateta Kirisome | Samoa | Fasitoo-Uta Tigers |
| Rob McEwan | Canada | Windsor Mariners |
| Paul Loghanne | Canada | Mississauga Demons |

### Tournament Best & Fairest winners

| Player | Nation | Club |
| Navu Maha | Papua New Guinea | Centrals |
| Fia Tootoo | Samoa | Moorabbin Kangaroos / Fasitoo-Uta Tigers |