THE KIWI COUP! When the Kangaroos LOST Their World Crown!

THE KIWI COUP! When the Kangaroos LOST Their World Crown! 2008. Because the year starts with a 2, it doesn’t seem long ago does it? But it was 18 Years ago! The iPhone 3G arrived in Australia in July. We are currently on Iphone 18 Pro YouTube was only three years old. It now has 2.6 BILLION Users Netflix was still a DVD-by-mail company in the US. People still tended to watch television at scheduled times rather than streaming – Netflix is now the top streaming service in the world with 325 million users in 190 countries. Newspapers, radio and television were still enormously influential. All three are now in severe, long term decline as digital platforms and social media take over. People used taxis and Ubers were still 5 years off being widely used Australia were the reigning world rugby league champions and had been since the mid 1970’s. On paper they looked almost unbeatable. New Zealand, meanwhile, had never won a World Cup. They had come close. But when it came to the biggest stage, Australia had usually been the team standing in their way. Then came the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. There’d not been a World Cup for 8 years. 10 teams played in 12 Australian venues to determine who would be champion of the 13th Rugby League World Cup And nobody quite knew what was about to happen. Because over the next few weeks, a New Zealand team containing players like Benji Marshall, Sonny Bill Williams, Nathan Cayless and a host of other stars would begin to believe that they were there to win. And in the final in Brisbane, the Kiwis did something that had never been done before. This is the story of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup... The year New Zealand shocked the rugby league world. The Rugby League History Podcast is a weekly or bi-weekly pod about exactly what it says in the title! Reflecting what is going in during each stage of the season, renowned historians Andrew Ferguson (Aus) and Prof. Tony Collins (UK) join host Lee Addison to reflect on all that happened in rugby league history around the time each podcast is released! So, expect historical World Cup content during World Cup times, club content during domestic league times and...well you get the picture! Andrew Ferguson is a much-published author / writer on the subject of rugby league history, is co-owner of the amazing Rugby League Project and co-host of the Fergo and the Freak podcast. Professor Tony Collins is the DOYEN of rugby league history. He’s a professor of history, fourth generation Hull KR supporter, and the author of 'Rugby’s Great Split', 'Rugby League: A People’s History', and last year’s ‘Roy Francis: Rugby’s Forgotten Black Leader’. Host Lee Addison is a former coach at NRL clubs, World Cups and Elite High Schools. He is the owner of Rugby League Coach. Please email Lee with questions or suggestions for the podcast on admin@rugbyleaguecoach.com.au You can also message and follow us @rugbyleaguehistorypod on Facebook, Instagram and X Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/super-league-360--6807749/s