Nauru is a tiny Pacific Island nation that has the distinction of being the only country in the world that has Australian Rules as its national sport (assuming that status is disputed/shared by several sports in Australia). The capital city is Yaren and the population is just 12,000 but the number of Australian football participants is around 300.
The the national team is known as the Nauru Chiefs and they are a team just below the top tier at the International Cup and capable of stepping up with an upset.
Road to the International Cup
After finishing IC08 in fourth place Nauru were probably a little disappointed to finish sixth at IC11. Coming up against PNG in their second Division 1 match was probably an unfortunate draw, which saw them play South Africa in the 5th/6th place playoff. On form most would have expected them to win that match but they were narrowly beaten by the South Africans. The Nauru domestic competition is made up of six teams that are based on AFL club names and colors. They are the Bulldogs, Magpies, Cats, Bombers, Kangaroos and Hawks. The Bulldogs have won the last three Grand Finals (and were Premiers and Champions in 2012 and 2013).
The senior competition is capped at 180 players (30 on each team). This number is set due to the number of volunteers available and all matches are played on one ground. AFL Nauru President Mathew Batsiua told us "We are thinking of expanding next year to 7 teams meaing that we will have a bye each week. The board will make a decision on that after the cup. Numbers (of people wanting to play) are definitely increasing hence the thinking of expanding to 7 teams next year as many players have been missing out."