page_title: Australian rules football in Nauru
section_title: National team
hierarchical_section_title: Australian rules football in Nauru / National team
caption_attribution_description: English: Nauru Chiefs quarter time huddle at the International Cup
context_page_description: Australian rules football in Nauru dates back to the 1930s and quickly established itself, along with weightlifting as the national sport of the country.
  The overall participation rate of over 30% is the highest for the sport in the world.
context_section_description: The Chiefs are Nauru's national team and compete in various national competitions.
  Nauru first participated in the 1995 Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia. The team, coached by former VFL/AFL player Mark Yeates finished third, winning the Bronze medal.
  In 2000, the Chiefs travelled to Queensland to compete in the inaugural Web Sports Cup to compete against teams from Samoa and the Robina Roos from Australia. The Chiefs won both matches.
  In 2001, the Chiefs again travelled to Queensland winning another two matches, one against the Gold Coast Old Boys.
  In the same year the Chiefs won the gold medal at the 2001 Arafura Games, defeating the Japanese national side.
  At the Australian Football International Cup in 2002, the Chiefs finished in 8th place, ranking Nauru the 9th strongest Aussie Rules nation in the world.
  Nauru withdrew from the 2005 International Cup.
  They successfully raised the money required to attend the 2008 event, partly through sponsorships.  However, due to intense rivalry and violence in the National League, the NAFA placed strict conditions on player eligibility to encourage a sense of unity, meaning that only players under 23 years old with a clean record were able to represent Nauru in the cup.  A number of members of the national team were placed with clubs in country Victoria to spend a few months developing their skills before the tournament.  The team performed exceptionally, being beaten once in the opening pool round by the eventual winners Papua New Guinea to place 5th overall.
caption: The Chiefs quarter time huddle at the 2008 International Cup.
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