The Papua New Guinea national Australian rules football team (nicknamed the Mosquitos () and for sponsorship purposes, the Telikom PNG Mosquitos) represents Papua New Guinea in the team sport of Australian rules football. It is one of the nation's most successful sporting teams, currently ranked 2nd in the world behind Australia. The PNG Mosquitos are selected from the best born and bred male players from the clubs and teams of Papua New Guinea. Formed in the 1960s to participate in tests against popular teams from Australia, PNG debuted internationally in 1976 against Nauru in front of a crowd of over 10,000 at Sir Hubert Murray Stadium in Port Moresby which it won convincingly. It has a strong rivalry with Indigenous Australian teams, defeating them in the majority of their rare encounters including 1973, 1974 and 2009. It has remained a dominant international side, becoming the most decorated nation in international Australian Football, having won the most Australian Football International Cup titles (3 - 2008, 2014, 2017) and five medals including 3 silver medals (2002, 2005, 2011), featuring in every Grand Final since the inaugural tournament in 2002, as well as winning three gold medals at the Arafura Games. Identity The team's nickname is the Mosquitos or "Mozzies" (aka Binatangs – local PNG name for small insects, similar to a mosquito). The moniker was formally adopted in 1993. The Mosquito's guernsey has the kumul (raggiana 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. Prior to each match, the Mosquitos perform the 'Ole Ole' war dance. History Prior to the independence of Papua New Guinea, various representative sides were assembled. The earliest, in 1956 representing Papua travelled to Australia and defeated regional representative Queensland sides from both Cairns and Innisfail. In the late 60s and early 1970s, Australian clubs began to notice the rapid growth of the game in PNG and toured to compete against selections of local players but it wasn't until 1973 that the national team first began to form, mainly to tour Australia to play against indigenous sides. As part of the celebrations for independence in 1975 the first full international test played between the national sides of Papua New Guinea and Nauru in front of a crowd of over 10,000 at Sir Hubert Murray Stadium in Port Moresby was won by