Career
Foreign other people called John Ackland, see the John Ackland navigation page
He is a former player and represented New Zealand in 1983. Ackland played rugby league in New Zealand in the 1980s as a forward. He also was named man of the match in the 1981 Fox Memorial grand final, after scoring a try.
He spent the 1982-1983 off-season in England with the Hunslet Hawks.
In 1986, he moved to New South Wales, playing for the Murwillumbah Brothers club In 1987, he joined Wagga Brothers as the captain-coach before returning to Mount Albert in 1989 for one last season.
Representative career
In 1983, he made his one and only appearance for the New Zealand Kiwis, coming off the bench against Papua New Guinea. Ackland also represented Auckland and played in the 1983 draw against Hull.
Cricket career
Ackland also played first-class cricket for Auckland, as a slow left-arm orthodox bowler.
From six appearances he took 10 wickets at 30.50. 1990s
Ackland has had a long association with the Mountain Albert Lions and in 1995 coached the Auckland Warriors under 16s and the Colts side in the Lion Red Cup. In 1996, he was the club"s Development officer and in 1997 he was the under 19 coach.
In 1999, he was made head coach of Mount Albert and coached the Lions to the 2002 Bartercard Cup grand final victory.
Bulldogs scout
Ackland worked as a New Zealand-based scout for the Australian rugby league club the Canterbury Bulldogs where he is credited as bringing Sonny Bill Williams, Roy Asotasi and Hutch Maiava to the club
Warriors coach
In 2006, he was appointed the Assistant Coach for the New Zealand Warriors. In 2010 he was switched with Tony Iro and Ackland became the Warrior"s Toyota Cup coach.
In 2013 he announced he was stepping down from the position at the end of the year. Representative coaching
He was the Samoan head coach and took them to the 2008 World Cup.