Career
Ackland was a Mountain Wellington player. Ackland also played for the Mount Albert Lions and captained the City Newton Dragons in 1961. He was selected for New Zealand in 1954 and went on to play in 18 test matches for the Kiwis.
He was part of the 1957 and 1960 World Cup squads.
He captained the Kiwis twice in 1961. Ackland, along with Neville Denton and Gary Phillips, withdrew from the 1961 tour of Great Britain due to a dispute over allowances.
He then moved to the New South Wales country and was captain-coach of Goulburn between 1965 and 1970 and Inverell between 1971 and 1973. After retirement Ackland became Mountain Wellington"s head coach.
Ackland became the coach of New Zealand in 1977, taking the squad to the 1977 World Cup.
Ackland was inducted as a New Zealand Rugby League "Legend of League" in 1995. In 2009, he was named in the New Zealand Rugby League Team of the Century in the second row. Ackland died following complications from heart surgery on 25 October 2013, aged 78, in his hometown of Auckland.
