In other words, picking the ideal squad for a nines tournament is a very subjective thing. Do you pick good defenders, good attackers, endurance players, a combination of all of them (in which case, what sort of combination)? Do you stack your team with reserve graders because you don't want to risk your first graders getting injured? Or do you have a balance of first and reserve graders - and if so, what is the ideal balance. I don't think anyone has worked it out yet, as it's still a relatively new and infrequently used concept. And then, of course, do you really want to win the thing or not?
The fact that the team of the tournament had a lot of reserve graders in it, doesn't necessarily mean much. Did those players shine because their were first-graders around them? Were they reserve graders because they are suited to a nines format but not the thirteen-a-side game? And why would that team of the tournament have any bearing on why Parramatta's squad was or wasn't suited to the nines format?
Is it more a question of tactics than personnel? Is it more a question of who takes the tournament seriously as opposed to just wanting to have a hit-out and survive injury-free? More questions than answers, I'm afraid. But I only charge $60 per hour.