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Shut the f**k up Bennett.
Nines tournament may draw new fans
Chris Garry | 08:41am February 19, 2013
NINES tournament could be rugby league's answer to cricket's T20 boom and bring a legion of new fans to the game, Gold Coast Titans chief executive David May says.
All 16 NRL chiefs will gather in Sydney tomorrow to vote on a set of key issues affecting the NRL.
Chief among them is a proposal from New Zealand promoter Dean Lonergan for a 2014 pre-season nine-a-side tournament to be played at Auckland's Eden Park.
The winning NRL club would receive $500,000, more than the minor premier receives each year.
Under the proposal, each team would receive $70,000 for playing.
Lonergan will present a plan for the tournament at the meeting but Knights coach Wayne Bennett has already slammed it.
Bennett said it put too much burden on players who would have to juggle the tournament with trial games and the All Stars event.
Several NRL coaches support his stance.
However, Broncos chief executive Paul White said he was open to his club competing in a Super Nines, while May said he would likely vote for the proposal.
"I think this tournament could be great for our game," May said.
"The prize money is good, sure, but more importantly, a tournament like this could really sell rugby league. Nines is an exciting game. It could be our Twenty20 and give us our own version of the Big Bash League.
"Exposing the game to a large New Zealand audience would be a huge benefit to league.
"I understand the concern about affecting trials etc and we would have to manage that carefully.
"There's been some suggestion the NRL's Community Carnival could be moved to the mid-year which might help."
A Nines tournament was played in Townsville at the start of Super League's 1997 season.
Rugby league later staged a reasonably successful World Sevens tournament.
It was abandoned in 2004 after clubs blocked their best players from taking the field after Dragons captain Trent Barrett had suffered a serious knee injury the previous season, prompting a furious response from coach Nathan Brown.
Lonergan's Nines concept will not work unless all clubs commit to sending their best players.
The tournament is scheduled for late January, two weeks before the annual All Stars event in which Bennett is a coach.
White said the Broncos were open-minded when it came to the Nines tournament.
"We are not against the idea in principle," he said.
"But we would like to see some detail around how the event would fit into the pre-season before we decide our position.
"That clarification should come at the meeting on Wednesday."
And you can't tell me Gould wouldn't be enjoying the piss out of watching Shaun Johnson, Ben Barba, Benji Marshall, Billy Slater and co carving up the footy field with nine a side.
Very different levels of aerobic fitness, and totally different attacking techniques, in the shorter form of the game. The best Nines players will not be the stars of the longer version of the game, necessarily. For these reasons it would take time to build up genuine interest in a series.
One series might be a commercial success because of the novelty value, but lasting success would only happen as traditions are built in what is, to a significant extent, a different game.
One series might be a commercial success because of the novelty value, but lasting success would only happen as traditions are built in what is, to a significant extent, a different game.
i came up with a potential england 9s team a few week ago
1. sam tomkins
2. ryan hall
3. kallum watkins
4. tom briscoe
5. josh charnley
6. danny maguire
7. gareth hock
8. rob burrow
9. larne patrick (regurded as the quickest forward in ESL)
Too bad we'll never see this team play in this proposed competition, sunshine.
Todays meeting also added support for an Auckland Nines pre-season concept being further explored for 2014 by the ARL Commission.
The Nines would involve sixteen clubs playing across a maximum of 31 eighteen-minute matches (each club playing between three and six) over two days.
A key part of the discussion was that the dates could not affect the promotion of the Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars, which remained the games major pre-season event.
Todays discussion centred on the Nines replacing the first official weekend of trials
Surely there is more prestige and money to be made in playing a 9s comp like this than a trial game.Does a Nines comp really make up for one trial?
NRL: League nines closer to kick off
By Steve Deane
5:30 AM Friday Feb 22, 2013
Australian NRL club executives expected to give go-ahead for proposed annual tournament in Auckland
An annual National Rugby League Nines tournament that will bring millions of dollars into the Auckland economy appears set to get the green light, although it is unlikely the 2014 event will take place over Anniversary weekend as originally planned.
The concept - which promoters Dean Lonergan and David Higgins of Duco Events believe will rival or even eclipse Wellington's iconic rugby sevens tournament - received further backing at a meeting of NRL club executives in Australia on Wednesday.
Support for the event had appeared to be waning when notable league figures such as coaching guru Wayne Bennett, influential Panthers chief executive Phil Gould and Australia captain Cameron Smith expressed reservations over the late January timing and player welfare.
Concerns were raised that the tournament would cut across the glitzy pre-season All Star game, an event that has attracted praise for its positive impact on Australia's indigenous community.
And with a league world cup to take place in Europe in October and November, there were also suggestions top players would not have time to adequately prepare for the nines following their mandatory off-season break.
However those concerns appear to have been adequately addressed, with the 2014 event now pencilled in for the weekend of February 8 and 9, a window clubs currently use for pre-season trials.
The NRL clubs have been asked to provide final feedback on the proposal, and a decision is likely within the next two weeks.
Mr Higgins was hopeful the clubs would commit to a concept that would pump around $4 million a season into the game's coffers through prize money and television revenue, and provide significant marketing opportunities for the sport at a time when it was largely inactive.
"Myself and Dean have invested two years and close to $250,000 getting to this point so obviously we're hoping the proposal goes ahead," Mr Higgins said. "But we are in the hands of the NRL and the clubs. It's their game. If they decide that our proposal has merit then obviously it will be a privilege to work with them."
Auckland Council's events arm Ateed has agreed to help fund the tournament and broadcaster Sky Television is also an enthusiastic backer.
Wellington's popular rugby sevens tournament has been estimated to pump $15.6 million into the region's economy each year.
A similar event in Auckland would be expected to at least match that, while there would likely also be a spinoff in tourist dollars from visiting Australian league fans.
New Zealand's representative in the NRL, the Warriors, is particularly keen on an event that would raise the profile of the sport in this country, and likely provide significant commercial benefits for the club. Chief executive Wayne Scurrah described Wednesday's meeting as "pretty positive".
"The concept is still alive," Mr Scurrah said. "None of the clubs are negative. The biggest challenge is how it fits in the scheduling."
Auckland NRL 9S
*Annual pre-season league tournament styled on Wellington's rugby 7s.
*All 16 NRL clubs would participate and be contracted to bring star players.
*Likely to be held on Anniversary weekend, although could be later in 2014 because of the world cup.
*To be held at Eden Park or Mt Smart Stadium.
*Supported by Auckland Council events arm Ateed and broadcaster Sky Television.