NRL Nines - Everything you need to know

[Nuke]

But ... but ... where are all these NRL fans you've been telling us about who are crying out for league in the west?
I mean, die hard fans wouldn't let a little bit of heat scare them off? Surely not. It was 47* here recently. That's hot. Now that might have been a reasonable excuse but 40*? Pfft. Sad.

This one right here, unfortunately, already had a trip over east booked back in April and had to watch the Nines take place at the stadium I live 20mins and work 5mins from, from a pub / on his phone!

Not having taken much notice of what's been said in this thread or who's said what, here are the factors that affected this from my own, semi-distant point of view:

* 4pm Friday arvo start. Kids are just outta school, and while HBF Park is fairly central, Perth metro area extends from up to about an hour's drive north, to about the same distance south ... not taking into consideration Friday night peak traffic. Adults generally not finishing work until 5pm or after.

* Minimal promotion. I saw a few bus shelter poster ads, heard a few ads on the radio ... but that was it apart from social media demographic targetting.

* Perth mid-February heat. It can't be avoided, but it would have put a few people off ... especially those with kids.

* A 'who's-who' of "who?". Yes, some genuine stars made the trek across, but geez there were a lot of unknown players there this weekend. That seems to show a lack of interest from clubs, sadly.

* Moronic NRL comments saying that there's no chance for a Perth NRL team ... because the NRL simply doesn't want to bother. Those comments made the news in Perth, and did not go down well with sports-loving locals.

But, the two biggest factors, in my opinion, are the stupid scheduling (of Friday in particular ... Saturday was fine), and the lack of promotion.

And for that, both the fault of the NRL, Perth will probably never host the Nines again due to, from what I saw, disappointing crowds.

 

[MilkShark]

The nines was so bad to see on tv with 14 people in the crowd. It was embarrassing for the sport.

I don’t think you can blame the weather, the start times, the lack interest from clubs. If you’re a rugby league starved state, you go and watch it.

You had every single nrl team there with HEAPS of stars playing.

No excuses for the terrible crowd.

 

[Quicksilver]

There’s just not the demand in Perth.

 

[mongoose]

The Nines should be scrapped anyway, Perth were right not to attend in big numbers.

 

[Timmah]

 

[Legion]

This one right here, unfortunately, already had a trip over east booked back in April and had to watch the Nines take place at the stadium I live 20mins and work 5mins from, from a pub / on his phone!

Not having taken much notice of what's been said in this thread or who's said what, here are the factors that affected this from my own, semi-distant point of view:

* 4pm Friday arvo start. Kids are just outta school, and while HBF Park is fairly central, Perth metro area extends from up to about an hour's drive north, to about the same distance south ... not taking into consideration Friday night peak traffic. Adults generally not finishing work until 5pm or after.

* Minimal promotion. I saw a few bus shelter poster ads, heard a few ads on the radio ... but that was it apart from social media demographic targetting.

* Perth mid-February heat. It can't be avoided, but it would have put a few people off ... especially those with kids.

* A 'who's-who' of "who?". Yes, some genuine stars made the trek across, but geez there were a lot of unknown players there this weekend. That seems to show a lack of interest from clubs, sadly.

* Moronic NRL comments saying that there's no chance for a Perth NRL team ... because the NRL simply doesn't want to bother. Those comments made the news in Perth, and did not go down well with sports-loving locals.

But, the two biggest factors, in my opinion, are the stupid scheduling (of Friday in particular ... Saturday was fine), and the lack of promotion.

And for that, both the fault of the NRL, Perth will probably never host the Nines again due to, from what I saw, disappointing crowds.

Here's the thing; if I lived in W.A. I would have arranged from the moment that the 9's was announced to take the day off work.

Yes the NRL made some really bad decisions. Playing footy in this heat is simply ludicrous.
Scheduling it for a Fri-Sat is making it hard for many fans to attend the Friday games.

But, we're told by those who are pushing for a Perth NRL team that there's heaps of supporters in W.A. Where were they?
This was their opportunity to demonstrate the level of support for Rugby League in W.A.
A hot day is a poor excuse for not turning up. If the handful of supporters prefer to watch League from the comfort of an air-conditioned bar, then they should be content to watch the eastern states playing on their big screen TVs.

The miserable turn out proves what many of us have been saying all along; W.A. is and always will be an Aussie Rules state.

 

[Spot On]

The nines was so bad to see on tv with 14 people in the crowd. It was embarrassing for the sport.

I don’t think you can blame the weather, the start times, the lack interest from clubs. If you’re a rugby league starved state, you go and watch it.

You had every single nrl team there with HEAPS of stars playing.

No excuses for the terrible crowd.

Ticket prices??? Someone was saying $70 a ticket for Friday??

If so, someone at the NRL needs their arse kicked.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

 

[Dave's mate]

Ticket prices??? Someone was saying $70 a ticket for Friday??

If so, someone at the NRL needs their arse kicked.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Well a pint of beer in Perth is usually $12+ so $70 is cheap really

 

[TheVelourFog]

Here's the thing; if I lived in W.A. I would have arranged from the moment that the 9's was announced to take the day off work.

Yes the NRL made some really bad decisions. Playing footy in this heat is simply ludicrous.
Scheduling it for a Fri-Sat is making it hard for many fans to attend the Friday games.

But, we're told by those who are pushing for a Perth NRL team that there's heaps of supporters in W.A. Where were they?
This was their opportunity to demonstrate the level of support for Rugby League in W.A.
A hot day is a poor excuse for not turning up. If the handful of supporters prefer to watch League from the comfort of an air-conditioned bar, then they should be content to watch the eastern states playing on their big screen TVs.

The miserable turn out proves what many of us have been saying all along; W.A. is and always will be an Aussie Rules state.

sounds like setting it up to fail deliberately

 

[mongoose]

The miserable turn out proves what many of us have been saying all along; W.A. is and always will be an Aussie Rules state.

ughhh I guess we should get rid of the Storm and Warriors too, just have a QLD/NSW comp with half the TV money of AFL, half the sponsorship, half the exposure. The game will then just get eaten away by the other codes who want to grow.

 

[MilkShark]

Ticket prices??? Someone was saying $70 a ticket for Friday??

If so, someone at the NRL needs their arse kicked.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Is it $70 per day or for the 2 days?

 

[edabomb]

When did 9s last pull in a decent turn out? The World Cup was even more of a debacle. First couple of years in Auckland were good but it has been diminishing returns since. It's a dead concept IMO - so in typical NRL fashion they'll keep flogging and wasting money on it for another 5 years. I guess it is probably included in the tv deal.

 

[T-Boon]

Even though it was low scoring I found the games I watched (Parra’s) to be entertaining.

It is interesting to see how hopeless NRL players have become at free football. These were clearly players coached to play in a structure when in 9s they just need to play what is in front of them and they have lost that ability.

 

[Wizardman]

Im going to go against the tide here but I enjoyed the event. In particular, I thought the second day had some very good footy....a nice mix of good defence and attack. I much prefer the 13 man game as we all do but I thought it is a nice entree into the season proper to have a trophy up for grabs. Seeing some youngsters like Ramsey and that young cowboys winger is good for the game. I enjoyed seeing youngsters like Jock Madden from my club show his stuff as well.

 

[Wizardman]

Even though it was low scoring I found the games I watched (Parra’s) to be entertaining.

It is interesting to see how hopeless NRL players have become at free football. These were clearly players coached to play in a structure when in 9s they just need to play what is in front of them and they have lost that ability.

100% spot on. There were lots of instances where players totally went the wrong way.

 

[jim_57]

Here's the thing; if I lived in W.A. I would have arranged from the moment that the 9's was announced to take the day off work.

Yes the NRL made some really bad decisions. Playing footy in this heat is simply ludicrous.
Scheduling it for a Fri-Sat is making it hard for many fans to attend the Friday games.

But, we're told by those who are pushing for a Perth NRL team that there's heaps of supporters in W.A. Where were they?
This was their opportunity to demonstrate the level of support for Rugby League in W.A.
A hot day is a poor excuse for not turning up. If the handful of supporters prefer to watch League from the comfort of an air-conditioned bar, then they should be content to watch the eastern states playing on their big screen TVs.

The miserable turn out proves what many of us have been saying all along; W.A. is and always will be an Aussie Rules state.

This whole post is pretty ridiculous.

Not everyone is a diehard for sport and would clear their schedule months in advance to watch 9's.

Sydney probably wouldn't have got much more..

 

[Sharkman05]

not hard with a 10k capacity lol

25k over the two days and we’ve got two more nrl games to come which will likely draw another 35k. Not bad for an afl city with no club to get the locals interested

12.5k soon to be increased, we will be seeing a lot more footy than Perth

 

[Legion]

ughhh I guess we should get rid of the Storm and Warriors too, just have a QLD/NSW comp with half the TV money of AFL, half the sponsorship, half the exposure. The game will then just get eaten away by the other codes who want to grow.

"Get rid of the Storm and Warriors"? Yes please. What an excellent suggestion : )

 

[Legion]

This whole post is pretty ridiculous.

Not everyone is a diehard for sport and would clear their schedule months in advance to watch 9's.

Sydney probably wouldn't have got much more..

"Ridiculous" to expect these Western Australians, who are whining for a team, to actually prove that there are more than a handful of RL supporters by attending RL games?

It's probably not the first time that you've been told but just in case you need reminding; you're not the sharpest tool in the shed Jimmy.

 

[Perth Red]

Here's the thing; if I lived in W.A. I would have arranged from the moment that the 9's was announced to take the day off work.

Yes the NRL made some really bad decisions. Playing footy in this heat is simply ludicrous.
Scheduling it for a Fri-Sat is making it hard for many fans to attend the Friday games.

But, we're told by those who are pushing for a Perth NRL team that there's heaps of supporters in W.A. Where were they?
This was their opportunity to demonstrate the level of support for Rugby League in W.A.
A hot day is a poor excuse for not turning up. If the handful of supporters prefer to watch League from the comfort of an air-conditioned bar, then they should be content to watch the eastern states playing on their big screen TVs.

The miserable turn out proves what many of us have been saying all along; W.A. is and always will be an Aussie Rules state.

you all seem to be missing the biggest issue which is after 8 years of being told turn up and show your support if you want an nrl team, we are all over that con trick. We’ve sold out hbf , we’ve sold out Optus, we’ve had 39k turn out for a double header, then we have the new chairman in his first public interview tell us we’re a waste of time. Wtf do you think RL fans in WA’s response was going to be? We could have sold out both days and we know it wouldn’t have made a blind bit of difference. in a nutshell we are over the nrl’s BS and all this oh there’s no interest because they only sold 75% of tickets is just crap. Give us a club to get behind then judge the support level for a WA nrl fanbase. Otherwise laeave perth to the national sports.
Like many I’m over being taken for a ride. $75 for a pre season comp featuring mostly reserve graders, get fricked.