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As the NRL season draws to a close and we get closer to this year’s exciting World Cup, I’m looking a bit further ahead, to next year’s Inaugural Auckland Nines competition.
Hoping to bring the flair and excitement to the sport that rugby sevens has created, this competition will bring incredible revenue to New Zealand and could be an incredible opportunity for the 16 NRL teams with a prize pool around $2 million.
Playing just nine minute halves, this is the game the exciting backs have been waiting for. While it may be a glorified touch football competition, I personally can’t wait to see the likes of Jarryd Hayne, Josh Dugan, Johnathan Thurston, Billy Slater and Shaun Johnson show what they can do with a bit extra space.
So with this, I have gone through and predicted what I think each of the 16 teams will look like and where I predict them to finish.
These are the teams I would like to see, not necessarily the way I think they will look as I have avoided all front rowers and mainly chosen just from the top roster of each team.
Warriors nines – first
1. Tomkins
2. Locke
3. Vatuvai
4. Hurrell
5. Fisiiahi
6. Mateo
7. Johnson
8. Henry
9. Laumape
10. Nielsen
11. Peyroux
12. Townsend
13. Lino
14. Tuimavave
Roosters nines – second
1. Tuivasa-Sheck
2. Tupou
3. Jennings
4. Kenny-Dowell
5. Minichiello
6. Maloney
7. Pearce
8. Sonny Bill Williams
9. Cordner
10. Friend
11. Reuben
12. Oldfield
13. Mortimer
14. Aubusson
Storm nines – third
1. Slater
2. Fonua
3. Chambers
4. Hunt
5. O’Neill
6. Walker
7. Cronk
8. Hinchcliffe
9. Smith
10. Robinson
11. McLean
12. Hoffman
13. Sau
14. Hampton
Panthers nines – fourth
1. Moylan
2. Simmons
3. Roberts
4. Whare
5. Mansour
6. Soward
7. John
8. Brown
9. Segeyaro
10. Peachey
11. Taylor
12. Kingston
13. Naiqama
14. Humble
Titans nines – fifth
1. Zillman
2. Gordon
3. Blair
4. Idris
5. Mead
6. Sezer
7. Kelly
8. Bird
9. Srama
10. Falloon
11. Irwin
12. Henry
13. Don
14. Takairangi
Rabbitohs nines – sixth
1. Inglis
2. Merritt
3. Walker
4. Reddy
5. Goodwin
6. Sutton
7. Reynolds
8. Luke
9. McQueen
10. Keary
11. Champion
12. Buckett
13. Turner
14. Teo
Cowboys nines – seventh
1. Coote
2. Feldt
3. Linnett
4. Tate
5. Winterstein
6. Thurston
7. Lui
8. Cooper
9. Kostjasyn
10. FaiFai Loa
11. Greenshields
12. Thompson
13. Morgan
14. Ulugia
Dragons nines – eighth
1. Dugan
2. Morris
3. Beale
4. Runciman
5. Nightingale
6. Widdop
7. Williams
8. Vidot
9. Thompson
10. Siejka
11. Rein
12. Merrin
13. Green
14. Frizell
Sharks nines – ninth
1. Gordon
2. Ryan
3. Ayshford
4. Pomeroy
5. Feki
6. Carney
7. Robson
8. Lewis
9. Gallen
10. Morris
11. Gardner
12. Graham
13. Wright
14. De Gois
Sea Eagles nines – 10th
1. Stewart
2. Taufua
3. Lyon
4. Williams
5. Hiku
6. Foran
7. Cherry-Evans
8. Horo
9. Symonds
10. Buhrer
11. Ballin
12. Stewart
13. Watmough
14. Blair
Broncos nines – 11th
1. Hoffman
2. Copley
3. Hodges
4. Reed
5. Kahu
6. Barba
7. Hunt
8. Gillett
9. McCullogh
10. Glenn
11. Baptiste
12. Yow Yeh
13. Oates
14. Kemp
Tigers nines – 12th
1. Tedesco
2. Koroibete
3. Simona
4. Lawrence
5. Nofoaluma
6. Moltzen
7. Brooks
8. Sironen
9. Farah
10. Richards
11. Halatau
12. Iosefa
13. Anasta
14. Fulton
Knights nines – 13th
1. Boyd
2. McManus
3. Leilua
4. Gagai
5. Uate
6. Gidley
7. Mullen
8. Rochow
9. Roberts
10. Hilder
11. Quinn
12. Tahu
13. Mantellato
14. Clydesdale
Eels nines – 14th
1. Norman
2. Sio
3. Morgan
4. Hopoate
5. Radradra
6. Hayne
7. Sandow
8. Paulo
9. Peats
10. Hunt
11. Pritchard
12. Loko
13. Roberts
14. Kelly
Raiders nines – 15th
1. Milford
2. Robinson
3. Croker
4. Wighton
5. Lee
6. Campese
7. McCrone
8. Buttriss
9. Berrigan
10. Sauiluma
11. Hodge
12. McIlwrick
13. Rapana
14. Cornish
Bulldogs nines – 16th
1. Morris
2. Perrett
3. Inu
4. Lafai
5. Brown
6. Reynolds
7. Hodkinson
8. Williams
9. Ennis
10. Low
11. Eastwood
12. Romelo
13. Jackson
14. NSW Cup/NYC player
I should mention it was very difficult to determine placings, particularly for the bottom eight teams, but I think the Warriors will be too strong with the home crowd support and playing an open, free-flowing style of game that suits them.
The Auckland Nines will be played on the 15th and 16th of February and will be televised live on Fox Sports. Find out all the details here.
Click here for the full list of squads from the Auckland Nines.
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