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The 2014 NRL Auckland Nines might still be over three months away from actually taking place, but already, the hype and anticipation surrounding the inaugural competition is beginning to take full flight.
All 16 National Rugby League teams will compete in the competition spanning just two days, with at least 12 of each club’s top 25 salary capped players as well as one top five player from each of the club’s salary cap guaranteed to take part also—providing fans with two action-packed days of top-class rugby league.
Expected to draw upwards of 100,000 people in Auckland, NRL CEO Dave Smith said that the competition was “a fantastic opportunity to grow our game and for our clubs and players to share in a significant new investment in Rugby League”.
With the groups, draw and fixtures released this morning, let’s take a look at how the inaugural rugby league “nines” competition is shaping up.
Date: February 15-16, 2014
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand
TV Coverage: Live via Fox Sports (Sky Sports in NZ)
COMPETITION FORMAT, POOLS AND FIXTURES
All 16 teams are split up into four equal groups where they will each play one another in the group stage. From there, the top two teams from each group will move on to the quarterfinals, where the winners from those eight games will play in a knockout format through to the Grand Final.
Group A (Yellow): Warriors, Raiders, Sea Eagles, Cowboys
Group B (Green): Roosters, Eels, Broncos, Bulldogs
Group C (Blue): Sharks, Knights, Tigers, Titans
Group D (Red): Storm, Panthers, Rabbitohs, Dragons
Day One Schedule
12.35pm: Sharks v Knights (Group C)
1:00pm: Tigers v Titans (Group C)
1.25pm: Roosters v Eels (Group B)
1.50pm: Broncos v Bulldogs (Group B)
2.25pm: Warriors v Raiders (Group A)
2.50pm: Sea Eagles v Cowboys (Group A)
3.15pm: Storm v Panthers (Group D)
3.40pm: Rabbitohs v Dragons (Group D)
4.20pm: Sharks v Tigers (Group C)
4.45pm: Knights v Titans (Group C)
5.10pm: Roosters v Broncos (Group B)
5.35pm: Eels v Bulldogs (Group B)
6.10pm: Warriors v Sea Eagles (Group A)
6.35pm: Raiders v Cowboys (Group A)
7:00pm: Storm v Rabbitohs (Group D)
7.25pm: Panthers v Dragons (Group D)
Day Two Schedule
12:00pm: Sharks v Titans (Group C)
12.25pm: Knights v Tigers (Group C)
12.50pm: Roosters v Bulldogs (Group B)
1.15pm: Eels v Broncos (Group B)
1.45pm: Warriors v Cowboys (Group A)
2.10pm: Raiders v Sea Eagles (Group A)
2.35pm: Storm v Dragons (Group A)
3:00pm: Panthers v Rabbitohs (Group A)
3.30pm: 1st Quarter Final
3.55pm: 2nd Quarter Final
4.20pm: 3rd Quarter Final
4.45pm: 4th Quarter Final
5.45pm: 1st Semi Final
6.10pm 2nd Semi Final
7.30pm: Grand Final
Top teams to watch
Group A (Yellow): New Zealand Warriors
The Warriors will obviously head into the tournament as one of the teams to beat given their home ground advantage but also for their ball-playing ability. The likes of Feleti and Simon Mannering give them a good mix of size and speed in the forwards, while their dynamic halfback in Shaun Johnson will be able to utilize his touch-football skills to full extent. Throw in some of the quickest wide men in the game and the Warriors are certainly the team to beat in 2014.
Group B: Brisbane Broncos
Having bought extremely well over the off-season so far, Brisbane will line up in 2014 with a much stronger team than what they did in the NRL in 2013. More importantly for this competition, they’ll bring with them plenty of game-changing players, and with a host of relatively agile big men currently coming through the ranks in their Holden Cup team, the Broncos could find themselves with a team well-suited to this competition more than with 13 men on the field.
Group C: Cronulla Sharks
With Todd Carney steering the ship, look for Cronulla to be a real danger-team in the competition next year. The likes of Wade Graham and Andrew Fifita possess some seriously good ball-handling skills and will relish the chance to show what they can do in open space. With speedy backs running off their hip, the Sharks certainly have the skill required to break any team open up the middle.
Group D: Penrith Panthers
Many will see both the Melbourne Storm and the South Sydney Rabbitohs as the danger teams in the “Group of Death” but don’ rule out the Penrith Panthers from making a big impact. They have plenty of good talent coming through the ranks (shown in their Holden Cup premiership this year) and have a fantastic mix of size and skill in the forwards as well as sheer speed in their outside backs. Guys like Josh Mansour and James Roberts will be incredibly tough to stop in this format, and if they get going, they’ll make Penrith a side to fear indeed.
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