Auckland Nines can go the whole nine yards

How about them Auckland Nines? Talk about your golden tickets – rugby league holds the keys to the chocolate factory here, and the movers and shakers in the game know it.

First-year capacity crowds of 46,000 in a country obsessed with rugby union, played on a ground where the All Blacks haven’t lost in 20 years.

A television audience of 174,000 tuning in for Saturday’s pool games, peaking at 239,000 for Sunday afternoon’s final.

The likes of Greg Inglis and Jonathon Thurston champing at the bit to be involved in next year’s event, injuries, burnout and nervous coaches be damned.

Freddie Fittler bringing a crowd of raucous fans to their feet with the slowest 50-metre sprint seen since Eric the Eel.

Following the success in Auckland, follow-up ideas ranging from a six-week summer circus featuring regional franchises a la cricket’s IPL to a week-long extravaganza in Dubai culminating in the World Club Challenge have been flaunted.

All are within the realms of possibility, but with great potential comes great responsibility as far as the NRL is concerned.

Aside from the chance to generate bundles of cash, the Nines concept is the best vehicle the game has at its disposal to finally make inroads as an international sport.

As Steve Mascord pointed out last week in the Sydney Morning Herald, the NRL needs to decide whether it’s promoting rugby league as a whole or just itself.

Given the proverbial dump truck of criticism regarding last year’s World Cup, much of it justified, it’s clear a new approach is needed in terms of growing the international game.

Whether it be through expanding the tournament’s numbers or streamlining of the current 16 NRL clubs into franchises such as Sydney Central, Western Sydney, Central Queensland, New Zealand North and South Islands, room must be made for international teams to participate.

Another option would be to invite only those club’s that made the previous season’s finals series to compete alongside the top two or three Super League sides.

National teams could include the likes of the Rest of England and New Zealand sides, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga (or a Pacific Islands combination), South Africa and Jamaica, as well as Aboriginal and New Zealand Maori indigenous sides.

While clubs could understandably be reluctant to release players to compete for a national team or franchise in the middle of pre-season training, the Nines format allows for the likes of second-tier players, Holden NYC graduates and former stars to lesson the burden upon a club’s top squad.

And who wouldn’t be excited at the prospect of a 37-year-old Preston Campbell turning out alongside Matty Bowen for an Indigenous All-Stars side, with Marika Koroibete and Semi Radrada lining up for the opposing Fijian side?

First things first – the Nines needs to be televised on free-to-air television in Australia, as only one in five Australians have pay TV.

While finding a buyer shouldn’t be a problem given the overwhelming success of this year’s edition, Fox Sports’ exclusive rights to the next four tournaments could prevent a media deal that would open up the financing of an extended competition.

Regardless, with rugby league nines featuring as an exhibition sport at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and 10 countries having already confirmed they will be sending sides, nines simply must feature as a medal sport at the 2018 Games to be held on the Gold Coast – a league stronghold if ever there was one.

Anything less would be a failure on rugby league’s part, and a waste of the potential the nines concept has, not to mention one hell of a golden ticket.