Tomorrow, rugby league’s most ordered, sensible pre-season since the end of the Tooheys Challenge in 1995 will kick off in Auckland.
WANT TO LIVE STREAM THE AUCKLAND NINES? HERE’S HOW
A Nines tournament, followed by the Charity Shield, an All Star game and a six-team World Club Series looks organised and restrained compared to some of the chaos of recent seasons, when millions of dollars worth of football flesh ran around on paddocks in front of fans who didn’t even pay to get in.
But an improvement isn’t a solution. The rugby league pre-season is a potential goldmine for the game if done properly.
Let’s have a look at some of the inconsistencies.
One, television rights to rugby league games are worth $1.025 billion dollars – but when the same teams run around in February, you can’t even watch a live stream of the match. There is no radio commentary either, no sponsors. Essentially, the same product that generates such a massive income is valued at zero.
Two, most games held in Sydney during the season run at a loss on gate receipts – more than 50 per cent of them. There is a lack of scarcity in the Sydney market, which makes the audience complacent. So what do we do in February? We put more games on in Sydney (although this year, not too many).
Three, Nines is seen as an ideal way to expand the code, allowing amateur and semi-amateur teams to compete with the pros because of the open nature of the play and short game time. Nines is also seen as a passage into the summer sports market for rugby league in Australasia. So what do we do? We invite the same 16 teams to the NRL Nines every year, leaving no incentive for anyone else to take it up.
Here’s some ideas for eradicating these inconsistencies.
Many NRL clubs want to live stream their trials – Melbourne did it last year. But Telstra at one stage claimed to own every pre-season game, even though they weren’t showing them. Even if that stance has now softened, because all the club sites are set up according to a Telstra proforma, there is nowhere to put the feed.
Going to external sites like LiveStream and Ustream are not things Telstra are going to encourage. What should happen is that February should be new media month for the NRL – everything that the rights holders do during the season should be replicated on internet radio and TV for the pre-season – panel shows, open line, hour-long match build-ups – the lot.
It’s a golden opportunity to research what works and what people respond to. English clubs sell subscriptions to their club ‘TV’ in the pre-season because that’s when they have properties – matches – that aren’t covered by broadcast deals. NRL clubs do nothing despite the same advantage.
As for playing games in Sydney, soiling your own market should be banned in the pre-season. February is missionary time – spread the word in expansion areas. But clubs don’t share information about who is trying to get their games. If they did, we could say ‘you want an NRL game, Adelaide? Let’s see how you go with a trial first’. Instead, a club will just do a deal with Adelaide. A whole Nines circuit could be floated if we worked together to offer suitors a bigger carrot in return for jumping through some hoops.
The Nines must be opened up to new teams. Personally, I’d like to see the Australian states play – Ben Barba for Northern Territory, Joel Reddy for South Australia, that sort of thing, because it’s an untapped facet of our game – but I realise the pre-season has ‘club’ stamped all over it. Coaches want uninterrupted access to their players at this time. But a summer Nines circuit could act as qualifiers for Eden Park, with overseas clubs playing for the right to appear and cop 100 grand.
The overall match schedule is about to be rationalised and there will be pressure to punt the pre-season completely. I oppose this. We just need to maximise the benefit to the game of every minute our players are on the field – and at the moment we’re just not doing that.
JonD
Guest
If the NRL were smart they'd look at promoting professional Touch Football (or other non-tackle version of the game) games. I don't know if there would be a TV audience but if done right and marketing properly with all the colours and excitement I don't see why not. It is extremely fast paced. The NRL should look at promoting a televised professional Touch Football league over the summer. It would encourage participation because anyone can start playing Touch. It would also be an avenue for spreading RL around Australia as Touch is played all over.
Muzz
Guest
A 9's circuit definitely is an opportunity to grab a slice of the summer sporting market.We just have to figure out how to achieve this without adding to the player burnout factor. Perhaps the players that have just retired can make up part of the numbers and earn a bit of extra coin.
Justthetip
Guest
It promotes play what you see instincts footy and I think that's great for the game. Cooper cronk Trent Hodgkinson etc are great players and conductors of a researched and thought out game plan. Sublime skills are great to watch but I want Joey to scoot from dummy half instead of passing for a field goal. Or Darren Lockyer grubbering in his own half for billy slater to regather then kick again. A comp encouraging the primal footy brain has to be a good thing. Much better than seeing a try from a bomb! On a side note if there was a way to award a try from a pot luck kick to 3 I would be all for it. I can't see how it would work because some try's from kicks are far a last resort, we might get a try or knock on option.
Jeremy
Guest
Take the game to the USA. Fitzsimons in paper today is saying the NFL Patriots got their tackling style by copying rugby tackles using shoulders but it was a tape of NRL hits.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Whatever you do Bear, don't read the rosy article about loyal NRL fans. I fell into the trap of thinking it was positive but it's a trap!
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
I never said they weren't concerns?
waterboy
Guest
What amazes me is that people whinge about injuries in the Nines and the media continue to hammer the injuries that occurred in last years Nines but no mention of injuries in any other trial match or injuries that occur during pre-season training. Its like Nines is a new concept and we have to attack all new concepts. Stop whinging people!! Nines is just another potentially lucrative format to add to the NRL specifically and RL generally stable.....which one that our closest competitors the AFL doesn't have. Its a perfect vehicle to expand into new territories at low costs and as someone said earlier greatly reduces the gap between the different levels of professional rugby league. With a shortened NRL season I'd make Feb Nines month and play it like the PGA playoffs over 3 weekends. The first weekend the ARLC and the RFL hold separate events and include their lower tiers and any close international teams who may wish to compete. Both should be held in expansion areas say the RFL's in London or Newcastle or Paris or Edinburgh, the ARLC's in Adelaide or Perth. The top say 20 teams from each of those tournaments then meet in say Hong Kong or Singapore or Bangkok so that it is about halfway for the Superleague teams. The third weekend would be the Auckland Nines where the top 16 teams from the Asian tournament compete. Prizemoney increases for each tournament say$100K then 200K and finally 400K for the Auckland winner Its all over in three weekend in Feb leaving space for WCC and All Stars games Tournaments like the Cabramatta Nines would receive a boost as they become qualifying tournaments to get into the initial ARLC tournament Cities would bid for the tournaments and with sponsorship and tv rights the costs would be well covered. Its a new product, a new income stream and would greatly help the expansion of the 13 man game.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I'm extremely worried about the risk of injury at the 9s. That's a rational concern though - if rather go rubbish in the 9s and be injury free than win it with a couple of 12 week injuries to key players. I think it's a meaningless gimmick. If you could choose between your team winning five 9s tournaments or one NRL GF...? But I watched it last year and enjoyed it and I'll watch tomorrow, doesn't mean the other issues aren't genuine concerns.
The Bear
Guest
F@#k me, the season hasn't even started yet and we've got whingeing "the game's broken" columns already...it's gonna be a long year...
G
Guest
Fair comment Muzz, perhaps my teams poor performance didn't help my negative view. Yeah would be interesting to see the Big 3 line up against GI and his mates, the dogs unleash the Morris boys etc, won't happen though and can't blame clubs for not risking big chunks of their salary cap on it
Muzz
Guest
I prefer the 9's,G. Way too much space out wide in the 7's and you can pretty much score at will which gets a little boring. 9 a side is a happy medium imo. It'd be interesting to see 2 of the better club rosters field their strongest team and play hard.
G
Guest
I'm a Rugby League tragic, for example I got up early to watch teams like Scotland and Fiji play games last World Cup, however I didn't get into the Nines last season- it just seemed to be a lesser version of the real game. I enjoyed the 7's when I was a kid, and was expecting the 9's to be the same- open running and passing, very high paced. Anyone else find the 9 on 9 concept odd and think it should instead be 7's?
Col Quinn
Guest
The nines should opened to additional teams and become an international club nines but be played on an elite, selected and developing levels, with the winner of the developing playing the winner of the selected level and the winner from this game playing the winner of the elite comp. The NRL should be willing to fund clubs from Canada, USA, France and minnow nations. Further, the selected and developing levels could be played in Fiji or another developing RL nation. Many options but does the NRL or RLIF have the vision to drive the nines concept?
Kris Swales
Expert
As a junior footy player growing up in Toowoomba in the late '80s/early '90s, the annual Broncos pre-season trial was a massive deal - 10k-odd through the gates for a double-header on game day, preceded by midweek coaching clinics run by the players that any juniors could go along to. Or maybe you had to get selected to attend, the memory is a bit hazy, but one year mine was run by Brett Plowman and he signed my jersey and it was all pretty exciting. Not sure when exactly that annual fixture fell over, but good to see Titans-Warriors heading up the Range in Feb. Trials might seem inconsequential to some city fans, but if you're in the bush and can't easily get to a game during the year they're pretty much the highlight of the season. Which is a roundabout way of saying pre-season trials are vital if you play them at a location where there's more on the line than a result.
Jarrod
Guest
The problem with your idea is that the NYC is going to be scrapped anyway. No one wants that competition and it is considered a poor pathway for players.
Von Neumann
Roar Guru
I like the scientific approach, steve. Im not for allowing this particular incarnation of the 9s be open to states, ect. It works because its the nrl teams. But when the tournament has a bit more momentum, I would not mind seeing a couple of slight tweaks (slight being the operative word): invitations > an amateur team made up of no names and a couple of former players and an international one, or a SL team. The tournament does not need too much in the way of additions, even if it represents a good opportunity; we cant shunt out the core thing that makes it work well. Im not detracting, but suggesting we take a scalpel to it rather than a knife. Who wouldn't like to see that added variety is my agreement. I wish there were almost no trials, maybe one for each team and the rest of your points I think are well worth implementing. I dont completely accept player burnout as an issue; but like you I do think fan burnout is a creeping concern in sydney. __ The next logical step for such additional/replacement sides in the 9's (be they amateur) is a pre-9s qualifying tournament to decide who takes the spot; rather than just having them selected automatically. This could be one way to expand the 9s eventually.
E-Meter
Guest
It would feature more if it was on free to air TV. It's broadcasted exclusively on Foxtel, which means a small proportion of league fans get to see it.
Alex Green
Roar Guru
Would be great to see some non-NRL teams involved in the Nine's, giving it that Amco Cup/FA Cup feel of having underdogs in the mix against the big boys. One option could be to have a "Nine's Trial's" event, consisting of teams from the NSW and QLD Cups, some NZ teams, Pacific teams etc, with the top 4, for example, going through to the main event.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Most people who don't like the nines either don't like it due to risk of injury (something that a couple teams went through last year), or that it's a meaningless gimmick (apparently everything that isn't the NRL premiership is a meaningless gimmick). I for one love the 9s and the vast majority of my friends do as well. It's something different, happens two days out the year, and gives us a chance to see the young/little pocket rockets earlier than expected. Obviously some stars will be withdrawn for various reasons such as recent surgery, being injury prone, burnout etc etc but it's not exactly like teams are sending out squads picked up at the local pub. Brisbane for instance have an 18 man squad of which only 8 have seen NRL level action, yet simultaneously have one of the most exciting squads at the tournament with Milford, the Nikorima brothers, McCoullough, and a host of other youngsters who have torn it up in the junior comp.
Johnno
Guest
Ken -Footy is played in Sept/Oct/Nov all in spring as it is. Some hot days in spring. -Also super rugby starts in Feb which is summer anyway. Start all games from 5.30pm-or 6pm. e.g. no kick-offs before 6pm etc, is fine. And play quite a lot of games e.g. Townsville from 7pm and your fine. UV rays are hottest between 10am-4pm, that is the bad time to be in the sun after that the UV rays go right down. Players train in heat off pre-season as it is anyway.