Auckland Nines ambassadors Johnathan Thurston and Shaun Johnson have called for the NRL pre-season tournament to be moved away from New Zealand, possibly as far as Asia, due to a dip in crowds.
The short-term future of the event – which has been held at Eden Park since its inception in 2014 – is under a cloud after NRL boss Todd Greenberg couldn’t guarantee next year’s event would be held in New Zealand’s biggest city.
Thurston, who became a paid nines ambassador this summer, was the most adamant about taking the concept away from Auckland next year after a poor crowd turnout.
While previous tournaments have usually been sell-outs over the two days, it’s estimated that around 25,000 spectators – half the stadium’s capacity – attended on Sunday to witness the Sydney Roosters lift their first title.
“It’s a great way to kick off the year, playing in the nines,” Thurston said after North Queensland were bundled out in the quarter-finals.
“(But) I’m pretty disappointed at the turn-out of the crowd. If that’s the type of crowd that’s going to show up I reckon we should be taking it elsewhere.
“Maybe even Asia, get over there for a week and try and grow the game. You can see it’s a great spectacle and if it’s going get a turnout like this then let’s take it elsewhere.”
Johnson, who is also a nines ambassador but failed to take the field due to a groin injury, was another in favour of the shortened format leaving his home city.
Although the Warriors star did want the nines concept to one day return to Auckland.
“I think it is time to move it on and create that buzz again to another city,” Johnson told local radio station Newstalk ZB.
“It definitely has to come back to Auckland though. You can’t just take it away and play it in Brisbane or Melbourne for five years.
“You’ve got to be able to rotate it and know if you’re in Auckland or New Zealand that the nines will be back in a few years.”
The Roosters’ victorious coach Trent Robinson echoed both Thurston’s and Johnson’s sentiments, but left out Sydney as a destination.
“I think it should move, but I think it should come back,” he said.
“There’s excitement about it, but it doesn’t mean we should sit in one place for a long period of time. We’ve seen that. We need to fill the stadiums a little bit more,” he said.
“But they need to know we’re coming back as well to our core areas, outside of Sydney, I’d say. I think of Brisbane and Melbourne straightaway, but you could have an overseas one as well.”
Discussions on next year’s tournament between the NRL, promotion company Duco Events, and Auckland Tourism is set to take place as soon as this week.
Planko
Guest
It may need a name change then and also flawed but see it's purpose as a way of giving young blokes a run on the big stage.
James T
Guest
If the warriors had still been in the running day two attendance would have improved. Maybe merge the 9's with the all stars having international 9's including AUS and nz indigenous sides, especially if northern countries could be included. If it is simply moved Perth would be ideal. The game would be developed and the Timezone would make it more appealing to tv.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
PNG rugby league is getting plenty of recognition,thye wil be staging RLWC pools in that nation, where it is the National sport..The Kumuls have just received a decent sponsorship from a company Oil Search. They have a team in the Old State Cup. Interesting you are getting in a plug for AFL Republican,when we are discussing a rl specific event :9s. Relevance nil.
Jacko
Guest
I think it definately needs to have a few different venue options but having it at that time of the year is going to make it very difficult. Sydney was 40 deg over the weekend ant the 7s teams were struggling. Brisbane was 33 and 34 with 80% humidity and it was apparently a stinker. I cant see any Asian countries which may be into league being any cooler so if player welfare is a REAL concern then its a difficult decision. NZ is the best choice weather wise but it will fade quickly there and I dont see other NZ cities as real options for more than a year at a time.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I was thinking about something similar over the weekend Will. I take your point about full time 7s players in rugby but even moving away from that to just the games themselves. Rugby goes from a 15 a side game to 7s - that's a marked difference in the way the game has to be played and the opportunities and space that is created. League goes from 13 to 9. While the game opens up a bit, it's still pretty structured by comparison. Do you think 9 is the right number for the league's shortened version of the game? While this remains a one-off tournament at the start of the season we're never going to see specialist 9s players.
Will Sinclair
Roar Guru
Which is not necessarily to say the entire concept is flawed. But asking blokes who train for and play 13 a side NRL to suddenly play 9 a side means that you really just end up with a less interesting version of the 13 a side game. The difference with the Rugby Sevens was significant, because those are players who train for a regularly play Sevens rugby, meaning the standard of the games is very high.
Will Sinclair
Roar Guru
"You can see it’s a great spectacle and if it’s going get a turnout like this then let’s take it elsewhere.” Except... it's really NOT a great spectacle. It's a watered-down version of the NRL and for the vast majority of the two days, the actual on-field play was pretty dull.
Republican
Guest
.........I reckon PNG should be given far more recognition and support not only in terms of League but also Australian Footy. They certainly produce some impressive grass roots Australian Footy exponents, far more so than NZ do.
Paulus
Guest
Take it to PNG they definitely won't be short of crowds lol
Republican
Guest
.....it is their brief, to talk all fixtures up. They are as integral to the commercial culture of plastic sport as is the multi national network who employs them.
Jimmmy
Guest
The word sellout implies something was bought.
Jimmmy
Guest
Yeah, Bazz I really like the nines but if it was here in South QLD I would not go to it every year. Moving it around brings it to new audiences and keeps it fresh. JT is on the money.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I think it will be a good idea to move it around - maybe for two years at a time.
Steve
Guest
Why do sportspeople always say it's a great spectacle moments after discussing how poor the crowds are? -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.