Cabramatta International Nines: Rugby league's most undervalued event

As far as the most underutilised, underpromoted, undervalued date on the rugby league calendar goes, it is hard to go past the Cabramatta International Nines.

Aside from the trainspotters among us, who can admit to knowing this event is due to fall just over a week away, on Saturday, February 3?

This year will be the 15th running of the ‘Cabra Nines’ – as it is more colloquially known – but it has largely existed in the shadows.

Despite bringing contestants from around the world and historically acting as a nursery for rugby league nations taking their first steps, it’s an event which receives very little of the spotlight.

In past years, when former and fringe NRL stars have taken the field to represent their communities, there have been no TV cameras and only the occasional diehard journalist riding the sidelines.

Even some of the highest officeholders in the sport have admitted to not knowing what the event is, or when it is held.

At least this year the event won’t take place on the same day as the Auckland Nines, a baffling piece of scheduling that has occurred previously.

It’s hard to believe the event could not be leveraged somehow for greater promotion of the code, both within Australia and abroad.

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In recent years, we have seen teams travel from Serbia, Japan and West Papua. We’ve seen 200-game former NRL and Super League forward Michael Korkidas lead Greece.

There’s been ex-New Zealand, Canterbury and Wests Tigers powerhouse Matt Utai lining up against a similarly explosive 110kg athlete from Guyana in the centres.

Last year, controversial ex-Broncos squad member and Country Rugby League forward Aaron Sweeney showed he was still content to let his elbows do the talking for Ireland.

We’ve seen nations like the Philippines and Canada perform well above expectations, and Colombian students play guitar and dance on the sideline after scoring their first try in any form of the sport.

Colombian player on the guitar at the Cabra Nines (Robert Burgin)

Mal Meninga has supervised as players from Papua New Guinea have suited up under tarpaulins, ready to take on countries like Thailand, El Salvador and Portugal, who have flown their national colours proudly.

Ahead of news that India will compete at this year’s Emerging Nations World Championship, in 2017 there was a team at Cabramatta consisting mainly of those with heritage in the sub-continent.

The event is a great advertisement that the sport can be played by people of all backgrounds, shapes and sizes.

Indeed, the nines format allows a lot more diversity in the smorgasbord of athletes, as well as a peephole into the future of how the sport can be more widely promoted.

This year will see the debut of Sudan in any form of rugby league.

The same country that gave us one of the NBA’s tallest players, Manute Bol, will stand alone after years of being part of the Africa United rugby league movement.

There will be the CanAm Grizzlies, a composite team from Canada and the USA, along with an ASEAN Confederation side that will contain players with bloodlines from Cambodia, Hong Kong and other nations across South East Asia.

Regulars who have thrown their hat in the ring again include Malta, Niue and the Cook Islands, along with cultural teams representing Indigenous and Maori people.

Sure, these teams will not be elite-level quality. Anyone wanting to pin an argument on that fact is welcome to it. Thanks, Captain Obvious.

But the day ticks a lot of other boxes as far as colour and entertainment value is concerned.

If you can make a TV event out of trampoline basketball or longest golf-drive competitions, there’s a way to package up the Cabramatta Nines to make it of tangible benefit to rugby league.