With the first rugby league Nines World Cup only days away, anticipation has finally clicked into gear and will play out with exciting action on the field and celebration in the stands of Bankwest Stadium in Sydney’s west.
It’s unsurprising that early ticket sales have been sluggish. We are at the end of a long NRL season. The event is being staged in Sydney and we know that residents of the Harbour City don’t like going out for much at all.
In fact, you could give sideline seats made of fairy floss and surround the field with a moat of cold, free beer and many patrons would still prefer to sit at home and watch it on the box (or go but complain about the cost of tickets).
All codes in Sydney consistently struggle with this problem. The Sydney Swans are the only exception as they are able to reproduce Melbourne sports culture in Sydney.
Destination NSW have put real money towards making the Nines a reality and hopefully both the NRL and the RLIF are able to repay that investment and turn this into a memorable event for both rugby league and the state of NSW.
The mere fact that the tournament stars names like Kalyn Ponga, Maika Sivo and Shaun Johnson for the men’s and female stars such as Jess Sergis, Honey Hireme and Amy Hardcastle is reason alone to get excited and we all know that the international game could use an event like this to kick start its season.
(AAP Image/Brendon Thorne)
International Rugby League has once again had to navigate through a range of unique and exasperating issues in the lead-up to this tournament, most notably the tensions between the high-profile playing groups and the controlling bodies of nations like Lebanon and Tonga.
Because of those issues, the Lebanon squad for this weekend will not contain a raft of NRL talent and the widely reported on Tonga situation has only come to a temporary solution after intervention from the highest office in the land.
The reality is that while highly professional players lift the profile and can boost funding of minnow nations, sometimes the very amateur and mostly volunteer administrations are ill-equipped to handle this and the RLIF needs to work out quickly how to balance these two conflicting realities, especially as we are on the verge of the international game’s most exciting season yet.
The Nines version of rugby league has had some limited success globally in its infancy with notable competitions in London, Auckland and North Carolina, yet most of these events are independently run and seem disconnected from the wider game up until now. With both the endorsement of the NRL and the RLIF and serious investment behind it, this event has the right ingredients to be a success.
With the way people play and consume sport all around the globe and with almost every major sport seeking to produce shorter, more dynamic, viewer-friendly content, rugby league can’t afford to be left behind.
If we have learnt anything from rugby union and their highly successful sevens competition, it’s that global cities are happy to pay real money for dynamic and engaging events. If this Nines concept works well it could be a great event to produce revenue and take rugby league to new audiences.
Bring on the weekend.
jamesb
Roar Guru
Anyway, lets wait and see what the crowds are like in the next couple of days. We are all starting to put the cart before the horse.
garmos
Roar Rookie
Just got the last minute offer for free tickets via the Premiers sports challenge!
Birdy
Roar Rookie
The NRL continually takes the short term money grab over the long term growth of the game. There is no acceptable explanation to not give the gf at least once to Brisbane over the next 2 years. The scg for RL what a joke, the scg for a RL gf ,what a disgrace. The insulting joke that is NRL administration, I’ve got a good idea ,let’s organise a world class world RL event , play it 2 weeks after the gf, play it in Sydney ,guaranteed low crowds and best ever, we only let 30% of the country have access to the tv coverage . This blow up will be a piece of cake for Peter beatie to apologise for.
Big Daddy
Guest
After today's announcement that next years GF will be held at SCG and all grand finals will be held in Sydney for next 25 years I'm firmly convinced that the NRL thinks rugby league stops and starts in NSW so it doesn't come as a surprise the nines are being held in Sydney.
Rellum
Roar Guru
This is on now? Why? It is ok to have an off-season.
rebel
Roar Guru
It's a world cup, maybe take it to another country
Nat
Roar Guru
Sry James, that's a cop out. If it was at the SFS or Olympic park I would give a little consideration. But Bankwest? I would have thought/hoped the devoted league fans out there, and there are many and passionate, would be keen. Give Brisbane a GF and 9s and watch them show up. Fact is Sydneysiders get so much opportunity all through the year they've become so complacent. The Swans get crowds because there's one team and game every other week. The talk of relocation puts the fear in every Sydney team's fans but their support from the lounge does nothing for the club or the game.
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
I imagine lack of facilities would prevent that happening. Having been to Canberra Stadium a couple of times I can say it would really struggle to handle these big events
eels47
Roar Rookie
Talk to those in the Sydney CBD, anything west of Leichardt is regional :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
eels47
Roar Rookie
You will probably find that the next one will be in Brisbane. This was about the NSW Government showcasing Bankwest as much as anything else.
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
Sydney underpopulates over 100 nrl events annually. This will be another one.
Birdy
Roar Rookie
No FTA coverage. No comment.
Jimmy
Roar Guru
NSW Government put up the money to have it at BankWest, that’s why it’s in Sydney. Not the wisest choice but at least it’s making money, not many International League events do.
Stormy
Roar Rookie
Great comment, Jamesb, I hadn't given that a thought.
jamesb
Roar Guru
But its no surprise because two weeks prior to the Nines was the grand final. You dont schedule two events in the same city in a short time frame.
jamesb
Roar Guru
Brisbane had the magic round. You have to spread the events around the place.
jamesb
Roar Guru
It's in Sydney because of Bankwest. However, events like the Nines should be taken to regional areas like Newcastle, Townsville, Canberra and Gold Coast.
Stormy
Roar Rookie
I hope it is a success. It's a great concept & a fast, entertaining game to watch. Shame it's being televised by Fox, a wider audience would, I think, be valuable looking to the future. I question it being played in Sydney, too - they had the money, so, good luck,I hope it goes well.
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
Sydney was not a good choice. Should be Brisbane. League fans are lazy in Sydney.
Jimmy
Roar Guru
I really don’t know, I just know that the ticket sales so far have been slow.