NRL Nines and All Stars Games killed off for 2018.

[Mr Invisible]

https://www.nrl.com/nrl-nines-tournament-suspended-for-2018/tabid/10874/newsid/109938/default.aspx

The NRL, ATEED (Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development) and Duco Events today confirmed that the NRL Nines Tournament will be suspended next year to ease the workload of players following the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

NRL Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Abdo said the Nines had been one of the game’s success stories over the last four years and had a long term future on the Rugby League calendar.

But he said that with the Rugby League World Cup running until 2 December, it was not viable to ask elite players to back up for the Nines tournament in early 2018.

The same applies for the Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars game in the pre-season, which will also not be held in 2018 but will return in 2019.

Mr Abdo said there was every chance the NRL Nines would be held in Australia when it returns to the Rugby League calendar and the NRL would seek expressions of interest from cities interested in hosting the event.

He said that Auckland had been a fantastic host of the event and confirmed that there is a strong likelihood that the event will return to New Zealand in the future rotation.

The NRL and Duco Events acknowledged the important role that ATEED had played in the establishment and ongoing success of the event, along with major sponsor Downer and other event partners.

 

[Mr Invisible]

FFS.. I actually enjoyed the Nines (even though I know many hated it), as it was 2 days of non stop footy, showcasing up and coming talent.

Fuck the All Stars off as it's become a laughing stock these days.

Hope the Nines returns.

 

[Bulldog_4_Life]

The Nines itself if boring in my opinion, however what I'd love to see is an Nrl draft followed by the Nines so that supporters could look forward to seeing there new players in action, pretty much a carbon copy of summer league for the NBA.

 

[Bad Billy]

The Nines itself if boring in my opinion, however what I'd love to see is an Nrl draft followed by the Nines so that supporters could look forward to seeing there new players in action, pretty much a carbon copy of summer league for the NBA.

I'd like to see a "draft 9's" where players entered in the draft, compete in a 9's tournament as a final chance to impress.

 

[Wolfmother]

https://www.nrl.com/nrl-nines-tournament-suspended-for-2018/tabid/10874/newsid/109938/default.aspx

The NRL, ATEED (Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development) and Duco Events today confirmed that the NRL Nines Tournament will be suspended next year to ease the workload of players following the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.

NRL Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Abdo said the Nines had been one of the game’s success stories over the last four years and had a long term future on the Rugby League calendar.

But he said that with the Rugby League World Cup running until 2 December, it was not viable to ask elite players to back up for the Nines tournament in early 2018.

The same applies for the Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars game in the pre-season, which will also not be held in 2018 but will return in 2019.

Mr Abdo said there was every chance the NRL Nines would be held in Australia when it returns to the Rugby League calendar and the NRL would seek expressions of interest from cities interested in hosting the event.

He said that Auckland had been a fantastic host of the event and confirmed that there is a strong likelihood that the event will return to New Zealand in the future rotation.

The NRL and Duco Events acknowledged the important role that ATEED had played in the establishment and ongoing success of the event, along with major sponsor Downer and other event partners.

Thank God your hideous avatar has been killed off hehe

 

[DoggiesBoy]

Just dump the nines, it's a completely pointless tournament, the only thing that can come from it is injuries.

 

[belmore_utd]

Just dump the nines, it's a completely pointless tournament, the only thing that can come from it is injuries.

Maybe thats Des big plan for the nines. Send a second rate squad over and hope the others sustain a heavy injury toll. Then Steven Bradbury it to the finish line lol

 

[craigo]

Thank Hasler and the Bulldogs for that. Sending a pathetic team over there who can't win anything

 

[Mr Invisible]

The Nines itself if boring in my opinion, however what I'd love to see is an Nrl draft followed by the Nines so that supporters could look forward to seeing there new players in action, pretty much a carbon copy of summer league for the NBA.

I'd like to see something where all teams put forwards a Nines team of NSW Cup (maybe) / NYC / SG Ball / H Matts. Players who have debuted in NRL are not allowed to play.

Format is the same as the Nines.

Winning team, instead of getting prize money, they nominate their player of the series, and that player has their contract paid for by the NRL for 1 year, and is excluded from the cap for 2-3 years.

Thank God your hideous avatar has been killed off hehe

*GASP* @Wolfmother Grimace Castle was hijacked by another user, so I decided to retire her temporarily and bring AirRona back!

 

[Papa Emeritus]

I liked the idea of the Nines but in reality it was boring as shit and I generally ended up watching less than half of the games. Probably did not help that we consistently sent the worst team.

 

[Alan79]

I hate both the nines and the all stars concept. Normal rep fixtures such as origin and mid season international games don't rate much higher in my point of view anymore.

I look at the fact that a couple of years ago J-moz removed a ligament from his knee to guarantee his origin chances didn't go begging. I look at Cordner being rushed back from injury to play origin (even though I hate the Roosters) I look at Thurston ending his season for the Cowboys for a rep match.

I don't support the NRL for the sake of rep matches. I support it for the Bulldogs. Rep fixtures should not take precedence over the regular season. For low grade fixtures such as the nines and All Stars matches to precede the season we risk some of our best players and this can jeopardise the seasons of many clubs. At the end of the day it's all for the benefit of NRL finances. Sure some people love both the nines and all stars games. But why can't these all be played during the finals series or after. I'd be more supportive of all rep fixtures taking place after the season. The players themselves should be rewarded for consistency. I think the majority of fans would be happy for their best players to risk injury at the end of season rather than beforehand.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Good.

 

[Oatley Dog]

I hate both the nines and the all stars concept. Normal rep fixtures such as origin and mid season international games don't rate much higher in my point of view anymore.

I look at the fact that a couple of years ago J-moz removed a ligament from his knee to guarantee his origin chances didn't go begging. I look at Cordner being rushed back from injury to play origin (even though I hate the Roosters) I look at Thurston ending his season for the Cowboys for a rep match.

I don't support the NRL for the sake of rep matches. I support it for the Bulldogs. Rep fixtures should not take precedence over the regular season. For low grade fixtures such as the nines and All Stars matches to precede the season we risk some of our best players and this can jeopardise the seasons of many clubs. At the end of the day it's all for the benefit of NRL finances. Sure some people love both the nines and all stars games. But why can't these all be played during the finals series or after. I'd be more supportive of all rep fixtures taking place after the season. The players themselves should be rewarded for consistency. I think the majority of fans would be happy for their best players to risk injury at the end of season rather than beforehand.

I take it you have never been to an origin game Alan. They are the most brutal and exciting games of footy you would ever see. I've been going every year for a long time now and am already waiting to get my tickets on Monday to the Melbourne game. I'm a Bulldogs tragic. Even my putter and golf bag have the Dogs all over them, but I'm also a New South Welshman who likes nothing better than giving it to the Toads. I'll be there again next year and can't wait. It's not origin that breaks our players its those suburban dumps they play on that have cows walking around them through the week. All of our players come back more complete footballers for the experience. It's a whole lot different to the All stars rubbish and as much as I want to I can't get excited about the 9's.

 

[Alan79]

I take it you have never been to an origin game Alan. They are the most brutal and exciting games of footy you would ever see. I've been going every year for a long time now and am already waiting to get my tickets on Monday to the Melbourne game. I'm a Bulldogs tragic. Even my putter and golf bag have the Dogs all over them, but I'm also a New South Welshman who likes nothing better than giving it to the Toads. I'll be there again next year and can't wait. It's not origin that breaks our players its those suburban dumps they play on that have cows walking around them through the week. All of our players come back more complete footballers for the experience. It's a whole lot different to the All stars rubbish and as much as I want to I can't get excited about the 9's.

I have been to one origin game. And while I agree that the atmosphere and game itself was great I am at this stage sick of seeing referees decide the outcome frequently. And though I included all rep fixtures in my post I am specifically more annoyed by the NRL adding pre-season games for their own financial benefit.

I would like the NRL to put some rules in place to prevent players from returning from injuries for rep games if they've been injured to an extent that match fitness is an issue.

 

[_G-Dog_]

When a player like Mbye gets picked as starting halfback for the World AllStars the whole concept loses credibility

 

[Oatley Dog]

I have been to one origin game. And while I agree that the atmosphere and game itself was great I am at this stage sick of seeing referees decide the outcome frequently. And though I included all rep fixtures in my post I am specifically more annoyed by the NRL adding pre-season games for their own financial benefit.

I would like the NRL to put some rules in place to prevent players from returning from injuries for rep games if they've been injured to an extent that match fitness is an issue.

What sort of rules are you talking about? I assume you mean serious injuries that impact on the cap. It would be tough to go down that path. Take JT for instance. He's had crook shoulders for 10 years, he just plays through the pain until he can't. So was it origin or the previous 10 years that caused it. Would be a good way to get a chunk of cap released if you had an aging warrior playing origin or some other rep game and you wanted to sign an up and comer to big coin. The other problem of course is at what point to you give the allowance. If you give the Cows an allowance, they sign someone and JT plays in the semis can you imagine the screaming...

 

[doggieaaron]

What the nrl should do is stop the nrl games during origin and play a nines competition during the origin period for players not in origin

 

[Alan79]

What sort of rules are you talking about? I assume you mean serious injuries that impact on the cap. It would be tough to go down that path. Take JT for instance. He's had crook shoulders for 10 years, he just plays through the pain until he can't. So was it origin or the previous 10 years that caused it. Would be a good way to get a chunk of cap released if you had an aging warrior playing origin or some other rep game and you wanted to sign an up and comer to big coin. The other problem of course is at what point to you give the allowance. If you give the Cows an allowance, they sign someone and JT plays in the semis can you imagine the screaming...

I was thinking more along the lines of players having to be match fit and to have played in the two or three weeks leading up to an origin fixture rather than allowing cap exemptions. It's more about selecting on form and fitness than on past origin experience. As things stand now I see a situation where players are caring more about earning a rep bonus than they do about being around for their club after origin. They will still be paid the entirety of their contracts from the club regardless of if they rush back from injury to make an origin appearance and play before an injury has sufficient time to heal and therefore becomes aggravated in their representative comeback game. So its probably very enticing for players to risk it given the financial incentives are all inclined towards taking the risk.

In a nutshell I just think that when we have a huge number of players to choose from for each state that injured players should not be given the incentive to jeopardise their club to earn a little extra coin.

 

[Oatley Dog]

I was thinking more along the lines of players having to be match fit and to have played in the two or three weeks leading up to an origin fixture rather than allowing cap exemptions. It's more about selecting on form and fitness than on past origin experience. As things stand now I see a situation where players are caring more about earning a rep bonus than they do about being around for their club after origin. They will still be paid the entirety of their contracts from the club regardless of if they rush back from injury to make an origin appearance and play before an injury has sufficient time to heal and therefore becomes aggravated in their representative comeback game. So its probably very enticing for players to risk it given the financial incentives are all inclined towards taking the risk.

In a nutshell I just think that when we have a huge number of players to choose from for each state that injured players should not be given the incentive to jeopardise their club to earn a little extra coin.

I get your point but I just can't see it happening. In the old days injured players came back through reserves. Now they wouldn't know if the reserves existed. They just go straight back into FG. If a player is assessed as fit for FG then he is fit for Origin. I don't think it is about the coin. All the origin players are on big money. It's about the game and if they want to play, the medical staff say they are fit enough and they get picked there is no role for the NRL in it.

 

[rainman]

Thank Hasler and the Bulldogs for that. Sending a pathetic team over there who can't win anything

and retaining them for the rest of the season !