Auckland 9s

Rugby league’s inaugural Auckland 9s are on this weekend. You might have heard about them, you might not have. With 256 NRL players taking part, there’ll be plenty of tries, big hits, mates taking on mates and all the rest of it. Here’s nine other reasons why you should be watching.

ONE: If your team is getting flogged at half-time, you can look on in horror knowing there’s only a maximum of nine minutes of pain you need to endure until the full-time siren puts you out of your misery.

TWO: We get to see how much the game has changed tactically since the retirement of Penrith and Roosters legend Brad Fittler, who is making a very brief comeback for the Chooks. Beaver’s back too, but he’ll never retire.

THREE: The Auckland what? Have they killed off the Indigenous vs NRL All-Stars concept?

FOUR: We haven’t seen the Nines concept in top-flight rugby league since the World Nines conducted by Super League in pre-season 1996. The tournament was played in Suva, Fiji and was the only Super League event held that year, with the hammer coming down on Rupert’s rival competition shortly after. This was a pioneering tournament, though, because it featuring the game’s first-ever use of the video ref.

FIVE: Every sporting code needs a Twenty20 version of itself to keep it interesting – or so the administrative manual reads. Netball has one, rugby, cricket … bout time league got back on the less-is-more bandwagon.

SIX: With the teams divided into four colour-themed pools – Yellow, Green, Red, Blue – it will take you back to the days of your primary school swimming carnival.

SEVEN: No handles will be falling off hotel room doors, which means the visiting journos in Auckland will be happy, which means a good tourney vibe will be reported back to Australia.

EIGHT: “It’s better than the 13-man game” - guy across the partition (aka Jeff Centenera).

NINE: It’s rare that the superior rugby code is played at Eden Park.