General NRL Nines 2017

[Weno]

Really enjoyed the nines.
Some aussie numbskull called me Elvis. (wonder if he had fat Elvis in mind)
He had no idea who Prince was.
Sat in the same area as the Jillaroos.
They were having a good time.
Spoke to a few of them , trained hard defensively and it showed.

Tournament team was on the money.
Sitaleki Akuola was a beast for Penrith , thought he was a shoe in.
Hope he time at the Panthers is cut short and Kearney brings him home.

Dragons / Knights were surprisingly really good.

Cowboy wings will be on notice knowing Gideon Gela Moseby and Kalyn Ponga are coming.

Thought we had a good mix.
Wiki played like he hasn't been away and at 44 was great.
Jazz and James Bell tried hard to create more than our halves.

Actually I saw more than I thought , Jillaroos were very distracting and had me at attention every time.

 

[Mr Brownstone]

Sam Lisone suggesting our lack of stars was why we were so pathetic at the nines - check out the team of the tournament buddy and you may start to understand a fundamental problem of our squad. Whereas young players in other teams believe they can be matchwinners, our mob think we have no chance without Shaun Johnson, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck etc.

 

[mt.wellington]

Wonder how many "Wiki" jerseys they have left?

Sold out actually...

 

[Tedster]

Watched bits n pieces of the 9's - enjoyed most what i saw apart from my first viewing which was Blake Asyhford dropping the ball Have to say the St George Rookie (Jai Field maybe), man, that boy can run, more toe that a roman sandal - some serious wheels there - just blasted around the opposition, no one near him.

 

[dean]

Watched bits n pieces of the 9's - enjoyed most what i saw apart from my first viewing which was Blake Asyhford dropping the ball Have to say the St George Rookie (Jai Field maybe), man, that boy can run, more toe that a roman sandal - some serious wheels there - just blasted around the opposition, no one near him.

Jai Field looked very good in the Holden Cup. Very quick and elusive. I hope he makes it in first grade. I like to see talented players that don't look like they have spent their life lifting weights and drinking protein shakes.

 

[Dunedin warrior]

Not many positives to take from a warriors point of view, but I was impressed with Papilii, strong for his age and got round the park well. Could well be a star in the years to come. Pauga looked promising too.

Was probably most disappointed with Hingano and Lino, they didn't guide the team round as well as I would have hoped. Hingano might not be as first grade ready as I thought but still has plenty of time.
Dreaming of a parallel world where Ivan stays at the warriors and Nathan Cleary is teaming up with Shaun Johnson in the halves. He is an incredible talent.

 

[Five&Last]

Have to say the St George Rookie (Jai Field maybe), man, that boy can run, more toe that a roman sandal - some serious wheels there - just blasted around the opposition, no one near him.

Seriously talented kid. Was absolutely robbed of NYC player of the year last year. Could be controversial but i reckon he's got more raw talent than any young half going around today (Cleary, Taylor, Moses, Elgey, Hingano). With their struggles scoring points last year and their general lack of creativity, I'd imagine Dragons will chuck him straight into a starting halves position alongside Widdop and watch him carve up. Needs to be hitting that weight room 24/7 though..

 

[bruce]

https://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league...-global-tens-to-auckland-20170205-gu5ty6.html
NRL weigh up swap to take Nines to Brisbane and move Global Tens to Auckland
"...But there is a suggestion that next weekend's Global Tens, which has a four-year contract in Brisbane, is better suited to the rugby-crazy Auckland market and they may consider moving the tournament across the ditch to allow the NRL to stage the Nines at Suncorp Stadium."

What rugby crazy market in Auckland? The average super rugby crowd in NZ is only 16000. The Warriors averaged over 14000 last year with crap performances. Eden Park could only get just over 20000 for an Aussie one dayer a couple of weeks ago.

What is the problem? Eden Park is a dinosaur with lousy transport, seriously overpriced food and drink and a poor view of the ground. Sure when it is full for an All Black game it has atmosphere, but for the rugby tens?...they are dreaming.

 

[eric]

Well

I know you're joking but for the last few years it has felt like our focus has been on the nines and not the premiership.

I'm glad to see that it was clear we had not been wasting time practicing 9s specific plays.

Yeah, I get you. I'm not a big fan of the nines either, I was just really hoping to see them have a good hit-out, try and build some confidence (even if it was basically kids running around). Anything like that can only be a positive for the season ahead.

 

[Lord Gnome of Howick MBE]

https://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league...-global-tens-to-auckland-20170205-gu5ty6.html
NRL weigh up swap to take Nines to Brisbane and move Global Tens to Auckland
"...But there is a suggestion that next weekend's Global Tens, which has a four-year contract in Brisbane, is better suited to the rugby-crazy Auckland market and they may consider moving the tournament across the ditch to allow the NRL to stage the Nines at Suncorp Stadium."

What rugby crazy market in Auckland? The average super rugby crowd in NZ is only 16000. The Warriors averaged over 14000 last year with crap performances. Eden Park could only get just over 20000 for an Aussie one dayer a couple of weeks ago.

What is the problem? Eden Park is a dinosaur with lousy transport, seriously overpriced food and drink and a poor view of the ground. Sure when it is full for an All Black game it has atmosphere, but for the rugby tens?...they are dreaming.

The Blues averaged about 10,000 last season

 

[bruce]

The Blues averaged about 10,000 last season

I thought so, all I could find was the average for the NZ franchises.

 

[Lord Gnome of Howick MBE]

I thought so, all I could find was the average for the NZ franchises.

Go to the Eden Park annual report

 

[Miket12]

Go to the Eden Park annual report

Having looked at that more than a few times, it's also a great cure for insomnia

 

[Wellington Warrior]

Sevens has failed here... why do they think that a version of that game with 3 extra players will be a success here??
Also, why do the NRL have any say where the Global 10's is played, or have they been offered a swap by Brisbane that has a 4 year deal for it?
I'd like to see the 9's to look at adding some international club or country teams into the mix - maybe a PNG side or some clubs from super league. Heck even add in a 'masters' team made up of retired OG's.
Add in the international market and maybe the prize $$ would make it worthwhile playing for!

 

[eudebrito]

Would be hypocritical to bag the warriors when have been harping on about trying to get off to the best start possible to the regular season, but did they have to be the worst team on show?

I suppose pulling a cowboys and stacking your side only to be tipped over in the quarters is also less than ideal.

Pretty clear they weren’t training for it, but shit, the other juniors on show look a million bucks, whether the aussie U20 systems have progressed a lot in recent years or what, our guys look fairly amateurish. Granted they are all still very young.

Lolohea looks a bit more like an outside back athlete this year, he’s not that small. He looked kind of pudgy last year. Maybe going through the change Johnson did from kid looking to athlete looking.

 

[Weno]

Bunty is bigger this year.
Lisone was immense.
James Bell is still one of my favs and hope he gets a FG sniff.
Was one of our busiest and best.
Matt Allwood was good.
Pauga and Papalii are great future prospects.

Just glad it is over , now we can go into trials and see who our team will be.

 

[Makasene]

I thought about that last night too. Gus is anti anything out of Sydney and half his bitching is because the Panthers need to leave Sydney during preseason which will cause his team to be tired some the NRL season.

Once it comes to Australia, wait for every NRL club to take it seriously

Gus Gould is a bona fide fucking idiot.

This is the guy who came up with a plan to take a 4-6 week break in the NRL for origin but still have the clubs play against each other in a side competition. So that non rep players could stay match fit.

Numskull

 

[Makasene]

Well done Auckland you killed the showcase for league in NZ,

I'd suggest holding the event on a long weekend, coupled with Guns and Roses literally 10 minutes down the road at Western Springs played it's part.

 

[brightman]

I'd suggest holding the event on a long weekend, coupled with Guns and Roses literally 10 minutes down the road at Western Springs played it's part.

Don't forget the series pantsing we gave their #1 team in Hamilton.

 

[Mr Brownstone]

Gus Gould is a bona fide fucking idiot.

This is the guy who came up with a plan to take a 4-6 week break in the NRL for origin but still have the clubs play against each other in a side competition. So that non rep players could stay match fit.

Numskull

I would take his recruitment and development strategy at the Panthers over ours every day of the week.