NRL Nines

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NRL Nines
NRL Auckland Nines logo.png
SportRugby league
Instituted2014
Inaugural season2014
Number of teams16 Male
4 Female
CountryAustralia
Current ChampionsNorth Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys
St. George Illawarra colours.svg St. George Illawarra Dragons (NRLW) (2020)
Most titlesNew Zealand Kiwis colours.svg New Zealand Kiwi Ferns
(2 titles)
North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys
(2 titles)
Broadcast partnerFox Sports (AU)
Sky Sports (NZ)

The NRL Nines is a rugby league nines competition, normally held during the NRL preseason each year. It was initially held in Auckland, New Zealand between 2014 and 2017 before going on hiatus. Returning in 2020, hosting duties moved to Perth, Western Australia, before the 2021 edition was cancelled due to an overly-packed preseason schedule. It is due to return in 2022, subject to COVID-19 restrictions.

Competition Format[]

Auckland (2014-2017)[]

Two national women's teams compete in one section of the tournament and sixteen NRL club men's teams compete in the other. Each of the men's squad must include at least 12 of their top 25 players in their squad, and at least one marquee player. The winner of the men's tournament received AUD$500,000 with a total prize pool of AUD$2,250,000. In the first four editions, the competition has had eight different finalists and four different winners, though the 2016 title was later stripped from the Parramatta Eels for breaching the salary cap.

Since 2015 the Kiwiferns and the Jillaroos also competed in a three-game series, with the Kiwiferns winning the series 2-1. These games are played during the final stages of the men's tournament and allow the male players more of a break between their games while providing a broader tournament. Also in 2015, the pools were given traditional Maori names that were chosen by a public vote and were: Rangitoto, Waiheke, Piha and Hunua Ranges.[1]

Perth (2020)[]

The women's teams were NRL Women's Premiership sides instead of national teams.

Series Cancellations (2021 - 2022)[]

The 2021 series was cancelled entirely, not due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, but due to an overly-crowded preseason schedule.[2][3]

The NRL released the 2022 fixtures list in November 2021, with the season due to start in March 2022. The list included no mention of the World Club Challenge or NRL Nines competitions. [4] As of 13 January 2022, the NRL has not made any official comment on whether this competition will go ahead.

Rules[]

There are a number of rule variations that are implemented to ensure the games are faster and to ensure fewer delays and stoppages.[5]

The major rule changes that differ from regular NRL games are:

  • Two nine-minute halves with a two-minute half time period.
  • Nine players a side with five unlimited interchange players (six interchanges in 2014).
  • Scrums are only formed after a double knock on, with attacking teams electing which side to feed the ball.
  • No video referee, with one on-field referee, two touch judges and two in-goal judges.
  • Five minute golden try period in qualifying rounds with the match deemed a draw if there is no score, while unlimited golden try for the finals.
  • A tap restart takes place after a 40/20.
  • Five points for a try scored in the bonus zone under the posts, with two point drop kick conversion attempts.
  • The scoring team will have a drop-kick kick-off at the half way mark to restart play.
  • Three minute sin bins (Five in 2014).
  • Five tackles in a set.

Finals[]

Note – The Parramatta Eels were stripped of their 2016 Auckland Nines title due to a breach of the NRL salary cap. The 2016 title was withheld by the NRL rather than awarding it to the runners up.[6]

Men's[]

Year Winners Score Runners-up Referee Venue Date
NRL Auckland Nines
2014 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 16 – 7 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos B. Cummins Eden Park

Auckland

16 February 2014
2015 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 18 – 14 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks M. Cecchin Eden Park

Auckland

1 February 2015
2016 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 22 – 4 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors G. Sutton Eden Park

Auckland

7 February 2016
2017 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 10 – 8 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2017 colours.svg Penrith Panthers G. Atkins Eden Park

Auckland

5 February 2017
NRL Nines
2020 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 23 – 14 St. George Illawarra colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons G. Atkins Perth Oval

Perth

15 February 2020
2021 Competition not held due to packed pre-season schedule.[7][8]
2022 TBC: Fixture List published November 2021 makes no mention of this competition.[9]

Team Performance[]

Team Premiers Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 2 0 2014, 2020
South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 1 0 2015
Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 1 0 2017
Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 0 1 2014
Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 0 1 2015
New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 0 1 2016
Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2017 colours.svg Penrith Panthers 0 1 2017
St. George Illawarra colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons 0 1 2020
Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 0 0 2016

Women's[]

Year Winners Score Runners-up Referee Venue Date
NRL Nines
2020 St. George Illawarra colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons 28 – 4 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos A. Gee Perth Oval

Perth

15 February 2020
2021 Competition not held due to packed pre-season schedule.[10][11]
2022 TBC: Fixture List published November 2021 makes no mention of this competition.[12]

Team Performance[]

Team Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
St. George Illawarra colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons 1 0 2020
Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 0 1 2020

Women's Series[]

From 2015 to 2017, the New Zealand Kiwi Ferns and the Australia Jillaroos played a three match series, as the NRL Women's Premiership had not yet been formed. The NRL Women's competition was formed in 2018, and in 2020 the structure of the Women's competition changed to a club competition similar to the Men's.

Women's series results
Year Winner Wins Losses Drawn Venue
2015 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg New Zealand Kiwi Ferns 2 1 0 Eden Park

Auckland

2016 New Zealand Kiwis colours.svg New Zealand Kiwi Ferns 2 1 0 Eden Park

Auckland

2017 Australian colours.svg Australia Jillaroos 3 0 0 Eden Park

Auckland

Sponsorship[]

Since 2001, the National Rugby League premiership has been sponsored by Downer Group and known as the 'NRL Telstra Premiership'. Subsequently, the competition was simply known as the 'Dick Smith NRL Nines', being sponsored by the Australasian electronics retail chain until 2016.[13]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines draw revealed". nrl.com. National Rugby League. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  2. ^ "NRL 2021: Pre-season trials schedule and results". Sporting News. 26 February 2021. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  3. ^ "NRL Perth Nines 2021 draw". The Roar. 2020. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  4. ^ "NRL 2022, draw announced - NRL". Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  5. ^ Chammas, Michael. "NRL to trial experimental rules for Auckland Nines". nrl.com. NRL. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Parramatta Eels stripped of Auckland Nines title but Warriors don't benefit". stuff.co.nz. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  7. ^ "NRL 2021: Pre-season trials schedule and results". Sporting News. 26 February 2021. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  8. ^ "NRL Perth Nines 2021 draw". The Roar. 2020. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  9. ^ "NRL 2022, draw announced - NRL". Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  10. ^ "NRL 2021: Pre-season trials schedule and results". Sporting News. 26 February 2021. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  11. ^ "NRL Perth Nines 2021 draw". The Roar. 2020. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  12. ^ "NRL 2022, draw announced - NRL". Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  13. ^ NZ Herald staff writer (5 January 2016). "Dick Smith problems 'won't impact' Nines". NZ Herald.

External links[]

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