 | |
| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 2014 |
| Inaugural season | 2014 |
| Ceased | 2017 |
| Replaced by | Perth Nines (2020) |
| Number of teams | 16 Male 2 Female |
| Country | Australia |
| Current Champions |   |
| Most titles |  (2 titles) |
| Broadcast partner | Fox Sports (AU) Sky Sports (NZ) |
The NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) [1] was a rugby league nines competition staged by Duco Events with the National Rugby League and played annually prior to the beginning of the NRL season proper from 2014 until 2017. The inaugural five player tournament was staged between 15 – 16 February 2014, with subsequent tournaments being played earlier in the year normally at the end of January. [2] The NRL signed a five-year agreement for Auckland's Eden Park to host the tournament with the 2014 event being the first. [3]
Rugby league nines is a version of rugby league football played with nine players on each side. The game is substantially the same as full rugby league, with some differences in rules and shorter games. Nines is usually played in festivals, as its shorter game play allows for a tournament to be completed in a day or over a single weekend. It has become more popular than the similar rugby league sevens, with many tournaments using nines to distinguish it from rugby union sevens.
Duco Events is an event promotions company led by the founder and owner, New Zealand entrepreneur David Higgins. The company mostly promotes corporate events like celebrity dinners, charity balls and galas, as well as sporting events for rugby, cricket and most notably boxing. They have hosted major events including Brisbane Global Rugby Tens, NRL Auckland Nines, Joseph Parker vs. Andy Ruiz and David Tua vs Shane Cameron.
The National Rugby League (NRL) is a league of professional men's rugby league teams in Australia. Run by the Australian Rugby League Commission, the NRL's main competition is known as the Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra and is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand. It is the most viewed and attended rugby league club competition in the world.
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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. [3] 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. [4]
The New Zealand women's national rugby league team, also known as the Kiwi Ferns or New Zealand Kiwi Ferns, represents New Zealand in Women's rugby league. They are administered by the New Zealand Rugby League.
The Australia women's national rugby league team, also known as the Australian Jillaroos, or Harvey Norman Jillaroos for sponsorship reasons, represents Australia in women's rugby league. They are administered by the Australian Rugby League Commission and Australian Women's Rugby League.
Piha is a coastal settlement on the western coast of the Auckland Region in New Zealand with a population of 600. It is one of the most popular beaches in the area and a major day-trip destination for Aucklanders throughout the year, and especially in summer.
The 2018 edition of the Auckland Nines series was cancelled, with the NRL citing a packed schedule due to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. [5] The series was due to return in 2019, but was again omitted from the calendar. [6]
The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams of 14 Rugby League International Federation member countries who qualified through either standing in the previous tournament or a series of qualification play-off matches. In the final, defending champions Australia, playing in their 14th consecutive final, defeated England at Brisbane's Lang Park.
In October 2018, NRL announced the inaugural edition of Rugby League World Cup 9s in Western Sydney in October 2019, featuring 12 international men's teams and 4 women's teams. [7]
The Rugby League World Cup 9s is an international rugby league tournament played in the rugby league nines format of the sport. The competition will be held every four years.
In October 2019 It was announced that the Nines Format would be returning in 2020. They also announced that the tournament will be held in Perth
