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It appears the Antipodeans have done it again
and created a Rugby League concept that may endure and captivate for years to
come.
From the reports I have read and the clips I have
seen on YouTube, it’s clear that the Auckland 9’s weekend was a
fantastic success with the reduced numbers on the field creating more space for
the like of Shaun Johnson, James Tedesco and Sam Tomkins
among others to wreak havoc with wonderful sidesteps, great off loads and long
distance tries.
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| Sam Tomkins |
Add in the great weather, the beautiful Eden Park Stadium, crowds of 40,000 + on both days with a carnival atmosphere, fans from all over Australia and New Zealand and it’s difficult to see how it could get any better.
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| Inaugural winners - North Queensland Cowboys |
The North Queensland Cowboys carried away
their first ever trophy in their 20th anniversary year and it
was made even sweeter by beating the Brisbane Broncos, their Queensland
rivals, in the final.
Now, changing the subject matter very briefly but
does anyone else think it’s slightly unfair to have a rogue 27th fixture in a
season when there is relegation back in the mix?
That 27th fixture, Magic Weekend,
could be held up as an excuse / reason for a club’s relegation – especially if
a team goes down by a point or on points difference. Unlikely I know, but
possible – so, take away any possible controversy and let the teams play each
other home and away – 26 games – traditional. This would mean ditching
the Magic Weekend fixture – but it doesn’t mean ditching the Magic Weekend.
Anyway, back on track – welcome to the Magic
Weekend Super 9’s Tournament!
That’s right! See a good idea and take it and
use it to your advantage – everything the Aussies do well, we nearly always
copy, so why not this? I am convinced it would be a success.
The only unfortunate this is that we would have to
have the RFL involved in organising it. Or would we?
Could the RFL be persuaded to set up a separate organising
committee of forward thinking individuals who could concentrate on this
tournament and make it something special – a la the World Cup!The clubs would have to buy into this concept completely. There’s no using the weekend to rest players because no league points are at stake; a rule could be that there are no more than 2 players per squad who have not appeared in Super League games prior to the weekend, meaning the vast majority of Super League stars would be on show. It was the only real negative of the Auckland 9’s, that the majority of clubs left out their big name internationals.
An organising committee would have the time and
contacts to attract a major sponsor for the event – making it financially
worthwhile for the clubs (the winners of the Auckland 9’s took home AUS$370,000
and the total tournament prize money was AUS$2.25m) and they would also
have the time and ability to promote the tournament to the full and why not put
the TV contract out to tender to SKY, BT Sports, Premier and a highlights
package could be thrown in for BBC and / or ITV as well.
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| Can't wait for next year? |
The tournament would have to be full of
razzamatazz, making it a funfilled weekend that parent’s could take their kids
too and come home saying ‘WOW – I can’t wait for next year.‘
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| Razzamatazz. |
The clubs would have a special 9’s tournament
jersey which would bring in extra revenue in merchandise sales and hopefully
the designers would show a little imagination.
Also, the rules could be altered to make the
concept even more exciting – teams wouldn’t be allowed to kick penalty
goal’s – there would be bonus zones such as an extra point for scoring a try
between the goal posts (as in Auckland) and what about an extra point for
scoring from your own half between the 10 and 50 yard lines and two points
for scoring from behind your own try line and up to the 10 yard line!
So, a try that is worth 4 points as standard
could become a 7 point try if, for example, Greg Eden picked up a
kick behind his own try line, carried the ball out and broke the defensive
line, drew in the opposition full back (Jamie Shaul of Hull FC!) and
sent Ben Cockayne away to score between the posts – 4 points for the
try, 2 points for the move originating before the 10 yard line and an extra
point for scoring between the posts = 7 points + 2 points for the conversion =
a 9 point try. What a killer that would be if you were 8 points up
in the last minute and your opposition did that – it would be scintillating.
The tournament would also add a 3rd major trophy
into the season for all Super League teams to play for.
I think it could work – it
just needs a bit of imagination and the right people to push it forward.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFjCQxDcTs0#
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