ON CLOUD NINES

In years gone by, taking an NRL tournament to the spiritual home of the All Blacks would be written off as madness. But the reputation of Auckland is such these days, that all things rugby tend to end up there. When the company behind rugby league’s Nines first hit upon the idea of staging a pre- season tournament for the NRL, they always knew that Auckland was the right venue. That much was never in doubt. There were so many factors pulling them to the city that little time was spent evaluating other options.

For a start, there was the finances to think about. There was significant help in that regard from ATEED, the arm of Auckland’s council set up to attract and promote major events. There was the desire to help grow and promote the game of rugby league in New Zealand and there was the city’s proven track record of hosting major rugby events.

Eden Park had been the scene of the World Cup final. Eden Park had hosted the British Lions. Auckland knows how to welcome offshore visitors and give them high quality rugby events and that was pretty much that.

Auckland is also renowned in Australasia as the most fertile production territory on earth. The wider region has an incredible number of potentially world class athletes and not only do rugby scouts spend inordinate amounts of time tracking kids in the city, but so too do scouts from the NRL and the AFL.

That knowledge and awareness of Auckland’s talent base and investment in rugby development made it an easy sell for Duco, the company behind the Nines, to persuade the NRL to host the tournament in New Zealand.