NRL Nines to return at some stage
almost, and we just have a good relationship.
“He’s just always been so caring. When you see him with his family, his dad, he’s a big emotional teddy bear.
“He’s so great with the community side of things as well. People just warm to him. He walks into a room and just lights it up.”
An emotion filled week will reach its crescendo before kickoff in tonight’s NRL clash against Penrith, with the Warriors renaming their Mt Smart home ground “Manu Vatuvei Stadium” to mark the occasion.
Turner knows the night will be full of mixed feelings, as Vatuvei closes the book on his 14-year playing career at the Warriors. “I expect a few tears from a few people but we’ll get through it.” With luck, the NRL Nines are likely to return to Auckland at some stage.
Yesterday’s confirmation from the NRL that the 2018 edition would be cancelled, due to concerns over player workload, was no surprise.
It had been signalled for a while, which is why — as revealed in Herald on Sunday last week — the Warriors and Auckland Council’s event arm Ateed have been working on plans to bring an NRL double header to Auckland next year.
But the Nines will be back in 2019, most likely in Perth, as the NRL sees the short form event as a vital development tool.
That might be the most important legacy of promoter Duco Events venture into the unknown. League has struggled to assert itself on the global stage but Nines could be the way forward, especially for lesser nations that don’t have the resources and player depth to compete at 13-a-side level. It’s also easy to follow and spectator friendly.
And if the NRL came back to Auckland — maybe for a two-year stint in the mid-2020s — it would probably work again.
And although it is easy to be cynical about the event, the impact of the Nines can’t be underestimated. It put league on the map, at a time of year where it normally takes second fiddle to cricket and rugby.