International 9’s tournament: Awesome, but who cares?

Last weekend there was plenty of movement on the international rugby league scene.

The Kiwis avoided a series whitewash in destroying the English side to wrap up a pretty amazing three-game series.

The Lions were announced to be touring the southern hemisphere in 2019, while a pacific nations cup was announced. Tonga, New Zealand and Australia will compete in a tri-series while Fiji, PNG and Samoa will also clash.

Most interesting of all was the announcement of a nine's World Cup.

It had been rumoured ever since the ending of the 'traditional' nines tournament, but to be honest I never saw it coming about.

It will be an international 9s series played in groups, then a finals system, similar to every other World Cup in the world, most probably being held at the brand new Western Sydney Stadium.

On the surface is sounds amazing. The likes of Josh Addo Carr lining up against Tommy Makinson in open space. Sign me up. Shaun Johnson vs Cameron Munster? Brilliant.

Throw in the ridiculously talented Fijian flyers who will likely thrive under the 9s conditions, and you have one super exciting tournament in the making.

Question though ... who cares?

I'm totally at peace with the fact that players get injured in international league. It's the nature of signing international or other rep players.

As a Sharks fan, I lost count of how many times Paul Gallen was injured in Origin, spent weeks rehabbing to play Origin again, only to miss more club games. It happens.

I'd much rather have rep quality players risking injury than watching a side of middle of the range players try their best.

But how would you feel if a superstar player got injured playing in the nine's world cup?

Can tell you now, as much as I looked forward to the nines in the years it was around, I would much rather watch my side lose three group games rather than lose a superstar player in the tournament.

The nines is fun, super fun. I'll be all over the tournament. The beers will be on ice, the schedule cleared, and the phone turned to silent. Again though, who cares about who wins it?

International league means more now than it has in many, MANY years.

The emergence of Tonga has been incredible. This past World Cup was magical. I didn't miss a game. I enjoyed watching Fiji tear up as I did watching Josh Dugan and Valentine Holmes form the most lethal left edge combination of all time.

IT WAS AWESOME!!!

A nine's world cup though? I'm not sure the NRL fans are going to take to it, and I guarantee you the NRL clubs won't be lining up to let their stars play while they should be resting up.

Can you imagine the Storm allowing Addo Carr, Suliasi Vunivalu, and Munster to play with smiles on their faces?

Can the Cowboys afford to risk Ben Barba, Michael Morgan and possibly Holmes (should he, as expected sign for the club)? NO CHANCE!!!

The only way this tournament works is if the clubs let their best players compete.

I say 'let' as I don't know that the clubs will have any power to ban players from competing, but is anyone going to be shocked if players withdraw with the old 'city/country niggles'?

The tournament will be fun regardless of who plays. That's the nature of the 9s tournament. The original idea saw most sides name a side of young, quick players mixed in with a few superstars.

That said, you take the big names out of contention and tickets don't sell and people don't make the effort to tune in.

What is a World Cup worth if nobody watches?

I'll be straight forward here, I'm looking forward to seeing this tournament. I miss the nines. I loved the two-day event. Again though, will I be upset if Australia doesn't win it? Not in the slightest.

I'll be a lot more excited when the squads are named and the Sharks stars can watch with their feet up and not risk injury. That's a horrible attitude but I guarantee you the majority of fans are thinking the exact same.

This could be a genuine highlight of the 2019 season.

It could also be an absolute flop.

I'm willing to give it a shot, I'll probably even buy tickets to support the game, but I'd much, MUCH rather see the return of the original nines, in Perth, with increased prize money.

What are your thoughts on the World Cup 9s tournament?