Nine Thoughts From the Nines
1. Nathan Brown will start
Not everyone agreed with my assessment that Brown would be starting prop for the Eels in 2017. And they may well be right; judging by his kick and regather against Manly he may end up partnering Corey Norman in the halves.
2. Jai Field should start too
Every year people get excited about players who emerge from the Nines and the impact they will have on the NRL season proper. Truth be told most will return to the lower divisions save for one or two exceptions. Jai Field should be one of those exceptions. While a first touch try doesn’t make a season, the Dragons were awful in attack last year and having the NYC Player of the Year runner-up in the back line won’t hurt.
3. More games, more of the time
Once again the Auckland Nines has proven a success for player behaviour. With multiple games, including warm ups and cool downs there appears little time for anyone to get into trouble. In previous years I’ve recommended (somewhat facetiously) that players who get in trouble should be forced to play more football, not less (lower grades, midweek touch footy, whatever is going) but this year there’s research to back it up. On Friday it was revealed that of the 20% of players who are not involved in off field studies, 82% of them have been investigated by the integrity unit. There are 10,080 minutes in a week and only 80 get taken up by playing football. Study is one thing but I say more games for trouble makers!
4. Make Nines the future
How is the Nines concept under threat? Question marks remain over the future of the Auckland Nines but in the age of T20, Fast 5 and Rugby 7s, how is the Nines format not seen as the next evolution of the game? Even athletics, the simplest form of sporting competition is getting in on the act with Nitro Athletics. Nines is how you engage new fans. It’s how you develop rugby league in other nations. It should be how the game keeps pace in terms of player salaries in years to come but today’s current players and administrators don’t seem to be thinking long term that way.
5. Lets gone potential
There’s a lot of excitement over on the Shakey Isles about the Warriors side that is coming together, in particular their spine, but the weekend showed that without it, they’ll be a rabble. To be fair, the same could be said of any side but with so much already resting on Shaun Johnson and with Kieran Foran still yet to get the green light, not to mention injuries yet to come, 2017 will be as rough as any other if they can’t get them on the field together consistently.
6. Experts know nothing
Who had the Roosters? Who picked the Panthers to make the final? Not many. Everyone had the Cowboys winning, or the Broncos. The Nines showed that many experts know nothing. From a NRLCEO point of view, I include myself as well. We’re all just making our best guesses.
7. If you smell what Daniel Vidot is cooking
The Nines is an early hit out for all concerned. A chance to blow out the cobwebs for players, referees and even commentators. However I have to pull up Brent Read who was on the sidelines for Triple M. Post game interviews are rarely good but Read’s interview with Titans outside back Daniel Vidot was one of the worst. Read asked Vidot about his progress in professional wrestling. Frustrated with the number of times he’d been asked that question, Vidot took the opportunity to make it clear that a wrestling career has always been and still is something he will pursue post football. He was at pains to emphasise that footy was his only focus for now. So what was Read’s follow up question? Do you have a wrestling name or a costume sorted out? Give me a spell please!
8. Broadcasting rocks
Still with Triple M and while they might want to keep things edgy as they “Rock the NRL” does it have to be at the expense of basic broadcasting? It’s common practice in radio that you introduce people one at a time so that the listener can familiarise themselves with each voice so they know who is saying what later in the conversation. While I’m sure the majority of listeners know what Paul Gallen and Jamie Soward each sound like, anyone who didn’t would’ve been done a disservice when Dan Ginnane jumped straight into things on Sunday afternoon. And another thing, I don’t mind the odd rhyming slang but if you have to explain it as soon as you say it, you probably shouldn’t be using it as you attempt to create a visual image in the mind of the listener. And if there isn’t a limit on the number of times you can use “Up the hey-diddle-diddle” (middle), then there should be. Anthony Maroon, that was a Barry Crocker.
9. (Not so) Forward thinking
There’s a bit rusty and then there’s ridiculous. I was amazed at the number of forward passes, particularly from dummy half that occurred on the weekend. When it comes to the basics of rugby league, the first thing to explain is the objective of scoring a try. The second is that the ball cannot be passed forward. Over the weekend it appeared many players were too focused on the former and ignored the latter. This is basic stuff you learn as kids. Rugby league is a simple game until you add people
Geoff Adams
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