Locking in Nines tournament could help Suncorp Stadium ‘own’ NRL in first half of 2019
QUEENSLAND can own the first half of the 2019 rugby league season if the state Government helps revive this concept at Suncorp Stadium.
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QUEENSLAND can own the first half of the 2019 rugby league season if the state Government helps revive the NRL Nines concept at Suncorp Stadium next summer.
Talks between the NRL and State Government and government agencies are continuing over whether Suncorp Stadium will bid to host the two-day Nines tournament which the NRL wants to restore to their pre-season schedule.
The State Government confirmed on Sunday that it would support the Magic Round in May, 2019 to start a three-year contract.
The Magic Round will feature all 16 clubs in eight premiership matches across three days in the pre-season.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said earlier this year that the Nines was an “opportunity’’ which could be brought to Queensland.
There will be some concerns that having the same 16 clubs playing at Suncorp earlier in the same year, albeit sending teams with some different personnel and playing shorter matches, could create some confusion about the big-budget Magic Round with the public.
But a Nines at Suncorp Stadium in the pre-season, Broncos home games, the Magic Round in May and the prospect of Suncorp Stadium hosting Game One of the State of Origin series would complete a strong suite of events before June.
When the NRL announced Perth would host Origin II in 2019, it claimed Brisbane and Sydney would alternate in hosting the hard-to-sell Game Three of series in future years.
The easier strategy for the NRL would be to program Brisbane for the third game, as a dead rubber would not be as hard to sell out as one at ANZ Stadium.
The NRL and Nines promoters Duco Events suspended the Nines tournament in 2018 to ease the workload of players after the World Cup, but foreshadowed its return in 2019.
All four Nines tournaments have been played in Auckland.
The All-Stars concept is also likely to be revived after a one-year absence, but that game will not be played in Brisbane.
Six All-Stars games have been played in Gold Coast or Brisbane, with the seventh and most recent, in 2017, played in Newcastle.
Greenberg said on Sunday he was confident there would be a round 1 game played overseas, which is expected to be in California.
“We have made some comments about opening the season in the US. We are working through the logistics but we are confident of making that happen,’’ he said.
“We are prepared to shake things up and innovate a litter. This is a great start.’’
ARL Commission chairman Peter Beattie urged Brisbane hotels not to raise their room rates around the May 10-12 dates for the Magic Round after experiences of price gouging around major events in Australia and overseas.
The NRL backed away from a consideration of having a Thursday night game which would run the Magic Round over four days.
“A big part of our negotiations with the broadcasters has been remove the Thursday night game,’’ Greenberg said.
“We thought it was difficult to bring people in from interstate over four days.’’
Greenberg said there would be double-headers in cities next year as well as premiership matches at regional centres.
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