OMG!! i thought your argument about Pritchard not being a second row was bad but this takes the biscuit!

You really shouldn't make comments about people or places if you don't know about them.

There is literally thousands of Aussies that live in the UAE and same again for New Zealanders, never mind the ones that vista here.

Why do people go to Dubai? why do People go to Singapore? or any other tourist destination.

1. the skyline in Dubai is one of the best in the world
2. Largest shopping mall in the world
3 Tallest building in the world
4. there is a stupid amount of luxurious restaurants, shops, hotels and spa's
5. There is a desert
6. Its the most safest place to vista in the middle east
7. your guaranteed a hot climate
8. People actually travel to go and watch Dubai sevens
9. A lot of people have family and friends here, considering the expat population out numbers the local 11-1
10. The beach resorts here are ridiculous

And who would fund the money? more than likely the people who would hold the rights to the event?

I imagine it wouldn't be hard to scrounge up the cash from locals to set it up, like the Canberra-Manly game to be played in China. Especially when the NRL and RFL can point to the Auckland Nines success.

After that all they need is to let the clubs try and pick up sponsors. There is a lot of money and a lot of expats in the region and if it means the Shirefolk can finally get a sponsor after a season without then it's a positive for the game imo.

Only some of the expats would be League fans and then only some of them would go.
Plenty of expats in London, where were those league fans at the London Broncos games?

I don't get the idea that putting a cut down version of a game that is widely ignored outside of Oz, NZ and a small part of the UK will suddenly get global sponsors backing the Cronulla Sharks or the Newcastle Knights?
Why would a company do that, Super League has had half d sponsors for the naming rights of the game for several years including the fantastic Stobbart deal.

Maybe I don't understand marketing and what companies want in "bang for their buck" or return on investment.

No-ones saying it'd get global sponsors suddenly or immediately, just that bringing rugby league to a business audience outside its traditional, very restricted boundaries might not be a terrible idea.

You say yourself that it's widely ignored outside certain areas. Well only playing the sport in those same areas won't help it spread will it?

Why do HSBC sponsor the Union 7's?

As for SL's Stobart deal, well that goes very firmly against your argument of staying as we are. It shows we need to encourage and interest other parties in RL. This might entail going farther afield than Bramley or ANZ Stadium.

A 9's comp would seem a relatively cheap and easy way to take the game to new areas. Not only does it allow "new" people a simple and easy introduction to the sport, 9's would be much more competitive than a 13-a-side comp. We could have French, Welsh, Samoan, PNG & Fijian (maybe Italian & US teams) involved in addition to SL & NRL clubs as the gulf in class wouldn't be anywhere near as evident as it is 13-a-side.

The Auckland 9's is great, and hopefully it'll make RL more popular in NZ.
But what's wrong with having a 9's comp that is much more international?
If, as a sport, we've learnt anything from the past 6 years it's that RL only gains significant traction outside its heartland areas iwhen we show the world it's not just Yorkshire, Lancashire, Sydney & Brisbane that play Rugby League.

Actually the nines was the idea of a promotions cpamu who got all the parties together. The NRL came to the table after the prize fund and sponsorship from the local council was in place....

More than 10million tourists visited dubai last year, including many Australians. As said there is also a large expat population in the region. End of day this is about making money for the clubs and organiser. If koukash can guarantee the appearance money and it is enough to entice clubs the event will happen.

Personally I'd rather see it held at the new national stadium in Singapore, much nicer place to visit and the locals would love it I reckon.

It's not just attracting fans and sponsors from new markets, it's giving existing sponsors more value aswell.

Nines is fast and furious and the success in NZ is a testament to that. Dave Smith has explicitly said it's the perfect tool to promote the sport in new areas and it's hard to disagree with him.

If the game continues to look inward then it'll just end up shrinking. Imagine if Baskerville, etc had had so little faith in the game that it never reached Australia or New Zealand?

Maybe a Nines comp should be held in Los Angeles or Hawaii then where there is at least a chance of bolstering a local comp rather than playing in front of "expats" in a city on the edge of a Desert where I cannot imagine it being much more than a novelty event.

What will sponsors like Steggles and NRMA and many others get from the exposure?

You have the Crusaders managed so badly that they were almost buggered before they got going.
London allowed to wither on the Vine for years and years.
Bradford a basketcase for years and now pretty well shot.
Half of the bottom teams are hanging on on a wing and a prayer financially.
But hey lets not worry about the foundations of the game lets play a game in a Bent Arab country and see if that gets the game moving forward.

Makes no sense when the core business is going backwards.

Yes, the NRL accepted the proposal and threw their support behind it too grow the game in NZ, if there had been no Council prize money on offer it may well have never got off the ground.
Many of the NRL Clubs were far below full strength for the Nines and it will be interesting to see how they support it in its second year.


Do you think the NRL Clubs will or should support a second nines tournament in Dubai?

Lol, you just don't get it do you? A world club nines would be about money, plain and simple. Not fans, not growing the game, just money. Clubs get an appearance fee, sponsors get new exposure market and the game gets exposure to potential new sponsors. It also challenges the pit village flat cap image the game continues to suffer from. Nines has huge potential for growing RL and it's exposure to new audiences.

Personally I'd like to see a SL nines like the NRL NZ one pre season or in place of magic weekend and then a world international nines in October every other year.

The NRL clubs have no option but to support it, it is in the contract that x amount of top players have to play. Would they support a dubai nines? If the NRL tells them they have to then yes they would. Should they? If the $$$'s are right then yes they should.

Plenty of big names did not attend the Auckland nines.
The Clubs were only obliged to provide less than half of their top players to the tournament.

If the players union say its too many games in a season in will be an issue.

Give the Auckland tournament a chance to get some solid foundations before trying a pie in the sky Dubai competing nines.

What message does it send to the backers of the Auckland nines if another nines starts up on the back of their success.
Its no wonder this game struggles to get investment and sponsors at times.

The Dubai concept is just mouthy Marwan wanting headlines and tapping into English fans need to be relevant in the game.
Without the southern hemisphere clubs and Test teams it appears England cannot get anything happening that sells or gets interest.

England should concentrate on building France up from the abyss they have fallen into in the last 20 years.