Rugby League Nines was conceived as an answer to rugby union sevens in the late 1980s. The British Coal Nines was staged on November 2, 1988 at Central Park, Wigan. Rugby league had staged a World Sevens in Australia from 1988 but Nines was seen has adding the physical element upon which the 13-man game prided itself. Nines was one of many innovations championed by the breakaway Super League movement in 1995 and in 1996 the first World Nines were staged in Suva
The professional era (1997 – 1998)
New Zealand took out the World Nines in Suva in 1996 on the same weekend as Super League was (temporarily) outlawed in the Australian courts. But the following year the organisation has been cleared to operate and the tournament moved to Townsville, where it was again won by the Kiwis. Peace between Super League and the Australian Rugby League in 1998 led to a lull in abbreviated form rugby league activity.
The second coming of Nines (2014 – 2020)
In 2013 New Zealand firm Duco Sports reached an agreement with the National Rugby League and its clubs to introduce a Nines tournament at Eden Park in Auckland the following year. The event was a dazzling success, the famed arena packed with fans, many wearing fancy dress. The event continued until 2017, had a two year hiatus and returned in Perth for 2020 before the impact of COVID.
Explosion in Nines activity 2020-present
With rugby league’s increasing focus on inclusion and its rapid geographical expansion, Nines is now the vehicle in which the sport rides towards future prosperity. There are Nines tournament somewhere in the world most weekends – from Latin America to Eastern Europe, from the Pacific to the Americas. Nines has been played as an exhibition sport at Commonwealth Games and has been linked to Olympic Games. It is the accessible, playable, friendly face of rugby league in the game’s New World.
