IN an otherwise contentious statement, Australasia’s National Rugby League has pledged its support for next year’s Nines World Cup.
The Antipodean authority released a proposal for the next four years of international fixtures, which contradicted a number of events which seemed to have been already locked in: the 2019 Great Britain tour of Australia and the next two years of England-New Zealand Tests in Denver.
But followers of the Nines game can take heart from the fact an event set down for October next year but not locked in due to no obvious host city appears to have the favour of League Central.
“Work has already begun on developing and international nines tournament at the end of the 2019 season,” the NRL statement said.
On NRL.com, the new Parramatta Stadium was mentioned as a possible venue. However, Australia is also set to host an NRL Nines next year meaning the market could be saturated.
The Rugby League International Federation congress will discuss the Australian proposals in Singapore at the end of the month.
