AN influx of teams from outside North America has begun for the NRL Vegas Nines next year.
The tournament, which took its bow at the end of February 2024, is expanding as well as moving to a new venue Silver Bowl Park. In 2024, the tournament was contested entirely by North American entrants but the NRL has been drip feeding team announcements that include several from Australia.
The first was Brisbane Veterans, nicknamed the Jackals and made up of Australian defence force veterans. Then came Wellington Wedgetails, a team formed in the central western NSW town of the same name to play in the Koori Knockout.
And the most recent addition to the Antipodean cohort is a newly formed rep team from Queensland’s Fraser Coast, the Wide Bay Renegades.
North American teams that have confirmed so far are: San Diego Barracudas, Ontario Ospreys, Sacramento Immortals, BC Storm, BC Bulldogs, Renegades Rugby Academy, Los Angeles Roosters and Brooklyn Kings.
The divisions announced so far are men and women in senior and under 18s, with the tournament to be run on February 28 and 29.
Ontario Ospreys are the defending women’s champs, while Sacramento Immortals were the inaugural men’s winners.
