Its fine for short periods, i guess it depends what time of year the event takes place.

Its very unusual that the temp goes above 35 degrees between October to March and thats perfect weather.

Also Dubai has a huge expat population and all rugby league gets shown live here so there is a demand for it.

you are correct some afternoons it does get a bit chilly that time of year.

One possible benefit of having rugby league showcased in Dubai is that it might be possible to find a rich individual or consortium, ready to take over London Broncos, and make it a viable contender for, and then presence in, Super League.

If that was to happen successfully then in later years perhaps others might fund a second London team and a third French team, with an eye to Super League expansion or diversification.

But for any of that to happen I would think that Ian Lenagan or Marwan Koukash might be the interlocutors with new Middle Eastern or European financiers/investors, since Nigel Wood and his cohorts seem incapable of promoting such developments.

You'd imagine the best time for it would be pre-season, so either January or February.
I'm not knocking the Auckland 9's by any means, I just think 9's gives RL an opportunity to take the sport somewhere outside its comfort zone without too much risk and hopefully appeal to both a different type of person and a different type of business than is usually exposed to RL.

I sincerely hope you mean Fahrenheit.
Though even 56 Fahrenheit is a tad sweaty for my liking. I am from Yorkshire though.

The sunday times rich list is about as scientific as Viz. Its a gossip column for the middle class.

rather have a usa team than a 3rd french one

i wish! In my Job i am always in the car so even popping out for 20 minutes means coming back to a car and not being able to touch the steering wheel for at least 5 minutes.

So a tip for you if you ever fancy a trip to Dubai avoid Ramadan and june - september, Funny enough plane tickets are half price during those months as well.

Why would the NRL Clubs be interested in ANOTHER nines competition?
They are already locked into the successful one in New Zealand for the immediate future.
Koukash is a year or so too late with this idea.

$$$$$'s

The opportunity to attract global companies and investment to the sport and their club.

The NRL already has national or global companies sponsoring teams in many cases.
They can not pull out of the Auckland nines.
Why would they want to devalue the Nines that they have already committed too by attending another nines in a country no Aussies or Kiwi locals would bother travelling too, Its hardly a tourist destination.

Why don't the English and French clubs hold a Nines series in Dubai and see how it goes first?

oh well they don't even need to bother trying to get more then. Why bother with the Auckland nines then?
Let's just have a nines comp in Leeds and one in Sydney. That'll spread the word.


Why would they need to pull out of the Auckland nines? Why can't the sport work together for its own good and find a way to have both if it's viable?


Because the English and French clubs don't have the money or clout to hold one there on their own. Plus what would be the point of English and French clubs travelling thousands of miles to only play each other. It needs the NRL to be involved to get the interest going.

Same reason Man Utd and Liverpool play A-League clubs. $$$$$$$$$

edit: Posted without realising there was a third page



Whatever happened to the idea of playing a Euro Nines Tournament instead of the Millennium Magic round? Really seemed like a good idea to me.

Dubai isn't a tourist destination? They'll be upset all the billions spent on tourist attractions aren't to your liking lol.

Most of the tourist are from that region.

You are from Australia JB, do you know any Aussies that go there and if so what do they go there for?

When Liverpool or Man U go to Australia they play one or two exhibition games that can drag enough english expats and football fans to the game to get a big crowd.
Where is that money coming from for a nines in Dubai Locky?

The Auckland Nines has a large cash prize guaranteed for several years and its one of the NRL's promotional vehicles into Union dominated New Zealand, I thought that was obvious.

In a Sport that stretches for so long through the season that you have a WCC challenge shoehorned into any week they can find, usually before the Australian season has commenced you think a second Nines Comp should be supported halfway around the world? 7 hours from Manchester, over 14 hours from Sydney and 19 hours from Auckland.

The NRL didn't need the SL Clubs involved to get the Auckland Nines going.
Maybe it should be a Euro Nines held in France to help build the game in the largely neglected neighbour over the channel?

a 9's comp in france would be a pretty good idea.

I think a club 9s comp at the beginning of the year in the country holding the WCC and at the end in whichever country is holding the international tournament would be great. Much more accessible for some of the developing nations than full contact and i think it would be a lot more unpredictable.

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?

People visit a place for the skyline? Maybe somewhere iconic like New York or a beautiful Harbour like Sydney, Dubai nope.
A big shopping mall?
A desert?
The safest place in the middle east? that works.

You have already described how nice the weather is there, its a friggin furnace most of the time.


Who is seriously suggesting holding the Event?
The place is corrupt and many workers there are pretty well slave labour, would Gay rugby league fans be made to feel welcome?
Could any of the fans afford the exorbitant prices of the better quality Hotels?

We are all different but the Middle East has zero appeal to me.
I would not be interested in going there for free to be honest.

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....