ONE OF the statements IMG made when they were introduced to the media in May 2022 was that they were going to propose an annual event that was likely to replace the Magic Weekend.

They weren’t explicit about what this would be, but there was some speculation that it may be a Nines competition that they were perhaps about to unveil.

Some three and a bit years later, however, we are still waiting for the evidence of the event that IMG were supposed to create. After having waited for so long, I suspect that their proposal, if it ever existed, has been quietly shelved, leaving an unfortunate vacuum.

So in this column I’m going to propose what my solution would be when it comes to creating another competition that we could perhaps sell from 2027 onwards as part of a new broadcasting deal from that date.

It’s no coincidence that as I write this column, cricket is engaged in The Hundred, the competition that was introduced in 2021 as a short form of the game with rules that vary from the norm. The Hundred is played during the latter part of July and most of the month of August with eight teams taking part and it has proved to be popular with supporters, with a significant proportion of the spectators having experienced live cricket for the first time through the Hundred.

And the latter point is perhaps the crucial issue facing our game. How do we attract new people to watch, even if it means watching a version of the game that differs from the norm?

We are constantly being told that young people have a more limited concentration span than their elders and that, for them, sitting through an 80 minute game can be an unattractive proposition.

So surely the answer is staring us in the face – and it has to be Nines.

But I wouldn’t propose, for example, converting the Magic Weekend into Nines Weekend.

I’m thinking along rather different lines.

I would like to propose a short Nines season that would run alongside the regular season but which is played on four special days.

The modern rugby league season, played in spring, summer and early autumn, includes four Bank Holiday Mondays – Easter, the two in May and the August Bank Holiday.

But we don’t have any major rugby league events or matches organised for any of those days, even though they would appear to offer obvious opportunities to engage our audience.

So my suggestion, quite simply, is to have a Nines competition with full fixture lists on each of those days, culminating in a finals day on the August Bank Holiday Monday.

I’m proposing that this would begin in 2027, which is also the first year of any new broadcasting contract that might be agreed.

My suggestion is that all 14 Super League clubs would participate in the first three of those events, which would be held across the rugby league heartland. For example, on Easter Monday we could perhaps have games played at Leigh Sports Village, helped by Derek Beaumont’s obvious enthusiasm both for Nines and for putting on a good show.

The Mayday Bank Holiday event could be held at Wakefield and the third event could be held at Hull KR’s Sewell Group Craven Park stadium.

For each event the 14 teams would be paired off against each other in random fashion for games that would last for 20 minutes each. Each team would therefore play three games in total and a league table would be kept.

The teams occupying the top eight positions after three rounds of the competition would go forward to the finals day, for which I would nominate Headingley as the best possible host, and they would play a straight knockout competition from that point to determine the ultimate Super League Nines Champions.

The finals day at Headingley would therefore have seven matches, just like the earlier three rounds, but the two finalists would each play three games on the day.

I would hope that the RFL would be able to finance a sizeable cash prize, say £100,000, to award to the ultimate winning team.

The games at each event could be scheduled to begin at 3.00pm with pre-match entertainment and the inclusion of other Nines matches perhaps including Women’s Super League teams and even Physical Disability games.

What I think is important about this proposal is that every club would be involved, so there would be potentially some supporters from each club making the journey to the venues of the opening three rounds.

How many would attend would depend on how well the competition would be promoted and how seriously the clubs would take a Nines competition.

Clearly it would be good to persuade the clubs to play some of their star players, but I’m sure we would see plenty of young players being given a run, which would be an attraction in itself for me.

And I’m sure that if the finals day was held at Headingley, the rugby league authorities could get plenty of corporate support to fill its hospitality lounges.

I’m confident that the RFL could sell the naming rights to a prestigious sponsor.

And at the end of the day, one club would emerge from the event as the Super League Nines Champions.

And who knows which club that would be?

I think it’s worth a shake.

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 512 (September 2025)