Kiwi Ferns to play at Auckland Nines

Kiwi Ferns to play at Auckland Nines

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Sarina Fiso thought she had prime seats for the inaugural Auckland Nines at Eden Park in February, but the Kiwi Ferns international will be even closer to the action next year.

In a significant addition to the programme for the tournament's second edition on January 31 and February 1, the Kiwi Ferns take on world champions Australia in a three-match series.

A Kiwi Fern since 2006, Fiso found out a fortnight ago she was going to share centre stage with stars and emerging talent from the 16 NRL clubs, but was sworn to secrecy until the pools were determined in Sydney.

''Opportunities like these will really help us grow the women's game in New Zealand,'' she said, after selecting one of the four pools with Jillaroos counterpart Maddie Studdon.

Fiso, who was vice-captain when the Kiwi Ferns' bid for a fourth consecutive world crown was sabotaged by their trans-Tasman rivals last year, had gold class tickets by the players' tunnel in February - and never dreamt she would be playing on the same field 12 months later.

Her 6-year-old son Luke can now also watch mum, a 32-year-old fullback, compete on a level playing field - a development Fiso applauded.

''This brings a massive boost to women's rugby league back home. We don't have many regular international fixtures so it's going to bring a lot of interest to the game.

''Hopefully, we can inspire more girls to take up the game and continue the tradition we've begun.''

NRL football operation's manager Nathan McGuirk said the women's involvement represented ''a great step forward for the game''.

Other than including the women, there have only been minor cosmetic changes to the $A2.4 million (NZ$2.65m) showcase of the code's answer to rugby sevens.

The timing has been brought forward to precede trial matches; squad sizes increase from 16 to 18 players; and longer rest periods have been built into the schedule to give rosters an opportunity to recover from the high intensity associated with a demanding workload.

David Higgins, a director of Auckland-based promote Duco Events, admitted it would be challenging to better the first instalment of a five-year contract.

''When you get fan and sponsor feedback the way we did, the scintillating play and commercial results ... every thing that mattered was a 10 out of 10 or near to it.

''It'll be hard to top that,'' he said, before predicting the quality of play will improve.

''The NRL, the clubs and the players understand it [nines] now. There'll be a more competitive edge. It'll be even better from that perspective.''

Meanwhile, the Warriors, who won their group and quarterfinal before being knocked out by eventual champions North Queensland seven months ago, were drawn in arguably the softest pool alongside the Wests Tigers, Canberra and Gold Coast Titans - teams that also failed to qualify for the NRL finals series.

The Cowboys open their defence against Melbourne, Penrith and South Sydney while runners-up Brisbane are grouped with the Sydney Roosters, Bulldogs and Cronulla.