Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.<\/a><\/p>\nJames Maloney, Bryce Cartwright, Blake Austin, Matt Moylan, Alex Glenn, Corey Norman and Andrew Fifita are just some of the former NRL stars set to light up the Gold Coast this weekend. <\/p>\n
The Southern Sharks won the two-day comp in 2023 and 2024 before falling short at the final hurdle last year, losing in the final to the Southside Dawgs.<\/p>\n
Maloney will lace up the boots for the Sharks, and the premiership winning playmaker believes his side as the right make-up to challenge for the crown yet again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of younger guys from Wollongong, the south coast and even a few Canberra boys which is good so hopefully I can just get in the middle and pass it all out to them and let them do most of the running,\u201d Maloney told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a mix of oldheads that have got into footy and some younger quick athletic guys because Nines is suited to that style of play.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘I don’t feel like I’ll play at all’ | 01:33<\/p>\n
Maloney says the tournament is a highlight on the calendar, with players able to catch up with old friends and foes. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cool because I\u2019m obviously really good mates with (organiser) Anthony Mitchell who started it and he\u2019s done such an awesome job to grow it every year,\u201d he said<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get a real mix of ex-NRL boys that are sort of having to run around with local A-grade players and it gives people a little bit of exposure so it\u2019s a good fun weekend.<\/p>\n
The Nines Competition on the Gold Coast.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a real social weekend because you catch up with so many guys you haven\u2019t seen for a long time and see how they\u2019re going. It\u2019s an awesome atmosphere. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny because you\u2019ve got all these ex-NRL boys but I think the young fit (and) fast guys are the key. They\u2019re the ones you sort of need. We\u2019re too old these days so we sort of need some of the young kids around us because it\u2019s obviously fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only nine minutes in halves but it\u2019s an awesome concept.\u201d<\/p>\n
James Maloney in action for Ourimbah last year.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
Maloney\u2019s been out of the NRL for some time now, but a more recent retiree set to line up on the Gold Coast is Bryce Cartwright.<\/p>\n
Cartwright, who last played for the Eels last season, was part of the 2025 retiring class. <\/p>\n
He\u2019ll represent FTA, who won a spot in this weekend\u2019s tournament at the Sydney qualifier in late November. FTA (From The Area) represents the Penrith area and the chance to pull on their colours will be a special moment full of significance for Cartwright.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, I think it\u2019s really special just representing where I come from. The colours that we wear, were colours that we strive to wear when we\u2019re kids. We\u2019re in the Sydney West Colours, the blue and yellow. That\u2019s all that you ever wanted as a kid,\u201d he told foxsports.com.au. <\/p>\n
Staggs films ‘Run it Straight’ challenge | 00:25<\/p>\n
\u201cJust a really proud area and I get to do it with some guys I\u2019ve known since I was a kid so yeah, very special when it means a hell of a lot to us where we come from.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m keen (to go against) all these young teams. They seem to talk a lot on Instagram and post their park footy highlights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the old fellow so the pressure is all on them young boys, so I\u2019m looking forward to coming up against those guys that are a bit loud on Instagram.\u201d<\/p>\n
The action begins Saturday on Kayo Sports at 8:45am AEDT.<\/p>\n
TEAMS<\/p>\n
SOUTHERN SHARKS<\/p>\n
Key Players: James Maloney, Jeremy Latimore<\/p>\n
SALTY PIGS<\/p>\n
Key Players: Jesse Marschke, Ben Marschke<\/p>\n
SOUTHSIDE DAWGS<\/p>\n
Key Players: Brayden Musgrove, Jacek McLaurin<\/p>\n
UNITED SC<\/p>\n
Key Players: Blake Austin, Andrew Fifita<\/p>\n
O’Sullivan excited for Vegas trip | 00:33<\/p>\n
REBORN<\/p>\n
Key Players: Brad Takairangi<\/p>\n
LEGACY<\/p>\n
Key Players: Corey Norman, Josh Hoffman<\/p>\n
NORTH COAST MARLINS<\/p>\n
Key Players: Kurtis Rowe<\/p>\n
ARTHUR BEETSON FOUNDATION<\/p>\n
Key Players: Joel Moon<\/p>\n
EZ SQUAD<\/p>\n
Key Players: Matt Bowen, Tyrone Roberts<\/p>\n
Rugby signings shake up Roosters | 07:44<\/p>\n
CAMPBELLTOWN SAINTS<\/p>\n
Key Players: Jarryd Hayne, Curtis Scott<\/p>\n
FTA<\/p>\n
Key Players: Bryce Cartwright, George Jennings, Sam Curtain<\/p>\n
RLPA<\/p>\n
Key Players: Matt Moylan, Justin Horo, Tyrone Peachey, Chris McQueen, Kevin Proctor<\/p>\n
TE AO MARAMA<\/p>\n
INDIGENOUS MANA<\/p>\n
PORT MORESBY VIPERS<\/p>\n
GOLD COAST GIANTS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For fans starved of rugby league, there\u2019s plenty of action to look forward to this weekend with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[226493,226488,226490,226487,64,63,689,7292,226496,651,78643,2667,226497,11096,222174,177480,226492,2485,226489,226491,38311,31727,4466,761,762,673,158,677,9112,1614,701,139469,159,184708,85,91410,670,3598,226494,226495,108450],"class_list":["post-433003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-alex-glenn","tag-andrew-fifita","tag-anthony-mitchell","tag-arthur-beetson-foundation","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-capital-territory","tag-blake-austin","tag-brisbane","tag-bryce-cartwright","tag-canberra","tag-corey-norman","tag-daniel-nuttall","tag-ethan-lee-chalk","tag-final-hurdle","tag-fun-weekend","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-giants","tag-james-h-maloney","tag-kayo-sports","tag-key-players","tag-melbourne-storm","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-parramatta-eels","tag-premier-league","tag-queensland","tag-real-mix","tag-rugby-league","tag-south-coast","tag-sports","tag-stars-set","tag-sydney","tag-time-offer","tag-tugun-leagues-club","tag-young-fit","tag-young-kids"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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