There's $2.6 million in prizemoney up for grabs, but Canberra Raiders centre Jarrod Croker doubts any NRL club will build its pre-season around winning the Auckland Nines.
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While Croker was excited at the chance to play in the inaugural tournament and the prospect of an attacking free-for-all, the 23-year-old said it would not distract the Raiders from their main focus on defence and fitness in pre-season.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart is yet to consider which players will compete at the Auckland Nines, which will fall between Canberra's other trials - against the Storm in Melbourne on February 8, and the Newcastle Knights in Tamworth on February 22.
The Raiders are scheduled to play the New Zealand Warriors, North Queensland Cowboys and Manly Sea Eagles at the Auckland tournament, but there will be more interest when the NRL season draw is released on Wednesday.
''I don't think any team's going to be building their pre-season around winning the Auckland Nines,'' Croker said. ''It's going to promote some good attacking footy but it's not the sort of thing you build your pre-season on, like your hard work and defence … we've been working hard on that.''
Young centre Jack Wighton is shaping as the obvious replacement for sacked Raiders centre Blake Ferguson, but Croker said he was not taking his own position for granted either because of a band of emerging youngsters.
Edrick Lee has already established himself in the NRL, while under-20s graduates Brenko Lee, Jack Ahearn, Matt Allwood and Jeremy Hawkins have trained with the NRL squad in the off-season.
Hawkins, 20, and a Junior Kiwis representative centre, played in an NRL trial for the Raiders last season, but badly tore his hamstring in the second pre-season match and missed the next eight weeks.
