The NRL Nines will head to Auckland for their second crack at the rugby league festival vibe. The first installment was a celebration of rugby league, as it should be and it went down smoothly as Eden Park was full to the brim with the on-field action able to keep everyone interested.

It's 2015 and we're getting ready to repeat the dose. Before I get knee deep in to the respective squads, knee deep - the most ruthless NRL Nines preview that you'll read, I've got to set the scene because it seems that we and many NRL clubs are unsure about the Nines. Every NRL club is in a different situation, a different stage in their growth or at a different point on their journey to apparent greatness. 

Looking at the squads named and it's easy to see how some people would be disappointed that their club didn't name a super duper squad.  At one end of the spectrum you have the Warriors who have named a squad that resembles an army of 9-a-side rugby league storm troopers, while at the other end of the spectrum you have the Brisbane Broncos who have named what appears to be a weak squad lacking much star power.

That's how we're judging these squads, star power. Which is simply wrong. Not every club is in a position to roll out their upper echelon of NRL talent, like the Warriors have. Sam Tomkins, Shaun Johnson, Manu Vatuvei, Ryan Hoffman, Simon Mannering, it's star player central but it's clear that the Warriors are keen to give the title a bit of a go. For me, that's a PR move as the NRL Nines is obviously held in Auckland and there's not much more that local NRL fans would enjoy more than the Warriors winning ... not just winning the Nines, but winning something.

So the Warriors are all in, that much is very clear. The Broncos? Well Wayne Bennett looks to be treating the NRL Nines as an opportunity to give his youngsters some highly competitive pre-season footy. There's a few different aspects to this as Bennett has a crop of youngsters who go alright as well as a few positions that are up for grabs. The Broncos also have their star players mostly in the forward pack and their youngins' are better suited to the free flowing 9-a-side shenanigans.

The Warriors have a roster that seems to been designed in an NRL Nines lab. Look at Tui Lolohea, Solomone Kata, Ngani Laumape, Nathan Friend, Ben Henry, Sam Lisone, Suaia Matagi as well as the likes of Johnson and Tomkins. They all suit this sort of footy and so their squad looks to have much more fire power.

On the whole, most of the NRL Nines squads are pretty strong. Teams like the Canberra Raiders don't really have the same talent levels of many of the other NRL teams and their Nines squad reflects that. The Raiders are in a re-building phase and it looks as though Ricky Stuart is treating the Nines as another stepping stone in his plan to get the Raiders back on the wagon.

The other club I want to single out is the West's Tigers who haven't named either Luke Brooks or Mitchell Moses. They are being groomed as their halves pairing for the future and some would have expected them to be named but with Brooks featuring in the All Stars match, it looks like the Tigers are willing to wisely juggle their workloads. This does give someone like Manaia Cherrington, a young kiwi footballer as well as half Josh Drinkwater an opportunity with these lads in the Tigers second tier of play makers. Compare that to the Roosters and Sea Eagles who have named their best halves pairing, different strokes for different folks.

All the NRL clubs have to put their NRL season first and foremost which is wise, which for me gives them a chance to do exactly what the Nines should be about - showcasing the young talent. For the second NRL Nines, I reckon all of the teams have got the balance right of ensuring that there's enough of their best players to sell tickets and do all that, as well as blood some of their best young talent. A few teams have gone all the way and named very young squads, while other clubs like the Sharks and Sea Eagles have named solid squads that look like they're keen to get their first grade squad out on the field together as much as possible.

If you're really in to the on-field action, this year's NRL Nines is a great chance to see what teams learned last year. There were a few things that were tinkered with by different teams throughout the tournament and they've had 12 months to sit on the Nines and figure out their strategy. Some will go all out to win the cash, figuring out game plans, set moves and a style that should be easy to spot as everything will look slick, maybe too slick.

Other teams at the NRL Nines will be there, they'll play hard but they won't have put as much effort in to preparing for the tournament. These teams will treat it more as a bonus pre-season session, which will be pretty easy to spot as well. It's just the way the NRL Nines is, you can't expect every team to roll out their top shelf when something like an injury can end your 2015 NRL dreams.