The NRL Nines concept was built on the idea of the NRL's best players playing the most exciting form of rugby league that there is, having fun in doing so. Pay some money, endure sitting through two full days at the (sarcasm alert) wonderful Eden Park with overpriced food and beverage to see the game's best players running around in Auckland.

Just look at the marketing campaign of this year's NRL Nines, led by Billy Slater and Shaun Johnson who are two of the game's top-10 players right now. They are well known throughout Aoteroa, they are both drama-free, they are both exciting players who are perfectly suited to Nines and they are both sociable nice guys.

They are also both coming off season-ending injuries.

This is why they have had so much time to be able to participate on the marketing tour along with Mal Meninga, who as coach of Queensland and now the Kangaroos, isn't cooped up in an office 24/7. At the end of the day, this is a smart move by the promoters as the get full value out of their 'faces of the Nines'.

You would assume that deals like these, wait, first of all you'd have to assume that Slater, Johnson and Meninga are all getting a nice little brown paper bag with $1 coins it in for their services. Part of these deals must surely stipulate that Johnson and Slater play - what's the point of having their faces plastered everywhere if you won't actually see them play?

This is where we encounter a spot of bother with the Nines and the allure of 'star players' as the Nines simply can't be a priority. With regards to Johnson and Slater specifically, the Nines will probably be views as key step on their road to recovery, hence their endorsement/marketing deals with the Nines make sense.

For many clubs and their top-tier players, the Nines may be viewed as being surplus to their pre-season requirements, especially when you consider February's schedule. The Nines goes down on February 6 and 7, a week later there is the game between the Indigenous All Stars and World All Stars (Feb 13th) and then a week after that we have the World Club Series from February 19-21.

That's three weeks of footy. The All Stars game is all about the best players and it must hold greater importance to the large group of Indigenous players than the Nines while the World Club Series is to be played in England, which means travel and a tough game for the Roosters, Broncos and Cowboys.

Most clubs will give their star players a choice, or tell them what pre-season event is most important to their preparation for the NRL season. Take the Warriors for example, they have Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Simon Mannering named in the World All Stars team so while it would be awesome to see Tuivasa-Sheck at the Nines, Warriors' coach Andrew McFadden might not want him to play in both, with the Nines the lesser of the two.

Mannering won't be playing in the Nines, for sure.

Playing any game of rugby league is a risk, however playing multiple games that are much faster without much rest between games in February (at lest 25 degrees and sunshine) could be seen as more riskier than a feel-good All Stars game. Ponder to yourself how many muscle injuries you've seen at the Nines, surely it can't be good for you besides boosting your fitness levels.

Every club is different and every star player is different, which is why I can't read too much into the NRL Nines. Some clubs give it great importance, some simply don't care and send younger squads or squads that include retired players who hold no risk at all for that club. I love the Nines because it's my first major glimpse at young players who are pushing for a start come week one, but tickets aren't sold on the basis of seeing a fringe-first grader in the flesh.

Enjoy the NRL Nines, it's a rugby league festival and anything that shares the rugby league gospel in some form is great in my eyes. Just don't be disappointed when your favourite player isn't there because in the big scheme of things, Nines is just Nines.