Opinion: Game, set and nines match

You could find your soul mate by sitting in the singles zone at the NRL Auckland Nines. PHOTO/FILE

Finding that special someone can be hard for some, but boy are we making it easier in this day in age.

A press release popped through our office yesterday about a new singles zone being created at the NRL Auckland Nines, being held at Waitangi Weekend.

It's exactly what it sounds like. All those single like-minded souls searching for that special someone can get a ticket to watch the nines seated in that particular zone.

In between cheering on their favourite team, slurping on a beer and eating a hot dog, you can scan the crowd for Mr Right and maybe strike it lucky.

For any "players" out there of the not-so-sporting kind, it's worth remembering if you're posing as a single when in fact you're well and truly spoken for, the event is televised so it wouldn't be wise to take the risk.

While the more old fashioned among us might prefer the "olden days" way of courting - usually involving a man meeting a woman at a dance and asking her to the movies - life is certainly different in the dating scene now.

I hear my single friends talking about dating apps and websites such as Tinder, EliteSingles and Matched with varying degrees of success.

Some have horror stories about eventually meeting men who sounded great online but turned out to be creeps, married or just weirdos.

Maybe something like what the nines is doing skips the middleman and cuts straight to the chase, ensuring you get that first impression straight away without having to worry about wasting time messaging someone who turns out to be an idiot.

I could even get a job on the turnstiles because growing up on a farm it was one of my jobs to draft the sheep. I would stand at the end of the run in the sheep yards and work the swing doors drafting the singles from the twins and triplets.

If the nines punters could simply wear a different coloured ear tag, I could ensure they get to the right zone in the stadium.

All joking aside, while some might think a singles zone at a sports event is bizarre, I applaud the organisers for thinking outside the square to get people through the gates.