The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the
Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third
NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 6–7 February 2016 at
Eden Park
Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount E ...
in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
.
As with previous tournaments, it was contested by all sixteen
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
teams. The prize money was .
The draw was released on 18 November 2015.
The same pool names were used as the 2015 tournament's. The pool names were:
Hunua,
Waiheke,
Rangitoto and
Piha. The event included two international women's teams, the
Kiwiferns and the
Jillaroos, who competed in a three-game series. Originally to be sponsored by
Dick Smith, the tournament was instead sponsored by
Downer Group
Downer Group is an integrated services company active in Australia and New Zealand.
Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and New Zealand Stock Exchange as Downer EDI (DOW), Downer is an ASX 100 company.
Downer Group employs approxima ...
after Dick Smith went into receivership. The Parramatta Eels who won the tournament
were later stripped of the title due to salary cap breaches.
Tournament Games
Hunua pool
Rangitoto pool
Waiheke pool
Piha pool
Finals
Quarterfinals
Semi-finals
Final
Ferns v Jillaroos
Team of the tournament
Corey Norman was named the player of the tournament. The team of the tournament was;
References
{{2016 in rugby league
NRL Auckland Nines
Auckland Nines
The NRL Nines is a rugby league nines competition, normally held during the NRL preseason each year. It was initially held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2014 and 2017 before going on hiatus. Returning in 2020, hosting duties moved to Perth ...
Parramatta Eels