The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third

NRL 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 Pert ...

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 CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

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 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. 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 Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most po ...

Rangitoto Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland, New Zealand. The wide island is a symmetrical shield volcano cone, reaching a height of . Rangitoto is the youngest and largest of the approximately 50 volcanoes of the Au ...

and

Piha Piha is a coastal settlement in West Auckland, on the western coast of the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is one of the most popular beaches in the area and a major day-trip destination for Aucklanders throughout the year, and especially ...

. 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 approximat ...

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 Corey Norman (born 3 February 1991) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as and for FC Lézignan XIII in the Elite One Championship. Norman previously played for the Brisbane Broncos, the Parramatta Eels and St. ...

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