The 2017 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the fourth

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 4–5 February 2017 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 ...

. Just like 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 for the competition was announced by the NRL on 17 November 2016. The same pool names were used as in the 2015 and 2016 tournaments. The pool names were: Hunua,

Waiheke Waiheke Island (; Māori language, 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. I ...

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

Kiwi Ferns The New Zealand women's national rugby league team, also known as the Kiwi Ferns or New Zealand Kiwi Ferns, represents New Zealand in Women's rugby league. They are administered by the New Zealand Rugby League. New Zealand won the Women's Ru ...

and the Jillaroos, who competed in a three-game series won by the Jillaroos for the first time, with a 3-0 clean sweep. The tournament was again 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 ...

. The

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

won the tournament by defeating the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

10-8 in the final.

Tournament Games

Hunua pool

Rangitoto pool

Waiheke pool

Piha pool

Finals

Quarterfinals

Semi-finals

Final

Ferns v Jillaroos

Team of the tournament

Connor Watson Connor Watson (born 31 May 1996) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL. He previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League, and played for the Cou ...

was named the player of the tournament. The team of the tournament was;

References

{{2017 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 ...