Melbourne, Manly and Cronulla will be the only unbeaten teams heading into day two of the Downer NRL Auckland Nines.
The Storm toppled defending premiers South Sydney as well as Parramatta, while the Sea Eagles surprised crowd favourites the Warriors, who were left with a win and a loss following the first day of the tournament.
The Sharks, last year’s grand finalists, proved again they would be difficult to beat by toppling both Gold Coast and St George Illawarra.
The North Queensland Toyota Cowboys were strong against Newcastle early on, but were surprised 13-12 by Wests Tigers in their second match.
However Cowboys flyer Gideon Gela-Mosby produced some of the most eye-catching performances of the day, finishing with four tries.
He was joined by Sharks duo Ben Barba and Jack Bird, as well as Melbourne’s Blake Green and Manly’s Tom Trbojevic, as some of the standout performers on day one.
Defending Nines champions South Sydney kicked off the 2016 tournament with a last-gasp 14-13 win over Sydney Roosters.
The Australian Jillaroos also went one-up in their three-match Nines series against the Kiwi Ferns following an 11-4 victory over their Trans-Tasman rivals.
Day two will begin at 7.35am (Qld time) tomorrow, with the Cowboys taking on the Panthers at 8.50am (Qld time).
DAY ONE RESULTS
Round one:
South Sydney Rabbitohs 14 d Sydney Roosters 13
Melbourne Storm 14 d Parramatta Eels 4
North Queensland Cowboys 28 d Newcastle Knights 12
Penrith Panthers 23 d Wests Tigers 7
New Zealand Warriors 34 d Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs 8
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 11 d Brisbane Broncos 8
Canberra Raiders 28 d St George Illawarra 20
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 23 d Gold Coast Titans 12
Jillaroos 11 d Kiwi Ferns 4
Round two:
Parramatta Eels 14 d Sydney Roosters 11
Melbourne Storm 18 d South Sydney Rabbitohs 12
Newcastle Knights 15 d Penrith Panthers 14
Wests Tigers 13 d North Queensland Cowboys 12
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 15 d New Zealand Warriors 12
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs 15 d Brisbane Broncos 13
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 17 d St George Illawarra Dragons 8
Gold Coast Titans 26 d Canberra Raiders 15
