In welcome good news for long suffering North Queensland fans, the stage is set for history to repeat for the Auckland Nines defending champions this weekend.

But it remains to be seen what the future holds for the NRL season-opening event after another sell-out crowd on Saturday.

The form guide was thrown out the window on the opening day, with the underrated Wests Tigers, a young Cronulla and an injury-hit Parramatta among the five unbeaten teams after two rounds of pool action on Saturday.

Hot favourites the Warriors must win their last pool match against Wests Tigers on Sunday to secure a top-two finish and book a finals berth after they let a 19-4 lead slip in a 23-19 loss to Canberra.

North Queensland are also looking down the barrel – and it seems they wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Cowboys (1-1 record) felt a sense of deja vu after they somehow secured a 2014 Nines finals berth with a 1-2 record – and went on to claim the inaugural title.

North Queensland wrecking ball Jason Taumalolo hoped the portents were good after downing Melbourne 17-8 before a heartbreaking 19-12 loss to heavyweights South Sydney on Saturday.

Reminded of last year’s turnaround, Taumalolo said: “I reckon they will go out tomorrow and show everyone that we are ready to defend our title.”

The Warriors (1-1) will also look to keep their tournament alive on Sunday.

“The Warriors are obviously the crowd favourites but we just saw that Canberra did a job on them,” said Kevin Naiqama of West Tigers, the hosts’ next rivals.

“We are just looking to go out there and put in our best performance and if we can knock them off it would be great.”

Parramatta did not begin the tournament well, losing Kaysa Pritchard to a potentially season-ending pectoral tear early along with Brad Takairangi (ankle).

But the Eels finished the first day topping their pool as did a star-studded South Sydney, Wests Tigers and Cronulla.

It was an impressive effort by a Wests Tigers outfit highlighted by just captain Chris Lawrence and Pat Richards while Cronulla only had stand-in skipper Wade Graham as their stand-out.

Meanwhile, the Nines’ runaway success has prompted speculation the tournament will head overseas to locations such as the United States, Asia and the Middle East in the future.

Organisers of the Nines – Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development – have reportedly not ruled out “growing the concept” by hosting it abroad.

For the record, the Nines are locked into Auckland until 2018.