The Auckland Nines’ pre-tournament favourites have lived up to their billing, with Parramatta, North Queensland and Brisbane securing dominant first-up wins.

The Eels made easy work of St George Illawarra early on Saturday, crushing them 32-11, before the Broncos beat Melbourne 18-4 and the Cowboys flattened Sydney Roosters 27-15.

Another tournament favourite, Jarryd Hayne’s Gold Coast, also cruised to a 25-4 victory over a surprisingly poor Cronulla, with the ex-49er bagging a try.

On the injury front, the Warriors’ 15-11 loss to Manly on home turf was further soured by a groin strain to star halfback Shaun Johnson in the warm-up.

The severity of the strain is unclear but 44-year-old skipper Ruben Wiki said post-game that Johnson would play later in the two-day tournament.

South Sydney’s Aaron Gray hobbled off with medial ligament injury in his side’s 15-12 last-gasp loss to Canberra.

The Eels, last year’s revoked Nines champions, cruised to victory at Eden Park, with Corey Norman and Clint Gutherson particularly impressive.

Much fancied to take out the title in 2017, the Eels got off to a poor start when Dragons young gun Jai Field broke through to score.

But the Eels bounced back quickly, with a Kenny Edwards bonus-point try preceding Gutherson and Suaia Matagi efforts that reasserted control of the contest.

Further tries to Jamal Fogarty, Gutherson and Norman then settled the result.

“It was really important to come here, start off how we ended it last year, and we did that,” 21-year-old fullback Bevan French said.

For the Cowboys, who have perhaps brought the strongest squad to Auckland, their performance against the Roosters was similarly crushing.

All eyes were on playmaking legend Johnathan Thurston early on but it was Michael Morgan who was first to impress, earning a stunning solo effort down the right flank.

Thurston and teen ace Kalyn Ponga then combined to put Gideon Gela-Mosby under the posts, before Ponga nabbed an intercept try to put his side in control.

Gela-Mosby secured his hat-trick with two further second-half tries, including one scorcher down the left flank, before Justin O’Neill rounded out a 27-15 result.

“It was fun but tough at the same time,” Thurston said.

“You see a lot more space when you’ve got the ball, it’s a lot quicker so it’s a good type of footy to play at this time of the year.”

The Broncos opened their account by swatting aside last year’s NRL grand finalists Melbourne in a muscular 18-4 win.

Kiwi ace Jordan Kahu and Matt Gillett combined for three tries, while Josh Addo-Carr also got on the scoresheet moments after running down James Roberts.

New Broncos recruit Benji Marshall played much of the match and looked assured in his first appearance in maroon.

“He’s a great leader for the younger boys; Milford, he’s taken him under his wing, so we’ll see some great things from Benji,” veteran Adam Blair said.

In other results, Penrith defeated Canterbury and Newcastle made easy work of Wests Tigers.