A groin injury to star Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson has overshadowed the side’s first Auckland Nines game on home soil.

The Warriors lost 15-11 to a solid Manly outfit at Eden Park but were robbed of the services of their playmaker by a groin strain in the warm-up.

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

“They said they’re going to try and limit the big players’ names for the season,” Wiki said, playing in his first competitive match since 2008.

Despite the absence of the 26-year-old Kiwi, the Warriors looked likely to win their opening match after a Blake Ayshford bonus-point try, but were pegged back late on.

A barging Curtis Sironen effort under the posts gave Manly a 15-11 lead heading into the last two minutes, which they managed to ride out to the final whistle.

Earlier, Piha group pool opponents Parramatta stamped their authority on the 2017 Auckland nines, crushing a brittle St George Illawarra outfit 32-11.

Last year’s nines grand-final winners, since stripped of their title for NRL salary cap breaches, cruised to victory at Eden Park, with Corey Norman and Clint Gutherson impressing.

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

Field, 19, is considered a candidate for the No.7 Red V jumper in 2017 and looked the goods in Auckland, making a big left step before bulleting to the tryline.

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

Up 17-4 at half-time, Parramatta pushed further ahead when new first-grade recruit Jamal Fogarty and Gutherson bagged tries.

Star playmaker Norman then nabbed his own four-pointer to seal the match before a Dragons bonus-point consolation through Tariq Sims.

“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.

“There is a sense of pride of defending it.”

Earlier in the Waiheke pool, Gold Coast and Penrith coasted to victory against Cronulla and Canterbury respectively.

Titans co-captain Jarryd Hayne produced an early highlight for the Eden Park crowd, soaring to take a Tyrone Roberts bomb in the 25-4 win over NRL premiers Cronulla.

The try assist was one of three set-ups for the halves candidate, who capped off a strong performance with a second half try – including Hayne’s – in the five tries to one win.

Penrith’s big-name recruit James Tamou then upped Hayne by coming out with two moments of try-scoring brilliance in their 28-18 win.