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Preparations are well under way for the NRL Auckland Nines, which kicks off on January 31, with seven large banners being put up around Auckland ahead of the event.

Benji Marshall will make his return to Eden Park as captain of the St George Illawarra Dragons at the NRL Auckland Nines this month.

NRL premiers South Sydney suffered a double blow yesterday with forward Luke Burgess heading to Manly for the next two seasons and CEO Shane Richardson leaving the club to take up a position at the NRL.

The Warriors are embracing the pressure that comes with being the only home team competing in the NRL Auckland Nines at Eden Park next month.

Warring Warriors owners Eric Watson and Sir Owen Glenn will be kept on opposite sides of Eden Park when they attend the NRL Auckland Nines at the end of this month.

The NRL Auckland Nines might be the brainchild of Dean Lonergan, but Australian league legend Mal Meninga is the man who convinced him that the concept was a winner.

'If I could take it back, I would.' A repentant Ben Flower wants to meet Lance Hohaia and thank him for not holding a grudge after last year's punches.

The Warriors might unveil a not-so-secret weapon at the Auckland Nines later this month.

Street thug Russell Packer has done the time, or half of it thanks to a successful appeal. Yet his crime was so vicious the NRL would be crazy to let him walk straight through the prison gates and into their playing ranks.

There were just two arrests for intoxication over two days at last year's sold-out inaugural Auckland NRL Nines tournament.

Former Australian rugby league player Jason Smith to appear in court charged with trafficking cocaine.

Former Warriors prop Russell Packer was yesterday released from an Australian jail after serving 12 months of a maximum two-year sentence for assault.

Australia's fallen Kangaroos are running scared of the Kiwis all the way back to Brisbane, but this time they have gone way too far.

The Anzac spirit appears lacking in league after the revelation Australia has stolen away hosting rights for April's test against New Zealand.

Sports fans know about the phenomenal exploits of Brendon McCullum, Lydia Ko and the All Blacks this year. Michael Burgess looks back at 10 other feel-good sports stories that captured the imagination in 2014.

The small but perfectly formed NFL season is a classic example of how to turn less into more. Much more. It's a lesson some of our major sports codes would do well to imitate.

Blake Ferguson will be required to attend monthly welfare meetings with the NRL and Roosters officials next season to ensure his career never spirals out of control again.

The Warriors are set to seek a six-figure sum in compensation from Auckland Council over the ongoing saga of next year's Eagles concerts at Mt Smart.