The Warriors remain the team to beat as the inaugural Auckland Nines enters its finals stage.

Buoyed by enormous hometown support at a sold-out Eden Park, the Warriors are unbeaten through three games heading into the quarter-finals on Sunday.

Shaun Johnson and Sam Tomkins starred as the Warriors defeated Canberra and Manly on Saturday and downed North Queensland in their final pool match on Sunday to live up to their status as the pre-tournament favourites.

The Warriors will meet South Sydney in the third quarter-final.

Brisbane have defeated Wayne Bennett’s Newcastle 16-11 in the first quarter-final, Parramatta meet Cronulla in the second and Penrith come up against North Queensland in the fourth quarter-final.

Teams that bow out at the quarter-final stage take home a $130,000 cheque, with losing semi-finalists earning $165,000 each, the losing finalist collecting $240,000 and the tournament’s first champion winning $370,000.