NRL: Warriors won't benefit from Eels sanctions

The Warriors will not be awarded this year's Auckland Nines title despite the Parramatta Eels being stripped of the title and almost certainly the $400,000 prize money that came with it.

The proud Sydney club has been rocked to the core today with the NRL docking it 12 competition points, handing out a $A1 million fine and demanding the sacking of five club officials, including former Warriors coach Daniel Anderson, over a massive salary cap rort.

It also seems likely Parramatta, on top of the heavy fine from the NRL, will also have to pay back the prize money it won for taking out the Nines tournament at Eden Park in late January.

The Eels defeated the Warriors in the final.

But just as happened when the Melbourne Storm were stripped of the 2007 and 2009 NRL premierships after being found guilty by the NRL of similar large-scale salary cap cheating, the title will not be passed onto the team beaten in the grand final.

It is unclear whether the Warriors would be awarded the winner's prize money from the tournament but that also seems unlikely.

The Warriors were found guilty of significant salary cap breaches in 2006, fined $430,000 and docked four competition points ahead of the start of the following season for cap breaches of more than $1m.

The Storm, the Canterbury Bulldogs, Warriors and now the Eels are the four clubs that have been found guilty of deliberate salary cap breaches since the NRL's formation in 1998.