Twelve months after the pre-season from hell, the Sydney Roosters have come full circle with an unexpected triumph at the NRL Auckland Nines.

Injuries to key players and the suspension that followed Mitchell Pearce's Australia Day indiscretion crippled the Roosters last year, virtually ending their season before it had even started.

However, a length-of-the-field try in the dying seconds of their semi final against Melbourne to unknown speedster Bernard Lewis paved the way for the Roosters to topple Penrith 10-8 in a final that was decided by a missed conversion attempt from the Panthers.

"I said to the guys it's really cool to say that you're not interested, but we talked about it pretty early on that we wanted to have a crack at the Nines," Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.

"I wasn't going to send the international boys - you need that extra couple of weeks of preparation - but we wanted to have go at the Nines. We knew we had a young crew that were very good. Winning is a habit and we wanted to get back into it very quickly.

"That's what we did. We layed it on the line. Teams that have won the Nines have done well in the competition as well. There's something about playing well at the start of the year that says you're going to do OK."

The star of the show was utility Connor Watson, who took out the player-of-the-tournament award in a team lacking an obvious playmaker option.

The 20-year-old, whose role at the Roosters this season is likely to be on the bench given the arrival of former South Sydney premiership-winner Luke Keary, was a standout in the shortened format.

"I can cover a range of positions and speed is one of my assets," he said. "There's a lot more space in the Nines to be able to use that so I definitely thought this game was suited to the way I played. It was awesome today. It's definitely a bit surreal. Last year coming into first grade we had some pretty disappointing results, but to go out there and come away with the trophy is something pretty awesome."

The Panthers were quite vocal about their disregard for the Nines tournament, naming one of the weakest squads on paper for a tournament they had no intention of winning.

Penrith were originally booked out on a Sunday afternoon flight, but the performances of Waqa Blake, James Tamou and Dylan Edwards saw the Panthers go on an inspired run to the final match of the day at Eden Park.

"Mate, there was no preparation, no game plan," Tamou said.

"We came here just to give the young boys experience. We were the battlers. I don't think anybody expected this of us. I wanted to play. I'm keen to get in the Penrith colours after a great preseason with them. I was just eager to play with the boys and get to know some of them.

"Hook (coach Anthony Griffin) just said you might play a few minutes here and there and you might even miss some games. I said 'yeah, no worries man'. The more the boys went well the more I wanted to play."

Breakout star: Brodie Croft of the Storm was one of the stars of the weekend. Photo: Getty Images

The Panthers conceded the first two tries of the match but got themselves back into the contest in the second half through Malakai Watene-Zelezniak.

A try to Nathan Cleary with a minute to go provided the Panthers with an opportunity to level the scores and send the final into extra time, however Darren Nicholls was unable to land the field goal conversion from 15 metres in from touch.

However Griffin was delighted with what his team gained from the experience, especially considering the NRL weren't satisfied with the squad they sent across the Tasman.

"It was magnificent to give those guys a run on the big stage," Griffin said. "They did everything we wanted them to do. It would have been nice for them to win that last one but we got beaten by a kick. But I'm very happy. We got out injury free too, which is great.

"We got in trouble for not bringing a strong enough side from the NRL as well. I don't know how that works. We would have liked to have gone home today but we had to stay. But it was nice for them to experience a semi final and a final on a big stage like that. It will be invaluable for them."

Team of the tournament: Cameron Munster, Kalyn Ponga, Suaia Matagi, Brody Croft, Connor Watson, Gideon Gela-Mosby, Waqa Blake, Moses Leota, Latrell Mitchell.