The team featured former All Blacks John Kirwan and Mark Carter, the only time they represented New Zealand in league. Then Teenage Warriors star Jones shared playmaking responsibilities with Henry Paul, while the pack contained Tony Iro, Kearney and Wiki.
"We had a good, well balanced team," says Richie Barnett. "I had played [both] rugby and league sevens and that was aerobically extremely taxing but nines was much more strategic. It felt much more like league than sevens had, where you would mainly go side to side and backwards to make space."
"No one knew what to expect but we knew we had a good team," says Iro. "We had good little men, plenty of offloads and some power on the edge so we felt confident."
Norton, who would later find success as assistant to Brian McClennan during the Kiwis memorable Tri Nations campaigns of 2005 and 2006, made his mark early with some innovative thinking.
"From the first training sessions, he was emphasising multiple men in the tackle," remembers Iro. "He kept telling us to 'get three in the tackle'. We thought he was crazy but ultimately he was right. Wrapping up the ball was key and just like today in the NRL, if you managed a dominant tackle, you would buy time for the rest of your defensive line."
Conditions in tropical Fiji were challenging - "there had been downpours and the field was a mudbath, not the island paradise you were used to," laughs Barnett - as the tournament was held across three days in late February.
New Zealand beat France in their first match, completed a narrow win over Japan and then disposed of Ireland 22-0 to finish top of their group. They faced the Mal Meninga-coached Australia in the semifinals, led by Laurie Daley and resplendent with stars such as Andrew Ettingshausen, Ricky Stuart, Glenn Lazarus and Steve Renouf.
Despite the format and greater space on the field, it was an incredibly tight match. Both teams scored two tries each (Nigel Vagana and Kirwan for New Zealand, Brett Mullins and Jason Hethrington for Australia) and were separated by the sole conversion of the match (by Gene Ngamu).
"I remember a lot of that match was a desperate scramble," says Iro. "It's the nature of nines - you are constantly covering holes - and we had the ability to scramble well. Like any time you match up with Australia, everyone has to do their jobs and we didn't make many errors that day."
Papua New Guinea upset England in the other semifinal 15-14 with a late drop goal before the Kiwis accounted for the Kumuls 26-10 in the final. It was a far cry from the glitz, glamour and riches coming to Eden Park in three weeks - the winners pocketed only A$30,000 - but nevertheless a welcome triumph.
"It was a hard-earned victory and we certainly enjoyed it," says Barnett. "Any time you beat Australia is something worth celebrating."
The tournament was also staged the next year, moving to Townsville. Norton was again in charge and the New Zealand side had six survivors from the 1996 team (Iro, Barnett, Kearney, Jones, Wiki and Tony Tatupu). Like the year before, the squad also included a rugby contingent (Marc Ellis and John Timu) as well as NRL stars such as Quentin Pongia and Jason Williams and Tyran Smith.
With an extended format of five pool games, New Zealand beat France, Tonga, Japan and South Africa before losing to Great Britain (featuring Andy Farrell and Adrian Morley) 12-10 in their final group game. They again faced Australia in the semifinal - arguably an even stronger outfit than the year before with Allan Langer, Gorden Tallis and Steve Walters joining most of the 1996 team, coached by Tim Sheens. In another epic, New Zealand prevailed 12-10. Barnett and Wiki scored tries for the Kiwis, Kevin Walters and Ettingshausen replied for the Australians. Ellis' goal kicking proved the difference.
"They had the best league players in the game," says Jones. "But the balance of our team was probably better overall for the nines format."
After John Schuster, Apollo Perelini and Jerry Seuseu inspired Western Samoa to a 10-0 shut-out of England in the other semifinal, the New Zealand side took their second title with a 16-0 win in the final.
