July 5: MG quits Panthers; Fittler tallies triple ton
On this day, Mark Geyer walked away from Penrith, Ricky Stuart's Origin plans backfired and Ian Thorpe talks to Brad Fittler's NSW team.
1958
Great Britain captain Alan Prescott earns a place in league folklore with his heroic efforts in the second Test of the Ashes series at Brisbane’s Exhibition Ground.
Prescott breaks his arm in the opening minutes of the Test, but battles on with his arm dangling uselessly by his side and leads the tourists to a 25-18 victory.
1989
Graham Lowe is appointed manager-coach of Manly for 1990, taking over from the embattled Alan Thompson. Rumours abound of Ian Roberts, Martin Bella and Tony Iro linking with the Sea Eagles.
1992
International forward Mark Geyer shocks the rugby league world when he announces he is quitting the Panthers for personal reasons. The clubs agrees to release Geyer from his three-year contract.
1994
Peter Ryan becomes the fourth Brisbane forward on the suspended list when he is found guilty of biting South Sydney five-eighth Jason Bell and outed for three weeks.
1998
It is revealed that star players Bradley Clyde and Ricky Stuart have been asked by Canberra management to search for a new club as the Raiders prepare for a $3.25 million salary cap in 1999
2000
Canterbury patriarch Peter Moore dies after a long illness, aged 68.
2001
Melbourne celebrate their 100th game of premiership football with a record-breaking 64-0 demolition of the Wests Tigers at Colonial Stadium. Durable hooker Richard Swain plays his 100th consecutive game for the club.
2003
Brad Fittler becomes the sixth player to appear in 300 first-grade games when he leads the Sydney Roosters to a 38-10 defeat of South Sydney at Aussie Stadium.
2004
The NRL imposes $15,000 worth of fines against the Wests Tigers for the alleged abuse of a touch judge, for failing to attend a post-match press conference and for refusing media access to the dressing rooms following the club’s round 17 loss to Canberra.
2006
Queensland secure one of their greatest State of Origin victories, fighting back from a 14-4 deficit to defeat NSW 16-14 in Melbourne. A capacity crowd of 54,833 watch the Maroons end three years of dominance by the Blues to claim their first series since 2001.
2010
Former Test centre Mark Gasnier makes a modest return to rugby league as a depleted St George Illawarra fall 12-8 to Penrith at WIN Jubilee Oval.
A lighter version of the player that left for French rugby union club Stade Francais in 2008, Gasnier was easily contained by the Penrith defence and came up with two handling errors in his 54 minutes on the field.
2014
Cronulla score their second record-breaking comeback victory in eight days when they fight back from a 24-0 deficit against the Sydney Roosters to win 30-28 at Allianz Stadium.
The performance ranks as the equal second biggest comeback since the premiership kicked off in 1908.
2018
At 29, journeyman halfback Darren Nicholls becomes the oldest Australian-born player to make his top grade debut in the NRL era when he takes the field for St George Illawarra against Melbourne.
Despite the absence of 11 players to State of Origin duty, the Storm and Dragons turn on one of the most entertaining games of the season. The Storm win the highest-scoring game of the season 52-30.
2019
Blues coach Brad Fittler invites swimming legend Ian Thorpe into camp to speak about dealing with pressure and handling the weight of expectations.
This article contains information from the official records of NRL historian David Middleton.
