August 17: Spudd calls time; First NSWRL match played

On this day, Manly premiership player Mark Carroll hung up the boots while Wayne Bennett hailed Knights teenager Sione Mata’utia as captain material.

1907

The first match is played under the banner of the NSWRL. NSW met Albert Baskerville’s New Zealand “All Golds” at Sydney’s Agricultural Ground under rugby union rules.

New Zealand won the game 12-8, but fittingly, the great star of the Australian game, Dally Messenger, scored the first try and kicked the first goal.

1946

South Sydney complete the most inglorious season in their proud history with a 19-7 loss to Easts at the Sydney Sports Ground. The Rabbitohs lose all 14 of their matches.

1995

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is born in Hamilton. The Kiwi international scored 41 tries in 106 games for the Panthers before switching to the Bulldogs mid-2019 and playing 37 games before a late-season switch to the Warriors this season. DWZ has played six games for the Warriors and scored two tries.

1996

Esan Marsters is born in Auckland. Marsters debuted internationally as a 17-year-old with the Cook Islands. He made his name in the NRL with the Wests Tigers after debuting with the club in 2017 before switching to the Cowboys in 2020 and then making a mid-season switch to the Titans in 2021. Marsters has also represented New Zealand in six Test matches and Cook Islands in two.

1999

South Sydney prop Mark Carroll announces his retirement. The man affectionately known as 'Spudd' played 15 games for the Bunnies in '99 to go with the 69 games he had played for the foundation club between 1990-93. In 1994 he joined Manly and played 88 games across four years and won a premiership in 1996. 

2014

Coach Wayne Bennett describes winger Sione Mata’utia as a future Knights captain after the 18-year-old scores a hat-trick of tries in a 28-22 victory over the Warriors.

2021

Dual premiership winner James Maloney announces he will retire from the game when his commitments with Super League club Catalans end in 2021. Maloney played 247 games across 11 seasons and five clubs in the NRL, winning titles with the Roosters in 2013 and Sharks in 2016. 

This article contains information from the official records of NRL historian David Middleton.