November 6: Mullins retires; Sonny Bill joins Wolfpack
On this day, Sam Burgess returns to Souths, the Kangaroos win a spiteful clash with New Zealand and Brett Mullins calls it a day.
1994
Isaah Yeo was born in Dubbo. The second-rower made his debut in 2014 and has gone on to play 173 games for the Panthers, taking them to the 2021 premiership as co-captain alongside Nathan Cleary.
1995
Addin Fonua-Blake was born in Sydney. A hulking prop, he made his NRL debut for Manly in 2016, signed with the Warriors at the end of 2020 and has represented New Zealand and Tonga at Test level.
1998
Controversial former Canterbury forward Solomon Haumono signs with Balmain for two seasons.
2002
Sydney Roosters grand final winger Brett Mullins is forced to announce his retirement from the game due to the squeeze on the Roosters’ salary cap. Mullins played 209 first-grade games and scored 122 tries.
2004
Great Britain fight back from a 12-2 half-time deficit to record a 22-12 win over New Zealand in game four of the Tri-Nations series at Huddersfield’s Galpharm Stadium.
2005
Test captain Darren Lockyer is ruled out of the remainder of the Tri-Nations series after breaking a bone in his foot at training. Teammate Nathan Hindmarsh breaks down with a recurrence of a knee injury just minutes later and is ruled out of the Test match against France. Sydney Roosters utility Craig Wing is rushed into the Australian team after officials interrupt his holiday in Hawaii.
2007
Troubled Gold Coast utility Chris Walker is ruled out of football for six months after rupturing his Achilles tendon during training. His injury came the day after Titans management granted British import Richard Mathers a release from the final year of his contract to take up a three-year deal with Wigan.
2010
Australia score an emphatic 34-20 victory over New Zealand in a Four Nations match watched by 44,432 fans at Auckland’s Eden Park. The boisterous crowd resort to jeering Australia’s national anthem and throwing plastic bottles onto the field.
2010
Souths forward Sam Burgess suffers a shoulder injury in England’s 36-10 defeat of Papua New Guinea in the first match of the Four Nations double header in Auckland.
2014
Manly unveil new signing Willie Mason after the 34-year-old front-rower signed a one-year deal with the club.
2015
Veteran forward Todd Lowrie announced his retirement after having previously agreed to a one-year deal with the Newcastle Knights. Instead, the 32-year-old will coach the Knights’ Holden Cup team.
2019
Sonny Bill Williams agrees to join the Toronto Wolfpack in 2020 as the North American franchise makes its historic assault on the English Super League.
2020
St George Illawarra confirms that local junior Jack Bird has agreed to return to the club in a two-year deal after he is officially released from the final year of his contract with the Brisbane Broncos. The Broncos agree to pay a significant part of Bird’s salary for 2021.
This article contains information from the official records of NRL historian David Middleton.
