August 1: Five legends Immortalised; Barrett's Dally M glory

On this day, five legends join the ranks of the Immortals, Trent Barrett brings the Dally M home to the Dragons, and the Bulldogs honour five greats.

1979

Nathan Fien played 22 Tests for New Zealand between 2006 and 20120, and scored five tries. He mainly played at No.9 but made a handful of appearances as starting halfback and five-eighth. He turns 42 today.

1993

The Alan Jones-coached Balmain perform a remarkable comeback to draw 32-all with Canberra at Bruce Stadium, after the Tigers trailed 32-12 midway through the second half. 

2000

Trent Barrett takes the Dally M player of the year award, even though the Dragons didn't make the finals - finishing ninth. He scored nine tries and kicked two field goals, which helped him also collect five-eighth of the year on the same night.

2009

The Panthers fight back from a 32-6 deficit to send their match with the Warriors into golden point. The match finishes in a 32-all draw.  

2015    

Five Canterbury greats – Eddie Burns, Les Johns, George Peponis, Steve Mortimer and Terry Lamb – are announced as the inaugural inductees in the club’s Hall of Fame.

2018    

In an historic coup, the NRL announces that Dally Messenger, Frank Burge, Dave Brown, Norm Provan and Mal Meninga will join the ranks of the Immortals after an elite panel of experts convinces the administration to revise its original plan for only two players to be handed the game’s highest honour. A panel of judges including existing Immortals Bob Fulton, Wally Lewis and Andrew Johns, revered coaches Wayne Bennett and Phil Gould, broadcasters Ray Warren and Steve Crawley, former Rugby League Week editors Ian Heads and Norm Tasker and NRL CEO Todd Greenberg met at the SCG the previous day where they agreed on the history-making decision.

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