June 17: Hazem's magic day; Blues win Origin thriller
On this day, a premiership-winning skipper was born, a massive crowd witnessed NSW beat Queensland at the MCG and a Bulldogs legend had another day out.
1969
Former Manly, NSW and Australia great Geoff Toovey was born. As well as playing 286 games for Manly and the Northern Eagles, Toovey played 15 matches for NSW and made 10 Test appearances for Australia. He went on to coach both Manly and the Bradford Bulls.
1994
Referee Bill Harrigan admits there is "bad blood" between himself and the NSW camp in the lead-up to the final State of Origin match.
1996
NSW win a thrilling third State of Origin match over Queensland 15-14 to complete a clean sweep of the series. Current NSW coach Brad Fittler kicks the field goal that proves the difference between the two teams.
2001
Bulldogs winger Hazem El Masri contributes 26 points to his team's 46-18 drubbing of Newcastle at Marathon Stadium. The Canterbury great scored three tries and kicked seven goals.
2015
NSW square the State of Origin series with a 26-18 victory over Queensland before a record Origin crowd of 91,513 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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2018
The NRL announces plans for a Magic Weekend to be staged in Brisbane in 2019, involving all 16 clubs playing in eight matches across Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 10-12, 2019.
2021
The NSW Origin team relocates its training base from Sydney to Kingscliff to avoid the threat of COVID restrictions from a new coronavirus outbreak in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
This article contains information from the official records of NRL historian David Middleton.
