August 11: Gal joins 300 Club; James joins Raiders
On this day, Sharks legend Paul Gallen racks up 300 games, a crazy idea from a potential Manly buyer and Ryan James heads for the national capital.
1983
Luke Lewis is born. The popular utility player goes on to play 16 Tests, 17 State of Origin matches and 324 NRL games for Penrith and Cronulla. Lewis was the awarded the Clive Churchill Medal following Cronulla's win in the 2016 grand final.
1998
Brisbane Broncos chief executive Shane Edwards says the club could go broke if a second Brisbane side was admitted into the NRL in the next three years. The Broncos remain the only Brisbane club in the Telstra Premiership.
1989
The Raiders score an 18-14 win over the Bulldogs before 22,000 people in Perth in the first top-level match played outside Australia's eastern states.
2003
Manly's negotiations with prospective buyer, Crazy John's, reach a bizarre stage when the mobile phone company releases a set of plans that include players changing their name by deed poll to Crazy John for a match if their bid for ownership is successful.
2008
At 16 years and 238 days, Jordan Rankin becomes the youngest player in 72 years to make his premiership debut. He plays the final 29 minutes of Gold Coast's round 22 match against Newcastle.
2017
Paul Gallen becomes the 29th player to appear in 300 first-grade games. Unfortunately for Gallen, his Sharks suffer a 32-10 loss to the Broncos in his milestone match at Suncorp Stadium.
2020
Long-serving Gold Coast prop Ryan James signs a two-year deal with the Canberra Raiders.
This article contains information from the official records of NRL historian David Middleton.
