Melbourne Storm halfback Cooper Cronk will become just the 11th player to play 300 NRL matches for a single club in a momentous Preliminary Final on Saturday night against Canberra Raiders at AAMI Park.
On top of that milestone, for the first time in history, two members of the 300-club will take the field in the same team.
Cronk will be joined by Cameron Smith (333 games) when he becomes just the 25th player to reach the milestone.
Cronk will be presented with the match ball from his 300th game following the match against the Raiders, officially anointing him part of the 300 Club.
"This will truly be a special night for Melbourne," NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said.
"They will be achieving something never done before – two 300-game players playing alongside each other. And for that to happen in the Club’s most important game of the season adds even more weight to it.
"Cooper has also achieved this feat while entrenching himself in both Queensland and Australian squads over many years. He has been a remarkable player and deserves his place in this exclusive Club.
"Importantly, he has also made an enormous contribution to the game off the field. He is a player who cares as much about his reputation as he does his form on the field and his image reflects that.
"On behalf of all rugby league fans I would like to congratulate him on this achievement, and also the club for this remarkable first."
THE 300 CLUB (24 players)
|
App |
Player |
Club/s |
Years |
|
355 |
Darren Lockyer |
Brisbane |
1995-2011 |
|
350 |
Terry Lamb |
Wests, Canterbury |
1980-1996 |
|
349 |
Steve Menzies |
Manly, Northern Eagles |
1993-2008 |
|
347 |
Corey Parker |
Brisbane |
2001-2016 |
|
336 |
Brad Fittler |
Penrith, Sydney Roosters |
1989-2004 |
|
333 |
Cameron Smith |
Melbourne |
2002-2016 |
|
332 |
Cliff Lyons |
Norths, Manly |
1985-1999 |
|
330 |
Nathan Hindmarsh |
Parramatta |
1998-2012 |
|
328 |
Andrew Ettingshausen |
Cronulla |
1983-2000 |
|
325 |
Geoff Gerard |
Parramatta, Manly, Penrith |
1974-1989 |
|
318 |
Jason Croker |
Canberra |
1991-2006 |
|
317 |
Hazem El Masri |
Bulldogs |
1996-2009 |
|
315 |
Paul Langmack |
Canterbury, Wests, Easts |
1983-1999 |
|
315 |
Luke Priddis |
Canberra, Brisbane, Penrith, St George Ill |
1997-2010 |
|
313 |
Steve Price |
Bulldogs, Warriors |
1994-2009 |
|
313 |
Brent Kite |
St George Illawarra, Manly, Penrith |
2002-2015 |
|
312 |
Ruben Wiki |
Canberra, Warriors |
1993-2008 |
|
309 |
Petero Civoniceva |
Brisbane, Penrith |
1998-2012 |
|
307 |
Brett Kimmorley |
N’castle, Hunter, Melb, N Eag, Cron, C’bury |
1995-2010 |
|
303 |
Anthony Watmough |
Northern Eagles, Manly, Parramatta |
2002-2015 |
|
302 |
Anthony Minichiello |
Sydney Roosters |
2000-2014 |
|
301 |
Luke Ricketson |
Sydney Roosters |
1991-2005 |
|
300 |
Scott Prince |
Nth Qld, Brisb, Wests Tigers, Gold Coast |
1998-2013 |
|
300 |
John Morris |
N’castle, P’matta, Wests Tigers, Cronulla |
2001-2014 |
*Stats courtesy of David Middleton, League Information Services