Wests Tigers’ Benji Marshall and North Queensland’s Gavin
Cooper joined an illustrious list of players on Sunday – with the pair playing
their 300th NRL match on the same day.
Cooper brought up the milestone in his side’s 15-12 victory
over the Sydney Roosters at Central Coast Stadium, while Marshall’s Wests
Tigers went down to the Eels 30-18 at BankWest Stadium.
With Cooper and Marshall joining the 300 Club it brings the
total number of players to achieve this feat to just 38.
Cooper made his NRL debut in 2006 for North Queensland –
playing just the one season before stints at the Gold Coast Titans and Penrith
Panthers.
The 33-year-old returned to the Cowboys in 2011 and has also
since represented Queensland, the Prime Minister’s XIII and the World All
Stars.
Marshall made his debut in 2003 for Wests Tigers – playing 11
seasons for the joint venture before joining the Auckland Blues for a brief
stint in Super Rugby.
The Kiwi International returned to the NRL in 2014 with the
St George Illawarra Dragons and later the Brisbane Broncos – before returning ‘home’
to the Wests Tigers in 2018.
The 34-year-old has also enjoyed significant success in the
representative arena – with 28 Tests for the Kiwis and four games for the NRL All
Stars.
The RLPA would like to congratulate both Marshall and Cooper
on reaching this significant milestone and recognise the contribution both
players have made to the game of Rugby League.
THE 300 CLUB (38 players)
400 Cameron Smith
(Melbourne) 2002-2019
362 Cooper Cronk (Melbourne, Sydney Roosters) 2004-2019
355 Darren
Lockyer (Brisbane) 1995-2011
350 Terry Lamb
(Western Suburbs, Canterbury) 1980-1996
349 Steve Menzies
(Manly, Northern Eagles) 1993-2008
347 Corey Parker
(Brisbane) 2001-2016
339 Paul Gallen
(Cronulla) 2001-2019
338 Chris
Heighington (Wests Tigers, Cronulla, Newcastle) 2003-2018
336 Brad Fittler
(Penrith, Sydney Roosters) 1989-2004
332 Cliff Lyons
(North Sydney, Manly) 1985-1999
330 Nathan
Hindmarsh (Parramatta) 1998-2012
328 Andrew
Ettingshausen (Cronulla) 1983-2000
326 Ryan Hoffman
(Melbourne, Warriors) 2003-2018
325 Geoff Gerard
(Parramatta, Manly, Penrith) 1974-1989
325 John Sutton
(South Sydney) 2004-2019
324 Luke Lewis
(Penrith, Cronulla) 2001-2018
323 Johnathan
Thurston (Bulldogs, North Queensland) 2002-2018
319 Billy Slater
(Melbourne) 2003-2018
318 Jason Croker
(Canberra) 1991-2006
317 Hazem El
Masri (Bulldogs) 1996-2009
315 Paul Langmack
(Cant, Western Sub, East Sub) 1983-1999
315 Luke Priddis
(Canberra, Bris, Pen, 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
308 Darius Boyd (Brisbane,
St George Ill, Newc) 2006-2019
307 Brett
Kimmorley (Newc, Hun, Melb, N Eag, Cron, C’bury) 1995-2010
304 Sam
Thaiday (Brisbane) 2003-2018
303 Anthony
Watmough (Northern Eagles, Manly, Parramatta)2002-2015
303 Adam Blair (Melbourne,
Wests Tigers, Bris, Warriors) 2006-2019
302 Anthony
Minichiello (Sydney Roosters) 2000-2014
301 Luke
Ricketson (Sydney Roosters) 1991-2005
301 Simon
Mannering (Warriors) 2005-2018
300 Scott Prince
(Nth Qld, Bris, Wests Tigers, Gold C’st) 1998-2013
300 John Morris
(Newc, Parra, Wests Tigers, Cron) 2001-2014
300 Gavin Cooper
(North Qld, Gold Coast, Penrith) 2006-2019
300 Benji
Marshall (Wests Tigers, St Geo Ill, Brisbane) 2003-2019
