There have been 5 players who have scored 100 or more tries and kicked 500 or more goals in the National Rugby League and its predecessors, the NSWRL, ARL and Super League premierships. Players still currently active are listed in bold.
No. | Reached In | Tries | Goals | Player | Club/Clubs | Career Span | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2002 | 109 | 624 | Ryan Girdler | Illawarra Steelers, Penrith Panthers | 1991–2004 | 1,690 |
2 | 2005 | 159 | 891 | Hazem El Masri | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 1996–2009 | 2,418 |
3 | 2010 | 124 | 646 | Luke Burt | Parramatta Eels | 1999–2012 | 1,793 |
4 | 2016 | 122 | 533 | Jamie Lyon | Parramatta Eels, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 2000–2004, 2007–2016 | 1,554 |
5 | 2017 | 136 | 915 | Jarrod Croker | Canberra Raiders | 2009–2023 | 2,374 |
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes rugby, football, footy or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 m (74 yd) wide and 112–122 m (122–133 yd) long with H shaped posts at both ends. It is one of the two codes of rugby football, the other being rugby union. It originated in 1895 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, as the result of a split from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) over the issue of payments to players. The rules of the game governed by the new Northern Rugby Football Union progressively changed from those of the RFU with the specific aim of producing a faster and more entertaining game to appeal to spectators, on whose income the new organisation and its members depended.
The National Rugby League is a professional rugby league competition in Australasia which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand.
A try is a way of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area. Rugby union and league differ slightly in defining "grounding the ball" and the "in-goal" area. In rugby union a try is worth 5 points, in rugby league a try is worth 4 points.
Ryan Girdler is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australia international representative goal-kicking centre, he played his club football for the Illawarra Steelers and the Penrith Panthers, winning the 2003 NRL Premiership with the Panthers.
Jamie Lyon, also known by the nickname of "Killer", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative goal-kicking centre, he played his first club football for the Parramatta Eels before joining Super League with English club St. Helens, with whom he won the 2006 Championship and Challenge Cup titles. Lyon then returned to the NRL with Manly Warringah, winning the 2008 and 2011 grand finals with them. Originally a five-eighth, he switched to the centre position in 2009 and was regarded as one of the best centres in the game, winning the Dally M Centre of the year in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014, RLIF Centre of the Year in 2011 and 2013, and Dally M Captain of the Year in 2012 and again in 2014 individually. In 2016, he became the fourth player to score 100 tries and 500 goals.
Nathan Merritt is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A New South Wales State of Origin representative winger, he played in the National Rugby League for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, with whom he won the 2014 NRL Premiership, and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Merritt has also played representative football for the City New South Wales, Indigenous All Stars and Prime Minister's XIII sides. A prolific try-scorer, he was the NRL's top try-scorer in 2006 and 2011, and in 2013 became the 9th player in the history of the League to score 150 tries.
Kenneth John Irvine, also nicknamed "Mongo", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He holds the standing Australian record for the most tries in a first-grade career – 212. No other player has yet managed 200 tries in their Australian club career, with the closest to Irvine's tally being Melbourne Storm player Billy Slater, who scored 190. He is also the 2nd all-time top try-scorer for the Australian national team with 33, two behind Darren Lockyer's 35. Irvine's great speed is legendary and he is regarded as Australia's greatest ever winger, being named in 2008 in the list of Australian rugby league's 100 greatest players, as well as being an automatic selection for the Australian Rugby League's "Team of the Century".
Nathan Blacklock is an Australian former professional rugby league and, briefly, rugby union footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An Australia national rugby league representative wing, he played for the Sydney City Roosters and the St. George Dragons before they formed a joint-venture with the Illawarra Steelers to form the St. George Illawarra Dragons, with whom he continued playing, becoming the National Rugby League's top try-scorer for three consecutive seasons from 1999 to 2001. Blacklock also played in the Super League for Hull FC, with whom he won the 2005 Challenge Cup.
Benny Wearing was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. An Australian international and New South Wales representative three-quarter, he played his club football in the NSWRFL Premiership for South Sydney. Wearing was the third player in Australian rugby league history to score 100 premiership tries.
Jarrod Croker is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a goal-kicking centre and captained the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL).
Valentine Holmes is an Australian professional rugby league players who plays across the backline as centre, fullback or winger for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia at international level.
The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is contested by a subset of clubs from that competition. The current premiers are the Newcastle Knights.
The 2020 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2020 National Rugby League season held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on October 25. The match was contested between minor premiers Penrith Panthers and second-placed Melbourne Storm. Melbourne led the game 22-0 at half-time before holding off a late Penrith comeback to win 26-20, claiming their fourth premiership title. Melbourne fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal as the official man of the match. The match was attended by 37,303 spectators due to an enforced limit to stadium capacity by the NSW government as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. The game would be the last for Melbourne hooker and captain Cameron Smith after announcing his retirement in the following year, making him the most-capped player in the NRL with 430 games, and the most for a single club.