Daly Cherry-Evans’ 310th appearance for Manly last weekend saw him break Cliff Lyons’ total established 25 years earlier.
It was the longest-standing club appearances record remaining in the NRL, with the other 16 teams’ marks set in 2001 or later.
Most games records are set to tumble at Penrith and Sydney Roosters later this season, too.
Discover who is the greatest ironman at every club – and the most likely challengers of the current crop to their hallowed marks.
*Indicates player is still active at that club
BRISBANE BRONCOS – Darren Lockyer (355 games)
The Broncos have been a haven for one-club players since their 1988 inception, with nine stalwarts passing the 250-game milestone and only one (Andrew McCullough) playing for a rival team during their careers.
Lockyer’s tally of 355 games was a premiership record at the time and remains the second-most by any player for a single club. Long-time teammate Corey Parker retired just eight games short of the legendary fullback/five-eighth’s mark, while Sam Thaiday also cracked 300.
Corey Oates (203) is the most-capped of the current Broncos but is on his last legs. The likes of Payne Haas (105), Kotoni Staggs (105) and Pat Carrigan (88) could crack the triple ton, while it’s hard to imagine 21-year-old Reece Walsh (25) playing anywhere else in what is certain to be a long NRL tenure.
CANBERRA RAIDERS – Jason Croker (318 games)
Two unrelated namesakes are the Raiders’ only two 300-gamers: phenomenal utility Jason Croker (318) and pointscoring wizard Jarrod Croker (307), who would have smashed the club record if not for a slew of late-career injuries.
But current front-row warrior Josh Papalii (287) is looming large and is likely to become Canberra’s new ironman if he goes around again in 2025. The 31-year-old and the club have a mutual option on his services for next season.
Jordan Rapana just passed the 200-game mark for the club but is 35 years old, while someone like Hudson Young (102) could be a long-term record-breaking prospect.
CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS – Hazem El Masri (317 games)
El Masri lords over the Canterbury-Bankstown record books, smashing every possible pointscoring mark, racking up an unprecedented tally of tries and becoming the first Bulldogs player to make 300 top-grade appearances.
Steve Mortimer (273) was the previous record-holder with the then-most games for one team in premiership history, while Terry Lamb (262) went close despite spending the first four seasons of his career at Western Suburbs.
The Bulldogs’ comprehensive roster cleanout over the past couple of years means ex-Gold Coast and Melbourne prop Max King is the longest-serving member of the current squad with just 52 appearances.
CRONULLA SHARKS – Paul Gallen (348 games)
Cronulla icon Andrew Ettingshausen was the first player to make 300 appearances for one club and retired in 2000 with 328 games to his credit – a one-club record that stood for a decade before being broken by Darren Lockyer.
Gallen moved past ET in 2018 and retired at the end of the following season with the third-most games for one club in premiership history, behind Cameron Smith and Lockyer.
Wade Graham (255) is third on the Sharks’ all-time register, with his recent retirement leaving Blayke Brailey (114) and Briton Nikora (113) as the club’s longest-serving clubmen.
DOLPHINS – Jamayne Isaako* (28 games)
Isaako is the only Dolphins player to feature in every one of the young club’s games – but closing in on his 28th birthday, it’s unlikely the pointscoring machine will set a particularly formidable appearances record.
The likes of 20-year-old half Isaiya Katoa and 23-year-old marquee fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow shape as the most likely to become the first to reach the 200-game milestone and beyond for the Dolphins.
GOLD COAST TITANS – Mark Minichiello (173 games)
The Titans have been around for just over 17 seasons with little success – and Mark Minichiello’s modest club record partly tells the story of the club’s on-field struggles.
The back-rower bookended his foundation stint on the Gold Coast with four seasons at Souths (after one game alongside brother Anthony with the Roosters) and five with Hull FC, giving him almost 400 NRL and Super League games in total in an 18-year professional career.
Origin front-rower Moeaki Fotuaika (125) should break the record in a couple of seasons’ time, while Phil Sami (111), AJ Brimson (103) and Brian Kelly (103) are likely Titans 200-gamers of the future.
MANLY SEA EAGLES – Daly Cherry-Evans* (310 games)
DCE broke the long-standing record of Cliff Lyons, who became the second player to make 300 appearances for one club a week after Cronulla’s Andrew Ettingshausen became the first.
The Northern Eagles merger robbed Steve Menzies of the club record – he turned out 280 times for Manly either side of playing 69 games for the doomed joint venture.
Jake Trbojevic (205) is inching closer to the Sea Eagles’ all-time top 10, while injury-prone brother Tom (137) is the next longest-serving clubman on the current roster.
MELBOURNE STORM – Cameron Smith (430 games)
Given a player would need roughly 16 injury-free seasons accompanied by a deep finals run every year to break Cameron Smith’s incredible record of 430 games for Melbourne, it’s not inconceivable that his mark will remain untouched for several lifetimes.
After getting a taste of NRL football in late-2002, the incomparable hooker played 19-plus games for the next 18 straight seasons – an unbelievable example of durability.
Long-time teammates Cooper Cronk (323) and Billy Slater (319) are eighth and ninth, respectively, on the all-time list of most games for one club. Cronk, who spent his last two seasons at the Roosters, is second in premiership history for overall appearances with 372.
Cameron Munster (196) is odds-on to eventually join the Storm’s 300-game group, which Jesse Bromwich finished just five games short of before linking with the Dolphins.
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS – Danny Buderus (257 games)
Knights legend Buderus returned from a three-season stint at Leeds as a 34-year-old, spending another two years at Newcastle and passing Andrew Johns’ appearances mark (249). Kurt Gidley retired in 2015 just six games short of Buderus.
Dane Gagai (174), and twins Daniel (165) and Jacob Saifiti (147) are the longest-serving members of the current Knights squad, but marquee man Kalyn Ponga (113) looms as the most likely to pass Buderus with another decade of so left in the game.
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS – Johnathan Thurston (294 games)
Starting his career with three seasons at the Bulldogs, Thurston finished agonisingly short of the 300-game milestone with the Cowboys after breaking Matt Bowen’s club appearances record (270).
Jason Taumalolo (257) was steaming towards the record but appears to be winding down and has played more than 18 games just once in the past five seasons. He could limp past JT if he’s still on deck with the Cowboys next season.
Jake Granville brought up 200 games last weekend and club tryscoring record-breaker Kyle Feldt is only three games away, but both are also nearing the end of the NRL road.
PARRAMATTA EELS – Nathan Hindmarsh (330 games)
The indefatigable Hindmarsh’s tally was the second-highest for one club in premiership history when he hung up his well-worn boots in 2012.
The back-rower smashed Brett Kenny’s long-standing mark (265), while Luke Burt – who retired in the same season as Hindmarsh – finished just one game behind the mercurial five-eighth. Ray Price and Nathan Cayless round out the top five with 259 games in the blue-and-gold apiece.
Clint Gutherson (190) and Mitch Moses (153) can make an impression on the Eels’ leaderboard but are both 29 years old. Dylan Brown (104), still only 24, is a good long-term shout for the record.
PENRITH PANTHERS – Steve Carter (243 games)
The lowest appearances club record of any current team that has been in the competition for more than 18 seasons, Carter has held Penrith’s honour since overtaking 1991 premiership teammate Royce Simmons (237) just before calling time on his career in 2001.
Craig Gower (238), the Panthers’ 2003 premiership skipper, fell just short.
Carter’s mark is set to be usurped later this season is Isaah Yeo (225) stays injury-free. Nathan Cleary (162) seems certain to become a 300-game at Penrith eventually, while James Fisher-Harris (183), Dylan Edwards (136), Moses Leota (154) and Brian To’o (98) are on their way to big tallies.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS – Ben Hornby (273 games)
Fullback/halfback Hornby broke his former skipper Trent Barrett’s record (156) for the joint venture club in 2008, before captaining the Dragons to a historic title in 2010.
Hornby also passed the great Norm Provan’s mark of 256 games for St George, a long-standing premiership appearances record – as did Ben Creagh (270) and Jason Nightingale (266), who both retired just short of the club record.
At 33 years old, Jack de Belin (210) is racing Father Time in pursuit of Hornby’s mark. Fellow twilight-years veteran Ben Hunt (130) is the next-longest-serving Dragons clubman.
SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS – John Sutton (336 games)
The most appearances mark for the most successful club in the history of the premiership hovered around the low-200s for around 40 years, with Bob McCarthy (211) returning from Canterbury to finish his career at Souths in 1978 and take sole ownership of the record he co-held with Eric Simms (206).
Sutton, the Rabbitohs’ 2014 grand final-winning skipper, is more than a century of games ahead of second-placed Adam Reynolds (231).
Thomas Burgess will draw level with Reynolds this weekend, while 29-year-old Alex Johnston (218) remains an outside chance of running down Sutton – as well as Ken Irvine’s premiership tryscoring record.
SYDNEY ROOSTERS – Mitch Aubusson (306 games)
One-club greats Luke Ricketson (301), Anthony Minichiello (302) and Aubusson all passed the triple-century for the Roosters in their final seasons.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (296), who started his NRL career with six games at Manly, is on track to follow suit and pass Aubusson before departing at the end of the year. Daniel Tupou (246) is a chance of joining that illustrious company, though he turns 34 later this season.
The 27-year-old Nat Butcher (130) is another tremendous clubman to keep an eye on down the track.
WARRIORS – Simon Mannering (301 games)
The ultimate Warrior, 2011 grand final skipper Mannering made his debut midway through 2005 and played at least 17 games in each of the ensuing 13 seasons – passing Stacey Jones’ record (261) in 2017 before bringing up 300 games in his last home appearance in the final round of 2018.
Shaun Johnson (213), whose tenure was interrupted by three seasons at Cronulla, passed Ben Matulino into fourth place on the weekend, has Manu Vatuvei (226) in his sights and could catch Jones if he goes around again next year.
Bunty Afoa (134), Jazz Tevaga (122), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (116) and Tohu Harris (108) are the Warriors’ only other 100-gamers in the current squad.
WESTS TIGERS – Robbie Farah (277 games)
Farah edged past fellow 2005 premiership winner Chris Heighington’s Wests Tigers club record (201) in 2013, later returning after a couple of seasons at Souths to extend his mark by 30 games.
Benji Marshall, who exited for an ill-fated rugby union stint in 2013 with 201 games to his name, also returned to finish with 257 appearances in the black, gold and white – overtaking injury-prone Chris Lawrence (253) as the pair finished up at the club together in 2020.
Paul Sironen (246) is Balmain Tigers’ appearances record-holder, while Tom Raudonikis (201) played the most games for Western Suburbs Magpies.