January 21: Remembering Big Artie and the Little Master
On this day, a pair of rugby league Immortals are born, a former All Black returns to the 15-man game and Mark Geyer is named as Western Reds captain.
1927
Clive Churchill is born in Newcastle. The man known as "The Little Master" was one of the four original Immortals named in 1981 by Rugby League Week. As well as playing 91 matches (Test and tour games) for Australia, Churchill won five premierships as a player for South Sydney and four as a coach.
1945
Rugby League Immortal Arthur Beetson is born. A prodigious talent hailing from Roma in Queensland, Beetson is arguably the most popular man to ever play the game. Among his many great achievements, in 1973 he became the first Indigenous man to captain Australia in any sport.
1973
Kiwi great and NRL Hall of Fame member Ruben Wiki is born. One of the toughest players of his era, Wiki played 55 Test matches for New Zealand and became the first NZ-born player to make 300 NRL appearances.
1996
Mark Geyer is named captain of the Western Reds for 1996. The Reds had six wins and finished 16th in the 20-team competition.
2013
Test stars Nate Myles and Greg Bird are named co-captains of the Gold Coast Titans. The Titans missed the finals by two points, finishing ninth.
2014
South Sydney announce the signing of 34-year-old dual international Lote Tuqiri to a one-year deal.
2020
Newcastle release hooker Danny Levi from the final year of his contract to allow him to sign join the Sea Eagles.
This article contains information from the official records of NRL historian David Middleton.
