As Simon Mannering counts down to his landmark 250th NRL appearance, Vodafone Warriors TV spoke to club greats Stacey Jones and Ruben Wiki about their former team-mate and just what it means to play so many games in the NRL.
Mannering is rapidly approaching Jones’ club record 261 appearances while Wiki (312 games) remains the only New Zealander among the list of players who have appeared in 300 or more NRL games.
Jones remembers Mannering making his NRL in 2005 and also played alongside him again when he made a return to the NRL for his final first-grade season in 2009.
Wiki joined the Vodafone Warriors in 2005 after 225 games for Canberra and played 87 matches for the club before retiring at the end of the 2008 season, most of them alongside a then young Mannering.
The photo on the home page of Jones and Wiki is from the Vodafone Warriors' 10th anniversary match against Brisbane at Mount Smart Stadium on June 26, 2005 - the day Mannering made his NRL debut.
He was brought on off the bench to play in the centres, combining with another young Vodafone Warrior by the name of Manu Vatuvei to put him in for a try. They've gone on to become the second and third players after Jones to make more than 200 appearances for the club, nearly all of which they've played alongside each other.
Check out what Jones and Wiki have to say about Mannering’s achievement.
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