The first complete team to switch to the professional game was Marrickville second grade rugby union team, which had won its division the previous year (1906). Marrickville is an inner Sydney suburb close to Newtown.

The team played McIlrath's, a retail grocer and importing company, in the curtain-raiser to the second New South Wales - New Zealand "professional rugby" game at the Royal Agricultural Ground on August 21, 1907.

It was a brave and striking venture, particularly in view of the Rugby Union's attitude to players joining the professional movement. The Marrickville club was not suspended by the Rugby Union, nor were the players disqualified immediately.

Three days later, on Saturday, August 24, the Marrickville second grade team played their final competition match of the rugby union season. Nine of these players played first grade rugby league for Newtown in 1908.

None was named in Marrickville's second grade team for the first match in that year, indicating that the team had been the first to cross en masse to rugby league.

One of the tryscorers for Marrickville was winger Jack Scott, who in 1908 played with Newtown and became the first tryscorer in Rugby League in Australia. Scott was a Sheffield Shield cricketer, a fast bowler who played for both New South Wales and South Australia.

He became a Test cricket umpire and officiated in both the 1936-37 and 1946-47 Test series between Australia and England. He became embroiled in controversy in the latter series.

While officiating in the Third Test in Melbourne, he ruled English opener Bill Edrich LBW to Ray Lindwall when most players close to the wicket believed that Edrich had played the ball onto his pad.

Later in the day, Scott gave Denis Compton out LBW when he did not play a shot.

The opinion of most was that Compton was well clear of the leg stump. Many years later, Scott admitted emotionally to cricket author R S Whitington that he had been suffering severe pain and had taken twelve aspirin to enable him to officiate.

Why the Marrickville and McIlrath's players were moved to line up for the curtain-raiser cannot be determined, except that they sympathised with the plight of the rugby player.

It's unusual that two entire teams should place their future in rugby union in such jeopardy when there was no certainty that the new game would even by played the following year.

The landmark match was arranged by Joe Edwards, a rugby league sympathiser of the time, and who, in the first year of the game, became Newtown's assistant-secretary. He became secretary in 1909, succeeding James Giltinan.

McIlrath's was described as a Wednesday half-holiday business house team. Marrickville won the match 21-0, Powell and Scott scoring two tries each, and Williams one. Young kicked two goals and Scott one. Marrickville finished the 1907 RU season eighth in a competition of 19 teams.

Though argument may rage as to the first registered club in Australian rugby league, there is no doubt that Marrickville and the men from McIlrath's were the first to join the new movement.

Article from The Story of the Australian Rugby League by Gary Lester