As the Raiders travel to take on the Knights this weekend, Big League revisits an iconic performance from a Canberra fullback in Newcastle – amid one of the most celebrated individual runs of form ever witnessed.
When modern great Gary Belcher hung up the boots at the end of 1993, he seemingly left a gaping hole in the Canberra No.1 jersey.
Twenty-year-old Ken Nagas, with just three first-grade starts on the wing to his credit, got first crack at filling the vital spot during the 1994 pre-season Toohey’s Challenge – but an injury ruled him out of the early premiership rounds.
The role instead fell to Brett Mullins, who filled in for an injured Belcher during the second half of 1992 before finding a home at centre the following season.
The long-striding Mullins – previously regarded as something of an enigma – was an instant success at the back for the heavyweight Raiders, earning a NSW Origin debut on the wing before usurping incumbent Tim Brasher for the Australian fullback spot.
A week after making a tryscoring Test debut against France at Parramatta Stadium, Mullins’ breakout season went into overdrive as the Green Machine hit top gear. The 22-year-old scored a hat-trick in a 56-12 beatdown of Cronulla and crossed four times in a 48-8 rout of South Sydney.
But it was a vintage display at Marathon Stadium – which saw Mullins make it 11 tries in three games – that still garners throwback highlights airtime more than three decades later.
In just the fourth minute of the Round 18 encounter, Mullins took a pass flat-footed on the Raiders’ try-line and sliced through the Newcastle defensive line to streak the length of the field for the opening try. Another 100-metre effort followed 12 minutes later as he skirted the Knights’ disjointed kick-chase and produced a breathtaking swerve to get around opposite number Robbie O’Davis.
Mullins bagged two more tries in the second half – laid on by David Furner and Ricky Stuart – showcasing his blinding pace and elusiveness. Boom Kiwi centre Ruben Wiki also notched a double in the Raiders’ scintillating 52-16 victory over a Knights side that went into the round just a point outside the top five.
“They are the best football team I have played against,” Knights five-eighth Matthew Johns said.
“They are just so complete. They’ve got awesome strike-power, confidence and familiarity with each other’s game.”
But it was Mullins who garnered the bulk of the post-match attention.
“That was the best performance I’ve ever seen from any fullback in any team I’ve been in,” Canberra linchpin Stuart gushed.
Tim Sheens did his best to keep a lid on Mullins-mania.
“I am at him not to be brilliant … to be consistent,” the coach mused.
Meanwhile, Australian coach Bob Fulton dished out arguably the most lavish praise of all: “He’ll be in the same class as Graeme Langlands, Graham Eadie, Greg Brentnall, Garry Jack and all the top fullbacks we’ve ever produced.”
Mullins finished 1994 with 22 tries – a new premiership record for a fullback – and starred as the Raiders romped to grand final glory. He was one of the stars of the subsequent Kangaroo Tour and Australia’s retention of the Ashes.
But the Super League war curtailed his apparent mortgage on the NSW and Australian No.1 jerseys. Mullins’ representative assignments thereafter were as a winger – in the 1996 Origin series, and for the Super League NSW and Australian sides in 1997, by which stage he had lost his grip on the Canberra fullback role.
Injuries and friction with club officials brought Mullins’ tenure in the capital to a disappointing end in 2000, but after a season at Leeds he retired as a premiership-winning winger, having been thrown a lifeline by former teammate and Sydney Roosters coach Stuart in 2002.
It’s the 1994 season Mullins will forever be most closely associated with, however – galvanised by his attacking masterclass on a July night in Newcastle.
